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Chapter 3 – Interacting With Enami-san \nVolume 1\n<hr class="wp-block-separator is-style-wide">\nThe movie was interesting.\n
Powerful explosion scenes. Stunt action. All of them had a sense of urgency and made my hands sweat.\n
At the end of the movie, the main character was in trouble. I couldn’t help but let out a gasp when I saw him break the window of the building and escape.\n
In the end, after defeating all the enemies and protecting the little child, the main character leaves without revealing his identity. His back was indescribably cool.\n
And then the end roll.\n
That’s when I was brought back to reality. I was struck by a sense of desolation, which is peculiar to when you finish watching a good film.\n
I was so absorbed in the film. When I looked at my watch, it was already five minutes before I was to leave the room. I took off my earphones and looked at Enami-san next to me.\n
“Enami-san.”\n
But there was no reply. She hadn’t moved an inch in response to my words.\n
“…… Huh? Enami-san?”\n
When I looked closer, I saw that she was holding her knees and had closed her eyes.\n
–Maybe she’s asleep?\n
I can faintly hear her breathing, which is subdued, like a sleeping breath. It was already before midnight. Maybe she’s tired.\n
As I was wondering whether or not to wake her up, I suddenly felt a weight on my shoulder.\n
The earphones in Enami-san’s ears fell out and made a small sound.\n
“……”\n
My entire body stiffened. A nice smell drifted into the air.\n
My thoughts stopped, and all the emotions and feelings I had inside me started to drift away.\n\n
Enami-san’s head was resting on my shoulder. When I turned my face a little to the side, I found Enami-san’s hair under my chin. I could feel the faint warmth of a human body through it.\n
　\n
I wondered if it was because the movie was over. I feel as if my surroundings have quieted down. All I can hear is the regular breathing and the sound of myself swallowing. Enami-san was so defenseless that I had no idea what to do.\n
I thought I should just wake her up like normal. But I couldn’t bring myself to shake her shoulders or call out to her because I wondered if I should wake her up when she was sleeping so comfortably.\n
“…… s~u~.”\n
Or I can just lean myself to the other side or force myself to stand up. That should naturally wake up Enami-san.\n
“……”\n
But I couldn’t bring myself to do even that.\n
Beautiful women are so unfair. Even though she was just lying there looking comfortable, even though she was just leaning against me, she could make me so upset.\n
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Looking at Enami-san’s sleeping face, I thought again.\n
Enami is a really strange person.\n
I had always thought of her as a cold person.\n
Whether the other person has good intentions or bad intentions, she has the same attitude of shunning. There is an invisible wall between her and others, and if you try to touch it even a little, she will try to repel it back with a strong force. Every time someone tried to talk to her, she would look unhappy, and every time she was warned, she would get irritated. Before I knew it, no one wanted to get involved with her anymore. Except for Nishikawa, that is.\n
Still, since the day I gave her a lecture.\n
Suddenly, Enami-san started to show me things that she never showed to anyone else.\n
A smile on her face. A teasing voice. And then, like now, a face that looks like she’s sleeping peacefully.\n
What I had done was nothing but a selfish act of cruelty. It was as if I was looking at the person I used to be, so I got angry and said something. The teachers were just upset with her because of thinking about Enami-san, unlike me.\n
And yet, it seemed that it was my words that changed Enami-san’s mind.\n
She was no longer thinking of it as a way to get back at me. Maybe Enami-san has her own situation. I think my words just happened to hit her in a meaningful way.\n
I wondered why she didn’t want to go home but stay at the manga cafe. I wondered about that, but I was sure that Enami-san would not tell me. Enami-san doesn’t talk about herself very much.\n
She just tries to confuse me with her actions and attitude.\n
I took several deep breaths. My heart was still beating fast.\n
Even though it’s usually time to sleep, I can’t seem to get any sleep. I was excited about the movie, but more than that, I was nervous about being in such close contact with Enami-san.\n
However, I couldn’t stay like this forever. I sneaked out of the house, but I think I might have worried my family. I have to go home now.\n
I tapped Enami-san’s shoulder fearfully.\n
“Nn……”\n
Enami-san made a small noise but fell asleep again.\n
Until last week, Enami-san had often fallen asleep in class. Maybe she doesn’t get enough sleep in general. I thought about sneaking out so as not to wake her up, but I felt that it would be too difficult and a little dangerous, so I had to wake her up.\n
“Enami-san wake up …….”\n
I tapped her again, calling out to her so as not to disturb the others, and Enami-san finally opened her eyes. She blinked repeatedly. Then she looked up at me.\n
Our eyes met. She immediately understood what the situation was. Without changing her expression, Enami-san slowly pulled her body away.\n
“……I slept well.”\n\n
I just told her that I was leaving so that she wouldn’t know I was nervous. She gave a small nod in return.\n\n