Nekura to Hiria ga Deau Toki [LN] V1 Chapter 1.1

Friends With Unseen Face

◇Hiria

“Saichun! Here, here!”

It's spring break and I'm enjoying a short holiday.

I love holidays. Today, I was visiting my friends in the town where I used to live.

“Maho, RyunRyun! Goliath! Long time no see, everyone! Hey, where’s Pocho?”

“Pocho can’t come today. She was hoping to see Saichun, you know.”

"Oh, that's too bad. Say hi to her for me."

"Saichun, you're as cute as ever!"

“Really? Even now?”

Everyone laughs when I make a funny face. Oh, I feel at ease.

"You're still the same on the inside. You said you couldn't make friends before, but did you make any after that?"

"I didn't!"

“Instant answer!”

"I wonder why? Saichun is such a funny girl."

“Somehow, they’re using honorifics,”

When I said this, everyone nodded "Oh~"

Then they all said comforting words like, "Saichun is a nice girl, you'll get it eventually."

"Thank you. Oh, but the other day, I played with a strange boy playing a monster game."

"What? Playing a monster game? What's that?"

When everyone was puzzled, I went into rare monster mode and made a low voice.

“Humans...you look energetic...I can’t...eat...flowers.”

"Oh, Saichun...you...can't eat, flower...you should eat...humans."

As expected of my friends. They instantly understood and returned with a rare monster of their own. However, since everyone was now a monster in an uncivilized land, there was no one to play the role of the discoverer.

We went to Goliath's house, the closest one to the station, opened the snacks we had bought, and resumed our conversation.

"Saichun, couldn't you make friends with that monster hunter guy? I don’t think you can play with him like that unless you’re pretty close...”

“That’s because I don’t even know his face or name.”

"You played a monster game with someone you don't even know his name or face?

“It’s the other side that made the first move.”

I answered, but thought about it for a moment.

I thought he was playing a joke on me when I was embarrassed to be heard talking to myself, but when I think back on it calmly, I realize that he was not trying to play a monster game on me.

To begin with, I was under a lot of stress at the time, and I just wanted to joke around.

Maybe that's why I felt that way. But even after that, he kept responding to me. Even if he wasn’t, he was a nice guy.

"Let alone his name, why don't you know his face?"

I was told by Maho, who was a firm person, and I told her the story of how I got to that point. 

"I see...so that's how it is."

"Why didn't he come to Saichun after you talked to him?"

"I don't know, but I didn't want him to see my face either, so it was perfect.”

"Why?"

"Many people don't talk to me normally when they see my face..."

At least, I am aware that I don't have the face to be able to play the monster game in a friendly manner.

So on that day, I ended up leaving the second library without saying goodbye or even meeting him.

“Hmm, I see. I guess Saichun is already that kind of character in high school...”

"Unfortunately."

"Have you been looking for him?"

"There are so many classes in our school, and since we met in the second library, it could be another grade...It's just too much, and I only recognize the voices, but it's impossible."

Moreover, I am the type of person who watches anime without noticing if the voice actor changes in the middle of the show, so it would be impossible to narrow down the list by voice. If the voices are similar, they all sound the same.

"I see..."

"Oh, hey, Saichun, how's co-ed school? Are there any good-looking, popular guys?"

Everyone except me has been in the same school for a long time, and not much has changed. Since it is an all-girls school from kindergarten on, everyone wants to hear what I have to say.

When asked who was popular, Sakura Soushi came to mind.

“Well, there’s a guy in my grade who looks like a great nobleman.”

“What kind of person is that?”

“He’s very popular and surrounded by girls all the time, but he doesn’t date or befriend anyone. It’s amazing. He just nods or replies and they make a big deal about it.”

Everyone else started to yap and squeal.

“What is he like? Who’s the celebrity equivalent?”

“Hmmm...I don’t know about celebrities, but...everyone says he looks like Amakusa Shirou.”

Tln : Amakusa Shirou is a historical figure

"Have you ever seen Amakusa Shiro's face!"

“Is Saichun a fan too?”

“No, I am not. People like that have fun with their friends and make noise….. I don’t have any friends, so I can’t even be a fan”

“If you don’t have any friends, you can’t even say “Kyaa!” about boys...Poor Sachyun.”

"I'm pathetic in so many ways, you know."

After talking for a while, RyunRyun looks at the clock on the wall and says, 

"It’s almost lunchtime. Shall we go soon? For a Gyudon?"

"Gyuudon! Are you sure?”

"Well, Saichun's coming, so that's what everyone's going to do!"

"I'll never forget how Saichun cried the first time we went there."

“You cried saying it was delicious.”

Everyone laughed and said so. My friends are the best. Gyuudons are the best.

*

On the way home from that fun day, I took the train as I did on the way there.

There was one change of trains on the way. I walked out of the ticket gate, got off the train at a station I don't normally get off at, and looked around the various shops in front of the station.

It is one of my hobbies to explore an unfamiliar town.

There is a drugstore. There is a dumpling shop. Oh, there is also a shopping street.

I wanted to take my time and walk around, but it's too late today. Next time. I’ll definitely come back next time. As I glanced around the passageway toward the station, I heard a voice.

"Tofu, freshly made tofu"

Pappu~. There was also the sound of a trumpet.

When I looked, I saw a man pulling a cart and selling tofu.

I don’t see many of these in my neighborhood. I gazed at him curiously.

Hmm?

He’s wearing a scarf, but that tofu vendor looks familiar.

Isn't that Sakura Soushi, the school idol?

I looked at him several times, thinking I was looking at the wrong person, but he still looked like Sakura Soushi. I can only see him as Sakura Soushi.

"Tofu~ delicious tofu..."

Pa~pu~.

But it was impossible, so I decided to treat it as another person who looked very much like him.

There is no such thing. Sakura Soushi doesn’t sell tofu. That guy probably only sells caviar or something.

||PREV||LIST||