Chapter 18: Childhood Friend Chocolate: I Saw From the Shadows the Moment My Beloved, Who I'm Sure is in Love With Me, Receives a Threatening Letter and Promises to Give the Sender Her "First"

Childhood Friend Chocolate: I Saw From the Shadows the Moment My Beloved, Who I'm Sure is in Love With Me, Receives a Threatening Letter and Promises to Give the Sender Her "First" (Bittersweet Flavor).

About two weeks after tasting my precious Snack-kun, I headed home again today with Tomohiro-kun in tow, only to find a letter sitting on my outdoor shoe.

It was so cute, it even had a sticker on it. A love letter, perhaps?

I'm surprised that there's still some fool who thinks there's a chance, even though I'm so keen to promote myself as Tomohiro-kun's owner.

My classmates and other close friends have probably already rejected or given up on me, so maybe someone I'm not even that close to fell in love with me at first sight?

It's a fairly common occurrence. I inherited that face from my Mama, so it can't be helped.

"Sorry Hiro-chan, I've been called away for a bit, so I'm off."

I told Tomohiro-kun, who had been watching me pick up the letter, to wait a moment, and headed to the address I'd skimmed over. Even though I'd only just skimmed it, all it said was the call and a message saying "I knew your secret."

There was no sender name, so it was a threatening letter—something he wouldn't normally send alone.

He'd even attached a heart sticker to it, so I think he had good taste. It seemed like we could become friends. So exciting!

Elated, I headed to the address alone and waited for the sender to show up.

Why was I so relaxed after receiving a threatening-looking letter? Because I knew who the sender was from the words written on it. Even if that weren't the case, the only secret I was hiding was that I'd been reborn, so there was no way they'd know. So if a stranger showed up, I'd just have to yell and call someone. Besides, I could probably handle just one person. I am a former karate girl, after all.

As for the reason why I quit karate, there's a reason shallower than a puddle, so if there's an opportunity I'll share it with you, but for now, about the sender of the letter. 

I've never received such a wonderful threatening letter before! Hikari, her heart's pounding!

While I was waiting with that thought in mind, a pair of glasses... no, a boy pushing them up tightly.

In other words, it's Satoshi-kun, the person closest to me who has the most sparkle hidden within him.

Now that the sender has appeared, let's think about why I received the threatening letter.

The secret that Satoshi-kun knows, and the secret I actually keep.

...Well, there's no overlap, so it's probably not something I'm seriously hiding.

So this kid sent a threatening letter to a perfect beauty for such a trivial reason!?

...Poor thing... I hope something good happens to him in the next life.

Just kidding!

But I have an idea about my "secret" that Satoshi-kun knows, and if he does know it, it's not surprising that he would call me like that.

I'm a high-spec reincarnated person, after all. I wouldn't make such a pathetic mistake as not being able to think of a reason for being called, or being threatened by a kid I have my eye on for no real reason.

"Ah, it was Satoshi-kun. I suddenly got a strange letter, so I was a little worried about who it was from."

Anyway, putting that aside, Satoshi-kun, who called me in such a strange way and then showed up late, deserves to be punished.

If I'm a beautiful girl as I appear, and if he was even a little weak-hearted, I would have called him in a way that would have made him think of the worst possible outcome. He wouldn't be able to maintain his balance unless he felt a little guilty.

For such a completely normal reason, I seemed to relax and calm down.

Question: How would you feel if the person you sent a threatening letter to suddenly seemed relieved as soon as they realized it was you?

Answer: I would feel incredibly sorry. I regret that I should have thought a little more about the wording of the letter before calling them, and I would be crushed by the guilt of having scared them. ...But at the same time, I feel a sense of trust in me, knowing that they feel safe knowing that I'm the one calling them, and while I'm happy about that, I also feel frustrated that they doesn't see me as a dangerous (male) person.

I think this is how Satoshi-kun would think about my reaction. My small actions would make an innocent boy's emotions all jumbled up.

Hikari, you know, this is what they called chaos theory!

"... So you know... no, nevermind."

Why would you feel safe knowing that I'm the one who called you? Don't you think you'd be threatened and asked to do something strange? 

Satoshi-kun looks like he wants to say this, but I take the lead by saying, "It's about the secret, right?"  

If the conversation progressed at his own pace, in the expected order, it would create a production problem.

Eh, who is this production aimed at?

It's obviously for Tomohiro-kun, who's listening to our conversation while hiding in the shadows.

"So, getting to the point, I know your secret. To be precise, I've discovered your secret. Do you remember? The thing from the library during summer vacation?"

I said that I have financial resources disproportionate to a middle school student. 

I said I kept it a secret about how I make my money, and offered a reward if he could guess.

It wasn't a secret I was even hiding, it was just a conversation starter. I can't believe he was so curious about it that he'd looked into it.

Maybe he's just bored?

"Stop making that face like, 'Are you just bored?' I had nothing to do but study, so this is your secret, right?"

Maybe he was just bored after all.

Thinking this, I checked the smartphone Satoshi-kun handed me, and found Hikari's account.  

It's the one I use to let my talent flow and to sell my failed work. The one that was frozen once.

"You're right. You figured it out. I never thought it would be discovered so quickly."

When I said that, impressed, Satoshi-kun sulked, saying, "You weren't even trying to hide it, but you're saying that..."

Well, I wasn't trying to hide it, but it's probably not easy to find me in the vast ocean of the internet, so I'm really impressed.

"This is really amazing. I should tell everyone about it. I'm sure there are lots of people who would be interested."

"Stop it! Please, don't tell anyone!"

Satoshi-kun probably meant that wholeheartedly, with no ill will whatsoever. But when I responded with a slightly stronger rejection, he seemed stunned and fell silent. His face, trying to sort out what I'd said in his mind, was adorable. 

"Your voice is suddenly so loud. ... Seriously, you don't have to shout so loudly. I wouldn't spread the word, and there's no one to tell."

Sorry, my loud voice is intentional. There's someone I want to hear.

But even if I know Tomohiro-kun's hearing and where he is, it's still difficult to have a conversation where he only hears what I want him to hear.

Trying to keep Satoshi-kun from finding out is a hellish level of difficulty. That's just right. Or rather, he doesn't even have anyone to tell the whole story to, poor thing.

"Don't ever, ever tell anyone, okay? Absolutely! If you keep quiet, I'll give you something nice as a thank you and as a reward for finding me."

Ah, a reward!

Satoshi-kun, who seems to remember that conversation, asks, "What are you giving me?" with a slight grin. He's probably excited about the gift from the beautiful girl.

"My, my, first time... Ugh, sorry! I'm going home now!"

She says something meaningful and runs away from Satoshi-kun. When he tells her to wait, she replies, "Girls have a lot of preparations to make!", and Satoshi-kun heart pounds with anticipation.

By the way, what do you think this conversation seemed to Tomohiro-kun, who only heard parts of it?