Published at 21st of November 2020 07:56:03 PM
Chapter 23
Translator: Mamuni
“Did you wait long, Shiran . . ?”
“No, I just got here now . ”
As promised, Iris met me behind the second school building .
This building isn’t used often, behind it is a little roughly maintained garden, it’s a nice space to relax . I rejected the idea of playing hooky in the dormitory, because that’s most likely the first place to look for us .
By the way, Iris looked a little off when I asked her out, so I was a little worried she wouldn’t comembut . . . it seems that I was worried for nothing .
“It’s a bit like we are secret lovers meeting up . ”
“Uhe!?!? N-N-N-no, it’s normal . I think it’s normal . ”
I was just making a light joke, but she denied it with all her might . I might have made her angry .
Iris is right but, I don’t know why it made her so mad .
“Despite digging into every corner of my body . . . ”
“Phrasing!! But, I can’t deny it . ”
It was a little refreshing just to put it out there .
The purpose of skipping the ball was accomplished . . . So let’s move on to the other reason .
Yes, in order to restore my relationship with Iris I should begin my slow build up .
. . . Screw that, I’ll just ask her .
“Iris . You’ve been avoiding me . . . haven’t you?”
I’m not good at beating around the bushes . So I have to just say it straight .
Now then, how will she respond . . . All I can hear is our heartbeats . If we’re this deep in, I don’t think she will lie or run away .
“Guu . No, I . . . it was wrong . I just made us being around really uncomfortable . ”
Geeze, is that really it? We were already “bad” friends, but I don’t know why she started to avoid me . . . It actually hurt . It was then something came to me .
“If you got fed up with me . . . then of course you’d want to just keep your distance from me . ”
“ . . . Ts . No it’s not that . Shiran I don’t hate you at all . I’m just an idiot . ”
“Iris I don’t get what you are saying . I was just . . . so lonely . ”
It’s somewhat strange to say . Was I always this feminne ? I wasn’t planning on it being so emotional but . I don’t know .
. . . I don’t know why, but for some reason it feels kind of nostalgic . Like emotions that were long held in a box began to leak out . Something deep within me began to burst .
“Listen Shiran . I just thought, I didn’t want to betray your trust again . . . I lost control at that time and did that horrible thing . I was too conscious of that and forgot how we used to do things . That’s really it . ”
Iris saw me in that weird state, and quickly explained it to her .
“Then you . . . Don’t hate me?”
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“That’s impossible for me . Shiran you are my dear childhood friend, my one and only best friend . It’s because I like you so much, I accidentally attacked . ”
Once I heard that, the tension drastically calmed . I didn’t know what, but as we looked at eachother, those feelings began to quickly go back into the box .
“What the . Such a strange best friend . ”
“Ahh, geeze . ”
“ . . . Hihihi . ”
“ . . . Ahahah . ”
After that dust settled, we began to laugh .
This, this is my “bad” friend . I feel like we haven’t had a good laugh at nothing in a long time . I missed this kind of friendship .
“Well, because we got the apology out of the way . . . How about we dance?”
“Well, sur . . . e!?”
No no no no . W-What are you talking about? I’m glad we made up, but . . . Wasn’t not doing that the point of playing hooky .
I turned towards her and looked her in the eyes before saying that, but she looked completely sure . While she stood in front of me expectantly, I sighed, as she closed her eyes, and quietly presented her left hand .
Well, it can’t be helped . And at least there is nobody around . I won’t be subject to all the shame .
I have no experience in dancing at a ballroom . So, I’m afraid of stepping on her toes .
But still, I relented, and grasped her presented left hand with my right .
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Immediately after that, I felt Iris gently holding my hand back .
If you listen closely, we could also hear the piano playing from the hall . Leading by the melody of the song, we took the first step .
One two . One two . The moon is full tonight . It was the only thing illuminating us as we lightly took our step .
It was a little awkward, but mysteriously, I managed to dance without feeling any discomfort .
There is no doubt in my mind, Iris is a good lead . However it’s impossible just to say it’s just that . It feels natural, like my body remembers .
I see . . . This body may remember . Certainly, I have only spent a few months in this world . However, this body itself is undoubtedly that of video game character Shiran . It must have been born into this world, and has had various experiences . It’s safe to assume it remembers one or two dances .
The piano stopped playing, and Iris and I stopped .
I’m so glad I invited her out today .
Maybe I feel like we can return to that friendship . I want to cherish this relationship forever .
I have to convey these feelings properly . With our hands held, I said .
“I’m glad I met you, Iris . ”
“Ah, me too . ”
“I love you, Iris . ”
“Ah, me too? Eh?”
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“If I could, I want to be with you forever . ”
“Uh . . . Always together . ”
“I want to do alot with you, Iris . ”
“Alot of things, like . . . That means?”
I confessed my feelings honestly . To be honest, I haven’t told her this before, so my face is beet red with embarrassment . But this is important .
Iris was also listening to me while also shyly blushing, but she is listening . That’s why I want to say it .
“Yeah . So please continue being my Best Friend!”
“ . . . Aguueuahsijnmfinpasfion”
Iris then broke down .
What the heck . . .
Is she okay?
Whelp that was a tease, I thought that the body of Shiran would have like taken over and she would have just confessed . But alas, stuck in the friendzone . I wonder if the OG shiran did have a crush on her . And what does those buried emotions mean?
One thing I need to note, when Shiran says “bad” friend . There isn’t really an english word for this . But the word she uses for bad friend . Equals, bad influence friend . So delinquent .
If you like to like . Give it one .