My Sister's Best Friend? My Female Friend Already? Then, What's Next―? - V1 Chapter 12

Translator: AJ1703

Editor: Xen

Chapter 12

　In the evening, I exchanged messages with the Chairman, just as I had done during the day today.

　We didn’t exchange them because there was something in particular we needed to talk about, so we just ended up chatting.

　Eventually, she responded happily when I told her about the antiperspirant that had been a topic of conversation all day.

　So far, I don’t feel any special feelings as long as we are just friends of the opposite gender.

　However, because the Chairman is so friendly, I have to be careful so I won’t get carried away and ask her anything too in-depth.

　The chairman asked me if I had a girlfriend or if there was someone I was interested in.

　To be honest, if I disclose such in-depth information to Chairman, Haruki, and Yukito, I don’t have to hide it, since the three influential people are likely to correct me even if rumors spread without my knowledge.

　Because I think that way, I answered all the questions from the other side honestly, considering the personality of the Chairman.

　…I wonder if there are things she wants to hide if there is even one story about a past relationship.

　─I’ve been asking you all the time, but is there anything you want to ask me from Touma?─

　─I’m not comfortable with guys asking girls about things that are too in-depth. If it’s the other way around, like before, I think it’s okay, but─

　─You can ask me anything you want, you know?─

“Hmm…”

　It’s not a good image to be told this much and still be reluctant to ask.

　I wish I had some other exquisite question to ask, but if I was such a good talker, I would have gotten a girlfriend by now.

“It’s hard to talk to someone of the opposite gender about these things…”

　I feel that it is safe to ask friends of the same gender these types of questions, but when it comes to friends of the opposite gender, it instantly becomes dangerous.

　The fact that we are in the same school year and understand each other’s surroundings to some extent makes it even more difficult to ask.

“I’ll just ask her then…”

　With Chairman’s personality, even if she is surprised and takes a step back, she won’t immediately say, ‘It’s impossible, so I’m going to abstain’ or ‘I’m not physiologically able to do it anymore.

　If she does get taken aback, I must try to regain her trust with the utmost sincerity and appropriate distance…

　-I’m sorry if it’s going to be hard for you to say. Speaking of being curious, since you mentioned that you dated for a while, I’m curious about that? ─

“Can’t I find a better way to ask her…?”

　I hate myself for even typing that sentence.

　This first word, which is like insurance, is exquisitely creepy.

　I wonder how the popular boys in the world manage to get through this kind of conversation.

　─Umu umu, I see! But does that even bother you, Touma!? ─

　─It does! From what Yukito said this morning, it must have been a pretty high hurdle for him, and I’m curious to know what kind of a partner he was. ─

　The way she said it, I could tell that she had been asked about her true intentions by other men.

　─I don’t mind telling Touma about it. I didn’t tell anyone else about it because I was just fooling around. He was in my class at the tutoring school. ─

　─So he’s from outside the town? ─

　─Yep! Around that time, all my friends started to get boyfriends, and I felt like I had to go with the flow. ─

　─The flow? ─

　─Yup. I don’t know if this is an appropriate time to talk about this, but when I realized that everyone had a boyfriend, I felt like I had to have one too. But I was feeling so half-hearted that it didn’t last long at all. ─

　─So that’s the truth, huh… ─

　─If I told this to someone of the same sex, they would say, “Who do you think you are?” or rumors would definitely spread about me. I trust Touma with that regard, so I know you’ll keep quiet about this… ─

　─Of course. It’s a bit of a relief to know that even the most popular chairman has her fair share of worries. ─

　Just by hearing this truth, it became clear that even the Chairman, who is the organizer of the group and well-liked by everyone, spends her time carefully thinking about her friendships.

　Some people may think that Chairman’s reasons for going out with him sounded absurd, but it made more than enough sense to me.

　Basically, boys may or may not have girlfriends based on whether they are popular or not, but I have a feeling that girls are different.

　It is not uncommon for groups of girls to be clearly divided into groups that have boyfriends and groups that don’t or won’t make it.

　If you don’t go with the flow, you can’t keep up with the group’s conversation and vibe.

　This may be a difficulty unique to girls that guys don’t have.

　For the guys at the school who were genuinely interested in her, it may have been a sad outcome, but even so, he is the only guy who went out with the Chairman, so I want her to have confidence in him.

　─I knew you’d say that! In the end, I learned my lesson from that one incident, and I decided to make sure that I could stick to my own stance. ─

　─I’m still amazed at you, Chairman. You still have a lot of friends, and yet, you still maintain your position. ─

　─Umu. Well, what I’ve learned is that it’s not good to just sit back and let things happen, you know… ─

“Ugh…!”

　That last one is too much of a critical hit for me right now.

　─I feel better now that I’ve said it. I really didn’t know who to tell about this. Thanks for listening. ─

　─No, no, I’m just glad you could tell me. ─

　─I was afraid you’d be disillusioned. I can’t believe I had my first boyfriend for this very reason. ─

　─Rather, I feel closer to you now that I know that popular people have the same problems as anyone else, okay? ─

　─You’re a terrible person to feel so close to a girl who has her own problems and be happy about it! ─

　At first, I was hesitant to ask her about her experiences, but I’m glad I did.

　Maybe it’s okay to talk to the Chairman who doesn’t hide things about herself, if something is bothering her.

　─Well, now that you know my secret, if something happens to me at school, I’ll demand your help, okay? ─

　─If there’s anything I could help you with, I’d be happy to. ─

　It’s been a few months since we met.

　It took us a while to get to know each other in earnest, but I felt as if I had made another trusted friend.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Translator’s Afterword: Sorry for months of no update, was too busy with other stuff irl. I still haven’t dropped this project along with the other ones I currently am working on. Sorry if the lack of updates made it look like I dropped it~