The Former Swordmaster Who Pretends to Be the Worst, and the School’s Top-Ranked Chairman’s Daughter Who’s Way Too Sweet in Public, It’s a Real Problem
―I, Aragaki Saito, have already experienced two reincarnations.
My earliest memory is of Japan before magic even existed. After dying in an accident, I ended up saving a different world. If asked whether I hated life there, I’d say no.
I had solid friends around me, and I enjoyed myself reasonably well.
Saving the world to protect those guys wasn’t a bad choice, I think.
‘But if that mission no longer exists…’
I just want to live peacefully now.
If I must protect anything, it should only be the important people within my reach. Frankly, I’m tired of shouldering the entire fate of the world.
So then, I want to live as inconspicuously as possible—.
◆
“—Kun, wake up. Hey, wake up, Saito-kun?”
“Hm… Huh?”
As I lingered in that drowsy state, someone shook me awake.
The girl’s voice, so familiar to my ears, was incredibly gentle, holding a sweet resonance. The way she whispered my name near my ear felt like a lullaby after that momentary awakening.
To that call from my childhood friend, Rika, I replied like this.
“………………Five more minutes.”
“You just said that a minute ago, you know?”
Then I pulled the futon over my head, and she said, looking troubled.
Being woken up like this by my childhood friend had become a completely routine part of my daily life. Usually, she’d be at a loss here, deep in thought, but—
“You can’t be late today, okay? Come on, wake up!”
—Today, though, things seemed a little different.
Rika straddled me through the futon while I slept. But my childhood friend was surprisingly light, offering no sense of pressure. Still, she was definitely on top of me. Peeking out just a little from under the futon, I saw she looked somehow pleased.
But Rika, too, had her own sense of shyness.
Her cheeks were flushed just a little.
“Come on—wake up? Hey, Saito-kun?”
“…………No.”
“Eh!?”
After a moment of silence, I answered her desperate pleas as she rocked her body back and forth. Rika lowered her eyebrows, looking somewhat incredulous.
I acknowledged my childhood friend like that, then pulled the futon back over me.
Just as I was about to drift back to sleep—
“Mumumu! Then I’ll fall asleep too!!”
“Huh…?”
Through the futon, I heard something like that.
But what did “she’s going to sleep too” mean? As I pondered this, from the gap in the futon covering us—
“…Hey, seriously?”
“Heheh! It’s because you didn’t wake up right away, Saito-kun!”
Rika crawled in and pressed her body close to mine.
My childhood friend, using me—lying on my back—as a body pillow, looked up at me with a mischievous grin. Then she buried her pretty face in my chest and took a deep breath.
After that, she murmured in a slightly drowsy voice.
“Mmm… Saito-kun, you smell nice.”
“What the hell is that supposed to mean…”
“…Hehe.”
Seeing Rika like that, I couldn’t help but tease her lightly.
But completely unfazed, she stayed in that position, refusing to move away. Left with no choice, I idly stroked her head with my idle right hand.
Touching her long, beautiful black hair, I caught a faint whiff of the shampoo she used. It smelled a thousand times better than the scent coming from my own body.
“…………Well, if that’s what Rika likes, I guess it’s fine.”
Preferences vary, after all.
If we both like each other’s scents, it probably means we’re not a bad match. As I thought this, stifling a yawn while continuing to stroke Rika’s head—
“Hm? Rika…?”
“……………………Zzz”
“Seriously?”
—What on earth?
My childhood friend, who came to wake me up, had fallen asleep instead. Glancing at her face, she was completely in deep sleep mode.
Her sleeping face looked so blissfully happy that I found myself lost in thought for a moment.
And then,
“Well, whatever.”
This probably wasn’t a problem either.
I reconsidered it that way and let out a yawn I’d been holding back until just now. The pleasant warmth emanating from Rika felt just right for catching a second nap.
So, closing my eyes slowly, I thought to myself.
If I were to protect her… this kind of moment would probably be it.
And then, my consciousness gradually faded.
Surrendering to my second sleep of the day, that morning passed by.
Maiban