My Sex Friend Is My Childhood Friend? - 27-28

Chapter 27: Mahiru’s Consideration

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I walked along while licking the candied apple. It made me feel like I was at a summer festival. Someday, I wanted to stand in line and eat festival food with Mahiru in a yukata.

After walking for a bit, we arrived at a large open plaza. A crowd had gathered, and a bingo tournament was about to begin, so we decided to join in. We each received a bingo card and waited for the drawing to start. Being surrounded by students made me feel like I had become one too.

Still, I wondered if it was really okay for us to be goofing off like this. For someone like me who hadn’t had a steady girlfriend in a long time, this double-date-like outing felt fresh and fun.

When I turned to the side, my eyes met Mahiru’s. At some point, she had stopped looking at the stage and had been watching me instead. She took my hand, turned her body toward me, narrowed her eyes, and smiled softly.

“Are you having fun, Nagi-kun?”

Senpai, on the other hand… He was looking around, scoping out girls like a fisherman searching for a school of fish.

Come on, man, at least take the bingo seriously.

Before long, the drawing started. A student on the central stage began calling out numbers.

“5… 32… 43… 30…”

Mahiru slumped forward.

“Too bad~ I only need one more. I guess it’s not happening, huh?~”

What about mine…?

“Ah! I got it! I got a bingo!!!”

I normally had terrible luck with these things, so I wasn’t used to moments like this. I couldn’t help but shout out in excitement. The girl running the event called out energetically:

“Do we have a winner?!”

I raised my hand and stepped forward. Since I was the first one to get bingo, it looked like I had won first prize. I told the MC my first name. Then I was handed a large board with the prize written on it.

“The first prize is—drumroll, please—a luxurious overnight hot spring trip!!”

Wow, university bingo tournaments are wild.

And it was to Kusatsu Onsen, the place I’d always wanted to visit. What should I do? I was genuinely happy. The MC kept her energy high and continued on.

“So, Nagi-san, who will you be going with?”

When I looked down from the stage, I saw Senpai and my very own succubus waving their hands and bouncing up and down. Before I could even point to either of them, the succubus came running up. Mahiru answered the MC’s question in my stead.

“I’ll be going with him!”

I mean, I was glad she stepped up and all… But was it really okay to be so blatant like this? We were going on a couple’s trip, right? I was a little worried she might get in trouble or something.

Ignoring my worries, Mahiru continued.

“Oh, and our Constitutional Law seminar is running a food booth over that way. We’re selling udon noodles that were taught to us at XX Prison, so please come by! It’s a rare chance to enjoy our secret udon without doing anything bad~!”

Right after that, the MC took the mic back and ushered Mahiru offstage. But before leaving, she winked at me.

So this is the kind of character she plays at school, huh?

Seeing a different side of Mahiru made me happy. Then came the classic follow-up. I was handed the prize board and put through a series of photo ops and public humiliation that you’d see on TV.

Once it was over, I was finally released. When I returned, Mahiru spoke to me. Unlike on stage, she looked up at me sweetly, as if she was asking for affection.

“Will you invite me to go with you?”

“Of course I will.”

Then I leaned in and whispered in her ear.

“I don’t want to do that kind of thing with anyone but you.”

At that, Mahiru beamed like a sunflower blooming wide. After that, Mahiru said she needed to go back to her food booth and left. Honoka, on the other hand, stayed behind since she had free time to spare.

Once Mahiru was out of sight, Honoka approached me.

“…What do you think of Mahiru?”

I hesitated for a moment, unsure how to answer, but she struck me as someone who didn’t appreciate evasive answers. So I told her honestly.

“She’s someone important to me.”

Honoka looked down, her face clouded with concern.

“I see. I’m glad then. I’ve been with her since high school, and she’s always been such a serious girl, so I can’t help but worry about her.”

What was Mahiru like back in high school?

Before I could open my mouth, Senpai butted in.

“Come to think of it, ‘Mahiru’ is just a nickname, right? Did she go by that name back in high school too?”

Right. It had always sounded natural to me, so I’d never questioned it, but now that Senpai mentioned it, I realized that he had a point.

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Chapter 28: One’s High School Days

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Honoka answered.

“No. Back in high school, she used her real name—Maya Hatsuharu. She was different from how she is now…”

I couldn’t help but cut in.

“How was she different?”

Honoka started to say something but hesitated. She seemed to think for a moment, then cleared her throat and continued.

“Hmm… Well, you should ask her directly for the details.”

“Got it. So the nickname started in college?”

“Yes. You know how she seems really cheerful at first glance? People started saying she was like the sun—completely opposite from her name. That’s how she started being called Mahiru.”

I see. Mahiru in college had a different atmosphere than she did in middle school, but she was still bright and friendly. So she was different in high school.

What was she like back then? It was hard to even imagine her without that usual smile. And back in middle school, she had a lot of friends. There was no way she could’ve ever said something like “I don’t have many friends.”

In that sense, she was different from her middle school self, too. As I was thinking about all this, Honoka continued.

“She kind of forces herself to act cheerful. She seems unsteady… Like she might fall apart. That’s why I was wondering what kind of person you are, Nagi-san.”

I had felt the same thing. When it was just the two of us, Mahiru was different from the version of her I’d seen earlier on the university stage.

Ah, maybe I should take this chance to ask about that guy.

“What’s the guy who’s been hanging around Mahiru like?”

Honoka averted her eyes for a second and fell silent, like she was carefully choosing her words.

“He’s a senior from her seminar. Um… Please keep this between us, okay? That senior is actually Mahiru’s ex-boyfriend.”

So I was right. I had suspected as much, but hearing it confirmed made it harder to stay calm than I’d expected. Honestly, I was pretty irritated.

No, this is jealousy, isn’t it?

Then Senpai came up and threw an arm around my shoulders.

“Nagi, you haven’t even met the guy yet, so don’t get too worked up. Once you do, tell him straight up—‘Don’t lay a hand on my girl.’”

Yeah… He’s right. Why did I come here in the first place? To deal with my own jealousy? No. That’s not it.

It’s for Mahiru.

Mahiru trusts me and I want to live up to that trust.

While I was thinking about that to myself, Senpai continued.

“…Also, when you do meet the guy, record the conversation. Just in case.”

As we talked, we arrived at Mahiru’s food booth. Mahiru noticed us and waved cheerfully. We ordered three bowls of her specialty udon and ate in a space beside the booth.

I took a sip of the soup. The aroma of bonito broth and soy sauce gently filled my nose. The noodles had a pleasant firmness, and even the wheat had a clarity and depth to its flavor. It was simply delicious.

Honestly, I hadn’t expected to eat something this good at a campus food booth. On the table sat a small photo album, filled with pictures of inmates making udon as part of their prison work program. The photos weren’t professionally taken, but that gave them a kind of raw, authentic feel. It made me happy—I felt like I got a glimpse of what Mahiru had been studying.

While I was quietly reflecting, Senpai was over on the side asking Honoka for her contact information. Even with someone like Honoka, who seemed serious and reserved, Senpai was completely doing things at his own pace.

This guy… He’s really  impressive in his own way. That kind of energy—I wouldn’t mind learning from it.

As for Honoka… She looked a little bothered, but she still gave him her info.

Wait, is there actually a chance this might go somewhere?

If Senpai decided to change and get serious about a relationship, I’d be happy to support him. Yeah.

As I was enjoying my little fantasy, things got noisy over at the booth. Mahiru looked troubled as she spoke to someone. She kept glancing over at me with a worried expression, fidgeting with the ring on her left ring finger.

That ring was the one I gave her at the theme park.

Damn it. If she’s relying on that ring in a situation like this… I should’ve gotten her a real one.

After saying something to Mahiru, the man she was talking to turned toward me, glaring down with a slow, deliberate motion. He was tall and big—broad both vertically and horizontally. His hair was dyed blond and styled like a washed-up host.

So that’s the guy… The one who is stalking Mahiru.

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