Chapter 58 – It’s Okay

Ｒｅ​ａｄ ​ｏ​ｎ ＫａｔＲｅａｄｉ​ｎｇＣａｆｅ

For some unknown reason, Yuika looked extremely angry.

Her cold gaze seemed ready to spew forth rage at any moment.

It was a bit suffocating due to the atmosphere where a fight could break out at any time.

While I was quietly gasping for breath and watching Yuika’s expression, she spoke first, surprisingly.

“…Why aren’t either of you saying anything? This is awkward…”

Her face was now sheepish, scratching her cheek as if she had never worn that cold expression, making me wonder if I had seen wrong.

How can a person’s expression change so drastically? While I was standing there with a dumbfounded look, only able to open and close my mouth, Hosanna shrugged his shoulders and said:

“Well, how can we speak when you’re making that kind of face?”

“Me? What kind of face was I making…”

“A face that could easily bury someone alive. Right, Mari?”

“N-Not quite that bad…”

I wanted to say it wasn’t like that, but the words wouldn’t come easily.

That’s because, just as Hosanna said, the expression Yuika had shown earlier was truly scary. Even knowing it wasn’t directed at me, it still made my knees weak.

“M-Mari?”

When I trailed off, Yuika looked at me with surprised eyes.

I’m sorry, Yuika. But your expression earlier is difficult to describe kindly no matter how much I want to…

As I slightly avoided her gaze, Yuika muttered in a shocked voice:

“Mari avoided me…?!”

“That’s natural after showing such an expression.”

“W-What expression? I didn’t make any particular expression!”

Yuika shouted as if wronged, but soon she seemed to realize something and added with a slightly guilty look:

“O-Of course, I was a little surprised when I saw the President coming out of the room with Mari, but that’s all it was…”

“…That was a surprised expression? Not anger?”

“M-Maybe I was a little angry too…?”

If that was ‘a little’, what would happen if she got really angry? I tried to imagine it but shook my head to dispel the thought.

Let’s just bury the image of a truly angry Yuika beyond imagination.

While I was thinking this, Yuika’s defense continued:

“O-Of course, being angry doesn’t mean I thought the president might have done something inappropriate to Mari…!”

“Hey.”

“Just that Mari came but you didn’t let me know and monopolized Mari’s time, which was vexing… Eek!”

Hosanna, who had been listening quietly, seemed slightly annoyed as he smiled but narrowed his brow and lightly kicked Yuika’s shin.

But perhaps because of the area hit, even though it was a light hit, Yuika screamed and jumped up.

Ouch, that must hurt. As I was quietly rubbing my own shin which seemed to ache in sympathy, Hosanna said in a slightly raised voice:

“Setting aside the latter part, the first part was unnecessary!”

“I-I told you I wasn’t particularly suspicious! Just because of rumors, I thought maybe…”

“Despite what you say, you’re already full of suspicion! This won’t do. Stick out your other leg too.”

“Ah, wait, eek!”

Before Yuika could say anything, Hosanna kicked her other shin cleanly, making Yuika jump even higher.

The once quiet corridor instantly became noisy thanks to Yuika’s groaning and Hosanna’s slightly rough breathing.

As I was quietly watching the farce between the two, I raised my hand and asked something I had been curious about:

“Um… Since earlier, you’ve been talking about ‘inappropriate things’ and ‘rumors’… I don’t really understand what you two are talking about, could you possibly tell me too…?”

From what I could see, the two of them seemed to understand what they were talking about, but I felt left out not being able to understand.

Besides, from what they were saying, it seemed like it wasn’t entirely unrelated to me.

But no one answered my question.

Yuika, who had been wearing a sad face while rubbing the areas she’d been hit, made an “oops” expression, then whistled as if she had never said such things and avoided my gaze. Hosanna put his hand on my shoulder and said:

“Mari, there are facts in this world that you don’t need to know. Like the existence of spiders living in invisible corners of rooms, or the smell of bloated surströmming. Understand?”

“What? Ah, yes…”

I don’t know what surströmming is, but the metaphor about spiders in invisible corners really resonated with me. 

Certainly, such things are facts one doesn’t need to know… Of course, it wasn’t just because of the metaphor, but rather because I was overwhelmed by Hosanna’s forceful tone that I answered reflexively.

“If someone starts talking about rumors or whatever, scream. Say there’s a suspicious person, got it?”

“D-Do I really need to do that…?”

“Yes. Absolutely.”

“Okay…”

I wonder if that’s really necessary when they’re just talking and not doing anything, but Hosanna’s voice was so resolute.

As I kept nodding my head, completely intimidated, Hosanna continued with a satisfied expression:

“Good. So, Yuika, why did you come all the way to my room?”

“You’re asking that only now?”

“Before I could ask, you were acting like you were about to pounce on me. It wasn’t the right timing to ask, how could I?”

“I told you I wasn’t particularly angry…”

“You should have seen your own face.”

It certainly was an atmosphere where a fight could break out at any moment. If they had really fought, I would have definitely fainted right there. After all, I absolutely can’t handle such tense atmospheres.

As I was nodding in agreement with Hosanna’s words, Yuika made a wronged expression before sighing and continuing:

“Why did I come, you ask? Of course, it’s because it’s time, so I came to find you. Everyone’s already gathered.”

“Really? That’s early. I came out intending to be on time.”

“But what happened in the president’s office? I went looking for you, and it was in complete disarray, as if a thief had broken in.”

“Hmm… Let’s just say there was a minor mistake. I’ll leave it at that.”

“Ah, I’m not particularly curious about the details. You don’t have to tell me.”

“It’s certainly something that doesn’t need explanation, but hearing you say it like that makes me a bit annoyed.”

Seeing Hosanna getting into a posture to kick again as if his annoyance wasn’t just verbal, Yuika exclaimed in alarm while widening the distance:

“B-But why were you with Mari, President?!”

“It’s a bit complicated if I explain it fully, but we just talked briefly.”

“Talked…”

As Yuika murmured following Hosanna’s words, her gaze turned toward me.

As I was stealthily rolling my eyes to the side to avoid her gaze, Yuika approached and carefully touched my hair before saying:

“Mari, did you do this hairstyle yourself?”

“Wh-What? N-No…”

“Then the president did it for you. Right?”

“Y-Yes…?”

Come to think of it, I was showing my forehead completely right now.

As I slightly blushed from the belated realization of embarrassment, Yuika let out a “Hmm” sound and said:

“That’s what she said, president.”

“Oh come on, you’re making such a fuss just because I touched her hair a bit? You touch it often too.”

“The case with me and the president is different!”

Is there a difference…? Honestly, from my perspective, it didn’t matter who touched my hair. If it were a complete stranger, that would be different, but with Hosanna and Yuika, there wasn’t particularly a difference.

Looking at the situation, I felt that if I remained silent, somehow Hosanna would be in trouble, so I cautiously opened my mouth:

“Um, I’m okay with it.”

“Mari?!”

“See? Mari says it’s okay too.”

Although I felt a bit guilty seeing Yuika’s incredulous look, I firmly continued:

“It’s not like he’s a stranger, I think it’s okay if Hosanna touches… my hair.”

It’s just hair, not like he’s touching my body. As I spoke carefully, Yuika now looked completely shocked.

But why is Hosanna making the same expression? Could I have misspoken earlier?

As I looked at the two of them alternately with a slightly confused expression, Yuika grabbed my shoulders with trembling hands and said:

“Mari… a girl shouldn’t say such things carelessly…!”

“Wh-What?”

“That’s right. This time I agree with Yuika. You shouldn’t say such things carelessly. Especially not to a man.”

Huh, was it wrong to casually say it’s okay to touch my hair?

But it’s just hair… and he’s not a stranger… However, the expressions on their faces were so frightening that I had no choice but to nod.

“Ah, I understand… I’ll keep that in mind.”

It seemed that in these two people’s world, saying it’s okay to touch one’s hair had a somewhat indecent meaning.

Thinking about it that way, I felt embarrassed for having blurted out such a thing so casually, and my head naturally drooped low.

I shouldn’t have tried to speak up…!

Author Note

A/N (Author’s note):
Thank you for reading as always!!

During my break, a new volume of my favorite manga was released—I know absolutely nothing about figures, but this one is seriously incredible.

Just looking at it gets you hyped up, you know…?! The limited edition bonus art was fantastic too… made for a truly fulfilling day off…!

Translator Note

T/N (Translator’s note):
Surströmming is basically just a Swedish canned fish that has a rep for being the world’s smelliest food.

Why here and not a footnote? Well, I got too lazy and didn’t have much to say today, so this will have to do.

What? It’s much better than saying ‘End of service~ Nihihihihihi!’, Smh!

Hope most of you get that reference, smh. If you do, comment below. (As if this series is even doing well enough for comments…)

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