For Some Reason, A Gal In My Class Became Friends With My Step-sister. - V1 Ch-4 part 2【Key】

Translator: AJ1703

Editor: Matsu

◆２【Special Feeling and a New Place】

　This is the first time I’ve seen Yua at school after spending the night at the Nagumo household.

　Whether we call each other by name or not, we still pretend to be strangers at school.

　In my usual seat in the classroom, I study and occasionally catch a glimpse of Yua.

　On this day too, Yua was at her usual place on the balcony, chatting with her friends. However, now that I know that although she is full of friends at school, she is a loner within the framework of her “family” because she doesn’t get along with her parents, I have developed a different impression of her.

　Wouldn’t it hurt Yua to pretend not to be involved with her, even if it was only in the classroom?

　We’re not lovers, but we’re probably a little closer than friends.

　From Yua’s point of view, it might make her feel lonely to pretend to be someone else, even if it’s just in the classroom.

　I felt that way even more after I found out how lonely she was.

★

　It was lunchtime and I was about to head for the fire escape as usual, but Yua sent me a MINE message. [TLN: “MINE” is probably a parody of Line App.]

[You don’t have to worry about any confessions during lunch break today, so it doesn’t have to be on the fire escape.]

[So let’s go to the rooftop instead.]

[I got a way to sneak in from a certain source~.]

　So I decided to go along with Yua’s suggestion, because I don’t care where, as long as it’s out of sight from the public. Well, I’m still wondering who the source is.

　Yua still gets called out for confessing their love, but it seems that the number of people who repeat their confession has been decreasing, so there are more opportunities to spend a relaxing lunch break these days.

　However, from my point of view, it’s a bit of a pity that I don’t have an excuse to spend my lunch break alone with Yua.

　The rooftop, which can be reached from the stairs on the third floor of the west school building, is usually off-limits with a sign in front of the stairs.

　As an honors student, it took a lot of courage for me to violate the school rules, but since I was the only freshman on this floor and my relationship with Yua had made me more adventurous, I was able to easily get past the sign.

　I was waiting on the landing in front of the rooftop when Yua arrived. She was carrying a paper bag, a sign that she had bought it at the store.

　The door was locked, so I watched silently, wondering what she was going to do, but she easily used the key to open it.

“Where did you get that key though?”

“I got to know the key guy and borrowed it. We talked for a while, and I asked him if I could borrow his key for the rooftop, and he said yes.”

　I wondered what the key person was, but I guessed he was the person who kept the keys. If they’re so close that they’ll lend her the key, why didn’t she at least remember his name?

　I don’t exactly know how she did it, but I didn’t expect her to get the key to the roof.

“From now on, we can use this place as well as the fire escape.”

“Return the key before it becomes a problem…”

　When I followed Yua to the rooftop, I found myself in a space filled with a sense of openness, surrounded by an endless expanse of the clear blue sky.

　It was the first time I had ever been on the roof of a school, let alone a high school. Well, for starters, it’s usually closed off.

　For a place that no one ever sets foot on, it was beautifully maintained, with no cracks or weeds growing in the seams of the ground.

　Yua sat down next to me on the bench, and it was the same old lunchtime.

“This morning, Tsumugi misunderstood me like crazy.”

　I said as I sipped my white rice against the backdrop of the town near the school building.

“How so?”

　Yua said so. She was snuggled up to me. We’re much closer than last week, I think.

“Just because I called you by your first name, she thought there was something erotic about it.”

“Tsumugi-chan is sharp.”

　Yua laughed, covering her mouth with her hand as she nibbled on a croquette bun, rumored to be the most popular item in the cafeteria.

“She’s not sharp. It was completely out of line.”

　I gave her a look that said, “What are you talking about?”

“But if Tsumugi-chan woke up and found the two ‘lovers’ on the same futon, snuggled together, she’d think something must have happened.

“That’s… Yua’s at fault here, not mine.”

　There are no morning routine facts between us.

　Yua is an unexpectedly bad sleeper and can’t seem to stay in the same place. She kept turning over and rolling over to me. If that was all, I was not surprised when she gave me a reverse horizontal chop to the chest while sleeping. Thanks to this, I couldn’t sleep well without holding Yua’s left arm. As a result, I had to face the morning in the same position as Yua said.

“It was because of Yua’s bad sleeping position that I got a maple leaf on my chest.”

“I’m sorry about that, okay~?”

　She seemed to feel bad about it, and when I brought up the subject, Yua blatantly groaned.

　Yua was always trying to take control of me, but it was refreshing to see her react the same way every time I mentioned her sleeping position. It’s one of the few moments when I can tease her.

“…I didn’t know I was such a bad sleeper.”

　Well, you never know unless someone points it out to you.

　And I was a little grossed out by the fact that I couldn’t help but feel happy that I had never been pointed out as a bad sleeper before.

“I’m not going to sleep with anyone but Shinji anymore.”

　Her eyes, filled with determination, seemed to shine brightly at any moment.

“Please do that. Then I’ll be the only victim.”

“What are you smirking at huh~?”

　Yua pressed a finger on my cheek.

　I might have been smirking, sure, but you know what?

　I think Yua was smiling even more than that.

　When she reacted like that, I felt more embarrassed than happy.

“I don’t know, it’s like this, you know, like that.”

“What’s with the lack of clarity? That’s out of character of you, Yua.”

“Like Tsumugi-chan said, I really feel like we’ve done something.”

　I couldn’t look directly at Yua’s face.

　I don’t know what will happen if I look at Yua’s face right now at such a close distance.

　There’s still a possibility that I’m just misunderstanding her, and she’s still thinking of me as a “close friend,” and I can’t do anything drastic. I didn’t want to hurt her because of my misunderstanding, and I didn’t want her to get hurt. Because right now, I was content with what I had.

“Yua is really a sexual pervert and a carnal demon.”

　I thought it might sound like a bad word, but if I hadn’t said it, I wouldn’t have been able to shake off the sweet mood I was in, and I might have acted out as a result of my accelerated misunderstanding.

　I was expecting an indignant Yua to snap at me, but the shock I expected did not come.

“Shinji is so naive!”

　Yua smiled with compassion.

“As Yua mama, I know exactly how Shinji really feels.”

　She nodded her head and said, “Oh, wow. I didn’t want that kind of depressing motherhood, did I?”

“Just let me concentrate on eating.”

“Do you want me to feed you?”

“No, thank you. My hands work fine.”

　Instead, though, my head is starting to fail me.

　Then we concentrated on eating our lunch, enjoying the silence, as if we were part of the school but detached from it.

　Usually Yua eats with her friends in the classroom once she’s out of danger of confessing, so it was unusual to see her next to me biting into a loaf of bread, and I felt embarrassed at how uncomfortable it made me feel.

　While I was having such a tranquil time.

“Hey, Shinji.”

　Yua called out to me while sucking on a straw stuck in a pack of vegetable juice.

　She sounded as if she was talking about the weather, which I was not particularly interested in.

“You can hug me again.”

　The tea I was drinking almost choked on its way down my throat.

　It took me completely by surprise.

　Yua didn’t take her eyes off me.

“I have to pretend to be a stranger to you again when I go back to class.”

　Yua held out her hands, not blaming me for keeping myself away from her in the classroom.

　I’m still worried about the trouble I’ll get into by being friends with Yua in the classroom. I feel bad for her, but I’m happy enough with the way things are now, and I don’t have any desire to be friends with her in the classroom.

　I felt sorry for Yua, so I did as she asked.

“Shinji~, you can squeeze me more, okay~?”

　Yua’s sweet voice came out of her mouth.

“Don’t be absurd. This is my limit.”

　Just holding Yua in my arms is enough to fill me up.

　It’s okay to talk, but don’t choke on your breath. What will you do when reason abandons its work?

“Then, I’ll squeeze you too!”

　I felt Yua’s arm tighten.

　Because of the season, our school uniforms had already been changed to summer clothes, and Yua was wearing only a shirt, so the feeling was more direct and dangerous. I was more excited than when she was wearing a swimsuit since we were alone.

“Oi, we’re at school… don’t do anything too crazy.”

“So, do you want my lap?”

　Yua now points to her own lap.

　My senses are so out of whack that even a lap pillow in school would be a terrible idea, but I think, “That’s better,” and put my head in Yua’s lap.

　As I rested my head on Yua’s soft lap, she stroked my head as she combed my hair.

　I was so happy that I didn’t want to move from this place again.

“Shinji’s working hard for both of us, including Tsumugi-chan, so let me do this at least.”

“What kind of reward is this? You’re putting in too much effort. You didn’t have to do this much.”

“I’m only doing it because I want to.”

“…If you ask me, even Yua is working hard too.”

　Living alone with no parental support is something I can’t even begin to imitate. Even though my father is away from our home a lot for work, he is always there to help me emotionally.

　Yua has started chaining her hands together with me under the guise of getting me used to the opposite sex, but I think the reason for this frequent touching might be that she’s lonely.

　Suddenly, there was a thumping sound as if the door had collided with something.

　I looked up, wondering if there were any other delinquents who had climbed over the sign, but the door never opened, and all that followed was silence.

“…Did you see anyone over there just now?”

“I don’t know, I was only looking at Shinji.”

　Yua tried to pull me in again, reaching for my head with a regretful look.

“Well, if there was anyone, they were probably just curious freshmen. It doesn’t matter if they’re a sophomore.”

“Well, I’m sure they won’t be too loud about it…”

　Wouldn’t that give the impression that our school was sexually promiscuous?

“It’s not unauthorized, because we have a key. I’m just giving you a lap pillow. It’s normal for two lovers. There’s nothing wrong with that.”

“The problem is that we’re not lovers.”

“Shinji acts so cold.”

　Yua poked me on the cheek.

“It’s better to say things like that without blushing, okay?”

　I was speechless. I didn’t even want to argue.

　After all, it’s Yua who’s still in control of the situation.