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Chapter 16: The Person She Likes.
With midterms over, and now it was a few days after the ranking announcement. The weather began to change, and it started to rain often in the morning. I haven’t been able to see a blue sky all week, and I began to feel my hair frizzy up thanks to the humidity.
However, it wasn’t just because of the rain that caused my hair to frizzle. Ever since the exam, things haven’t gone as planned. Because of that, my surroundings have been more hectic these past few days.
First off, because my test results were higher than when I was a first year, I was now at the top of my grade. That led to me being called to the Student Guidance Office.
Well what would a teacher think if a student that has ranged from always getting above to below average in the first year suddenly jumps to top of the school. I wasn’t questioned about cheating because there was no evidence, but perhaps there is now distrust surrounding me.
Before this I was feeling proud. Despite that I was questioned. I haven’t done anything wrong, but having them not believe me is making me feel depressed.
And for some reason, my schoolmates know about it. There are rumors that “I was cheating” along with the counter response “She is amazing”. It is a little annoying. Sara got second place, and I got first place. I went overboard. Thanks to that I am the talk of the school. Fortunately, it seems that there are no similar rumors about Sara. That’s my only blessing.
“The Art Club knew you were taking a break from club activities to go home early and study. We have no doubt you didn’t cheat.”
“Yeah. I’m glad the club at least has my back. . .”
“ That’s also why “Senpai, you are amazing! Please teach me your routine next time.””
“Stop it, because the only pupil I have is Sara.”
Yoko’s impersonation of Aoi was aggravating. She said that  in club activities the other day. With her big shining eyes and a sign written with a big marker “Amazing!” she said that regrettable line as I walked in. And behind her was Koharu with her still black smile.
“Shimamoto-chan is very fond of Shiori. It must be nice being loved by your juniors.”
“. . .That’s not true. Yoko is on better terms with her.”
I want you to stop saying such ominous things. I want to reduce her favorability for me as much as possible, and limit our possible meeting points.
“Well, she is usually on good terms with everybody, but I think she especially likes Shiori. Whenever I try to talk to her, she is so cute and lovable.”
“. . .That’s not ture.”
I can’t endure it when we meet! I’d like to say that I hate it, but I’m sad I can’t deny it.
Certainly I do think Aoi is very friendly when it comes to me. I would always act more cold with her, and not give her a ton of attention. Despite that, she would always go to me with an innocent smile whether she was aware of it or not. Is this the Sub-heroine effect?
If I didn’t know anything about this world, I would have been honest and happy, I would have surely doted on her. Aoi herself isn’t bad at all, So I can’t help but feel terribly guilty for treating her coldy. I want to be kinder to her, but I also want to be kinder to Koharu seeing as I’m trying to be safe.
“Just leave me alone, I don’t want to be popular with Shimamoto-san, I’m still full of thoughts about Sara.”
“Obviously. You’ve been like this since spring.”
Yeah, That’s the biggest reason my heart has gone gray.
According to Yoko’s informant, Because she is now a top performer, Sara’s position has shifted from “Cute Freshman” to “Talented Beauty Beyond Mortals”. She now seems to have more opportunities to talk to female classmates after they now acknowledge her skills , but it can’t be said she is becoming friends with them.
Although I was hoping that there would be another chance to be able to blend in with one more push, I couldn’t come up with a plan for it. In the first place, I’m not the type of person who can make myself seem friendly and pleasant to everyone, so it isn’t easy to come up with a good idea. I just had to show off the charm of Sara! Though I feel like it’s a double edge blade.
“Speaking of Sara-chan, Tomoda said she heard Sara-chan shot down a confession, saying she said “I’m not planning on going out with anyone right now.”.”
“Tomoda. . .Ah, your friend from Tsubakigaoka? That was her name?”
“I didn’t tell you? Well, whatever. It seems that Tomoda lectured Sara-chan, saying something like “It’s hard to give up if you’re just told that. So you should say you have someone you like, right?””
“Ahh, I see. That makes sense, right?”
I’ve never heard about how to decline a confession. I thought that it was simple to just politely refuse, so I never thought it was a problem, but it may be too weak of a refusal. It gives the person a thought that they have a chance.
“So. Now onto the real topic.”
I have a bad feeling about this. She gave me her ill tempered tone. I could just guess what was coming after a bad friend’s grin. It wouldn’t be anything good, but because it was related to Sara, I urged her to continue.
“She took that advice and elaborated on her refusal, now saying “because there is someone I like.”, but who are they talking about right~? Sara-chan seems to have said it was “A senior from another school.” I wonder who that is ~ Well?”
“. . .I think it was just something to say.”
“She was specific, it seems that the person is smart, very kind, and good at cooking. And how they met was when they lent her an umbrella in a rainstorm, I wonder who that really is~?”
“. . . . .Well”
I got it, this is definitely referencing me, but I don’t think it’s necessary to go through the trouble of entertaining Yoko.
Although she just said that for the convenience of getting people out of her hair, I was happy that she liked me enough to be her model. The next time we meet, if I was to tell her I heard about it, she would surely go red and say “No! I didn’t mean it like that!” Ahh, seeing her confused cute face. I’m looking forward to it.
“Ah, I want to be liked by cute girls~~.”
“Yeah, yeah.”
“Ah, don’t you want to be called by a fidgeting junior, bashfully asking from the classroom door. ”Senpai, can we have a little talk. . .”
“Oh, there isn’t a bashful junior, but it seems that there is somebody asking for you.”
“Eh?”
I interjected, Yoko looked at me confused, so I pointed behind her towards the classroom door. The student council president was beckoning her with a very kind smile.
Yoko’s face turned pale in an instant as she muttered “Ah, I forgot.”
“O-i, Truant secretary. Let’s have a little talk.”
I saw her stand up and make an excuse, then head towards the door disoriented.
I used this peace to think about what we just talked about.
I’ve never talked about romance with Sara, but she probably is just using me as a model. She likely doesn’t have anybody she likes right now.
In the yuri works I read, it’s a rule whenever my friends talk about somebody they are interested in, I usually mentally replace the guy with a girl.
It’s my problem I have. But what if. . .
“If I wasn’t the model, I could have happily enjoyed my Yuri delusions.”
Ahh, Forgive me. If it was another girl, this overcast cloudy mood would have been blown away by the wings of delusion. It would fill me for three meals. But Recently I’ve been so busy that I couldn’t partake.
Despite that, I am happy that she likes me enough to be the model, it made the cloudy mood a bit brighter. The heart is complicated.
Later on.
It seems that she was able to more easily blend in with the girls at her school. The rumor of Sara having a crush became a hot topic.
Romance is a favorite conversation between high school girls.
She was asked what kind of person do you like, what kind of places do you like. Those are easy steps on the path of getting along with somebody.
Sara’s unrequited love for a boy in another school, who had insanely high-spec, was the talk of the school.
I’m sorry to disappoint you, but I am just an ordinary high school girl who just happens to be good with studying.
“Tomoda-san did the ultimate service.”
“Nah, Shiori-san also played a big role, being her favorite person!”
I wrapped my brain around to make a strategy but it didn’t end up happening. It’s a little frustrating that my advice wasn’t the deciding factor, but that’s trivial when compared to Sara’s happiness.
It’s also trivial to hear Sara talking about how lovely her “Favorite Person” is . . . I did want it to stop if possible, but that’s also a trivial thing.
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TN:
Shiori is in Yuri denial! It’s an emergency, only a straight confession can fix it.
This honestly does make sense. Shiori or whatever her previous name was, is from the real world. It’s not common for two close friends to = romantically interested. She’s also never been in a relationship or found love. So it’s just not fazing her while also living with her, living as an adult memories.
THAT being said, she hasn’t realized the true extent about it not being the real world, it’s a yuri world. Doesn’t matter if there are guys there. Sara was gay in the game, so you could also assume it’d be true here.
Next chapter will be from Sara’s Pov. So look forward to it!