I started dating a cute girlfriend I met during my eighth grade days when we reunited in high school. - Chapter 18

Translator: AJ1703

Editor: Matsu

(**Shinya’s POV**)

　Hmmm, I wonder if I’ve done something wrong. Beni and I came to school together, but something about her seems off. I don’t know if she’s in a bad mood or if she’s just thinking, but she seems to be acting strange when I talk to her. Yesterday, she was normal at school though…

“Are you in a bad mood? What’s wrong?”

“There’s a lot going on inside a girl’s head… If I were upfront about it, I’d say it’s your fault, but since you don’t seem to know, I’ll just give you a hint.”

　She handed me a bookmark with a pressed yellow rose on it, along with a copy of the book. What the hell is this? Is it some kind of secret code or something…?

“Listen to me because I think you didn’t understand, but I believe you, The Black Dragon Knight, will understand.”

　If she said so, she wouldn’t answer for herself even if she had to. If she was really pissed off, she wouldn’t be going through all this kind of hassle. I decided to try to solve Beni’s riddle.

“ShinyaーーCan you come here for a minute? I need to talk to you.”

“Hmm, what’s wrong? Did you lose the gacha again?”

　As soon as I entered the class, Okita called out to me. It was the usual thing, but there was something wrong. He looked very serious.

“What’s wrong?”

“It’s not that something is wrong, but you were with Saito-san last night, right? You have a girlfriend named Tanaka-san and that’s not good!!”

“Oh, I see… You’re right, hanging out with two girls is not good…”

　Okita certainly had a good point. We were supposed to be dating, even though we were just a couple in disguise, it might not be a good idea to be too friendly with other girls. Eriko comes to our house out of habit, so I didn’t think too much about it. But I certainly wouldn’t like it if Beni was hanging out with another guy.

　I’ll have to ask Beni, but I don’t want to be too self-conscious, “We’re just a couple in disguise, you don’t have to worry about it, Shinya, you’re just too self-conscious,” I really don’t wanna hear her say that…

“Yes, don’t do anything too rash or you’ll die.”

“What, die? What are you talking about, have you gone crazy from playing too many social games?”

“Fufufu, you’ll soon find out just how nasty the witch’s family is…”

　What was this man saying? Okita only smiled with a very depressed look in his eyes. But the witch’s family… is a phrase that gets me excited.

　I’ve read the novel that Beni lent me earlier during class. It was about a normal boy who gets reincarnated into a game world, but instead of being the hero, he gets reincarnated into a nobleman who’s a bastard. Well I guess it’s okay… but the content of the novel doesn’t seem to have anything to do with her mood though. While I was thinking about it… I received a message from Eriko.

[Did you and Sacchan have a fight? I’ve been trying to talk to her, but she just doesn’t know what to say…]

[I don’t know what’s going on either, but I’m getting hints so I think I’m close to figuring it out.]

[I hope so… but I’m going to have to ask around on my end as well.]

　The exchange with Eriko made me feel like I had to work extra hard. If I’m not the only one who thinks there’s something wrong with Beni, then it’s probably more serious than I thought.

　But this hint… is there something in the novel that explains why…?　I’ve been looking through the novel again, and I don’t see anything odd about it. I think about it again. She didn’t say anything about lending me a book… Oh, I think I get it. I decided to look up what I was curious about on my phone. Class? I didn’t listen to any of it, but I had no choice. There are more important things than class!

　It was lunchtime and we were eating at our hideout as usual. Even though she was in a bad mood, she had packed a lunch for us, thank goodness.

“So, what is Beni jealous of?”

“Oh, you noticed?”

“Oh, that’s it, I think the right word is jealousy.”

　She laughed a little happily at my words. I held out a bookmark with pressed flowers. The language of yellow roses is “jealousy. The content of the novel itself had nothing to do with it.

“It’s just… I’ve been hearing rumors that Ecchan has been to your house before.”

“Yeah, she comes over regularly, partly because our parents are good friends, but it was a bit rash of me since I have a girlfriend, albeit under false pretenses. I’m sorry, I’ll talk to Eriko if it makes Beni uncomfortable…”

“It’s okay, I trust you guys. But isn’t it strange that your childhood friend Ecchan has been to Shinya’s house and me, the disguised girlfriend and ally, has never been there?”

“No, she’s just a childhood friend, she’s been coming to my house for a long time…”

“Fuun~, I guess the Black Dragon Knight’s ally, the Witch of Hades, is less important to you than your childhood friend.”

Beni’s lips puckered up as she tweaked my words. Eh, this jealous Beni is so cute! Or rather, isn’t jealousy a sign of love? But since she said “ally,” maybe she’s just uncomfortable that people think we’re not closer than childhood friends. But I don’t know how close an ally is… is it more like a best friend, less like family? Well, there’s only one thing I can do now.

“Oh, so you’re coming over?”

“Yeah, if you’ll invite me, please escort me. I’m looking forward to seeing what the base of the Black Dragon Knight looks like.”

　And that’s how Beni ended up coming to my house after school. Oh man, I have to hide a lot of things… But Beni is pretty bold. Coming to a guy’s house… or maybe I’m just too conscious…

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(**Beni’s POV**)

　Fuwaaaaaa~! I’m so annoying! I’m such a nuisance! Why did I make it such a hassle when I could just honestly say that I wanted to go to his house…? But honestly, saying it makes me feel like I’m losing.

　But as expected of my ally, the Black Dragon Knight. He was able to see through my intentions and ask me questions, and I was able to tell him my true feelings easily.

　I think it was romantic of me to tell him in the language of flowers. After all, the language of flowers is very magical, isn’t it?

　But Shinya’s house huh… Eh? Wait a minute, if I think about it, going to a boy’s house is a pretty big deal, isn’t it?

　But he’s been to my house before, so I guess we’re equals now… And I can get to know him better by going to his room… Yeah, you need to know a lot about your allies.

　I noticed that the haze in my mind was gone and I was really excited… I don’t know what it is. One word from him can change my mood so much. Is it some kind of magic spell or something?

　For now, once I get home, I’m going to change out of my uniform into the clothes my sister bought me and go to Shinya’s house. I went home with a happy feeling.

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Translator’s Afterword: Sorry for the lack of updates from me, I was busy during these past few days and I’ve been going in and out of the house. Like attending a funeral and such. No worries, nothing major happened so I’ll try to update more!