Chapter 418 - A Hectic Holiday (Monday)
"Thank you for your time."
"No, thank you as well."
In the end, we probably only talked for about fifteen minutes. Standing in the entryway, putting on her shoes, Mitsueda-san's expression had relaxed, becoming more natural.
I knew it... that initial 'Kaede-like' demeanor I'd perceived was almost certainly an act.
As expected of a multi-talented individual who also dabbles in acting—
After our exchange of intentions, which was clearly driven by her feelings as a best friend, we moved on to sharing various practical points about things Nia struggled with day-to-day.
Through this 'handover,' Mitsueda-san and I reached a certain level of mutual understanding and made our peace—or rather, it was more like I had somehow managed to earn her approval.
I had been aware that I was being sized up from the moment we met, and I had accepted it as a matter of course and faced the challenge head-on.
It was perfectly natural for her to look at me that way. Considering her position as a caretaker and supervisor entrusted by Nia's parents, it was only right for her to be wary and carefully evaluate this strange man getting close to her best friend.
And it was just as natural for me to face that evaluation head-on.
Now that I've decided to face the feelings directed at me, the word 'flee' no longer exists in my dictionary. A tactical retreat, however, is an acceptable strategic action.
In any case, for that reason, I have every intention of striving to be a man worthy of these feelings. If I can't even earn the approval of someone precious to the people I should treasure, then being 'worthy' is nothing more than a pipe dream—
"Well then, I'll be going. I'll contact you if anything comes up."
"Anytime. And likewise, please let me rely on you if we have any trouble on our end."
"Of course. Well then, until we meet again."
"Yeah, until we meet again."
She left with a warm, friendly smile, and as I watched her go... a wave of exhaustion hit me, nearly causing me to collapse. Phew, that was tiring.
Yeah, that must be closer to her true personality. Not the soft, gentle type like Kaede, but a more innocent, straightforwardly cheerful type, much like Nia.
Though she didn't seem to possess the same boundless energy as that one.
In any case, one ordeal has passed, and another has passed with it. I'm a wreck from the phantom fatigue that's been building since the day before yesterday. Now, I'm going to allow myself to finally soak in some quiet rest.
I wavered between the bed in the bedroom and the sofa in the living room—and to save myself a few steps, I chose the latter, collapsing onto it in a full-body dive.
I'm not... sleepy, so I'll just laze around like this for a while. I did make plans for the evening, so I'll have to start prepping soon.
Still, I should probably set an alarm.
As I thought that, I reached for the smartphone I'd tossed onto the nearby table, and as if on cue, a notification pinged, announcing a new message.
I glanced at the message that had arrived from the person whose ID I had just exchanged—
"...I can't decide if this is girly or, conversely, not very girly at all."
Displayed on the screen was a character sticker of a girl with the same light chestnut eyes and flaxen hair as Mitsueda-san. A cheerful speech bubble saying 'Nice to meet you!' was a perfect fit for her post-reveal image.
As I thought, as expected...
"As expected of a popular celebrity who's probably older than me... is an illustrator considered a celebrity?"
She was far more impressive than I was.
Her skill in effortlessly slipping into the confidence of a 'complete stranger' and winning their trust was nothing short of masterful.
It's not like he was won over by a beautiful older woman, definitely not.
By the way, to deep-dive into a throwaway scene, the protagonist predicted that Hiyorin would come storming his room alone without telling Nia-chan, so he was also acting a bit himself.
From "(She seems to have some business with me...)" to
"(If I say I'm leaving now, maybe she'll bring it up...)" to
"(She just said goodbye normally... does that mean she's coming back later in secret?)" to
"(Okay, I'll prepare myself for the possibility she's coming to talk alone.)" that was the flow. The reason he was strangely calm despite pretending to be flustered at first was because of this.
There's no way anyone could read all that.