My Childhood Friend, Sometimes a Schoolgirl—She Only Wears That Ribbon Around Me - Episode 23

“Good morning, Sora!”

It was a damp, sticky June morning that made you want to crawl back into bed.

The intercom buzzed, and when I opened the front door, a familiar face was waiting outside.

“Ah… Morning, Yua.”

With a mostly black wolf-cut hairstyle and just the nape dyed red, wearing the standard boys’ school blazer, there stood my childhood friend, Yushiro Yua. I sighed a little but greeted her back.

“You’re not ready yet? Your hair’s a total mess.”

“My hair’s a mess, yeah, but I’ve already eaten and changed. Actually, I’m getting ready faster than I used to. I figured you’d show up again today anyway.”

It had been about a week since I’d invited Yua over to the Tsuzuki house. Ever since that day, she’d been ringing my doorbell every morning before school.

“Seriously, how do you wake up early like this every single day?”

“My grandma gets up really early, and I end up waking from all the noise.”

“Still, you don’t have to come pick me up every morning. You can just go on ahead.”

“But what if you’re late? You’re not a morning person, Sora!”

“That’s true, but I’m not a little kid anymore, you know…”

Back in elementary school, we used to walk to school in a group, and I was always the one showing up late.

It was always the same reason: I overslept. And every time, Yua, who was in the same group, would come to my house to wake me up and walk with me to the meeting spot.

But that was years ago. I still suck at mornings, but I’ve grown up enough that I almost never show up late anymore. I can function like a decent human being now.

“Our houses are close, and we go to the same school—doesn’t it make sense to go together? Isn’t it more fun that way?”

“Yeah, but walking together makes us stand out…”

“Standing out is a good thing! After all, you’re the one protecting me at school, right?”

Because of past bullying, Yua still finds it hard to trust people. On the walk home after that dinner at my house, I promised her I’d have her back at school too.

But I never imagined that would turn into us spending every morning together. And now, we even go home together after school.

When we get off at the station near school, I can feel the icy stares of her fangirls—the “Yuu Squad”—burning into my back. Even though I’ve done nothing wrong, I get a lot of dirty looks and even some audible scoffs.

At this point, I’m more like her bodyguard than her classmate, trying to protect her from the overzealous fans. Except lately, it’s starting to feel like I’m the one in danger.

“Alright, come inside for now. If we keep chatting out here, we’re really gonna be late.”

“Okay! Want me to help fix your hair?”

“If people think I’m getting too full of myself, I might actually get stabbed, so I’ll pass for now.”

“Stabbed?”

“…It’s a long story.”

I invited Yua inside, then rushed off alone to the bathroom to fix my hair.

The train ride brought us to the station near school, and we walked side by side along the path to campus.

Thanks to Yua, other students kept their distance. In exchange, I could hear whispers from girls behind us—”Who’s that guy walking with Yuu-sama?” Their stares felt like needles in my back.

“I’ve been dealing with this for days now, and I’m still not used to it…”

Even after we passed through the school gates, the stares didn’t stop. I could feel my mental stamina wearing thin.

I glanced at Yua out of the corner of my eye, curious about how she was handling the attention. Despite being the center of so much focus, she acted like it was nothing.

Maybe she’d just gotten used to it after all this time. I thought, kind of bitterly, that being too good-looking has its downsides. But still, I couldn’t help but envy her a little.

“You look down. Something wrong, Sora?”

She changed the way she called me—from “Sora-kun” to just “Sora”—and leaned in to study my face.

“Don’t suddenly lean in like that. It messes with my confidence.”

“Why would it?”

She really doesn’t realize how good-looking she is in her boyish getup, does she?

She seems aware that people stare, but she probably thinks it’s just because of the novelty of her crossdressing, not because of her actual face.

There’s nothing more frustrating than a totally oblivious good-looking person…

“When a regular guy hangs out with someone really attractive, it kind of makes you feel like everyone’s comparing you, you know? Most guys would get a little insecure.”

“Everyone has different tastes. You don’t need to worry about that.”

“That’s easy for someone with a face everyone likes to say.”

“I don’t think my look’s that universally appealing. I mean, come on—I’ve got a wolf cut with just the nape dyed red. That’s pretty niche, right?”

Yua twirled the red tips of her hair with her finger, unknowingly stabbing me right in the ego.

“Getting approval from the one person you want it from is way better than being liked by everyone. And no matter who you are, there’s always someone out there who finds you attractive.”

Right after saying that, she suddenly grabbed my arm and yanked me toward her. I stumbled, nearly losing my balance.

“And for the record, I really like your face and body, Sora.”

“…!”

Her voice was low and sweet, whispered right into my ear—and my entire face went red in an instant.

I quickly pushed her away, and she just grinned mischievously.

Don’t just hit me with that out of nowhere! My heart can’t take it!

“No need to shove me away so fast. You’re gonna hurt my feelings.”

“I didn’t pull away because I hated it or anything… And anyway, we’re here.”

Before I knew it, we’d arrived at the entrance of the school building.

“Later, Yua. Though I bet you’ll come visit Class 4 again during lunch, huh?”

I turned toward my locker, calling back to her over my shoulder.

“That’s the plan. Though we’ll see each other before that too.”

“Don’t tell me you’re coming by during regular breaks now? At least spend your ten-minute break in your own classroom.”

“No, no. Today in P.E., our class is doing fitness testing with Classes 4 and 6, remember?”

“Oh. Right… That’s true.”

Yua’s words reminded me of what our P.E. teacher said last class—that today, the boys and girls from Classes 4, 5, and 6 would be doing a joint session.

It’s the first time we’ll have P.E. together in high school. And just thinking about it, I can already picture the girls going wild over Yua during class.

“Let’s both do our best. I’m really looking forward to seeing how cool you are, Sora.”

After changing into her indoor shoes, Yua gave me a wave and walked off toward the stairs. I gave her a small wave back and watched her go.

“Feels like she just casually dumped a bunch of pressure on me…”

Normally, P.E. is done in separate classes for boys and girls, but during fitness tests, everyone’s lumped together.

If it were just the guys, I wouldn’t care. But with Yua there, I can’t afford to look lame in front of everyone.

And more than that… there’s one person in my class who I just can’t help but be aware of.

Looks like I’ll actually have to take this fitness test seriously.