Chapter 100

"Rena?"

After knocking, receiving no response, I pushed the door open and entered.

There, at the desk, I found Rena slumped over in her chair, looking as if she had been completely drained of life.

I approached her from behind and gently placed my hand on her head, petting her.

"...I'm sorry."

Rena, still looking down, said softly.

I continued to stroke her hair with my hand,

"No, I was the one being mean. I'm sorry."

"Yuki..."

Rena turned her chair around and looked up at me with teary eyes.

I smiled to show that I wasn't angry, and suddenly, Rena wrapped her arms around my waist and hugged me.

"I'm sorry, Yuki, I'm so sorry... sniff sniff"

"Okay, I get it, I get it. Stop wiping your nose like that."

I pulled Rena's head away and handed her a tissue to wipe her nose.

"Is your hand okay?"

"I'm fine. Rena, come on, let's go out."

"I won't."

I thought she would repent here, but Rena turned her head away.

She's quite stubborn.

"Why? We were just in the middle of that, right?"

"This is this, and that is that."

Rena made a strange gesture with her hands and then lowered her head again,

"Because... I'm sure they think I should just die. You know, that clumsy klutz."

"Ouya? She wouldn't think that. Why would she?"

"Even if she smiles on the outside, she's definitely laughing inside."

"She smiles both inside and out. It's all good."

"No, that's not what I mean! ...And they'll spread it around school and make fun of me. 'Oh, the klutz who spills the pot is here, spilling everything! Everyone, run away!'"

"Ha ha... No, they won't do that. It's okay, really."

"...You just laughed, didn't you?"

She said it with a resentful tone, but wasn't that the point of making her laugh?

Rena made a strange face, turned her chair around, and started playing a game on her phone.

Seeing no way to resolve this, I returned to Ouya.

Sitting down at the table next to her,

"Sorry, but... don't call her 'the klutz who spills the pot,' okay?"

"Pot spiller...? What is that...? I'm fine, really. It's just that Nigoto-san has that side, and the contrast with school actually makes me feel closer to her."

I kept quiet about the fact that that's all she has.

But what kind of magic does she use at school?

"Surprisingly, it was unexpected. Watching her clumsiness is... no, she's really cute."

"Okay, stop that. She's quite sensitive."

"Sorry! I couldn't help it..."

Ouya looked startled and bowed her head.

I casually made a suspicious comment, but maybe Rena's intuition isn't entirely off.

"But you really do care, don't you? You're so kind..."

I don't usually get compliments, so being repeatedly called kind makes me uncomfortable.

Ouya, on the other hand, stared at my face and dramatically sighed,

"You're so different from my brother. He's really hopeless... Like, if I had to compare, he's like... kitchen paper and toilet paper."

"They're both paper. That's a bit hard to understand."

"Is it? Then... like an air conditioner and a fan."

"An electric fan is a bit of a weak analogy..."

"Like, the poor people who can't afford an air conditioner use it."

"That's not necessarily true. Can you stop saying that?"

"Then, like a switch and a 64."

"Actually, the 64 is pretty funny."

"Huh? It's such a weird controller, and you're always told you're holding it wrong? Well, then... "

"You don't have to force an analogy."

I wish she would stop throwing in insults here and there.

I called a halt, but she still seemed unsatisfied,

"Anyway, my brother is hopeless. He's really terrible..."

"That's not good to say. But I understand."

"Ah, yes..."

Ouya's face fell, but she quickly smiled again,

"But you're really kind... Um, um, brother... "

"Hm?"

"Calling you... by your name... which is better?"

"Either is fine."

I don't complain about how I'm addressed like someone else might.

Ouya seemed a bit hesitant but then said,

"Do you live here with someone else?"

Then came a barrage of questions from Ouya.

I answered questions about my family environment,

"Ah, I see. That's interesting... Wow, wow, wow, wow..."

Every time I answered, she exaggeratedly praised me, making my head hurt.

Once her questions were done, it was my turn to listen to her talk about herself.

"I don't have many friends and tend to stay at home..."

"Uh-huh."

"People say I act all nice, but I'm not like that at all."

"Uh-huh, uh-huh."

"Of course, I don't post on internet forums or anything like that."

"Uh-huh, uh-huh, uh-huh."

I thought she was a quiet girl, but once she started talking, she didn't stop easily.

After a while, I got tired of nodding and activated my secret skill of pretending to listen.

This is useful when listening to Rena's rambling. I naturally picked it up.

"If I let my guard down, I start talking nonstop and say mean things, and my stupid brother says I have social issues and no friends, but that's not true at all. Mostly, it's him..."

Just as Ouya's talk turned into a machine gun of words, my phone in my pocket started vibrating.

I was surprised to find it in my pocket, as I usually just leave it lying around.

I took it out and saw it was a call from Keitaro.

↓The pot splashes sparkle like stars★

What are pot splashes?