Chapter 9: Childhood Friend Chocolate, Even If You Try to Distance Yourself From the Kind Beautiful Girl, She Won't Let You Go With Her Sweet and Gentle Words (Milk flavor)

Childhood Friend Chocolate, Even If You Try to Distance Yourself From the Kind Beautiful Girl, She Won't Let You Go With Her Sweet and Gentle Words (Milk flavor)

Hello, it's me!

I've received further divine revelations, and I've experienced the love of my parents. I've rediscovered the beauty and wonder of the world.

It's business as usual.

The world has always been beautiful and wonderful since I was born.

But experiencing such wonderful love means a lot to me. Because it means I'm so special and valuable to my family. And that means they'll see a wonderful sight when I break down.

To be able to show such a wonderful thing to my beloved family, hehe.

Hikari is so happy!

...Eh, you think my family wouldn't want that? Shut up, I know that better than anyone. But maybe seeing me like this will awaken them. This is an educational campaign for my beloved family.

So, after being discharged from the hospital with no particular problems, I began working as before, no, even more than before, to be the ideal person for my family. The doctor seemed a little confused that he couldn't find anything abnormal, but that's understandable.

If there's anything wrong with me, it's in my head, and that's not what they tested for this time.

Of course, I don't think I'm crazy, but I am definitely different in that I've been given divine revelation that most people don't have.

So, I decided to focus on improving myself. I'm going to use a rag to polish my perfectly round, crystal-like self. But it's best to keep self-polishing to a moderate level. Polishing something means rubbing something against it, and when you polish yourself, the last abrasive that's left is your own heart. If someone with nothing tries too hard, eventually their heart will wear out.

Well, I have an endless flow of faith, so no matter how hard I try, it won't break. Thanks to this faith, I study harder and try my hand at other things as well.

Of course, I never forget to spend time with my family. Love should be repaid with love. And if it's selfless love, all the more so.

As my value gradually increases, the things I've done will gradually fade from my family's minds. I did it because it was necessary, but it's not something I want to be remembered for. Ideally, when the topic comes up, I'll be able to say, "Stop bringing up something so long ago! It's embarrassing!"

It will probably take a while though.

Well, as a reincarnated person, it will feel relatively short.

While I think this is one of the reasons why I might stand out from the crowd, I'm grateful that our world is favorably disposed toward slightly eccentric behavior as long as I have a good personality. Thanks to it, I've been able to secure my position as a good and excellent scholarship student.

Glory to lookism!

Thank you, Mama, for your beautiful face!

It's not like me to be known for thinking such things, so I keep it completely hidden and take a walk to change my mood from studying. I've been wearing a cat costume since birth, so camouflage is a pro. Nyaaa~.

I tried imitating a cat's meow, and a kindergartener playing in a nearby park started looking around, shouting, "Cat!"

Sorry, there are no cats. But there are some beautiful TS girls, so please forgive me.

I waved hello to the little kid whose eyes I caught, and then left without any real conversation. If I talked to everyone who wanted to talk to me, I'd never get to my destination. Well, I don't have a destination today.

I continued my walk, wandering aimlessly, and before I knew it, I was near the nearest station.

As is the case with most stations, the area around this one is the most prosperous. There's a bookstore and stuff.

Yay, I wanted to go to Hikari's Bookstore!

A destination emerged spontaneously, and my wanderings turned into shopping. There's no need to describe how frustrating it is when you're enjoying aimless activity and suddenly have something to do.

I felt dejected.

If I had a stray hair, it would definitely be sagging. But I don't have any.

As I was walking through the store, thinking about growing one next time, since it would be convenient, I spotted a familiar back. It was Tomohiro-kun's, a back I always look at.

He knows he needs to get away from me, but he's still completely dependent on me because the mom next door regularly calls me in as his tutor.

"Hiro-chan! What a coincidence we met here. Did you come to buy something?"

Come to think of it, I've been showing him my back more often than I've been looking at his, so I tapped him on the back, even though I don't really pay him much attention.

The way his shoulders jump slightly seems to reflect Tomohiro-kun's timidity is adorable.

Tomohiro-kun is hilariously surprised and asks, "Mashiro-san, why are you here?"

When I reply, "Is it really that bad that I'm in a bookstore?" he replies, "No, it's not..." and becomes embarrassed.

"Yes, yes, I understand," I say, looking around. "There are lots of reference books and stuff." It seems Tomohiro-kun has decided to leave me and try to do things on his own.

He's become independent.

"...Wouldn't it be enough if only Hikari taught you? Is Hikari's teaching not enough for you?"

Of course, there's no way I'd allow Snack-kun to leave me. I can't allow that to happen. I want Tomohiro-kun to stay by my side, tormented by feelings of inferiority.

Brows furrowed, a slightly sad expression on my face, I deliberately use the first-person pronoun I used as a child. A vestige of my childhood slips out, my words sound so pure and heartfelt.

I come across as a childhood friend who's worked hard to tutor Tomohiro-kun, only to be sad that I'm no use.

"No! Mashiro-san's lessons are easy to understand, and thanks to you, I'm somehow able to keep up with the lessons. But as things stand..."

Hmm, I get it, you don't even need to say it. You're grateful to me, but you're also dissatisfied with the current situation where you're so dependent on me.

Incidentally, I'm starting to feel guilty about using my brilliant time to tutor someone like you.

Tomohiro-kun, you're a good kid, aren't you?

And I'm sure I'll be a great parent if I can raise Tomohiro-kun to feel and think that way.

"Hikari likes studying with Hiro-chan. When I teach Hiro-chan, it helps me review the material, and it helps me confirm things I only vaguely understood..."

It's not that extreme, but it's free to say. I can't afford to lose Tomohiro-kun right now, so I'll give him a little something as a favor.

"Even so, Hiro-chan, you don't want to study with Hikari?" I ask with my eyes, pleading without saying a word. Non-verbal communication lacks precision, but when it does get across, it has great power. And our relationship as childhood friends is strong enough to convey that message.

"...I like being taught by Mashiro-san too! You understand and teach me the things I don't understand, you teach me kindly, and it's very easy to understand."

You fell for it. Tomohiro-kun is so naive and cute. 

"Hehe, I'm glad to hear that you feel the same way. Then Hiro-chan, .. we don't need this kind of thing, do we?"

I smile shyly, a little embarrassed. Then, subtly lowering my voice so he doesn't notice, I snatch the reference book from Tomohiro-kun's hand and put it back on the shelf.

It's as if I'm jealous of the reference book!

It doesn't mean anything in particular, but I like this kind of move.

I grab Tomohiro-kun's now empty hand and let him feel the sensation of my slender fingers. My cool hand must feel so good in the hot summer temperature. This might just warp Tomohiro-kun's's sexual preferences again.

Still holding the slightly blushing, adolescent Tomohiro-kun's hand, I buy just the book I was looking for and head home.

I'm so glad we came for a walk and shopping.

Thanks to that, I was able to thwart Tomohiro-kun's early attempts to become independent.