His Childhood Friend is a Beautiful, Reclusive Girl, So He Spends His After-School Hours in Her Room (But He’s Not Her Boyfriend!) - Ch. 43: Love Train Of Braids And Ear Pick

Previously.
My ear cleaning brought my childhood friend and her brother face to face for the first time in a year and a half.
You probably don’t understand what I am talking about, but I don’t know what I’m talking about either.

“All right, let’s calm down. First, let’s count the prime numbers…”

Both of them awkwardly went back to their rooms and I couldn’t hear a thing from either of the rooms.
If this were a game, I would have been given a choice.

1. Go To Yuika’s Room
2. Go To Iori’s Room

“Yeah, it’s usually one.”

It doesn’t matter if we were fighting or not.
Now that she has met Iori, she’s definitely shocked. If I don’t go, who will?

For now, I picked up the sweets and coins from the floor and stood in front of Yuika’s room.
I’d like to call out to Iori, but I know by unspoken agreement with the guys that girls come first in these situations. If I were to be overly cautious, Iori would probably get angry at me for what I was doing.

So I went past Iori’s room without hesitation and knocked on Yuika’s door.
There was no answer. It meant that I could come in.

“Yuika, I’m coming in. …And, that’s another fine bun…”

The futon was puffed up on the bed.
It was the usual futon bun that makes a recluse stay indoors even longer.

I closed the door with a slightly louder sound so that the two of them, Yuika and Iori, could hear it.
I left the sweets on the table and went over to the bed.
I sat down next to the bun and spoke to her.

“Iori has grown a bit taller, did you see? It’s a growth spurt.”
“…”
“Well, he’s still short, but you know, his face is starting to look more and more like yours, isn’t it?”
“…”
“I’m sure he’ll be a beautiful person just like his sister.”
“…”

Wiggle, the bun moved a little. She seemed a little happy.
You’re still an Onee-chan in this respect.

When I looked down, I saw a tail growing out of a bun.
Oh my, it’s a fox in disguise…I was going to make a joke, but I decided not to. It’s just a normal braid.

“Fuhmm…”

I actually wanted to mess with the braid a little bit.
I picked up the braid and flicked it around like a tail.

“Ohh…”

It’s, feels good. It’s a beautiful girl, Yuika’s hair, so it feels good to the touch with my finger, and the sensation when you shake it is pleasant.
Next, I crawl my fingers into the weaves of her hair.

“Ooh…”

It seems to unwind, but it doesn’t.
The perfect balance was really amazing.

“…What are you doing with someone’s hair?”
“Wow, you noticed that!?”
“Childish. You’d notice, normally.”

Before I knew it, Yuika had shown her face. She was looking at me with a very dumbfounded look in her eyes.
She’s in a position where I can still fiddle with her braids, so her face is surprisingly close. Her cheek is almost touching my thigh.
She made a face when her tail is touched. She’s like a wild animal.
[TLN: Reverse Thigh Face Stuffing?]

Well, now that you’ve come out safely, what shall we talk about first?
I put her braids to the side and thought.
For now, let’s put Iori…on the back burner. First things first.

“After all, why was Yuika so angry?”
“I won’t tell you.”

She turned her head away in a pout.
I reached out and stroked Yuika’s head. She doesn’t mind. She is sulking while being stroked.

“If you think you can learn everything from me, you’re wrong, okay?”
“But, I guess I’ll never know unless you tell me, right?”
“I-if I tell Souta, he’ll find out.”
“…Uh, wait a minute. Is that something I’m not supposed to know? Aren’t you being rather reckless?”
“N-now that you mention it, I’m starting to get the feeling that…”

So, that’s how it is.
I can’t apologize to Yuika without knowing why she’s angry, but she’d rather I didn’t know, and I have to somehow fix her mood without knowing anything.

“Hey, girl. At the moment, you’re being very unreasonable.”
“I know, I know, but…I’m starting to think I’m being selfish, but after all, it’s Souta who’s to blame, so Souta has to do something about it right now!”

“Yes, there it is. The usual conclusion of ‘Souta is to blame’ and the unreasonableness of ‘Souta should do something about it.’”
“Don’t worry! Souta can handle it. I believe in you.”
“As usual, your trust is heavy…”

Although there are ways to do it. We haven’t been childhood friends for that long for nothing.
If things get confusing, it’s best to go back to the start.

I pull out something I’ve been keeping in the breast pocket of my shirt.
It was, of course, an ear pick.

“Then, let’s just continue, shall we?”
“Huh!?”

For some reason, Yuika’s face turned red.
Her eyes swarming, terribly flustered about something.

“C-co-continue… Okay, that sounds like a good idea, b-but…what are you thinking!?”
“No, I’m the one who’s asking… Don’t respond to a question with a question. Not only will you get your ears cleaned, but you’ll also get your nails clipped by me who wants to live quietly.”
“I don’t think my nails are any problem either, but…and more importantly! The ear cleaning reminded me of something!”

She got up from her bun with a thud.

“About cleaning Iori’s ears! Souta, you must never scrub anyone’s ears but mine!”
“Eh, why not?”
“Listen! Absolutely, absolutely, absolutely not! Promise!”
“I-I get it…I promise.”

I was forced to cut my fingers if I don’t keep my promise for the first time since elementary school.
Yuika swiftly moved her face closer to mine and glared at me.

“Especially don’t do it to Iori. Since he’s related to me, there’s a good chance we have the same weaknesses.”
“What do you mean by weakness…are you guys blood relatives over stone masks or something?”
“Joseph broke the fate that short life is a weakness, didn’t he?”
“But now that the universe has come full circle, eventually the rest of us will have to come to terms with our family’s fate.”
“Enough about the golden spirit!”
[TLN: More Jojo, someone save me.]

She’s angry about something.
Yuika’s gaze accelerated. It accelerated as if the universe is about to come full circle.

“Anyway, Souta absolutely cannot clean other people’s ears. Okay? No exceptions. No mercy.”
“All right, all right. I won’t hold an ear pick ever again. But…”

I tickled Yuika’s nose with the cotton wool from my earpick.

“I’m allowed to do that to Yuika, right?”
“Uhh. Well, that’s…”
“’Souta is only allowed to clean my ears,’ is what I heard.”
“Aaaaahhh…”

Yuika turned red and looked down.

Ah, I’m beginning to understand.
In other words, Yuika must have really liked my ear cleaning.
She wanted me to finish cleaning her ears, but I went to pick up Iori’s sweets in the middle, so she got upset. I think this is probably close to the right answer.

As I was thinking about this, Yuika asked me in a very anxious tone.

“…You don’t like girls who want to keep you to themselves?”

You’re overreacting to something as simple as ear cleaning…is what I thought, but she looked seriously worried as if she was about to start crying.
I don’t know, but I guess it’s very important to Yuika.
In order to reassure her, I gently stroked her hair and answered.

“I’d be more than happy to have you take me all to yourself.”
“…You mean it?”
“Yeah, I do.”

For example, even if it’s not about ear cleaning, it’s a man’s dream to be told by the woman he loves that she wants to have him all to herself.

“I’m glad…” Yuika said with a sigh of relief as she relaxed. She puts her head on my thigh.
She seems to be in a better mood. I touched her hair at her ear and asked.

“So, do you want to? Continue?”
“… Yes, I want you to. I really want Souta to clean my ears right now.”

Yuika slowly held her braid and brushed the rest of her hair up to her ears.
She wriggled and adjusted her body position and was ready.

“Let’s start with the traditional hook push.”
“But first, please give me one.”
“Please?”
“You know…”

A palm came close to me and touched my cheek.

“I won’t say no to anything you do to me anymore…”

Yuika’s ears were red and she whispered shyly.
She spoke softly and sweetly as if she had thrown away all the armor in her heart.

“…please make me feel good.”

The gap between the way she spoke like a young child and the glossy expression on her face made me squirm.
…What is this!? When did my childhood friend become so erotic? She didn’t have this kind of appeal until today. What happened to her in such a short time…!?

But now that I’ve been told, I can’t back down.
I nodded and briskly readied up—