Chapter 8

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Chapter 8: The Sleeping Princess's Request

"Y-Yumekawa-san?"

"Yes, this is Yumekawa."

Shion makes a polite bow with the vast blue sky in her background.

I sit up in a hurry like a spring that popped.

"You always read that book, right?"

Before I had the chance to ask Shion why she's up here, she asked me a question about the volume 12 of the quiz book in my hand.

Her expression was tender, as if looking at a child using wooden blocks to make a castle.

"...Why are you up here?"

"Ah, my apologies."

Shion folds her knees and sits down in a seiza while patting her skirt down.

Her appearance carries the dignity of a refined lady from a high-class Japanese family.

"The concrete is gonna be hard on your knees."

"That's fine. I'm here to ask a favor from Kurosaki-san."

She sure is using some old-fashioned customs, using seiza to make a request.

However, she has good timing.

Because I also have an issue I need to ask Shion about... rather, wait a sec.

"Ask me a favor?"

Shion averted her eyes upon Kanata's question.

"Well..."

She scratches her cheeks that are slightly dyed in scarlet.

Her small body was shaking out of embarrassment.

What is with her behavior?

Her request definitely doesn't sound like it'll be at the level of "please let me borrow your mechanical pencil as I forgot mine", or "please let me copy the notes from the last period".

Without the slightest idea on what I am going to be requested of, I just wait patiently for her explanation.

"Umm, actually."

She clenches her small fist in front of her chest.

With hair fluttering in the autumn breeze that won't lose in beauty compared to the clouds,

"Can you become a sleeping friend with me?"

In short, words that Kanata could not comprehend have now been thrown at him.

...

......

.........I was petrified for around 10 seconds.

"...What?"

"Ah, I'm so sorry!"

Shion gives another polite bow.

"I understand; it's hard to respond when I ask such a question."

While her words are kind, I need to confirm what she actually means.

"Umm... can I ask a question?"

"Sure, please go ahead."

"What exactly is... a Sleeping... friend?"

"Well, in simple terms, just friends who sleep together."

"...Ah, okay."

Not okay.

"Apparently they're quite popular in the streets recently, you know?"

"What..."

Are we talking about fashion here?

"Why?"

"Umm, you see..."

And then there was silence.

After some time passed by, Shion slowly opened her mouth.

Meanwhile, sweat trickled down my neck.

"I've been missing human presence... recently."

She carefully chooses her words one by one, sewing them together into sentences.

"And so... I wished for someone to be nearby... when I sleep at night... is what I was thinking..."

Shion's volume became so low towards the end that it almost disappeared.

Not only her cheeks, but her entire face was beet red. She might turn into a steam engine soon.

Her fists were quivering on her knees, and eyelids were fluttering like a naughty kid whose lie got found out.

This is my first time seeing her in such a state... wait, I don't have enough resources to devote to that issue right now.

Let's regroup first.

According to Shion, she's been feeling lonely recently.

That's why she wanted someone to sleep with her.

Therefore, she suggested me to become "sleeping friends" with her.

Is this a proper summary?

Hmmm, I see.

Wait, this doesn't make sense.

"Umm, you know--"

Shion flinches her shoulders.

Does it need to be me?

Before I could voice my question, Shion bowed her head profusely.

"Sorry!!!"

Now her voice that had the strength to cut the atmosphere into halves, befuddles Kanata's words and thought process.

"I'm sorry for suddenly confusing you... What am I even saying? I-I'm really sorry, please forget about this conversation!"

"Ah, wait!"

Without even giving me the time to call out to her back, Shion stood up and fled the scene.

I could only see off her swaying silver hair.

"........."

Was I dreaming again, like the other night?

Is it a daydream this time?

No other explanation comes to mind.

However, my head isn't as broken as to brush it off with just a "was that a dream?"

She wanted me to become a "sleeping friend", whatever that is.

Did she only ask this of me because she feels lonely?

That can't be true.

There must be some other reason behind her abrupt request.

As soon as I folded my arms to think, every piece of the puzzle suddenly fell into place.

Let's rewind time to what happened before.

--Was I sleeping, by any chance!?

She sounded quite happy that she had fallen asleep while nursing me before.

--Ah, this is nothing! Umm, err- yes! I like the color of the cans, which is why I'm collecting them!

She tried to deceive me when I discovered the empty cans of energy drink on her desk.

--Woah, it's 1pm already!

Her expression was super happy when she overslept past noon.

...Finally, she had a painful expression while napping today during class.

All of the above must be connected somehow.

That's what I think.

That's what I think, but I can't find the connection.

However, my feeling is that this connection might be quite easy to figure out if I put in some more thought into it.

The gears of my brain started turning, but then... I stopped.

What will I do once I figure out the answer?

Do nothing, I guess.

In the first place, Shion is an existence with whom I shouldn't even be allowed to exchange words.

An outstanding, kind and beautiful girl that's famous in the entire school.

The difference in specs and position between us is as steep as a cliff.

While I don't hear about any romantic stories about her, she has a wide range of friends, and a huge number of fans.

That's exactly why I'm confident that thoughtlessly plunging into her matters would be extremely troublesome.

What Kanata desires for is a quiet and peaceful daily life.

If he can maintain a stable status quo, he doesn't want to change it.

Due to this motto engraved into his character, he doesn't want to dig deep into her matters.

...Ah, but I need to return the debt from the other day.

Taking that incident into account, isn't the hurdle to call out to her increasing explosively?

I let out a huge sigh after coming to this realization.

Well, let's postpone the issue for now.

The chime rings, signalling that there's 5 minutes before classes resume.

I stand up and stretch my arms towards the sky.

The blood flows through my body, relieving the stiffness from the earlier tense atmosphere.

In contrast, there was an uneasiness lurking in the innermost depths of my heart.

Don't thoughtlessly probe into her matters.

Although that was what I decided, I was still worried about her.

--Kanata's uneasiness will be cleared later today.

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