What's Wrong With Interfering With My Childhood Friend's Love?

Chapter 28 : I’m Sorry

Today was exhausting… not physically, but mostly mentally.

Still, I was glad to have made it home safely.

“I’m home.”

“Chaa~”

As I opened the front door, I was greeted by Charo… and Miumi, who was holding Charo close to her face. The little creature was completely covering her vision, making it hard to believe she could see anything at all. And yet, for some reason, Miumi wasn’t trying to pull Charo off.

“Welcome home, Riku-kun.”

“…What’s going on, Miumi?”

“When I got back, Charo suddenly jumped onto my face, so I just left it like this.”

“Jumped onto your face…?”

“It’s too dark to do anything.”

“Well, yeah! I mean, why not just pull it off… If you give Charo some food, it’ll go to sleep right away.”

“I’ll do tha — kyaa!”

“Chaa!”

Just as Miumi was about to gently remove Charo, the little creature suddenly leaped toward my head instead. In an instant, my vision went completely dark.

But now I understood why Miumi hadn’t pulled Charo off. The fur on its belly was incredibly soft. As I tried to force it away, Charo started playfully ruffling my hair.

“Hey— Charo, stop…! You’re taking a bath tonight!”

“Cha-cha!?”

Scratching my hair like that wasn’t a form of affection, and it definitely wasn’t something it should be doing. When I slowly pried it off, Charo slipped right out of my hands and landed on Miumi’s shoulder.

I hadn’t seen Miumi in about an hour, but for some reason, her face was flushed red, and she looked like she had trouble finding the right words.

“Oh, thank you…”

“Hmm…? What do you mean?”

“No, um… I just thought… even if a pet is kept strictly indoors, they still need to be washed…”

“Oh, that’s what you meant… Yeah, well, you saw how it was messing with my hair, right?”

“Y-yes, that’s true.”

“Hair is dirty, after all. I don’t want Charo getting sick, so it’s necessary.”

“I see… so that’s how it is…”

I wasn’t sure if she fully understood, but Miumi started fidgeting with her own hair and looked away. I hadn’t said anything about her hair being dirty, but maybe she took it that way and got self-conscious.

“Chaa~”

Meanwhile, Charo was as energetic as ever. Unlike us, it seemed to have an endless supply of energy. I had left plenty of food before heading out, so it probably wasn’t as hungry as Miumi assumed.

“By the way, was your way home alright?”

“I took a detour. I hurried back before it got dark, so everything was fine.”

That was good to hear. The ‘detour’ probably meant she intentionally took a longer route to make sure no one figured out where she lived.

“…I see. Oh yeah, how was Akito? He’s a good guy, right?”

“Well… If you think so, Riku-kun, then maybe he is.”

“Hm…? That was a pretty vague answer. Did something happen?”

“No, nothing happened.”

“Really?”

“It’s just… he has a way of getting close to people that kind of caught me off guard.”

She didn’t seem uncomfortable earlier, but maybe she had just masked it well with her usual cheerful demeanor.

Actually, now that I thought about it… there was something I wanted to ask her.

“Ah, yeah. Speaking of earlier, Miumi, you…”

“Yes? What about me?”

“Well, there’s a lot I want to talk about, but… let’s take a break for now.”

“Oh, okay. I’ll go prepare dinner, then.”

I just said we should take a break, so why was she already trying to work?

On a day like this, I wouldn’t have minded eating out, but Miumi’s cooking was way better, and she was passionate about it, so it was hard to argue against her.

Whenever I offered to help with cooking, she would always make a genuinely displeased face — without even saying anything. So instead, I helped out in small ways, like wiping down the table.

◇◇◇◇◇◇

And as usual, we ended up sitting down together. I started with the topic I wanted to ask about.

“Honestly, I didn’t expect to see you today, Miumi.”

“Yeah… I was surprised too.”

“And on top of that, the way you spoke and acted was completely different from how you are at home. I almost didn’t recognize you.”

“I didn’t expect to run into you either, Riku-kun, so I never mentioned it. But it’s not like I was trying to keep it a secret.”

“I didn’t think you were hiding anything.”

That time when she suddenly hung up the phone—she had probably been keeping it from Amagishi, not me.

“From what I saw today, I think I get it now… The way you act at home is the real you, isn’t it?”

“Yes. At first, I wasn’t sure how to act around you, Riku-kun.”

“You weren’t sure…?”

“After greeting you, I was still a bit flustered… and I guess that feeling just lingered.”

Was there really anything to be flustered about when we first met? I couldn’t recall anything like that, but since she brought it up herself, maybe I had just forgotten.

Miumi had blended in so seamlessly that I never even noticed. And now, I was starting to feel a strange sense of unease about it.

“Doesn’t it get exhausting, switching how you act like that?”

“I’m fine.”

“If you say so…”

“Well… don’t you adjust how you speak depending on the person, Riku-kun?”

Now that she mentioned it, I did make an effort to adjust my tone when talking to Suisei.

I tilted my head, trying to fully grasp her point, and Miumi added,

“For example, some people use polite language when talking to teachers but speak casually with their friends.”

“Yeah, that’s pretty common.”

“For most people, speaking casually with their friends is what feels natural to them.”

“That makes sense… but for you, it’s the opposite?”

“Yes. The way I talk to you, Riku-kun, feels the most natural to me.”

“Then why do you speak differently at school or with your friends?”

It sounded like she was constantly adjusting herself to fit in with others.

There was something about that idea that didn’t sit right with me.

“Because… I don’t want to stand out, I suppose.”

“I see… I guess I wouldn’t really know, since I never went to an all-girls’ school.”

“When I talk to my friends, I always end up overthinking things… I never know how to talk to them as equals. So I just started mimicking the people who are good at socializing, and before I knew it, this is how I spoke.”

It seemed like Miumi naturally had a habit of being overly considerate of others.

But I still didn’t understand why she was so deeply concerned about things like that.

☆☆☆☆☆☆

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

Thank you for reading! Feel free to comment your opinions below!

Also, if you enjoyed my translation, support me by donating a cup of Coffee through Ko-Fi.

The option to donate is available on the top of the page.

Found any errors or typos? Feel free to contact me on Discord.

TL : zenon_xt