Another Perspective: The Other Side of Month B
The Other Side of Month B: Sei Umihara’s Perspective
One day during the long holiday, I found myself at an amusement park. Of course, I wasn’t alone. There was the much-discussed Sakakibara. Takashiro and Shironami, who are clearly head-over-heels for him. Sasaki, who makes his feelings for me painfully obvious… and then, there’s him—the expressionless guy I can never quite read.
We had been in the same group during the residential training and ate together, but… he always seemed so distinct. Despite being expressionless, he’s incredibly attentive and actually listens to what you have to say.
To be honest, I wasn’t good with him at first. Unknown things are usually scary. Think about it: a guy with high communication skills who does everything with a completely blank face. It feels like you’re talking to a robot. …Even when I showed up at the meeting spot all dressed up, his expression didn’t change at all.
The amusement park was fun. We rode roller coasters, went on go-karts—the whole works. He was constantly looking at Sakakibara through binoculars, though… Is he… into guys?
Later, at lunchtime, the expressionless guy made a suggestion.
“Let’s do some free time this afternoon. Everyone has different tastes. I want to look for some souvenirs for my family. Let’s meet back at this cafe in two hours. How’s that?”
After he said that, Sasaki invited me to go around and try the street food. He remembered me saying I wanted to try the park’s limited-edition menu. Sakakibara was already flanked by Takashiro and Shironami, so I agreed and we went our separate ways.
…In that moment, we left the expressionless guy behind. Since I was uncomfortable around him, it actually felt like a relief. I knew it was a mean thing to feel, but I was at peace.
The food tour was fun for a while… but then we got caught in a massive crowd and I lost Sasaki. I couldn’t keep up with his pace through the throng. It felt dangerous to keep pushing through, so I messaged him and decided to head back to the cafe. I knew we’d meet up there eventually.
A little while later, for some reason, the expressionless guy arrived. Internally, I went “Ugh,” but I didn’t want to make things awkward, so we started talking.
…And that was when I regretted judging someone based solely on a first impression. He was actually funny. His face stayed blank, but he’d ask questions, nod along, and give these witty replies that didn’t match his face at all… He was such a good listener that I ended up talking way too much. Within ten minutes, my discomfort had vanished, and I blurted out:
“You’re actually a really interesting person.”
He responded by raising the corners of his mouth—just a tiny, tiny bit—and said:
“Umihara, you’re actually really easy to talk to. I found myself getting sucked into the conversation. I’m not great at starting topics myself, so I like people who can keep a conversation going.”
The way he did that… it was so charming that I found myself staring for a second. Maybe it’s not that he’s expressionless, but just that his expressions are hard to notice?
As those thoughts swirled, I kept talking to him to hide the fact that I’d been staring until the others arrived. I wasn’t bored for a single second. Even when we ran out of things to say, we just joked around aimlessly. It was a really fun time. I found myself wanting to know a little more about him that day.
On another day, when Sasaki’s family business was struggling, the whole amusement park crew volunteered to help. It was my first part-time job experience, and it was fresh and fun. We had a bit of a scare with some rough customers, but Sakakibara and Sasaki helped me out. I’m athletic, but I’m really scared of fights and violence, so I was happy they protected me. It turns out the expressionless guy had spotted the rough customers the moment they walked in and alerted Sasaki’s mom to be ready to call the police. He really does see everything.
READ THE ORIGINAL TRANSLATION AT LOCALIZERMEERKAT.GITHUB.IO
And then, on another day, I was invited to Sakakibara’s house for a study session. Same crew as the amusement park.
As usual, the “Twin Castles” (the name the expressionless guy gave them) were guarding Sakakibara’s sides, Sasaki was next to me, and he was in the “birthday seat” (the head of the table).
As I studied with Sasaki, I watched him. He was constantly glancing at Sakakibara and the Twin Castles. Is he really into guys?
We played games, dealt with the sudden arrival of Sakakibara’s sister, and… ended up staying the night.
When he stood up to the sister… it was incredible.
“No-no-no, that’s not it at all, we weren’t trying to trick you or play dumb or anything like that, there’s nothing shady going on, look, the proof is that we were just normally studying and playing, Sakakibara is safe and sound and hasn’t been defiled by girls, eh? You think I’m the one defiling him even if I’m not a girl? No way, where do you see that, are your eyes rotten because you’re a Fujoshi (rotten-girl)? You’re not a Fujoshi? You’re the one who’s going to marry your brother? How far does this go?! Never mind, anyway, I swear on God or something like that, although God isn’t reliable, anyway I swear nothing happened, I’ll offer up Sakakibara as a sacrifice so please forgive us!”
“Wait, did you just sell me out?!”
I was honestly impressed he could get so many words out so fast. Then… after the sister left, the weather got so bad the trains and buses stopped, so we stayed over. All the girls gathered in Sakakibara’s locked room and we talked.
…And eventually, the topic of boys we liked came up. To be honest, I hadn’t thought much about romance, but I accidentally let something slip about the expressionless guy. They ended up interrogating me about him.
I’ve only known him for a short time, so I didn’t have much to tell, but my face felt incredibly hot. Maybe I’m just not used to “girl talk.” I’m still not sure if I actually like him, though. After that, the Twin Castles shared their own memories, and we fell asleep in a somewhat bashful atmosphere. When we woke up and remembered the girl talk, we all turned red.
But I guess this is what “youth” feels like!
☆
Visit the request page If there’s a Japanese Light Novel (LN) or Web Novel (WN) you’d like me to translate
When the donation goal progress bar above hit 100% one novel will be chosen for translation
| Table of Contents | Next* |
Support the Author by Buying the Original Books!
