Chapter 6: I Don’t Want to Hurt Anyone (Souta’s Point of View)
As usual, I made my way to school while being clung to by three beautiful girls.
And once we stepped onto the school grounds, where all the arriving students gathered, the attention directed at us only grew stronger.
Good grief, I don’t want to stand out…
Growing sick of the jealous and envious stares being aimed at me so brazenly from all around, I screamed a wish inside my head that my clingy stepsister, senior, and junior would absolutely never forgive.
Somebody! Please switch places with me right now!
…Though if I ever said something like that out loud, an unreasonable, full-on beatdown from carefree people who don’t know my hardships would be unavoidable. Even so, I genuinely think that way. For the sake of my peaceful loner life, I want to do something about this situation.
That’s why I regularly search for solutions on internet message boards and the like. It’s not just talk.
As proof, here’s something I recently posted on an online forum…
[I’m troubled because my beautiful stepsister, senior, and junior keep clinging to me. Someone please give me a solution.]
The replies were things like, “Nice delusion,” “Go to a hospital,” and “Sounds like an old eroge,” and most of them were nothing but jealous, off-the-mark insults. Still, among them were a few relatively decent ones like, “Tell them directly,” and “Run away.”
But I won’t ignore their feelings or do something that would hurt them. If I were to tell them directly to stop or try to run away, the three of them would definitely be hurt. I won’t accept that.
“Then, Senpai.”
“Again today, Niisan.”
“Well then, lunchtime or after school, Souta-kun.”
Finally freed from the three beautiful girls at the shoe lockers, I watch their backs as they head off in different directions and mutter to myself with a sigh mixed in.
“Even though the shoe locker areas are different by grade, they really go all out every morning… Seriously, good grief…”
Honestly, even I can’t help feeling a bit exasperated, thinking they should use that motivation and time on something more meaningful. But if that’s their choice, then I won’t say anything.
Even so, to protect my loner life, I have to do something about this situation that keeps making people misunderstand things about me.
“Isn’t there some good idea… Maybe someone other than me, somewhere I don’t know about… like having Yukiya tell those three to hold back…”
I picture my big-built childhood friend in my mind.
If it’s Yukiya, he doesn’t come to school with us because of soccer club morning practice, and even if things get a bit awkward with the three girls after he warns them, it wouldn’t be a big problem. If I follow up afterward, it should be fine.
While I’m turning those thoughts over in my head, I arrive at my classroom.
I weave my way through the noisy classroom before homeroom and make it to my seat.
Then, in the usual seat diagonally behind mine, I see Kanae…
Ah, right. There was the thing with Kanae.
“Hey, Kanae.”
“Eh… ah, good morning, Souta-kun.”
Kanae smiles, soft and droopy, like she’s melted.
At that face that seems to drain the edge right out of people, I lift the corner of my mouth while also shaking my head in exasperation.
“Honestly… You weren’t waiting at the usual spot this morning, were you? I was worried. From now on, if you’re going to head to school first, tell me beforehand, okay?”
After warning her like that, I reach out, lightly pat Kanae on the head, then pull my hand away.
Kanae blinks blankly, then tilts her head and says,
“Eh… ah, yeah, I’m sorry…”
Seriously, does this childhood friend of mine really get it…?
But deciding that even that lack of awareness is part of her charm, I give a wry smile.
I’ve said what I needed to say, so I should hurry back to my seat.
And the moment I turn my back on Kanae, a brilliant idea, something that could be called a clever scheme, pops into my head.
That’s it. To get my stepsister, senior, and junior to restrain themselves from clinging to me in public, why not ask Kanae to cooperate?
For example, by deepening my relationship with Kanae one step further, I could raise her influence. Then, using that, I could have Kanae keep the three of them in check and manage things within our group.
In the light novels I love to read, similar situations are handled with solutions like that. You really can learn a lot from books.
And if, as an extension of that, I end up dating Kanae, then I’ll just brace myself and accept it when the time comes.
I turn around from my seat and look at Kanae again.
Kanae is at her desk, holding what looks like a hand towel spread out in both hands and pressing it to her face as she freezes in place.
Her ears are red, but isn’t that hard to breathe like that?
I can’t help tilting my head at such baffling behavior, but since I’m her childhood friend, I can forgive that side of her too.
Besides, for an introverted loner like me, an affectionate childhood friend like Kanae suits me better than a Nordic-looking beauty of a stepsister, a perfect overachiever student council president senior, or devilish-cute junior.
Well, for now, I’ll think it over today whether to ask Yukiya or have Kanae help me.
With my future course decided, I open the light novel I took out of my bag and enjoy the brief time before homeroom begins.