Leave a comment

She’s a crazy one.

That was the first time I felt like describing someone in such a rude way.

“What…”
“Are you surprised?”

Surprised I was, and greatly at that—both at what I just heard and from whom.

Inazuki Misora—she was my classmate who had sheltered me a month ago. She’s also the crazy person in question who had just uttered something so insane.

I just couldn’t figure out what she was thinking. Here I was just feeling rather bad that I was allowed to stay a month without compensation and wanted to do something in return, but never in my wildest dreams would I have expected that it would turn out like this.

“Let me get this straight, are you for real?”
“Yup, I am.”

Inazuki was smiling in amusement as if I were the weird one here. Could this be something normal among high school girls these days and I’m just oblivious to it?

“The two of us were lovers in the previous timeline.”

Repeating it one more time isn’t helping me process it at all.

I’m so, so confused here.

My mental image of Inazuki has been that of a kind girl with a bright personality and good fashion sense who could get along with anyone, but it started to crumble down with a rumbling sound. What remained of it was Inazuki as a weirdo who spouted crazy claims.

“So, I hope that you can remember it too.”

Just how did the conversation jump from me wanting to repay her for letting me stay to something like this? I couldn’t wrap my head around what she was saying. People used to tell me I was sort of a dunce and an airhead, but I think Inazuki had me beat in that regard. I haven’t gone off the deep end like her… I think.

“Remember it? And how exactly?”
“By reliving those memories.”
“Huh…?”

I asked, puzzled. My mind and heart were both still in shambles; there was no way I could think straight.

“Basically, we’ll head out and do the things we did in the previous timeline. That’ll be enough for me as a repayment.”

Inazuki stared at me with her big, blackish eyes. I was a little envious of how well-proportioned her face was even without makeup. However, this was no time to be thinking about such trivial things.

This is quite a pickle.

I could just go and stay at my friends’ houses like I used to before Inazuki took me in. But I don’t really want to trouble my friends so much. I mean, that doesn’t mean it’s fine to trouble Inazuki instead. It’s just that she lives alone, so I’m not disturbing her, apparently.

I don’t want to return home. My parents only come home once every few months, so I’d just be on my own even if I did go back. If the alternative is to return back to that dry house… then of course I’d rather stay here even if I have to go along with her crazy proposal.

“Does that mean we have to kiss and stuff?”
“We can if you want.”

She said and put her index finger on her lips. She shouldn’t have any lip balm on now, but her lips looked moist and nice to the touch. I felt like it would be pleasant to squeeze them. But still, I wasn’t sure about kissing though. I’ve never had my first kiss to begin with, so I wasn’t sure what was a suitable timing or atmosphere for it. Not to mention, the other person was Inazuki who was also a girl.

The same Inazuki, who I was cohabiting with.

Actually, I’m a little interested now. A smile escaped me as I thought so. In reality, our situation was closer to coexistence rather than cohabitation.¹ I shook my head.

“Nah, I’ll hold back… So no kissing means we won’t be doing anything beyond that, right?”
“We won’t. In the first place, we’ve never gone that far.”

Oh, really now.

Even if that so-called previous timeline actually existed, us not having gone far makes me a little relieved. I really wouldn’t want to be put in a situation where the current me knows nothing while she knows everything about me.

…Wait.

If we’re not gonna kiss or do anything beyond it, doesn’t that mean we’d just be going out like normal friends? There was no need to refuse then.

I’ve gotten quite close to her over this one month, so if we’ll be going out for fun while I go along with her delusion, and she would be satisfied with that much, then it should be no problem. There was nothing to contemplate about from the start.

“If you want to thank me for this one month, then I’d be happy if you could grant my request.”

She said in a sweet voice. Could anyone say no if asked like that? If there was, that person would surely feel no gratitude whatsoever. I felt that debt of gratitude, so I couldn’t refuse, not that I wanted to refuse.

“Got it. I’m not sure I’ll be able to remember anything, but let’s try reliving those memories.”
“Great! It’s settled then! We’ll start tomorrow, so we should sleep early today!”

Seeing her smiling so innocently made me once again realize how well-proportioned her face was, and I found her lovely. I was also thankful to her for allowing some weird runaway girl to stay.

She was overall a very nice person, and coupled with her good looks, there was nothing for me to dislike. That said, whether I wanted us to become lovers was a different question. I didn’t consider myself to be the type to fall in love with the same sex, so if the two of us were indeed lovers, it made me wonder what sparked a change in me of that old timeline.

She was probably joking anyway, so there was no point overthinking it. Still, there was something that bothered me a little. It was too poor in taste for a joke, and would she even say that kind of joke to me? Still, my doubts wouldn’t disappear just by thinking about them, so I decided to do as she said and sleep, while imagining what kind of days awaited me from tomorrow.

Project Yuri is fueled by your support. By reaching our Patreon goals, we can increase the number of chapters released each month and accelerate the publication schedule. Here's how your patronage can make a difference: 40 Patrons - 5 chapters/month 50 Patrons - 6 chapters/month 60 Patrons - 8 chapters/month

Current Goal: 6 / 40 Patrons Current Status: 4 chapters/month

1. In case it’s not clear—cohabitation usually implies living together as a couple. Coexistence is neutral.