I want to see a story about a slender, feminine-looking guy who makes the girl he likes, who is on guard and thinks he wouldn’t do anything like that, “understand” that he’s a man.
Michiru Kishibe first met Ria Kanzaki when she was in the third grade of elementary school.
I remember the whole class erupting in excitement when our homeroom teacher introduced us as a girl who had returned to Japan from England.
Transfer students are rare, but it’s even more so when they’re returnees.
Everyone’s eyes turned round in unison as they saw the girl enter the classroom, full of anticipation.
Of course, Michiru too.
She has bright blonde hair, which is not something you often see on Japanese people.
The girl came in with her long, wavy hair swinging, her cheeks rosy, and greeted me cheerfully.
“Kanzaki, Ria. Nice to meet you, please!”
Michiru remembers hearing Kanzaki Ria’s voice in halting Japanese, thinking what an incredible girl she was, and giving a welcome applause.
At first, the unusual and beautiful half-British girl was hugely popular.
But after a week, that popularity had almost completely disappeared.
The reason was clear.
Firstly, Ria has been raised in England all her life, so she has always read and written in English.
My Japanese is still not very good; I can say common phrases like “good morning” and “hello”, but I can hardly say anything else.
Secondly, Ria was strong-willed, competitive and stubborn.
Not being able to communicate the words properly and express what you wanted to say must have been more stressful than you thought.
In addition, Ria’s intonation, which was inevitably different from that of a native speaker, often made the children around her laugh.
Whenever Ria heard that laughter, she felt that she was being mocked, and every time this happened she would become enraged, stand up, and yell at the person in rapid-fire English.
No matter how much the teacher warns him, it doesn’t stop. It just adds fuel to the fire.
After repeating this over and over again, people gradually started to disappear from around Ria, as if to prove that they were a god.
Ria also maintained a resolute attitude and only gave him a cold look and said, “Hmph.”
However, the sight somehow made Michiru feel lonely.
It was compassion and camaraderie.
Michiru lives in a single-parent household with her mother who works as a nurse and is rarely at home.
Because of this, although it wasn’t exactly bullying, I found myself isolated in class.
I was a teenager. I had no friends, I was lonely, and I felt like I was going to die.
──Same as me.
The thought came from an ulterior motive: maybe we could become friends.
Michiru is a shy and reserved girl, so seeing Ria being able to express her will so clearly is surprising and a little scary, but her impression of how amazing she is wins out.
This was further exacerbated by the fact that Michiru learned English due to the influence of her mother, who traveled abroad frequently when she was young.
Even though the family finances were tight, Michiru’s mother thought that money should be spent on Michiru’s development, so she sent her to an English conversation class for children.
Still, the timid Michiru was unsure of what to do, and for days on end she just stared at the lonely blonde’s back.
However, one day during lunch break, Michiru decided to stand next to the girl.
This was because during Japanese class, the teacher asked Ria to read from the textbook and she saw her face remain silent.
Ria looked up at Michiru with grey eyes, suspicious and surprised, and Michiru timidly opened her mouth to ask.
“My name is Michiru.”
In halting English, slowly but firmly.
Ria’s eyes widened. She blinked rapidly and looked at Michiru without stopping.
“Um, I’d like you to teach me English…”
Michiru managed to say, fidgeting with her hands and gripping her skirt.
Feeling embarrassed and scared, Michiru glanced over at Ria, only to be shocked when she suddenly stood up with force.
“… Yes! I’ll tell you!”
Saying that, Ria’s eyes lit up as she threw herself at Michiru and embraced him.
＊＊＊
Children’s learning abilities are remarkable.
Michiru learned English from Ria, and Ria learned Japanese from Michiru.
”I don’t understand this!” Ria would pout and hold out her textbook, and Michiru would patiently explain it to her.
In addition to what Michiru taught her, Ria also seemed to be studying at home, and thanks to this, after just a few months Ria’s Japanese had improved to a level where it no longer had any impact on most everyday conversations.
Seeing this, Ria’s classmates tried to become friends with her again, but Ria simply scoffed and ignored them, saying what the heck was the big deal now.
Even as her Japanese improved, Ria never left Michiru’s side and seemed to not care about anyone other than her.
Also, Michiru never made fun of Ria, but Ria also didn’t laugh when Michiru told her that she was a single parent.
”Michiru’s mom is amazing!” she said, blinking her long eyelashes, and with that, Michiru, who had initially spoken to her out of sympathy and ulterior motives, had fallen in love with Ria.
Of course, they’re together at school, but they often go out together after school too.
Six months after they first met, Michiru was invited to Ria’s house.
It was Michiru’s first time going to a friend’s house to hang out, so she was excited and nervous when she accompanied Ria after school, letting out a cry of surprise.
There was a white-walled Western-style mansion like the ones you see in the movies.
“Michiru! This way.”
Ria opens the large gate at the entrance to the house with ease.
“Is this Ria’s house? It’s big…”
“Really?”
Michiru looked surprised, but Ria smiled, opened the door to the house, and boldly kicked off her shoes, saying, “I’m home!”
Michiru followed Ria and quietly straightened her shoes at the entrance, then timidly entered, saying, “Excuse me.”
“Here! This is Ria’s room!”
Ria’s mother was a belly dancer and is now a belly dance instructor.
Her British father has been working overseas for the past few years and only comes home during long holidays or once every few months.
We were shown to Ria’s room on the second floor, which was also spacious; it was larger than the living room and kitchen of Michiru’s apartment combined.
So it’s okay to shout! As the two of them were playing and chatting, there was a clanging sound from outside the door, and Ria suddenly looked up.
“Ah, Michiru, wait a minute!”
Ria stood up and ran out the door, calling out to someone in a loud voice, “Big brother! Welcome back!”
“I’m back, Ria. I saw some shoes at the entrance. Are they your friends?”
“Yes! That’s right! Let me introduce myself!”
The voice coming from the open door was a man’s, and I remembered that Ria had said that she had an older brother.
Michiru straightened her back, tensing at the sound of approaching footsteps.
“Hello, I heard you’re Ria’s friend? I’m Reo, Ria’s older brother. Nice to meet you.”
“Hello, um, I’m Kishibe Michiru. Nice to meet you, nice to meet you…”
Pekori and Michiru bowed politely.
This is because my single mother had strictly warned me to learn to say thank you, sorry, and greet people properly.
But, deep down I was very surprised.
Because it was the first time I’d ever seen such a beautiful man.
Unlike Ria, she has black hair like wet crow feathers, but her eyes are the same grayish color as Ria’s.
He was slender and pale, and at first glance Michiru thought he was a woman, but when she heard the words “Ria’s brother” and heard the voice, she realized that the person in front of her was a man, and she almost cried out softly.
“Michiru-chan, I remember.”
He was a man who, rather than being described as handsome or cool like the ones you see on TV, would best be described as beautiful.
Reo stares at Michiru for a while after she greets him, then smiles gently.
“She’s stubborn and strong-willed, so it must be hard. Thank you for being friends with her.”
“What do you mean, “terrible?””
“Well, it obviously means exactly what it says.”
Reo was roughly stroking Ria’s head, who was beside him, as if he were petting a dog, and Ria let out an angry, threatening voice.
Just that alone made Michiru smile, knowing that they were such a close brother and sister.
“Well, Michiru-chan, take your time. Ria, I’m leaving now.”
“You just got back? Is this a date?”
“Maybe? He said he’d give me a ride to my part-time job.”
Saying this, Reo waves his hand at Michiru.
“I’m off now. Michiru-chan, please take care of Ria.”
“Y-Yes.”
“Have a nice day!”
Seeing the door slam shut, Ria smiled heartily.
“My big brother is cool, right?”
“Yeah, that’s amazing, it seems like… he’s really popular…”
“Well, yeah!”
Even though it wasn’t her own business, for some reason Ria looked proud and puffed out her chest as she handed the juice to Michiru.
Michiru heard later that Ria’s older brother, Reo, was eight years older than Michiru and the others and, like their mother, he aspired to be a dancer, although in a different field.
To Michiru, who was an elementary school student at the time, high school students were like adult older brothers.
Moreover, Michiru had never had the opportunity to interact with an older brother like that outside of being a teacher at school, so it was a completely new feeling for her.
She thought that her encounter with Reo would be that one and only time, but one thing she hadn’t anticipated was that Ria was also quite the siscon, while her brother was also quite the siscon.
From then on, Michiru was often invited over to Ria’s house, and if the timing was right that Reo was home or would come home, Ria would often beg him, “Hey, can you walk me to the park?” or “It’s late, so can you walk Michiru home?”
Although he would make a troubled face when his cute little sister asked him for a ride, Reo, who already had a driver’s license by that time, would always say, “Oh well, just wait a minute,” and there were many occasions when he would get in his car and take Ria and Michiru to their play spots or to his house, or pick them up, so inevitably Michiru started talking to Reo more.
As an older brother, he was worried about his younger sister, who was much younger than him, and said that unlike him, who had lived in Japan a long time ago, his sister was born in England and could barely understand Japanese before coming to Japan, so he thought she would surely have a hard time.
He had always come home with a gloomy look on his face, but one day he started looking very happy, which brought a sense of relief to him, his mother, and his father, who was working in England.
And he is very grateful to his benefactor, Michiru.
It wasn’t very often, but sometimes when Reo and Ria’s mother was at home away from work and Michiru would drop by, they would treat her to dinner.
“Come anytime.”
His mother, who looks very similar to Reo, is also beautiful and has an excellent figure.
Even though Michiru is of the same sex, she is so sexy that it makes you gasp.
Ria apparently talks to her mother about Michiru almost every day, and she treated her mother with great courtesy and kindness.
When Michiru’s mother found out about this, she took time out of her busy schedule to thank Reo and Ria’s mother, and it wasn’t long before the families began to become friends.
＊＊＊
In middle school, Ria and Michiru continued to interact with the Kanzaki and Kishibe families, but as high school students, Ria and Michiru decided to go on different paths.
Still, their friendship never faded, and they met up about once a month, and many times during long holidays.
“Michiru! Hey, when are you free during summer vacation?”
Ria, who has grown into a beautiful, sparkling gal, sees Michiru and comes running over with a big smile on her face, like a dog that has met its beloved master.
She is over 170 cm tall, with a slender, model-like build.
Although Ria has become such a beautiful woman that men passing by her catch glances at her, her personality has not changed since she was a child.
Michiru had certainly grown taller since she was in elementary school, but her growth still stopped at just under 150cm.
She wanted to think that she wasn’t overweight, but compared to Ria she was rounder and plumper overall, and all the nutrition went to her breasts, which Michiru found embarrassing.
It’s such a relief that every time we meet, Ria says, “Michiru is so fluffy and cute!” and hugs me tightly. If that hadn’t happened, I might have really grown to dislike her.
The two, who hadn’t been able to see each other for the past two months due to exam period, sat down at a family restaurant, and before Ria could even order, she leaned towards Michiru.
“Come over to my house sometime. Like when we were in elementary school!”
“Ria-chan’s house? I think the last time I went there was before the summer of my third year of middle school. Is that okay?”
“Of course! Isn’t that great? Ah, but let’s go to the pool, the beach, shopping, and have a barbecue. Dad’s coming home this year, so I want to invite Michiru’s mom and do it with the whole family!”
”It’d be great if the timing was right,” Ria said with a big smile, and Michiru followed suit with a smile.
Michiru also made friends in high school, but if you ask her if she has a closer friend than Ria, the answer is no.
Ria also used the same phrase almost as if it were a catchphrase, and would say at every opportunity like it was a curse that “not being able to attend the same high school as Michiru will be the mistake of a lifetime.”
Michiru remembers very well that when Ria was asked where she was going to go to high school and Michiru told her the name of the high school she was going to, the look of despair on Ria’s face was as if the world was ending.
“Sounds fun! Well, I was thinking of telling you today, but… I want to tell you something amazing, so I’ll tell you then.”
“Eh… what what what!? Ah, but wait? It would be better if we did it then, I’m curious! When should we do it!? Tomorrow!?”
“Tomorrow I have a part-time job, so this is a bit sudden…”
And so, Michiru was finally able to talk to Ria about something she loved so much.
I have someone I like.
The other person is a boy on the baseball team who is in the same class at high school.
We sit close to each other and we talk quite often every day.
He is tanned, has a solid build, and a sharp, dignified face, but when he smiles he has the same innocent and childlike qualities as a large dog.
When Michiru secretly tells her students the answers to their homework, they respond with an exaggerated “Thanks!” which makes her happy. Michiru, who already has good grades and is well-liked by her teachers, is motivated to study harder.
It wasn’t her first love, but it was the first time Michiru had ever felt so deeply in love with someone.
Michiru was planning to tell Ria that he was going to confess his feelings to her when he went to her house.
She wanted her best friend to support her.
“I wonder if my brother is there. I live alone right now, so I might not be able to see him.”
“Oh yeah, you made your professional debut.”
“Yeah, I’ve been getting more work as a backup dancer recently and I’ve been really busy. I’m always on the road when there are performances in other parts of the country.”
“That’s amazing… you’re from a different world…”
I often saw her entering a vocational dance school and immersing herself in dance in her private life as well.
After I started high school, I stopped going to Ria’s house and we never saw each other, so it’s been several years since we last saw each other.
“Big brother wants to meet Michiru too, so maybe I’ll ask him.”
“Oh, it’s fine. I’m sure he’s busy and doesn’t particularly want to see me. You’re exaggerating.”
Of course, he probably wouldn’t have that much attachment to his best friend’s friend, but since it’s Reo, he might be considerate enough to come and see his sister.
Michiru shook her head, not wanting to make someone who was busy at work do something like that.
“It’s not a big deal though.”
“…Well, maybe someday if the opportunity arises.”
It would be a lie to say that Michiru wasn’t curious about what her beautiful, older sister-like best friend’s brother was like, but that day her mind was filled with thoughts of love she would discuss with him.