“Don’t interfere, you random guy! It’s creepy how you’re trying to act cool in front of a girl.”
“? I’m not trying to act cool. You’re too heated to invite anyone properly. I’m just here to calm things down. Let’s take a deep breath. Come on, inhale~ exhale~.”
“Who would do that, idiot! Ugh, this sucks. I’m out of here.”
The boy, losing patience, finally revealed his true nature and stormed off.
He roughly shook off Saito’s hand and dashed up the stairs as if to escape.
“Hey! … Ah, geez, he got upset.”
Saito scratched his head awkwardly, watching the retreating figure.
He regretted handling the situation poorly.
But only for a moment.
“Well, whatever,” he stopped scratching his head and turned towards me.
“Today was a disaster for you. Be more careful next time. I’ve got someone to find, so see you later.”
With a friendly smile, Saito walked away briskly,
looking like a prince on a white horse.
“…Wait, what!?”
Caught up in the sight of her cool childhood friend, Lily had completely forgotten to mention and thought : did that kid realize it was Me?
No, that can’t be.
Lily known Saito for nearly ten years, and she stands out with her unique hair color.
There’s no way he could have mistaken Lily just because she changed hairstyle and wear glasses. As a childhood friend, it’s impossible.
“Wait!”
Lily hurried after him, calling out.
“Hehe.”
“…Huh!?”
Saito stopped and shook his shoulders with laughter.
(Gotcha)
The moment she saw it, those five letters popped into my head.
He hadn’t mistaken Lily at all.
Saito knew exactly who she was and did it on purpose.
Turning back to her, the childhood friend laughed mischievously.
“Sorry, sorry. I got carried away since Lily looked different.”
“Come on! I thought you really didn’t recognize me.”
“Ow, don’t kick so seriously!”
Lily kicked Saito in the shin hard, but he deserved it for making me so anxious.
After all, he made her this uneasy.
A small punishment like this won’t hurt.
No, it’s not enough.
Lily still not satisfied.
“Shut up. It’s your fault, Saito. As a childhood friend, it’s unforgivable to mistake me, even as a joke.”
“Got it. I won’t do it again. Forgive me?”
“Buy me a drink.”
“Okay, okay. I get it.”
Finally, after making him promise to buy her a drink, I felt better and let it go this time.
“By the way, why were you dressed like that?”
On the way to the vending machine, Saito glanced at her, asking why she looked different.
(I can’t just say I wanted him to notice me.)
There was no way Lily could honestly say that.
“No reason, just a whim. I thought it might be nice to change things up a bit.”
“Well, it looks good on you.”
Saito believed her lie easily and even complimented her outfit.
“Really? Well, of course. It’s me, after all.”
(Yay! Saito praised me.)
Just that made her heart race, and she tried hard to keep from smiling.
“But, still.”
Saito jumped in front of Lily, cutting off her calm facade.
Then, he casually took her glasses and put them on himself.
“I prefer the usual Lily without glasses. It feels more like you.”
“～～!?”
Up close + Saito wearing glasses + “like” = complete KO.
Lily brain overheated from the overwhelming supply of stimuli,
her face turned red and she froze on the spot.
“──Hey. Hey, hey, what’s wrong?”
“Ah! N-nothing.”
Luckily, Lily came back to reality quickly.
The sight of Saito waving his hand in front of her and looking curiously at her face with glasses on was devastating.
Having seen it once, She built up some resistance, and managed to just barely keep her cool.
“Hehe, you’re totally flustered.”
“Aah!”
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Saito laughed, and of course, it was a fatal blow.
She couldn’t find the words to respond.
Strategy number one: Failure.
Instead of making Saito aware of her, Lily was the one made aware of him.
But it can’t be helped.
Saito in glasses was too overwhelming.
It suppressed his usual childishness, making him look more mature and cool.
Even though Saito hated it, Lily kept saying, “Just one more,” and took many pictures of him.
For a while, the wallpaper on her home computer would probably be a picture of her childhood friend wearing glasses.
“It ended up being the usual train, huh?”
“I’m really sorry.”
Because she got so absorbed in taking pictures that she forgot the time, they missed one train, making Saito a bit grumpy.
Lily bowed her head, truly feeling sorry this time.
Then, when they got on their usual train, there was an unexpected guest.
“Oh, good morning, Minazuki-kun and Machigane-san. Minazuki-kun, do you have poor eyesight?”
“Good morning, Minazuki-kun, Ma—… Machigane-san.”
“Good morning. Minazuki, Machigane.”
It was Haruki and Koyuki, Mizuki’s harem group.
Normally, their train schedules didn’t overlap, but it seemed like the timing got messed up because Koyuki, who usually went to school separately, joined them today.
“Oh, good morning, Haruki, Aizono, and Shirayuri-senpai. The glasses are just for show. Do they suit me?”
“Good morning, Senpai, Mizuki-chan.”
Saito walked over to his friends with a happy expression, while Lily’s mood dropped, and she kept a slight distance.
She really wanted to stay by Saito’s side, but because her ex was there and Koyuki was smiling at her with pressure, she couldn’t get close.
Lily looked away and waited for time to pass from a distance.
After a while, the doors closed, and Saito, who had finished chatting, came back.
“Shirayuri-senpai, taking the train is surprising. I didn’t know that.”
Saito mumbled in surprise as soon as he returned, noticing Koyuki’s presence.
“Well, it’s surprising. She used to be picked up and dropped off by car every day.”
“Despite being raised as a lady, she’s quite down-to-earth.”
“Yeah.”
Lily pretended to agree on the surface, but she wasn’t surprised since she had seen similar situations in her first life.
Besides, she knew from her interactions before the time leap that Koyuki was quite lonely.
Her parents came home late, and even when she got home, only the housekeeper was there. The housekeeper also left after 5 PM.
For Koyuki, who had grown up thinking that was normal, she craved human warmth more than anyone.
Even if it was inconvenient, she preferred to be with the people she liked or her friends. That was who Shirayuri Koyuki was.
So, it wasn’t strange that she decided to take the train to school.
(Wait, didn’t Koyuki-senpai start taking the train later?)
But Lily felt something was off.
It was over ten years ago, so she wasn’t confident, but if her memory was correct, Koyuki started taking the train after summer break ended.
It should have been triggered by a sleepover at Haruki’s house during summer vacation.
Yet, they were going to school together even though the sports festival hadn’t ended, which was strange.
(Well, Haruki must have said something unnecessary, unlike last time.)
For some reason, Haruki, like Lily, had time-leaped.
Haruki, extremely kind-hearted and unable to abandon people in trouble, was helping girls and making them fall for him just like before.
However, no one can reproduce events from years ago exactly the same way.
There must be slight differences in conversations.
That was probably why things were moving faster.
(Doing unnecessary things, what does he even want?)
Even though he still showed signs of lingering feelings for Lily, he was helping other girls too.
Lily, who understood Haruki’s personality to some extent, really couldn’t understand him now.
As she thought about this while glaring at Haruki, she made eye contact with Mizuki.
They got along well, in good terms.
Mizuki was similar to Saito, with no hidden sides, making it easy and relaxing to talk to her.
More importantly, they could bond over childhood friend talks, which they couldn’t do the first time, making them closer than before.
(This is the worst. What is with this girl?)
(Haha, don’t worry, Mizuki-chan.)
Mizuki, who had her two-person commute interrupted, was very upset.
Lily encouraged Mizuki with eye contact as she let out a big sigh in frustration.
Sooner or later, it would have been the same situation.
Besides, unlike the first time, there was no blonde half-beauty around, which was a relief.
Mizuki would just have to get used to it.
(…Haha, Haruki-kun’s hand is warm.)
(…Hey, what are you doing, Koyuki-senpai?)
(This girl is a homewrecker.)
(Calm down, Mizuki-chan!)
But seeing Mizuki brimming with murderous intent as if she was about to do something, it seemed impossible. Mizuki would be overwhelmed by Koyuki’s active advances from now on.
(…Haha.)
It looked like it would be tough to win over their childhood friends.
Thinking that, a dry laugh naturally spilled out.
(…Why did you suddenly start laughing?)
(…I was just thinking about how tough my friend’s future looks.)
(…What does that even mean?)
Not understanding the situation, Saito just had a puzzled look on his face.
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