Chapter 14 – Advice

“Are you sure?”

 

She quickly nodded in reply to my question.

 

My little sister always said that I should earnestly apologise and do anything I can to help her if I ever made a girl cry, so I’m putting that into action now.

 

I definitely didn’t understand what she wanted me to do, but it was not going to harm me in any way, so I agreed.

 

I offered my hand to her before heading for the door.

 

That cold air I felt seemed to be because of the power she possesses.

 

She releases cold waves if she gets careless, which hurts people, so she said that she was really glad she didn’t freeze me.

 

I definitely shouldn’t oppose her in the future. I may have my skills, but her S-Rank potential power can still freeze me in an instant.

 

It’s just that she was scared of Gai even despite her powers, which I think is really cute and girly.

 

We decided to leave together and started chatting on the way.

 

It was my first time doing this with anyone since I had no close friends, even back in middle school.

 

I’m usually really anti-social and just focused on studying.

 

This moment makes me glad that I’m now a high school student.

 

“Oh, Miss Kamui. I’m heading to the dorms, so.”

We left the school gates and went on separate roads.

 

I don’t even know where she lives.

 

“Mhm… See you…”

 

She waved with a somewhat lonely expression, and my heart almost skipped a beat.

 

Then…

 

I remembered my sister’s words: “Never send a woman home alone! You have to see them off to the end, okay?”

 

Could this be that kind of situation?

 

I’ve never talked to any girls other than my sister, so I really have no idea what I should do.

 

Miss Kamui briskly walked out of the grounds as I was busy worrying about what to do.

 

Not knowing the right thing to do, I ended up nervously going back to my dorm.

–

“Hinata!”

 

…

 

“Hinata?”

 

A face suddenly appeared next to me.

 

“Whoa! Fujii?”

 

That was a surprise.

 

“You looked like you were worried about something, so…”

 

We’re on the same floor, so we ran into each other in the corridor.

 

“Err… Well, I was just thinking about how hard it is to understand girls.”

 

“Girls? Hehe. A classmate?”

 

“Huh? M-Mhm.”

 

“I don’t know much either, but I can try to help you out if you want.”

 

At a glance, Fujii looks like he would be very popular.

 

I think manliness doesn’t matter much to him. He’s more like a cute little brother than a handsome man.

 

He’s so cute and tiny, like a small animal, that you want to protect him.

 

“Ahem. Hinata?”

 

“Hm?”

 

“You just thought that I was like a small animal, didn’t you?”

 

“Eh! How did you? Oh…”

 

“Well… Everyone thinks the same way. Am I really that unmanly?”

Y-Yes.

 

From his demeanour, he feels more like a girl than a boy.

 

I think it really suits Fujii, though.

 

“You’re really not that manly, but I think that’s the good thing about you.”

 

“Huh? R-Really?”

 

“Everyone’s different, you know. I don’t think you have to force yourself to be manly just because you’re a man.”

 

“Really… It’s the first time anyone’s told me that, but you may be right. I guess I should try to be more positive!”

 

“Yeah.”

 

“Ah, no, no! I’m here to help you, not the other way around. Maybe we can talk at dinnertime?”

 

“I wanna bath first, so that would be great.”

“Okay. Let’s meet in the cafeteria in 30 minutes, then.”

 

“Alright.”

 

We separated and entered our own rooms.

 

This is it! This is high school!

 

Wait, did I just make a close friend?

 

No, calm down.

 

I might be getting ahead of myself.

 

He might still hate me if he learns that I’m level 0.

 

So I shouldn’t get too excited.

 

He might even get disappointed and make fun of me when I talk to him about Miss Kamui.

 

So I should just relax and talk to him normally without expecting anything.

–

“Hinata, over here!”

 

I finished my bath and headed to the cafeteria to find Fujii already there, waving at me.

 

Still, he’s in his loungewear? Kinda cute.

 

He’s wearing a cuddly hoodie and a jersey under it.

 

“Hey there.”

 

“I just got here too. Should we get our plates?”

 

“Yeah.”

 

We grabbed our plates from the counter and put in as much rice as we wanted.

 

“?”

 

He’s smaller than me, but he ate a lot of rice. The human body is a mysterious thing, I guess.

“So, about that girl?”

 

We sat down, and he started talking.

 

“We were together on our way out of the school, but I live in the dorms, so I had to leave her at the entrance.”

 

“Mhm.”

 

“My little sister always told me to never send a woman home alone, though.”

 

“Heh. What a cute sister, and you make a great imitation of her.”

 

I guess I was talking like her just now. Well, we spent a lot of time together, so…

 

“Hm… So, I think your little sister is right, but I have a question.”

 

“A question?”

“It depends on whether the girl wants you to follow her or not, doesn’t it?”

 

Fujii’s answer surprised me so much that I felt like I was being electrocuted.

 

“This is from just your point of view in the first place, right? She might have gotten annoyed if you tried to see her home.”

 

R-Right. I bet I’m really annoying from Miss Kamui’s point of view.

 

So I was wrong when I thought that I had to see her home. How arrogant of me!

 

“So, at a time like this, you should just ask her.”

 

“Huh? Ask her?”

 

“Mhm. Then you can leave if she just says no, or see her home if she hesitates.”

 

“Really?”

 

“Really. Women are complicated, huh?”

“My sister always says the same thing too.”

“Ahaha, I think we’d get along well.”

“I’m not giving my sister over to anyone.”

“Huh? Are you the type that really loves their sister?”

“U-Uh…”

“Ahaha, I just found out something surprising about you!”