CH 11

The Sense of Distance as Friends



TL/ED: Bogdi

“Come on, let’s go and have lunch, don’t be sad because you’ve been lectured. I’m starving. School is boring and dull, but lunch is the only thing that’s really nice.”



No, I’m not feeling sad about it.



It seemed to Shimotsuki that I was. She rubbed my back in a comforting way. I feel like I’m being treated like a child. …… Oh well.



“Shall we sit down? Oh, maybe you’re too germophobic to sit outside? If that’s the case, you can stand, but I’ll have to keep looking up and my neck will get tired.”



“Don’t worry, I’ll sit down.”



The back of the school building is deserted. Shimotsuki sits down on a step. I sat down next to her, with a good distance between us.



The distance between us is about one meter. I thought this was the kind of distance between me and Shimotsuki, but …… it seems to be a little too far.



“”Hey, hey, look at this. Don’t you think my bento looks delicious?”



She approached me at once.



The distance between us was only about 10 centimeters.



(Isn’t this close?)



We are so close that our bodies touch when we move. But that seems to be how Shimotsuki feels about the distance between her and her friends. She was not aware of the closeness at all and continued talking as if it was natural.



“My mom is very good at cooking, and without any favoritism from our family, it’s really delicious. …… Oh, would you like to try some egg rolls? We make it sweet, but even if Nakayama-kun is a picky eater, he will find it delicious. That’s how good my mom is at cooking. Here you go. Don’t be shy, okay? Ahh.”



This time, she offered me an egg roll with her chopsticks like a lover.



“What? Hmm?”



We’re friends, right?



It’s not like we’re dating in Shimotsuki’s mind, is it?



I’ve never confessed or been confessed to anyone in my memory, though I’m flattered by that.



If that’s the case, then what is this closeness?



It seems like Shimotsuki adores me to the point where I can’t really understand her concept of a friend.



It’s only been two days since we became friends, but …… I wonder if this girl was really starving for a friend.



If that was the case, I felt a little self-conscious about turning her down.



“You’re not going to eat it? It’s so good. ……”



Then, when she gave me a sad look, I couldn’t reject her.



“Yes, thank you. ……”



So I ate the egg roll she offered me.



It tasted …… good, I think. To be honest, I didn’t really understand it. I think I was confused because it was the first time I had ever been approached like this.



“How is it? Is it good? Isn’t my mom amazing?”



I just nodded my head as Shimotsuki asked for my opinion.



“I think it’s amazing. It tastes delicious.”



” I know, right? There’s nothing my mom can’t cook. She loves my dad so much that she always puts a lot of effort into cooking for him. And I get to reap the benefits of that, too, which makes me very happy.”



Shimotsuki seems to be more pleased when her mother is praised than she is when she is praised herself.



She must be a kind girl who loves her family. Knowing this side of her makes her even more attractive to me. That’s why I was embarrassed to have acted like a lover with such a girl.