“Is this seriously the same person from earlier?”
Was this the acting skill of a former child star? Hard to say.
The sheer presence she had back then, rivaling even Kimiya’s, was way too different from the trembling mess in front of me now.
“…Ugh.”
Shiranui groaned, as if realizing she’d let her real self slip.
Then, in a flash, she straightened up—spine rigid, flipping her hair back with a sharp flick.
“Hah? What, you just followed me here? You some kinda stalker? Cut it out.”
Damn. Impressive how fast she switched gears.
Her posture, her expression—completely different. Honestly, it was like she’d become a whole other person.
But—
“Too late for that now.”
“…Yeah… I kinda figured…”
“So all that attitude was just an act?”
“Heh…” She gave a weak laugh, then—”Yeah. The truth is, I’m actually a gloomy, awkward loser. I was just faking it this whole time. Sorry for getting carried away, someone like me has no right to—”
“Whoa, I didn’t say that much!”
“Just insult me already…! No, wait, don’t. It’d actually hurt right now. I might cry.”
“Uh… I mean, don’t overthink it.”
“Kage… yuki…!”
“Honestly, I kinda suspected.”
“KAGEYUKII!!”
Thump thump thump—Shiranui started weakly punching my shoulder.
Guess she didn’t like that answer. She even dropped the honorifics.
“B-but my acting was perfect! Right!?”
“Well, yeah, your acting was good.”
“See!?”
“Everything else was a disaster, though.”
“THAT’S THE FINAL BLOW!! WAAAHHH!!”
So her real personality was pathetically weak, and she’d been masking it with sheer acting skill? Huh. Weirdly fascinating. Not sure if that’s impressive or just sad.
“…Still, gotta admit, your acting was insane. You were doing it on purpose the whole time, right?”
“W-well, yeah, but…”
“That intimidating aura earlier? Legit scary.”
I was genuinely impressed.
It wasn’t just words or gestures—she changed the very air around her, manipulating how others perceived her. A skill honed through experience, a way to dominate a space.
…Huh. Maybe I should learn a thing or two about acting.
“But anyway, Shiranui. Why do you act like that? You’re forcing that tough-girl act all the time, right? What’s the point?”
“I-it’s none of your business! I can do what I want!”
“Well, yeah, but…”
In a way, she was making full use of her acting skills.
Not exactly something she could report to the student council as an achievement, though.
“I didn’t want anyone to find out…”
Shiranui groaned, her eyes spinning in frustration.
I decided to push further.
“Wait, is this about when we first met? At the entrance ceremony—”
“…Yeah. That was just me copying Kimiya. Acting’s my thing, so…”
“Ah. Got it.”
So I’d seen the imitation before the real deal.
Now that I thought about it, Shiranui’s attitude back then had been a dead ringer for Kimiya’s.
“I was the guide, and… I wasn’t really into it, but it was assigned to me. I figured if I acted like that, I wouldn’t be nervous.”
“You were still kinda rude, though.”
“That’s—! Well… I thought you didn’t know who I was.”
“Huh…?”
I tilted my head at her cryptic words.
She glanced at me for a second, then sighed and continued.
“I didn’t want to pick fights with strangers. But then you suddenly acted like you knew me, and I thought—‘Oh, this again.’ That’s all! It wasn’t personal!”
“That’s…”
“When someone knows me, but I don’t know them—it’s… not fun. Maybe you wouldn’t get it.”
“……”
I shook my head slightly.
I kind of understood, but it wasn’t something I could casually agree with. So I changed the subject.
“Hey. Shiranui, you used to be an actor, right?”
“—Mgh. Well, yeah, but… Wait, you didn’t know?”
“I’d heard the name, but I didn’t realize it was you.”
“Then Kimiya blabbed…! Ugh, that jerk…!”
Her tone was more whiny than angry. She clearly sucked at holding grudges.
Kinda relatable, honestly.
“…Did you quit acting?”
“Not… really? More like a break. Or, well, II don’t mind quitting.”
Her reply was oddly nonchalant.
No real attachment.
“Seems like a waste. Even I’d heard of you.”
“Oh, now you say that? You didn’t recognize me at first.”
“Well, yeah, but…”
I couldn’t exactly admit that the name “Natsuki” had made me avoid looking too closely.
“Child actors have short lifespans anyway. It is what it is. I’m not doing TV work now, and if I spent all my time acting, I’d miss out on being a normal student.”
“Ah…”
I kinda got it. So—
READ THE ORIGINAL TRANSLATION AT LOCALIZERMEERKAT.GITHUB.IO
“You’d rather just have fun like a regular kid?”
“W-well, yeah! Not like I have anyone to hang with, so what’s the point of ‘youth’ or whatever—stop laughing at me!!”
“I’m not laughing!”
“It’s not my fault…! I was always working as a kid, so I just wanna… Ugh, forget it! I just wanna live a little!!”
“Okay, okay. My bad.”
“If you’re gonna apologize, put some effort into it!”
“You’re such a hassle!!”
But I did get where she was coming from.
A child star that popular probably never had time to play. If this was her rebound phase, no wonder she craved a normal school life.
Though—
“And yet here you are… skipping class to sulk alone in a café?”
“Th-that’s not—! Okay, yeah, I skipped, but I had a reason!”
“Which is?”
“Because—OH CRAP, I FORGOT!!”
Shiranui suddenly shrieked, throwing me off.
She flailed in panic, then turned to me with desperate eyes.
“Wh-what do I do!?”
“Do what!?”
“I-I’m supposed to meet Oshimi-senpai back at school soon!!”
“Then… go back?”
“B-but YOU showed up out of nowhere!!”
“You were already curled up here before I got here!”
“I needed time to recover mentally after all that!! And YOU being at that café in the first place is the real problem!!”
“HOW IS THIS MY FAULT!?”
“Eek… Y-you don’t have to yell…”
“Mood swings!!”
Shiranui’s real personality was five thousand times more troublesome than I’d imagined.
One second she’s flailing, the next she’s on the verge of tears, looking up at me like a lost puppy.
“Wh-what do I dooo? I’m gonna be late…!”
“Ugh, fine! What time’s the meet-up!?”
“4:30… but…”
“Then there’s still time! C’mon, let’s hurry! Give me your hand!”
I held out my right hand to her.
Shiranui stared at it like it was some alien object.
“Ah…”
“No time for ‘ah’! You’re gonna be late! I’ll walk you—just get up!”
“B-but… uh… wh-what…?”
She floundered, torn between confusion and urgency.
Then, remembering the time, she hesitantly took my hand.
“O-okay… um… th-thanks.”
“Alright, let’s go, Shiranui.”
Gripping her hand, I started running toward school, pulling her along.
—And that’s when it hit me.
“…Huh?”
My feet stumbled to a halt.
A weird sense of déjà vu flashed through my mind.
Like… I’d done this before.
Long ago, I’d run like this, pulling someone behind me—
“K-Kageyuki…?”
Shiranui’s uneasy voice snapped me back.
I shook my head. Probably just remembering times I’d dragged my siblings around. Right now, getting Shiranui to her meeting was more important.
I let go of her hand without thinking and said:
“…Wait, why am I running? This isn’t my problem.”
“YOU’RE BETRAYING ME NOW!?”
“Kidding. Don’t worry—if we’re late, I’ll take the blame and apologize.”
“O-okay! Then it’s your fault!”
“Atta girl! Love the attitude!”
Current time: 4:15 PM.
Fifteen minutes left—cutting it close, but if we hurried, we’d make it.
“Ugh, now that I think about being late, my stomach hurts…”
“Your mental fortitude is paper-thin!!”
If Isago was fragile, Shiranui was tissue-paper levels of weak. (Not that I’m much better.)
Just as she’d said earlier, I ended up sprinting back the way we came, cheering her up the whole way.
“Hang in there, Shiranui! You can make it!”
“Could you… cheer a little more gently…?!”
“Shut up and run!!”
“Wow, Kageyuki’s so mean!”
——To an outsider watching,
we must’ve looked like complete idiots.
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