Chapter 10


TL: Akabane


***


Of course, I never thought of giving up on Rin-chan.


I don't think I've ever treated Rin-chan to the level of "giving up" on her.


"Really, it must have been hard for you back then."


I wonder if the fact that she still speaks to me like that means that those days have affected her.


***


Me, my sister, and Rin-chan went to the same school when we were in middle school.


So, until I graduated, we spent time together as normal students at the same school.


Needless to say, my sister and I didn't try to get involved in each other's affairs.


Rin-chan came to visit, so I had a chance to get to know her, but other than that, I had no idea about my sister's friends.


From Rin-chan's point of view, I had nothing to do with her because I was a senior she didn't know well.


This might ease her heart, whether good or bad.


"You don't look so good today."


"Huh?"


"The more we meet like this, the more I understand.  Sorry, that was weird."


"N-Not really..."


I wasn't sure if I was sensitive enough to notice and say something like that in that situation.


"I haven't felt comfortable at home or at school lately."


"I see.  Well, have a drink. "


The expression on her face as she mumbled to herself made me think that the problem was quite serious.


I offered her a nice cup of chocolate and treated her in my own way.


"In a situation like that, where you feel like you can't talk about it anywhere, you can say whatever you want to the wall, okay?"


"That... I would feel bad about it."


"It's hard to talk about something like that, even to a friend like her, isn't it?  It's possible that she'll tell it to someone you don't have much of a relationship with.  You can't do anything if you don't trust them to keep their mouth shut.  Well, it's like a message board on the internet."


I could get into her problem now and say, "What's the point of an internet message board when you can actually expose yourself in front of me?"


"Our friendship isn't problematic because Saki is nice to me.  But I didn't get along with a girl in my class in club activities.  At home, my parents always ask about my grades, and I'm always upset about it."


"I see. It's definitely a suffocating environment."


I could tell from her expression that she was serious, but when I heard her directly, I realized that she was struggling with something more difficult than I had imagined.


I've never had any serious problems, so it wasn't something I could ask out of the blue.


And now that I think about it, Rin-chan's reluctance to participate in club activities might have been caused by this one incident.


"Are there things not going your way in the club?"


"The person that the girl likes seems to like me... it's quite complicated."


"So that's it..."


She was clearly jealous of Rin-chan.


It was part of adolescence, but it must be difficult for the person involved in the matter.


And the problem was that the issue of 'love' was involved. 


It was harder to talk about it with adults than... No, it wasn't impossible.


The only parents who might be willing to talk to her about it were the ones who were always in trouble when talking to her about her grades.


My sister was in a different club, and she definitely didn't want her friend to get involved in such a messy situation.


"What should I do?"


Rin-chan hadn't done anything wrong.  I was tempted to say, "Rin-chan didn't do anything wrong," but I didn't because it wouldn't help at all.


I really thought that it would be a hundred times better to shut my mouth as a wall than to say something like that.


"First of all, don't get involved with that guy.  Show him that you're not interested.  Then, as scary as it is, I think it's best to get into the girl's life slowly."


The only thing you can do is prove in front of the person who is jealous of you that you have no relationship with the guy.


If the girl's response encourages you to be more mature, it may be taken as an affirmation of the relationship by the person who can't see it calmly.


"......"


"That said, it's usually pretty creepy."


That's just the irresponsible opinion of an outsider, so I don't know how Rin-chan sees it


"So, you don't enjoy the club activities?"


"Unfortunately, not at all.  I didn't expect something like this to happen."


"I see..."


Her well-defined face showed a lot of joy, anger, sadness and rage.


The sad expression on her face made it look like she was having a hard time doing club activities.


And I'm saying this, just based on the instinct I got from my vision.


"Did you... also miss the club activities?"


"Huh...?"


"I've retired from club activities, so I'm always here.  I'll always listen to you here.  Think of it like a shelter."


"No, isn't it will disturb Onii-san...?"


"Don't worry about that.  Rin-chan is a very good girl.  If you're bothered by that, then be nice to Saki for the rest of your life."


"......"


"Of course, I'm not saying that you should.  But you can try."


I didn't like the way it sounded because it was like I was inviting her to something shady.


"Is that... really going to be okay?"


"Yes.  You can read books, study like normal, or just talk like this.  It doesn't matter."


Skipping club activities wasn't a good idea, and I was probably a jerk for asking her to join me.


But I thought about the environment and my position and came to the conclusion that I could do what I could at that time.


"Then, just a moment..."


"Okay.  I won't tell anyone about this, including Saki, so don't worry."


So, she spent a little more time with me.


And it felt good to her, since her club advisor rarely even came to see her, other than for forms.


We studied together, and I tutored her, wondering if I could do something for her grades.


Little by little, her cheerfulness and grades began to return to normal.


"Oh, by the way..."


"What is it?"


About 2 months later, we started seeing each other after school.


When it became common for us to meet after school, she said it simply.


"I've officially quit the club."


"Seriously?"


"Yes!"


She looked amused and confirmed my confirmation with a laugh.


When she told me that her grades were getting better, and also the fact that it was because of the club activities that her grades were not good, her parents allowed her to quit.


"Then I said that I would study and go straight home after school was over!"


"You're very meticulous."


"Yes!  With that, I would like to ask you to continue your support!"


She managed to overcome her problem thanks to my response, which I thought was a bad move.


Maybe that's why she's still trying to rely on me like she used to.


The eyes that really try to rely on me, are too strong.



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