My Younger Stepsister with whom I have never spoken to is an online friend from a game into which I have been fooling around for years. - Chapter 8.8
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Chapter 8: An Usual Event
Translated by: White Fanatic
Edited by: SevenTails
(Part 8)
Therefore, I decided to take the step forward and ask as if I was appealing to Shiyori’s eyes.
But Shiyori’s eyes were colored with surprise, confusion, and a hint of rejection… That was a bit of a shock to me. It can even be my own selfish assumption as well. Yet—Now is the only time to look into Shiyori. That’s what my thoughts came to.
“Shiyori…”
“…!”
I’m not only asking about her right cheek or what happened with Sakaguchi just now. There are a lot of things that I have no clue about Shiyori even now.
“I want to know more about you, Shiyori.”
“!!”
I won’t say, ‘I want to know everything about you.’ But if it’s about what I hold dear or when you are in a bad spot, I want to help you carry and share your burdens and sorrows together.
I stared directly at Shiyori’s eyes, which were continuously shaking even right now. It might be that being told such words all of a sudden might have made her feel a bit anxious or so.
In fact, I could see Shiyori’s face getting flushed and as she looked distraught with mouth half open in ‘awawa.’
“A~ Uu… I… Umm, you know, right? How I am quite a bit of a klutz, right…?”
“Shiyori.”
“Ju—just the other day as well, I ate too much karaage, and my tummy got upset…”
“Shiyori?”
Somehow, it seemed that even Shiyori was getting more and more flustered.
Perhaps, even the person in question was aware that she was talking nonsense right now, so her face was getting redder and redder. Even though we were talking about something important, I couldn’t help but let out a giggle at this awkward atmosphere. It’s just that, for some reason, I found that colliding with the image of Philia-san. Somehow finding how bizarre that really was, which in turn made me all the more easily accept that.
“I want to know more about Shiyori.”
“Ah…”
Just don’t keep in all those painful feelings inside. Please tell me—As if saying, ‘please depend on me more,’ I brush my hand on her right cheek. I don’t know if it was just myself, but I could feel her cheek that was hit yesterday getting hot.
““…””
The silence this time was even more intense than ever before.
Unlike previously, our thoughts now mixed with each other’s, and the silence was filled with a sense of tension between the both of us.
Shiyori gazed into my eyes as if she were trying to look into me and then closed them. Perhaps there is some sort of hesitation in Shiyori’s mind. No doubt, she must be considering whether or not she should involve me in this or not.
I was glad for her concern, but I had already made up my mind.
“Shiyori…”
“… waa~ ii.”
[TL notes: ye~ sh.]
Shiyori clasped her both hands in front of her as if she was praying.
“Please tell me who it was that slapped your cheeks.”
“… Fueh!?”
Suddenly, Shiyori raised a startled, unabashed voice. Are? What is with that reaction…
“Eh, ah, yes! I mean, in addition to the girls in our class… I was called by the girls in Sakaguchi-san’s class… A–and since I had nothing to do with Sakaguchi-san, and I didn’t really understand what they were even talking about, I just thought that if I just nodded my head and said, ‘Yes, yes’ and kept my mouth shut, everything would get solved… su!”
“And the reason why you were with Sakaguchi earlier…”
“Eh, umm, since I heard a rumor that those girls bullied me because of Sakaguchi-kun, I wondered if it was true at all… Ah… and since I’ve known Sakaguchi-kun for a while, I mean, we’re on the same library board, and we had just finished now, I thought, well, you know. How should I say it…? Umm… h~a~u~u…”
“I–I see.”
She said that so fast. It was the first time I heard Shiyori speak so hurriedly. And not only that, she was clenching both of her fists and coming at me all the more forcefully as if she was trying to persuade me. Since it was not her usual self, I was so overwhelmed by her behavior that I almost froze in my tracks.
—Ah, but now I see.
Somehow, I could see in the background where Shiyori got hit with a punch. Shiyori’s statement and Sakaguchi’s attitude, as seen earlier… So this shouldn’t be too far from what has happened as well… but something still stuck out to me.
Most likely, Shiyori didn’t tell me the whole story yet, or so I felt. For now, I am satisfied with this. Even if it is just a little… It still matters to me that she went and shared that with me.
“Shiyori.”
“YE, YESH!”
“Thank you for sharing it with me.”
“*blush* A– uh…”
Yes, just like now. Even if little by little, if she were to speak to me about her thoughts and feelings fully, then that would be really good.
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