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Chapter 3 – Interacting With Enami-san\nVolume 1\n<hr class="wp-block-separator is-style-wide">\n“Was it that evident on my face?”\n
I didn’t think I was showing it on my face. But it was true that I was thinking, so I might have been vulnerable.\n
“It was. Your lips were twitching and your eyes were swimming. I didn’t think you’d let it show.”\n
She was still giggling. I felt strangely embarrassed and turned away.\n
“That’s right. The teacher asked me to do it. Enami-san, you were scolded by the teacher last week, right? After that, Fujisaki and I were called in and asked if we could do something about it.”\n
“You’re doing a great job being honest.”\n
Enami-san said so while loosening her mouth.\n
When I heard those words, I paused.\n
–What?\n
I felt a strange sensation fly into my chest.\n
Did she just treat me like a child? This me? It was said so naturally that my brain couldn’t catch up with it right away.\n
“What’s wrong?”\n
Enami-san looked doubtful. But I was embarrassed to ask her if she treated me like a child. In the end, all I could do was say, “It’s nothing”.\n
“You didn’t look like it was nothing at all.\n
“You’re noisy. I’m just surprised that you found out so easily.”\n
“Hmm.”\n
I’m out of sorts when I talk to Enami-san. So I knew it was true. She’s playing with me, trying to get back at me.\n
I also realized that I had a strange sense of pride inside me. I’ve always been a good boy at home and school. I don’t have many to rely on, but I was relied on countless times. I’m aware that I’m more solid than others, and I’m proud of that.\n
\n
That’s why I’m a little annoyed when people suddenly say, “You’re doing a great job being honest”. I want to shout at the top of my lungs that I am not the kind of person to be told that.\n
“What’s wrong with you, shutting up suddenly?”\n
“…… No”\n
It seems my emotions are easily expressed on my face. If that’s the case, I don’t want her to think I’m upset about this. So I tried to keep my face as expressionless as possible.\n
“By the way, what did the teacher say to you? If I reform, will you be given a higher grade?”\n
I shook my head.\n
“He didn’t say that. We were simply asked to do so. He said there was nothing he could do about you, so he wanted to rely on us, who are close in age to you”\n
“You’re good-natured.”\n
That’s right, I thought to myself. Even though I had initially tried to refuse, I had gone to the trouble of planning a strategy to persuade a classmate I had never spoken to before.\n
“You went out of your way to ask Nishikawa too. You arranged for us to meet at a diner and study together, didn’t you?”\n
“Yeah.”\n
“And you were supposed to give it a shot by lecturing me……?”\n
“That’s not right”\n
If I had arranged things properly, I could have done better. I would not have raised my voice emotionally like that.\n
“The study session was originally a strategy designed to shorten the distance between us and Enami-san. That’s why I had no intention of telling you not to be late or to listen to the class seriously.”\n
“…… I see.”\n
Then why did you suddenly say something like that, Enami-san did not ask that.\n
“You’re interesting after all.”\n
“……”\n
I’m not sure where the interesting factor was. Some elements made me uncomfortable. A few days passed, and I was still regretting my mistake. It was an ugly feeling, an ugly word. It had nothing to do with Enami-san, but I took the liberty of overlapping her with my image and blurted them out.\n
“Anyway, it’s over. I’ve done what the teacher asked me to do. There’s nothing more I can do for Enami-san. It may be impossible to tell you not to worry about it now, but I want you to forget about it as much as possible.”\n
“Well~, I guess that’s impossible”\n
You can answer that simply huh. I think you are not the honest type of person, after all, Enami-san.\n
As I was thinking so, Enami-san called out.\n
“Ah”\n
While we were talking about this, we were approaching a T-junction. The road was divided into two directions, one heading towards the station and the other towards the residential area.\n
“I’m going this way.”\n
When I pointed in the direction towards the station, Enami-san gave a small nod.\n
“I’m going the other way.”\n
It seemed that this strange time had come to an end. I was relieved that I had managed to get through it.\n
“You go to school by train?”\n
“Yeah.”\n
My house is two stations away from the school.\n
“Then, I’ll see you tomorrow.”\n
Enami-san said, turning her back to me and walking away.\n
As I looked at her back, I thought back to the events of today. She greeted me in the morning, gave me a meaningful look in class, talked to me in the afternoon, and ambushed me after school.\n
Enami-san, who had been cold to everyone except Nishikawa, seemed to be a different person today.\n
–I’ll see you tomorrow, huh?\n
Maybe tomorrow she’ll be as friendly to me as she was today. Even though I was able to accomplish my mission as a teacher, there was a big price to pay.\n
–It’s not like this is going to happen every day from now on, is it ……?\n
With this in mind, I turned away and began to walk to the station.\n\n
<hr class="wp-block-separator is-style-wide">\nTN: That’s it for today. I’m gonna watch Kumoko now…\n\n