My Childhood Friend, a Cool, Beautiful Girl With a Pure Face, Is a Monopolising Yandere
A classroom where the morning light is still soft.
Sitting by the window, I, Honda Yuto, was trying to go at my own pace today.
It’s only been a few months since I started school, but I already know how to spend my time in class.
I’m not good at standing out, and I’m not the type to join a noisy circle.
I open my notebook and absentmindedly look over the maths homework I was given yesterday.
Next to me sat Hasegawa Ran.
She is a beautiful girl with long black hair and a model-like face. She has a cool atmosphere and is top class in both studies and athletics.
Ran is a childhood friend of mine who is talked about throughout the school as ‘that girl can do anything’ and ‘she’s so wonderful’.
We used to play a lot in the neighbourhood and naturally went to and from school together.
But recently, I feel that her attitude has changed slightly.
“Good morning, Yuto.”
Cool tone. Her usual flat voice, without any particular spine or gentleness.
“G-good morning, Ran. You’re early today too.”
“It’s normal. You’re just running a little late, isn’t that it?”
“I-I guess so.”
I can’t put my finger on it, but I have a strange feeling that she is watching my every move.
It might be my imagination. But …… when I look up, Ran’s eyes are staring at me as if to observe me.
It’s as if I’ve become an ornamental cactus.
In the midst of all this, Ogawa-san from the seat in front of me smiles at me and says, ‘Good morning, Honda-kun.’ Ogawa-san is a classmate with a modest and gentle impression, and recently I have been gradually getting more opportunities to talk with her.
“Good morning, Ogawa-san.”
When I replied, for some reason Ran next to me casually came over to me.
…… hmm? closer than usual.
Ran said in a casual voice as I was vaguely thinking that her hair smelled nice.
“Yuto, we’re going home together after school, right?”
“Eh? I don’t mind, but why are you bothering to check?”
“I want to nail it before you come up with an extra errand.”
“Extra errands…… nothing in particular, though”
What kind of care is this? I’m confused.
Ran is usually cool, but there’s still something strange about her.
It seems like every time I talk to someone, she interrupts…or am I thinking too much?
The homeroom begins and the teacher makes various announcements. The usual boring morning scene.
But somehow I feel Ran’s eyes on my back. It’s weird that I’m next to her and she’s on my back, but anyway, I feel like she’s observing every inch of me.
I’m not joking, I’m not a spy or a suspect.
During break time, Ogawa-san calls out to me again.
“Hey, Honda-kun, do you know the scope of the upcoming test?”
Biology. Biology is ……,
“I think it’s from here to here.”
Then Ran quietly interrupted,
“Ogawa-san, if it’s that range, I’ll lend you the notes I’ve compiled, so you don’t have to go to the trouble of asking Yuto.”
She told her in a calm voice.
Ogawa-san awkwardly backtracks, ‘Oh, no, it’s fine, thank you…’.
What’s wrong, suddenly.
“…… Ran, is there something on your mind?”
“Nothing. I was just saving you the trouble.”
“R-really?”
If she says so, then it must be so.
yeah
After afternoon classes, it was after school.
“Well, shall we go?”
Ran naturally led me
“Ah, …… come to think of it, I have some errands to run.”
“You have something to do? With who? You said you didn’t have any this morning.”
The question somehow sends a tingle down my spine.
I’m not afraid, but this look and tone of voice have the power to erase any other option
“N-no…”
“Then let’s go home.”
Ran leaves the classroom. I also hurry to follow.
Well, the only thing I have to do is return a book to the library, so tomorrow will be fine.
On the way out of school, we stop at a convenience store together.
“Your favourite gummies, they have a new flavour now, you know?” She tells me. I say.
“You know them? Those hard gummies?”
When I was surprised, she made a face like it was natural.
“Yuto said he liked them before, so I’m checking out their products.”
She even does that for me?
“Let’s get on with it.”
“Y-yeah. ……”
Just before arriving home, Ran stops.
“I’ll go to school with you tomorrow. I’ll be waiting for you in front of your house in the morning.”
“W-waiting? You didn’t do that in junior high school.”
If we met by chance, of course we would have gone to school together. ……
“We’re going to meet at school anyway, so it would be more efficient to meet up from the start.”
E-Efficient? Is it?
I wonder, but it’s hard to go into it when Ran coolly assures me with a straight face.
Me and Ran have always been like this.
Ran would take a strong lead and I would just follow.
I’m used to it, and Ran is cute, so I don’t feel bad, but it’s a bit uncomfortable.
In junior high school, I knew a lot of people in my home town, so they didn’t say anything about me being like this, but in high school it’s not like that.
I even heard my classmates whispering, ‘Hasegawa-san, she’s all over Honda-kun’. Ran doesn’t seem to mind at all.
What on earth is going to happen to my high school life? ……
The next morning I left home a little earlier than normal.
The reason was simple.
Ran said she was waiting for me in front of the house, so I thought I could catch her by surprise if I left just five minutes early.
However, when I opened the door, Ran was already standing there. Her black hair was swaying in the morning sun.
She only said a short ‘good morning’ and walked calmly away.
I hurriedly follow her.
When I arrive at the school, it is still before homeroom and the school is sparsely populated. In the middle of it all, Ogawa-san approaches me.
“Honda-kun, can I talk to you a little after school?”
“Eh, after school ……?
I don’t mind.”
The moment I was about to answer that, Ran, the girl next to me, interrupted.
“Yuto, we’re going home together today, right?”
“Eh, no, yesterday we did, but today it’s …….”
“Same thing. You can put off the extra plans until later.”
Ogawa-san lowers her eyes in confusion. Although she seemed to have something serious to do, Ran simply interrupted hier
“Why don’t I just have a little bit of time?”
I say so, and Ran responds in a calm voice.
“Why don’t you say it here?”
“I thought it was something you couldn’t talk about in the classroom.”
“What kind of talk is it? If you can’t say it, you don’t have to say it.”
People around me start to look at me like, ‘What’s wrong?’ and started to look at each other. In the midst of all this, Ogawa-san mumbles a small ‘See you next time ……’ and returns to her seat.
I look at Ran with a feeling of uncertainty.
“Ran, that was indeed …….”
“What’s the problem?”
“Ogawa san, it sounded like something important, didn’t it?”
“Important talk? It was a confession or something like that anyway.
Why should you bother listening her?”
“C-confession ……… no, that’s not it.”
“You have a personality that makes it hard to say no, so you should stop doing troublesome things right from the start. It’s a waste of time to devote your attention to something so inefficient as love.”
It’s hard to argue when people say things so matter-of-factly.
It’s true that I’m not good at saying no, but that doesn’t mean it’s a good idea to shut someone down before listening to them.
During lunchtime, when I glanced around while eating my lunch, I saw Ogawa-san looking at us from a distance and looking away. With that, even if I wanted to get close to her, I wouldn’t be able to.
“Ran, wasn’t that too much after all?”
“I just made the best choice so that you wouldn’t have to worry about unnecessary things.”
‘Best means …… if it was really a confession, shouldn’t I have properly to turned it down?”
“If she hadn’t asked, it would be the same as if it had never existed. You don’t need to bother.”
Her voice is unwavering.
During afternoon classes, I think about it as I take notes.
Why does Ran do this? It seems as if she is preventing other girls from approaching me. That’s exactly what she’s doing, like she’s jealous.
…… jealous? No way.
I thought to myself and felt stupid. I’ve known Ran for a long time, but she’s not interested in romance.
She’s not interested in love stories, love movies or girls’ manga.
She is not interested in love affairs anyway.
Her strange attitude is probably due to, yes, a headache. She’s got a headache and she’s not in the right place.
It must be so.
School ended as it did today.
On the way out of school, Ran hardly spoke at all. Normally she would chat a bit more. Ran’s expression was cooler than usual.
We got off the bus and arrived at a residential area. When I was about to say ‘see you tomorrow’, Ran whispered to me in front of a convenience store
“I am enough for you.”
“Eh?”
“Nothing. Let’s go home quickly.”
Before I could ask back, Ran went into her own house.