| Author: Shizuku | Original Source: Syosetu | Word Count: 2722 characters |
| Translator: Nomad | English Source: Re:Library | Word Count: 1230 words |
| Editor(s): Robinxen | ||
The vacations ended, and the new term began at the school in the city. Olivia had learned the value of studies during that time, so her attitude changed entirely, avidly listening to class and studying.
“Hahh.”
In truth, that never happened. Whether during class or during break, she spent her time looking out the window with longing eyes. She had never been serious about studying, but this was strange even for her.
“Hey, Olivia. Why the long face? Is something wrong?”
During break, the cat demi-human Amy spoke to Olivia, as representative of her friends. They had known each other since childhood, and were pretty much best friends.
“It’s nothing really…”
Olivia replied, her eyes glued to the window. She had never behaved like that before, making Amy worried since she knew her for so long.
“Did something happen during vacations?”
Even as her best friend, Amy thought that was a bit rude to ask, but she would never know how to help otherwise. They were best friends, she had to do this for her. But Olivia’s reply would completely take over that little leap of faith.
“…So…”
“Yeah?”
“There’s someone I like.”
“Oh, I see. So you’ve fallen in…”
“…”
“…”
Amy stayed silent, and pinched her cheek. She felt pain, she had to admit this was reality, which made her shake her head in defeat. But she still could not believe it.
“Are you joking?!”
“Why would I be?!”
Olivia finally turned away from the window, glaring at her friend with an annoyed look.
“But it’s you we’re talking about! You’ve always picked adventure stories over romance, your only interest in guys is to fight them and humiliate them. You’re basically the school’s gang leader but you like someone now?! Ahhh, I knew the world was coming to an end.”
“Amy, just what do you see me as?”
“An utterly hopeless student but fight-loving musclehead brawler girl?”
“Guh…”
Olivia was stunned hearing her best friend’s unfiltered assessment of her, but she also knew there was no way for her to deny any of that, so she remained silent.
“Tell me though, what kind of person is it? Someone cool? Is he older?”
Amy was in the ripe age to be excited about romance, so she quickly changed her attitude and cornered her friend. Olivia was baffled at how fast that change was, but they were friends for so long she just let it go and replied.
“Hmm…good at housework…and delicious cooking! Though I only tried it once…”
“Being able to take care of the house is really valuable, yes.”
“…usually speaks softly too, but really aggressive when fighting…”
“Oh, some unpredictability is fun from time to time.”
“…younger than me1, but really smart and helped me study better…”
“Oh oh, so in short he’s really good at keeping the house, really polite, but also has a wild side and is younger than you?”
“Y-Yeah.”
“I see, hmm…”
Amy crosses her arms and tilts her head, closing her eyes while groaning. Olivia felt something was slightly off, though her description and Amy’s understanding of it seemed to overlap, so she said nothing.
“You know…”
“W-what?”
Done thinking, Amy opened her eyes, held Olivia’s shoulders and looked at her with a gentle face.
“That person is probably crazy popular. If you don’t pursue him aggressively, someone else might snatch him.”
Natalia was still confined to the house’s territory, but Olivia’s mother had mentioned she would eventually help out as an adventurer too, which meant more people would get to know her, and it was hard to imagine they would not look at her in a special way. It was true that Natalia is just a Magic Automaton, but her personality more than made up for it, and plenty of people would look past that. It was very likely other people would fall in love with her just like Olivia, and Natalia might fall in love back with them.
“I won’t let anyone do that!”
Just thinking of someone else being with Natalia made Olivia want to die.
“How do I pursue aggressively though? A kiss on the cheek and a bath together didn’t do anything to get myself noticed.”
“I-I’m shook. That’s a lot more assertive than I expected from you, and I’m your best friend.”
Amy felt a chill down her spine. Olivia had always preferred a good fight instead of roses, and had remained untouched to love affairs for her entire life, but in two weeks she had stepped up the ladder to becoming an adult considerably.
“But he must be really dense to not notice anything even after all that. Though I guess it makes sense that he isn’t interested in romance yet if he’s younger. Still, you won’t have many chances if you can only see him when you’re home.”
Amy continued thinking about it herself, while Olivia turned her eyes back to the window, staring outside. All Olivia could think about was her beloved Natalia. What was she doing at that moment? Has she learned magic already? Has she gone outside the house again since then? Thinking of Natalia made her chest feel constricted, but also warm.
“Hey, Olivia!”
As she wallowed in those sad but endearing thoughts, a crude voice called out her name. When she lifted her face, she saw Joshua, the dog demi-human. He was a student of the classroom next to hers, and every time they saw each other they would end up fighting. It would always end with Olivia’s victory though. But a week before the vacations, Joshua’s attitude had changed dramatically.
“I heard you aren’t looking well, what happened?”
Joshua looked earnestly worried about her, but to Olivia he still looked like a bitter enemy, so she did not know how to feel hearing him like that. But then she recalled what her mother told her during vacations.
“Ahh, right, I actually have to apologize to you for something.”
“Huh? Did I do something then?”
“Actually, it’s me. I didn’t know that touching your ears meant that.”
“Wait, then…”
The color of his face drained. Olivia did not care, and continued without mercy.
“Yeah, I really had no intention to make you think that when I touched them. I’m sorry I gave you the wrong idea2.”
“…”
“…Joshua?”
“You a̲s̲s̲h̲o̲l̲e̲! Manipulator! B̲i̲t̲c̲h̲3!”
“I feel like I said something similar not too long ago…wait, Joshua!”
Joshua broke into tears and ran away from the classroom, and in his stead the teacher entered.
“Alright, time for class everyone…wait, what happened here?”
“Olivia made Joshua from the other class cry!”
“Oh, so just the usual then.”
Her antics were really so common that not even the teachers were surprised anymore. Before heading to her own seat, Amy whispered into Olivia’s ear.
“I’ll research how to get the person you like to like you back. Good luck.”
“Thank you, Amy.”
Amy had a bigger interest in romantic affairs than Olivia, so she decided to do her best to help her best friend fulfill her desires.
“Mm, maybe just treating it as an established fact would be faster, actually.”
But they were still children at the end of the day, so it was hard to believe they really knew what they were talking about.
Sneeze!
“Are you okay?”
“Y-Yes. I’m fine.”
Natalia still did not know the explosive4 situation developing somewhere far away.
