kscans

Chapter 418 - A Hectic Holiday (Monday)

"Thank you for your time."

"No, no, thank you as well."

In the end, we had probably only talked for about fifteen minutes. Standing in the entryway, having put on her shoes, Mitsueda-san turned to face me, the tension in her expression having eased into something more natural.

I knew it, but… yeah. All her previous behavior that I had initially judged as being ‘Kaede-like’ was probably just an act.

Leave it to someone so multi-talented she even dabbles in acting—

After we’d finished the exchange that was clearly driven by her feelings as a best friend, we moved on to sharing information about the various issues Nia had been dealing with regularly.

As a sort of handover, Mitsueda-san and I exchanged a few more words, reached a degree of mutual understanding, and successfully reconciled—or rather, it felt more like I had somehow managed to earn her approval.

I’d realized from the moment we first met that I was being sized up, and for my part, I accepted that as a matter of course and rose to the challenge.

It was only natural for her to look at me that way. Considering her position as a guardian and caretaker entrusted by Nia’s parents, it was perfectly understandable that she would be wary and try to gauge the character of some unknown man getting close to her best friend.

And it was just as natural for me to meet that assessment head-on.

Having decided to face the feelings directed at me, the word ‘flee’ no longer exists in my dictionary. A tactical retreat, however, is acceptable as a strategic action.

In any case, that’s why I have no intention of slacking on my efforts to be a man worthy of the affection I receive. If I can’t even earn the approval of someone precious to the person I should cherish, then being ‘worthy’ is nothing but a pipe dream—

"Well then, I'll be on my way. If anything comes up, I'll be sure to contact you."

"Please do, anytime. And conversely, if we run into any trouble here, I hope we can rely on you."

"But of course. Well then, until the next opportunity."

"Yeah, until next time."

Leaving behind a friendly, beaming smile, Mitsueda-san trotted out of the room. As I saw her off… my body went limp, a step away from collapsing onto the floor. Man, I was tired.

That’s probably closer to her real personality. Not the soft, gentle type like Kaede, but more of a carefree, honest, and lively type, much like Nia.

Though, it doesn't seem like she’s equipped with the same boundless energy as that girl.

Anyway, one crisis has passed, and another has followed suit. My body is already wrecked from the phantom fatigue that’s been lingering since the day before yesterday, so I think I'll allow myself to soak in some long-awaited, quiet rest.

I weighed my options—the bed in the bedroom or the sofa in the living room—and, unwilling to take the extra few steps, I dove headlong onto the latter, collapsing in a heap.

I'm not… sleepy, so I’ll just laze around like this for a while. I did make plans for tonight, so I'll have to start prepping in a bit.

Still, I should probably set an alarm just in case.

With that thought, I reached for the phone I’d tossed onto the side table, only for it to chime with a notification—a message arriving with impeccable timing.

I glanced at the message from the person I had just exchanged IDs with—

"…I'm not sure whether to call this girly or, conversely, not very girly at all."

The screen displayed a character sticker of a girl with the same light chestnut eyes and flaxen hair as Mitsueda-san. The cheerful speech bubble exclaiming, 'Nice to meet you!', in a way that screamed ‘energetic girl,’ was a perfect fit for her post-image-change persona.

As I thought, or rather, as expected…

"As expected of a presumably older, popular celebrity… wait, is an illustrator a celebrity?"

She’s far more skilled at this than I am.

Her ability to effortlessly slip into the good graces of a complete stranger and win their trust was nothing short of brilliant.