Nekura to Hiria ga Deau Toki [LN] V1 Chapter 0.1 Prologue part 2

◇Saionji Yuria

I was born in the wrong house.

I didn't fit in with my family's culture as much as I thought so.

My name is Saionji Yuria. First of all, the surname is too elegant for me. It doesn't suit me at all. My name doesn't match my personality. I think I would be better off with a silly name like "Omurice Yamayakan" or something like that.

My father is an important man in a clothing company. My mother is a former violinist. My sister used to work as a model for a fashion magazine and has recently started appearing in TV dramas and movies.

I grew up in a family full of talent, but I had no interest in fashion, music, or the arts, and the mysterious parties that I was taken to every once in a while were just a pain in the ass. My family members were all invited to parties in their own fields, and sometimes they would try to take me away in the middle of the party. I would rather lie around in my jersey and watch a stupid comedy movie than go to such a thing.

I was the one dull girl in a cultured family. I felt as uncomfortable as a hot steamed bun pretending to be a macaroon among all the macaroons. However, I prefer bun to macaroon.

I was so similar to my family, who were all noble in appearance, that not many people knew about my embarrassing inner self.

March, the end of winter.

It had already been a year since I entered high school, but I was isolated.

It's not that I was bullied or anything. I don’t think they hate me.

It’s just that I’m kind of kept at a distance.

I get a lot of stares from people, but they don’t seem to get along with me.

For example, when I bump shoulders with a female student. Normally, you would just laugh and say, “Sorry, sorry”. But instead, I was apologized to, like “Hiee Saionji-san! I’m very sorry”.

It was the same the other day. A male student was talking to me with a very nervous look on his face.

"Excuse me. I'm sorry, Saionji-san......You dropped the eraser......"

When the male student said this, a female student nearby noticed him and said.

"You idiot! There is no way Saionji-san uses such a small eraser with rounded corners!"

"Ah! Ah! That's right! I'm sorry, Saionji-san! I beg your pardon! I'll eat this dirty little eraser!"

The distance between me and my classmate is about a million light-years away.

Incidentally, I use erasers to the limit, so the dirty little eraser munched on by a male student is definitely mine.

All of my classmates still call me with "san," and when I talk to them, for some reason, they use honorifics. It's sad. I really want to be called by a frank nickname like Yuririn or Saichun.

However, I didn’t have the skills to cheerfully enter into a circle and make people laugh with my charm.

I'm the type of person who would joke around with my good friend, but when they act like that, it's hard to joke around.

"I saw Sakura-kun just now!"

I heard a voice burst out from the edge of the classroom and looked in that direction.

"Eh, you saw him?

“Hehehe. I got my energy up from a good-looking guy in the morning.”

"Uwah, I'm so jealous! I mean, why! Why is Sakura-kun not in our class?”

Don't talk so loud. He’ll hear you. Come on.”

I followed them down the hallway and saw Sakura Soushi walking down the hallway with a straight back.

Just walking attracts people's attention. He was walking straight without seeming to care about the gazes of others, but he was soon surrounded by girls who blocked his way.

Even though he was surrounded, he was a head taller than the girls, so I could see his face.

It’s true that his face, with its dignified structure at a glance, but with a delicate touch of danger in it, is probably the most popular among women. It is not a trendy face, but a traditional beauty. In addition, he excels in academics and athletics. There was no way he could be left alone.

But this Sakura-shi, despite all the fuss, has no bad reputation and doesn’t seem to take an equal interest in anyone.

He seemed uninterested in women, and when he did talk to them, he didn't really engage them in conversation, or rather, he was very guarded. It became a kind of nobility that everyone idolized.

After some of the bravest were dumped, there was no one to challenge him and these days he has become everyone's common property.

“Oh, I love it, I love it, Totally my type”

"It's not just you, everyone thinks the same."

I wonder if that’s true. Not my type, I guess.

I reply in my brain without being asked.

If it’s the opposite sex I’m looking for, I want someone with an interesting face that doesn’t make me nervous, whose personality is kind, who is talkative enough to keep talking even if I just say "Hoi" or "Soiya" in unison, who doesn't draw attention, and who will share a beef bowl with me with relish.

But first I want a female friend.

I've always envied the girls in the classroom who joke around with their friends. I want to joke around as much as I want to. I want to have a natto-spreading party.

I want to eat natto. I’m sorry for saying “spreading “. I'll eat every single piece of natto carefully.

I'll buy some on my way home. I buy natto as a snack with my allowance and eat it secretly.

Our dining table has very few Japanese dishes due to the tastes of everyone except me.

The table is lined with dishes with names in katakana. Soup instead of miso soup.Some-uniere, some-glace, something-pazza, and some-chah rillettes... It's not that I don't like them, but the things that don’t appear on the regular menu are the treats for me. If it's the same beef, I'd rather have a beef bowl than roast beef or beef stroganoff.

The cute bug in my stomach agreed with me.

I want a beef bowl.

But my favorite chain beef bowl restaurant is not close by. I didn't dare to go there unless I was with some of my friends from junior high school, who had separated from me for higher education.

I want to eat it.

I wonder how long I haven't eaten gyudon.

I wonder how long I haven't been fooling around.

I had friends at the escalating girls' school I went to until junior high school. When my parents moved to a new house, I went to this high school, which was the most academically advanced in the area around the new house. I wish I had continued to go to my old school even though it was far away.

Oh, I want to fool around. I want to make friends.

I want to make funny faces and laugh with my friends. It's so boring. Reality is boring.

There is a place where I go when my thoughts are stagnant. I went there.