Only the princess of the school notices me, who almost does not exist - Episode 14.1: Friends With The Princess.
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- Only the princess of the school notices me, who almost does not exist
- Episode 14.1: Friends With The Princess.
Friends With The Princess.
I, Ebato Ren, was standing alone on the balcony looking up at the night sky.
I didn’t have the reference book in my hand… I put it on my desk next to me, but I don’t feel like reading it now.
“Friends, Huh…”
I was still mulling over the true meaning of Shirakawa Sayo’s words on my way home from a hair salon earlier.
Once again, [friends] have never ”existed” for me.
Because of this mindset of mine, anyone would have forgotten about my existence in a second.
…For years and years, my friends have been forgetting about me.
The mysterious quote I said in Ch2 was originally from one of those former friends.
…Ah right, let’s take a sip of the coffee before it gets cold.
It was cold outside indeed, which was why I was wearing the muffler. But it was hard to drink with it on. I lowered my muffler slightly.
“…Muffler, huh?”
The muffler reminded me that usually a gift, in the first place, was given when one was in a relationship with the others… a type of relationship where they were not forced to do so.
In other words, it was a relationship that was more than an acquaintance, I must admit.
“Even though…”
I don’t recognize Sayo as a friend yet.
… to be correct, I want to, But…
But the position of mine [A Neighbor] was more than acquaintance and less than friend…. then it was a fact and I didn’t mind admitting it.
But she firmly said ‘friend.’ …Why did she say that?
“Hmmm…”
“You’ve been mumbling something for a while now. What’s going on?”
“Whoa!”
Man, she scared the hell out of me…
I turned towards Sayo, who seemed to have stepped out onto her balcony, as usual.
“Don’t stare at me so much. Good afternoon.”
I said earlier at ….Ch 9 that a glare is my greeting, so Sayo chuckled and greeted me politely.
I spoke intimidatingly, not stopping my glaring at her.
“… Since when were you there…?”
I spoke what I had exactly in my mind.
According to how long this girl had been listening to my mumblings, …it’s going to be very sluggish in my opinion.
Sayo seemed to be thinking about how to respond to my question with her finger on her cheek.
After a bit, she simply nodded.
” I guess I was already here when you mumbled ‘Muffler huh?’ for the first time.”
“Not for the first time, aren’t you here from the beginning.”
If it had been more than a minute ago, the essence of the problem could have been discovered by her. The balcony was surely a dangerous place to be.
…However, as far as I can see, it seems that she hasn’t been able to guess what I was thinking.
Sayo suddenly turned her gaze toward my head, which again made me roll my eyes.
Then, she smiled the same smile she did when we met in front of the hair salon and laughed, “fufufu~~”
“I see that you have been using the winter wear I gave you on the balcony as well.”
…It was kind of awkward.
I squinted my eyes and strengthened my glare so that she wouldn’t realize it.
“Because it’s cold indeed, so what’s wrong?”
“No, I’m glad. You seem to like my gift.”
“…I suppose.”
I feel soooo humiliated. I want to change the subject here….
I couldn’t figure out what to ask at this point, …so I guessed I’d take the risk and ask.
“..Speaking of which, what do you mean by ‘friend’ that you mentioned on our way home from the salon?…I thought our relationship was supposed to be just ‘A Neighbor’, right?”
Upon hearing this, Sayo rolled her eyes and then smiled at me.
I thought I asked a perfectly legitimate question, but was there something funny about it?
“I don’t know about that. But it’s true that being neighbors makes you more than just acquaintances.”
As if she had grasped all my thoughts, Sayo said this with a smile.
Then Sayo continued, “But,”
“That’s almost the same position as an acquaintance, in my opinion. So aren’t we definitely more than acquaintances?”
…I see, I agree with her on that, then I guess we are in the same boat.
So I first told her, “You’re right, that’s true,” and agreed with her.
“Then──”
“Well, wait a minute. I’m not done talking.”
Sayo tried to build another theory, but I was not finished with my statement yet.
I laid them out in a matter-of-fact tone as I put each definition together in my mind.
”But I still think you can talk your way out of your current relationship with ‘ A Neighbor'”.
At any rate, it would be better to just say the conclusion first.
Hearing this, Sayo looked a little sullen, but she continued.
“I think that neighbors usually do the minimum necessary to help each other, such as sharing food.”
I mean, I feel like that’s pretty much the reason why the relationship is going on right now.
I lent her my umbrella and Sayo took care of me …and that was where this strange relationship started.
I still went on, remembering what happened about three months ago.
”And then there was the payment for that mutual help as a ‘Gifts.’ That was what you said when you gave this to me, Shirakawa.”
”I’m very grateful for your help.”
I said as I lifted the muffler around my neck.
As for the last thing on the list, it’s the one on Ch 12
I felt like I had been theorizing long enough, but besides that, I still went on.
The next one was the one that should still be inadequate if we were going to be ‘friends.
“‘Friends’ are the people you talk to on a daily basis without any reason to do so, right?”
I don’t have a detailed grasp of the …[friend] concept itself, but that’s what it would normally be like.
But Sayo and I don’t have that kind of thing.
“We’re just helping each other out and making small talk and stuff. So I don’t think we go as far as ‘friends’?”
All of the above made me question how Sayo and I could be described as [friends].
….I don’t think even Sayo can argue with this.
Sure enough, Sayo was busy looking for a counter-argument, “Ahmm…”
At that point, it was as if it had already been decided that I had won.
It is now clear that we are not [friends].
Sayo raised her eyebrows and looked like she was beginning to think about something else.
I looked at her and she nodded, but Shirakawa looked as if she had given up and looked at me.
“Then… would you like to be my friend now?”
“What…?”
What is she saying all of a sudden…?
Why would I Nod my head on──
“Now, with our mutual approval, will you be my friend?”
Sayo looked me in the eye as she intensified her pressure.
“Can you tell me the benefit of being friends, If I agree on that…?”
I was not struck by the superior look, but I was curious as to why she would go to such lengths, so I asked her.
I don’t remember ever having the benefit of making [friends] before. ….Now that’s a pretty important question.
As I stared quietly at her, Sayo smiled at me in a way I had never seen before.
“Having [friends] is the benefit itself.”
“What…?”
No wait, what do you mean…?
As if to lead me to the answer, Sayo again spoke up slowly.
“You said you were ‘used to it,’ rather than making a disinterested remark like, ‘I don’t care,’ about the current situation of not being noticed by anyone, Ebato-san.”
I felt a sudden jolt and my body leaped a little.
I remember saying that… it was, I think, after I saved her from the bullies in Ch4…
Sayo continued.
“Isn’t that at least a statement that comes from the feeling of ‘loneliness’?”
Again, I felt another jolt, and my body leaped a little.
This time, it was blatantly more …obvious than before.
Sayo nodded, perhaps convinced by my reaction.
“That loneliness affects social interaction and can be resolved with [friends]. That is the [benefit] of having [friends], Ren-san.”
I bit my tongue in anger at Sayo’s proof.
I could no longer do anything but nod. …However, one more problem had not been solved yet.
“I have a… condition.”
I turned my head and spoke forcefully.
Sayo suddenly fell silent at my words and looked at me as if to ask me.
I bit back the shame of saying these words, took a deep breath and said…
“Once you become a friend of mine, don’t go back on it. And don’t ever, ever let me go naturally.”
…Even if …she may wonder if we are still in the same realm of ‘friends’ we talked about before, it doesn’t matter.
I could see the benefits, but the most important thing for …me was to continue the relationship.
For a while, there was silence between me and Sayo.
I was worried that she would not agree on that… then Sayo broke the silence.
“I understand, and I will honor this friendship. So, Ebato-san, please be my friend.”
My eyes widened.
I had no idea that she would agree to terms that might take us out of the realm of friends.
Then I raised both hands.
I nodded …in surrender.
Then, Sayo’s expression brightened as she looked at me.
“Then, Ebato Ren-san, I will be in your care from now on.”
“Yeah….”
And once again, it was decided here that I, Ebato Ren and Shirakawa Sayo were friends.
But ….I already had enough of this creepy feeling and didn’t want to talk to her anymore.
“Ahh, please wait a minute.”
I tried to go back to my room, but then she stopped me.
…I can’t ignore it, indeed.
In fact, I’d like to get under the covers and writhe in agony right now…
“What now….?”
“Now that we’re friends, why don’t we exchange contact?”
Sayo suggested this with her phone in hand, pointing at it.
….Ahh, well, I do have a smartphone.
“I-I get it… Here…”
I took out my phone, quickly opened the chat app and showed them the QR code.
Sayo smiled with satisfaction and scanned my QR code.
Sayo sent me a stamp of a rabbit saying [hello] in the chat.
The rabbit was white and round, and like Sayo, it bowed its head politely.
I took the liberty of sending her a stamp of an official character from the chat application.
…No, it’s not that I don’t have a stamp, okay?
“Thank you very much.”
“Let’s just hope this stamp isn’t the only thing with which the chat will end.”
I smiled awkwardly at her, managing to suppress the feeling of wanting to writhe in agony, which was quite humiliating.
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