My Online Friends Turned Out To Be the Ultra-Beautiful Girls in My Class and They Were Yandere - 24

Chapter 24: Those Girls in the Photo

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“Phew, I’m done. I got a little overheated.”

“Welcome back, Rin-nee…”

I trailed off mid-sentence. It wasn’t because Rin-nee was naked again or anything like that. She was wearing fluffy cat-ear pajamas, her ponytail undone so her long, silky, bright red hair fell freely. She looked so beautiful that I couldn’t help but stare. And then, the way her neck was flushed red from the heat somehow looked oddly alluring.

“Hakkun? What’s wrong?”

“It’s nothing.”

“Let me guess, you got captivated by Rin right after her bath, didn’t you?”

So it really showed on my face. Or maybe Muna and the others were just way too good at seeing right through me. They kept hitting exactly what I was thinking. I nodded slightly, a bit embarrassed. Then Rin-nee’s face turned even redder, and she started twirling the ends of her hair.

“H-hmm. I see… Ah.”

Rin-nee looked away, then suddenly froze at a certain spot. Just like Haruna before, she had noticed the graduation photo on the desk. It was placed somewhere fairly obvious, but maybe she only just realized it.

“Hakkun, this… you displayed it?”

“Yeah. That graduation ceremony is an important memory I have with you, Rin-nee.”

“You should’ve displayed the one from your graduation ceremony instead of Rin’s.”

“My graduation ceremony?”

“I see. So you only remember things about Rin. Hmm. Alright, I’ll tell you a little.”

According to Rin-nee, this photo was from her graduation ceremony. She couldn’t attend mine because of school, so the photo from my graduation was taken with the four of us, excluding her. And apparently, the only person I could still remember so far was Rin-nee.

“So, this is Rin, right? And this is Hakkun.”

Pointing at the photo, Rin-nee started explaining each person one by one. Maybe she was going to tell me about the other three as well…

“And this is Muna.”

The person she pointed at was a black-haired girl with beautiful red eyes visible behind her glasses. She looked somewhat plain, for lack of a better word. So this was Muna. But it didn’t surprise me that much. I had kind of suspected it. I see. So I’d known Muna since back then too. And then the problem was these two: a black-haired, boyish-looking girl who seemed to be grappling with someone, and a pink-haired girl who looked gentle and quiet.

“This one is Haruna.”

“Haruna?”

That made me react in shock. Well, knowing the real Haruna, it wasn’t impossible to imagine, but still. This was Haruna? She looked nothing like how she did now. I couldn’t quite put it into words, but the current Haruna looked much more feminine. Did something happen along the way? Wait, was her hair dyed? I had always thought that was her natural color.

“And lastly, Misaki. Though the current Hakkun probably wouldn’t recognize her.”

“Misaki… you mean Misaki Hanado?”

“Yeah, that’s right.”

Hanado Misaki. She was a famous gyaru at school, infamous in a bad way. There wasn’t a single student who didn’t know her. The rumors about her were all about being promiscuous, being a slut, messing around with guys, things like that.

What? No way. This quiet-looking girl is that Misaki Hanado!? And I was involved with her? No, that’s strange. Even if those rumors were true, Muna and the others would’ve stepped in to stop her. Rin-nee too, of course.

“That girl covered in bad rumors?”

“Yeah. You might not believe it, Hakkun, but this girl really is Misaki Hanado. She’s our precious childhood friend. So, um… I’d rather you not speak badly of her.”

“It’s fine, I’m not planning to. I don’t actually think badly of her either. I haven’t even met her yet. And more importantly, it feels like there’s probably some kind of reason behind it. There’s no way you and the others would just leave things like that alone.”

Like they say, seeing is believing. Someone who exists only through rumors is just that, a rumor. 

Maybe there were circumstances that even Rin-nee and the others couldn’t interfere with. Something that changed this quiet girl into what she was now.

Alright. I’ll try contacting her next time. Maybe it’ll help me remember something. It would’ve been much easier if I could’ve remembered everything just from hearing about it.

“I’ll tell you more another time. When Muna and the others are here too. Oh, right… tests are coming up soon. Are you okay with your study?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. Thanks to the problem set Haruna made for me.”

I tried it right after she gave it to me. The result was incredible. Everything just clicked in my head. It was like she knew all my weak points, because it was filled with hints to help me overcome them. I was grateful, but at the same time, it was a little scary.

“Hmph… I was going to teach you myself.”

“But, yeah… can you still teach me? There are still some parts I don’t understand.”

There were still a few things I felt unsure about, so I decided to ask Rin-nee. She was really good at teaching. She explained things clearly, and every time I understood something, she praised me a lot. She even patted my head a bunch. It felt like I was being treated like a kid, which was… honestly, pretty embarrassing. Before I knew it, it was already 10 PM.

“Mm…”

“Hakkun, you’re sleepy, huh. Then let’s go to bed.”

“Yeah, I will.”

“Come here, then.”

Just as I expected. The moment I said I was going to sleep, Rin-nee got into bed first and spread her arms toward me. As I thought, she was planning to sleep while hugging me. 

Well… I do have a lot to thank her for. I guess I can go along with it a little.

“Okay.”

“Good, very obedient. Come here, hug. Hehe, you’re warm, Hakkun.”

“You’re warmer, Rin-nee.”

“You’re good with compliments, you. Good night. Have sweet dreams.”

I gently closed my eyes. Wrapped in Rin-nee’s warmth, I drifted into the world of dreams with a peaceful feeling.

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