Chapter 11
The worries I had at the mansion followed me all the way to the academy.
‘Seriously.’
It was ridiculous.
To think that once she realized she was in love, she couldn’t approach him because she was embarrassed. What kind of nonsense was that?
I couldn’t understand it, no matter how hard I tried.
“Sigh.”
All I could do was sigh in sheer frustration.
‘How am I supposed to solve this problem?’
For now, I had to set aside my complaints about the situation.
I was the one in a hurry.
Just because I couldn’t understand Kaede didn’t mean it was wise to stay lost in confusion forever. That wouldn’t help at all.
In any case, right now I needed to put my feelings aside and rationally look for a solution.
‘Ugh. True, but what am I supposed to do? At this point, I’m just wasting time.’
I’d been worrying about it ever since I got to school. I put my classes on the back burner and focused solely on solving the problem.
How could I get Kaede to act normally around Arai?
That was what I’d been trying to figure out.
…I’d really been thinking about it for a long time.
But sadly, I couldn’t find a suitable answer. No matter how much I racked my brain and thought it over, I just couldn’t come up with one.
All that time, the word why just kept circling in my head. That was how far beyond my comprehension Kaede’s problem was.
‘Is it because I’m a man, after all?’
After agonizing over it for a long time, I finally reached one conclusion: the difference in our genders was probably an obstacle to solving this problem.
‘That makes sense.’
The fact was, no matter what I looked like on the outside, my inner self was male. And the problem Kaede was dealing with came from her ‘girl’ side.
Men and women are different. Naturally, there are significant gaps between the psychology of the two sexes. I knew that. After all, I’d been forced to live as a woman for ten years.
‘Maybe I’m just not the right person to help.’
But I couldn’t just leave things as they were, either. Hmm. What should I do?
“I heard a new dessert shop opened near the station. Want to check it out, Rin?”
‘Hmm?’
While I was agonizing inwardly, I heard a familiar voice from somewhere. I turned to look in that direction, and a face I knew came into view.
It was Koseki and Mizuki, the two girls I’d spoken with a few weeks ago.
“Oh. I know where that is. I’ve seen it while passing by. It looked like it had a nice atmosphere.”
“So, are you going?”
“Sounds good. Let’s go!”
Hmm. They seemed to be planning to go somewhere together――――
Ah.
As I watched the two of them from a distance,
‘Why don’t I ask those two for help instead of agonizing over this by myself?’
The thought suddenly occurred to me.
‘That might work.’
After all, I was nothing but a fake woman, a male personality placed inside a woman’s body. Meanwhile, those two had been women from birth, with no foreign element mixed in.
They seemed far more likely to be of help than I was.
‘I should ask them for help after all.’
They say you should strike while the iron is hot.
I stood up. And this time, unlike before, I was the one who approached Koseki and Mizuki first.
＊＊＊
Koseki Yuuna and Mizuki Rin were bewildered.
They were just about to leave the classroom for their usual dessert-shop excursion when an unexpected person spoke to them.
Out of nowhere, she’d asked them to listen to her troubles.
‘Huh? What is this? Is this for real? Hmm? A hidden-camera prank?’
Why was I facing Takamine with Mizuki? And in such a serious atmosphere, no less.
Koseki groaned inwardly, at a loss. Then she slowly shifted her gaze to the side and looked at Mizuki.
Judging by their eyes meeting and Mizuki’s trembling gaze, it seemed she felt the same way.
“I’m going to tell you now. Is that okay?”
“Y-yeah. G-go ahead.”
“T-Takamine, just say whatever you’re comfortable with.”
At Takamine’s words, Koseki and Mizuki repeatedly nodded. Takamine looked at the two of them and parted her lips.
She seemed to be struggling with something. Takamine hesitated for a moment, then, as if she’d made up her mind, parted her pursed lips.
“This is about a friend of mine.”
‘Huh?’
A rather clichéd opening came from Takamine’s mouth. Could it be? At the possibility that occurred to her, Koseki looked to the side. And once again, her eyes met Mizuki’s.
‘You’re thinking the same thing, too, aren’t you, Rin?’
‘Yeah. Looks like you are too, Yuuna.’
Their exchanged glances were filled with seriousness.
‘She’s definitely about to talk about herself.’
It was a little unkind to Takamine, but to Koseki, Takamine had never seemed like someone who had many ‘friends.’
After all, because of her staggering record of rejections, students called Takamine the ‘Rejection Princess.’
And in the past, Takamine had even turned down their invitations.
And yet, for Takamine to bring up a ‘friend’ and ask them for advice…
To Koseki, it looked like Takamine was embarrassed and trying to talk about her own troubles by pretending they belonged to a fictional friend.
“Um. C-can I keep going?”
The sudden change in their attitudes and the force of their presence overwhelmed Takamine, who quietly checked their expressions.
“Of course!”
“Come on, tell us! Then we can help!”
“Huh? O-oh……”
Takamine’s gaze darted back and forth. For a brief instant, regret flickered in the corner of her eyes.
“I have a friend.”
Resigned, Takamine began again.
“Mm-hmm! And then!?”
“I have a friend?”
“…………?”
For some reason, the two of them had suddenly gotten so excited that Takamine’s eyes widened like a startled rabbit.
“…Uh, yeah. I have a friend.”
The two girls stared at her so intently that Takamine swallowed hard. Then, frightened by their continued gaze, she trembled and went on.
“My friend realized not long ago that she was in love―――”
“L-Love!? You mean she’s in love!!?”
“Gah!”
At Takamine’s words, Koseki slammed her hands down on the desk. Takamine flinched and shrank back.
Why was she suddenly slamming the desk? D-did I say something wrong? Takamine looked back and forth between the desk and Koseki’s face.
Meanwhile,
‘L-Love!? Takamine is in love with someone right now!?’
Koseki had completely forgotten about Takamine. She was already turning the shocking fact over in her mind.
‘I-I never thought Takamine could fall in love with someone.’
Takamine was especially harsh when dealing with men, and there had even been rumors at one point that she was afraid of them.
And yet, Takamine was in love with someone.
It was absolutely astonishing. There was no way she could keep from getting excited.
“Yuuna. C-calm down. You’re scaring Takamine.”
While Koseki was lost in her excitement, Mizuki nudged her in the waist with an elbow. She added a whisper for good measure.
“Ah.”
At Mizuki’s words, Koseki finally looked straight ahead. Takamine came into view, looking flustered and unsure what to do.
Seeing her, Koseki realized she’d gotten carried away. Feeling embarrassed, she scratched her cheek.
“S-sorry. I really love talking about romance, so I got excited.”
“I-it’s okay. …Actually, knowing you like it makes me trust you more.”
“Yeah! I’m something of a romance expert! Ask me anything! I’ll answer as sincerely as I can!”
“O-oh, okay.”
Koseki tapped her chest, urging Takamine to continue. Takamine made a dubious face at Koseki’s behavior.
Could she really trust her? Takamine seemed to turn the question over in her mind. Then, realizing she had no other option, she reluctantly continued what she hadn’t finished saying.
“I told you my friend realized she was in love, right?”
““Mm-hmm!””
“………Hmm. It seems like that’s become a problem.”
“A problem?”
“Once she realized she was in love, she started having trouble dealing with the person she likes, I guess? She can’t act around him the way she used to. So lately, she hasn’t even been able to talk to him.”
“Oh my, oh my.”
Mizuki, who had been quietly listening, brought a hand to her lips.
“That friend of yours. She’s such a girl, isn’t she? She seems like a rare breed these days.”
Mizuki said, shooting Takamine a sidelong glance along the way.
Nod, nod.
Takamine nodded at Mizuki’s words. She was happy to have found someone who shared her opinion.
They saw eye to eye. Maybe I could trust them and ask for advice after all.
Takamine thought.
“Anyway, this is a pretty serious problem, which is why I asked you for advice. At the very least, she has to talk to him for their relationship to go anywhere, right?”
“Hmm. I suppose so.”
Their gazes seemed strangely intense. Hmm. I must be imagining it.
Takamine shook off the uneasy feeling. Her expression immediately turned serious. Then,
“You two, please help me. I want to help my friend find happiness with the person she loves! This is as important as my life. So please think about it seriously and give me an answer!”
She cried out what she wanted in a deeply earnest voice.
“Oh my, oh my.”
“I-it’s as important as your life, huh.”
Unbeknownst to Takamine, the misunderstanding had only grown deeper.