The case where I was gradually getting buried in the heavy love of my childhood friend who had miraculously recovered from their illness was perfect!

Chapter 41 : Her True Face

This is just a simple scene.

Let’s rewind time for a bit to a moment during a challenging proficiency test that not only Nagisa and Rion’s class but the entire school participated in, seeking meal tickets and sweets vouchers. They pooled all their abilities and took on the test.

“What’s with this question…”

“Huh? What is this?”

“…Isn’t it too easy?”

Though they were in the middle of the test, these words were muttered softly around.

Of course, it wasn’t loud enough for others to hear, not even reaching Aizawa-sensei, who was patrolling the area. However, there was a reason why such voices were whispered. In the kanji reading section, there was a question asking for the reading of the kanji for “beloved.”

“…Beloved, huh. A service question, maybe?”

Nagisa also considered it that way. The teacher who created this test, regardless of their intentions, made it easy, but the word “beloved” has a precious and beautiful sound to it. In solving this problem, many students imagined their own beloved ones, be it family, lovers, or even causing some to want to cry a little depending on the presence or absence of a significant other. The reactions varied.

“Beloved… beloved, is it?”

Every time she muttered those words, Rion thought of someone who is always by her side — Nagisa.

“Hehe~♪”

Important memories related to Nagisa are sealed deep in Rion’s heart. She has been feeling something akin to that recently, but for now, let’s leave that aside. In this unique proficiency test where the results don’t affect grades much, Rion, perhaps because she was thinking about her childhood friend, made an unexpected mistake.

“Ah, we can’t afford to be lost in thought.”

Swiftly, Rion finished that question. However, her answer was far from correct — Beloved = Nagisa. This was Rion’s unexpected answer. It had a convincing power to it, enough for acquaintances to nod and think it’s natural.

“Well, there’s no need to review… I don’t make mistakes.”

Rion had absolute confidence in her answer to the point where no review was necessary. The support for this was that she had never made a mistake like this before. She realized the mistake the moment she made it, and she had enough mistakes to count on one hand — Rion was just that much of a genius.

‘Now, how about the others… Is Nagi-kun okay?’

You can’t really say you notice your own mistakes. Thus, the test concluded, and the teacher who graded the papers was astonished. Because the students entering this high school were at a level where they shouldn’t make mistakes in such a problem. Moreover, the one who made the mistake was Rion, the representative of the newcomers and the one who scored full marks on the entrance exam.

“Nagisa… What is this word? Is there some intention behind mentioning it, Tohsaka-san? Or is it some kind of challenge to us teachers?”

Rion’s mistake led to strange thoughts. Nagisa and Tohsaka, two students, were in the same class, but Rion’s answer didn’t seem to care about that. In the end, the intention was unclear, and Rion’s answer was considered incorrect.

By the way, Rion was the only one who made a mistake in this problem.

▽▼▽▼▽▼

It happened one afterschool when Rion and I were out. After browsing through bookstores and general stores, Rion suggested we walk a bit more. As we strolled through the town…

“Hehe~♪”

I don’t know what she’s thinking, but Rion seems to be in a good mood today.

“Hey, what’s up?”

“No, I just thought you seemed to be in a good mood.”

“Is that so? Well, going out like this can be enjoyable.”

Well, that’s nice of her to say. I smiled seeing her adorable antics. Now, as I watch Rion walking beside me, what catches my eye is the beret she’s wearing—the one I gave her as a get-well gift.

“You really treasure that, don’t you?”

Pointing at the beret, I said. I chose a white color to match her black hair, and it never seems to lose its pure whiteness, as if it’s protected by some mysterious force. Rion took off the beret and hugged it carefully.

“This is a real treasure for me… Look at it. It’s not dirty at all, right?”

“Yeah.”

Indeed, it’s mysteriously clean.

“I’m really happy that you’re treasuring it like this… By the way, I’ve never seen you drop it on the ground or anything.”

“I’ve never done that, absolutely. I’ll never do anything to dirty this hat.”

“I see… If you treasure it that much, I’ll be glad.”

Well, now that I think about it, this sight of Rion wearing the beret has become the default, like this is what Rion is supposed to be. If she treasures it this much, she’ll probably keep wearing it for a long time.

“Ah…”

At that moment, Rion noticed something. I also turned my eyes to see a crowd gathering, making noise.

“Could it be that? Isn’t Saijo-san’s off today?”

“Ah, maybe…”

Come to think of it, she did mention she has a gravure event soon. Regardless of it being an anniversary or not, some classmates were eager to go since it’s an event by a fellow student from the same school. Wada-kun, especially, with his otaku passion, had dashed out of the classroom the moment school ended.

“Do you want to check it out?”

“I want to see… I mean, it’s interesting to know how a classmate from the same school does that kind of job.”

“I see, there’s some logic to that.”

And so, since we were already there, we decided to take a look. Despite seeing several classmates and fellow students, there were so many people, young and old, gathering around, showing how popular Saijo-san was.

“…”

“Rion.”

Due to the intense flow of people, I firmly placed my hand on Rion’s shoulder and pulled her close to make sure she wouldn’t get separated from me.

“With this, there’s no need to worry about getting lost, right?”

“Nagi-kun… hehe~, you’re so kind.”

“What are you talking about? Honestly, I shouldn’t have brought you here in the first place…”

“That may be true, but there’s no turning back now.”

Certainly, it felt like there was no turning back.

As I proceeded slowly while holding Rion’s hand, I heard a familiar voice. The voice coming through the microphone belonged to Saijo-san, who was attracting many glances in her casual clothes instead of a uniform.

“How lovely.”

“…Yeah.”

It was a different sight from what we see in magazines — a live look at her in casual clothes. Well, I couldn’t help but gaze at her closely, considering she was a famous idol. In the end, my feelings didn’t go beyond that, but I genuinely thought Saijo-san in casual clothes, like Rion, was really cute.

“Today, many friends from the same school have come to see me. I’m really happy about that.”

At those words, a group that seemed to be classmates cheered. I glanced around, trying to find Wada-kun, but couldn’t spot him. And then, an unexpected event occurred.

“Restrain him!”

“What are you doing!!”

Suddenly, such shouts echoed. The excited voices of fans quieted down, and security personnel rushed in a certain direction. It seemed like there was a suspicious person, but when it came to someone like her, she probably had to deal with stalker-like individuals. I couldn’t help but lightly think about it, much to Saijo-san’s inconvenience.

“What’s happening?”

“Well… I feel sorry for Saijo-san that such a situation occurred, but I wonder if I’m heartless to think this way, stopping at that.”

“That’s not true. I know you’re kind… or rather, it makes me happy from my perspective.”

“Huh?”

At that point, Rion said this.

“Hey, Nagi-kun, that person is probably something close to a stalker. Maybe they even have a weapon.”

“That’s… scary.”

“It’s very… very scary. But why do you think… Saijo-san is smiling?”

“…Huh?”

When she said that and I looked at Saijo-san, she was indeed smiling.

☆☆☆☆☆☆

If you are enjoying the translation, do rate the novel 5 stars on our site and novelupdates.