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Chapter 30
Where their feelings stand
Translated by HamletJr
Edited by Spynine01
“―Good morning, Ritsuki!”
“Ah, Rinka. Already here, huh. Good morning.”
The next morning, I made my way to the rendezvous point in front of the nearby train station only to find Rinka already there.
When she saw me, she smiled like a blooming flower.
Seriously, she’s such a beautiful girl that no matter how many times I see her, I still wonder how a gloomy introvert like me managed to become friends with her.
Rinka’s outfit today was stylish as always; she was donning a gray V-neck shirt and a tight skirt that suited her image of a confident and assertive girl to a T.
As soon as that thought crossed my mind, however, I noticed that her hair was sticking up in some places, which didn’t look grea―no, actually, it was pretty cute in its own way.
“Rinka, your hair is sticking up. You came here much earlier than the appointed time, so shouldn’t you have had the time to look in the mirror and fix it up?”
When I pointed this out, Rinka’s face turned red and she covered her hair with her hands.
Damn, that was close. I almost touched Rinka’s hair because of my habit of fixing up my little sister’s hair.
Normally I wouldn’t be able to just touch it casually, but since Akane was my little sister, it was OK.
Her face was always flushed red in anger, but no matter how many times I chided her, her hair would always be disheveled and sticking up.
“――I thought if I came early, maybe you would be here early too, Ritsuki. I-I wanted to see you as soon as possible.”
Rinka bashfully uttered those words as she gazed at me.
“I wanted to see you as soon as possible,” she said…?
Rinka, are you perhaps in lo―wait, huh?
“Rinka, you have dark circles under your eyes… Are you feeling okay?”
“Oh, that… Truth is, Asamiya called me last night. She talked to me throughout the entire night so I couldn’t sleep at all.”
Rinka then heaved a sigh.
Shiorin… She’s really being a nuisance to Rinka, huh…
But, well, from Shiorin’s point of view, Rinka’s basically her hero.
I guess she couldn’t restrain her emotions.
She had been unable to talk to anyone about her problems and was forced to cover up her emotions under a smile, when suddenly, a beautiful girl she’d never been involved with before came up to her and asked her to tell her about her problems.
Plus, with the added bonus of a kabedon and an agokui… What, is this a light novel?
Even Hasumi, who often mixed up the world of 2D and 3D, got really excited upon seeing that.
I think she’s given Hasumi some strange desires now…
I’m sure she’ll ask me to kabedon her one day.
When that happens, I’ll corner Hasumi against the wall―
I’ll put my hand on the wall―
Then the police will come―Yeah, that’d definitely get me arrested, huh.
“But I’m sure you were delighted too, weren’t you, Rinka? Asamiya-san’s a really nice girl, and she’s cute to boot.”
Normally I would’ve been too embarrassed to call someone “cute”, but since said ‘someone’ was an idol, I was able to say it naturally.
We lived in completely different worlds, after all.
Hearing my words, Rinka glared at me a bit unhappily before she eventually sighed.
“Mmm, well, in this case it’s pretty different, you see~. I’m more interested in protecting the weaker-looking girls. Asamiya looks tough enough on her own, plus she’s got great friends by her side…  Of course, it goes without saying that I’d gladly accept her as my friend.”
When I heard how Rinka felt about the matter, everything suddenly fell in place for me.
Rinka is the type of person who just can’t leave the weaker-looking people alone.
So far, the only people who had fit into her preferences were Shiina and Hasumi.
They were both cute girls, but they had something else more important in common.
They were exceptionally gloomy loners… I know I’m going to get killed for saying this, but I honestly don’t know if they’ll be able to make it in society in the future.
So, to sum it all up, they were both people who were able to satisfy the overly caring Rinka’s urge to protect others――isn’t she just too nice of a person?
If that’s the case, then one of my “big mysteries” has finally been solved.
Rinka sees me as an antisocial loner and a bullied kid who also falls into the category of people that she “must protect.”
―That was real close!
I’m sorry, I have to admit that I’ve misunderstood you this entire time.
“Huh? Rinka likes me, doesn’t she?” I used to agonize over this all by myself in the middle of the night.
But the truth was that she didn’t even see me as someone on equal footing as her, let alone as a person of the opposite sex.
She was simply concerned about me, a social misfit, the same way she was concerned about the other two…
What she really meant earlier was, “I wanted to see you as soon as possible. (because I was concerned about you)”
The fact of the matter was, had Shiorin or any of her other friends come before Rinka, I would’ve gotten too nervous with just the two of us, and the atmosphere would’ve gotten really awkward…
A bit more and it would’ve been almost as bad as me confessing to a girl, getting rejected, then secluding myself and turning into a hikikomori.
That being said, however; I couldn’t just rely on Rinka forever.
I have to prove to Rinka that I can make friends and socialize with others all on my own.
I have my pride as a man to defend after all.
Well, I guess she no longer saw me as a man back when she forced me to dress up as a woman long ago.
“―Ahaha. I was a little tired earlier, but after meeting you, Ritsuki, I feel like all that fatigue’s been blown away!”
Rinka then hugged my arm as she smiled happily.
Ah, things really are best the way they are right now.
Pride? What’s that? Is it more important than the miracle of me, an unpopular otaku, being able to interact with such a beautiful girl?
―As my mind was filled with those sorts of thoughts, I suddenly felt my arm being pulled backwards.
Similarly, I saw Rinka being pulled in the opposite direction away from me.
““Good morning, you two!!””
With that rather forceful greeting, I found Hasumi by my arm.
As for Rinka’s arm, I noticed Asamiya-san clinging onto it.
Asamiya-san was glaring at me really intensely. I’m sorry, you’ve got it all wrong, I wasn’t sexually harassing her.
As I was being pulled away, I felt a really soft sensation on my arm…
Woah, Hasumi is surprisingly huge…?
“A-Ah, good morning to you guys too.”
“You were really early, huh. You could’ve just taken your time coming here…”
Rinka and I greeted the two grumpy-looking people.
Well, I guess their attitude was natural considering the two of us looked like we were flirting with each other this early in the morning.
In reality, Rinka was just doting on me (as someone she had to protect).
Hasumi hurriedly let go of my arm and whispered to me in a small voice.
“I-I’m sorry for pulling you… I just found myself moving before I even realized it.”
I was relieved to hear Hasumi’s words.
Having discovered my indecent tendencies from the erotic book incident at the her bookstore the other day, I thought that she had assumed Rinka was being sexually harassed by me.
Looks like even a shy and reserved girl like her can act aggressively when the time comes.
If I ever lay my hands on a girl then by all means, go ahead and report me to the police in the name of justice.