Kaiwa mo shinai tsurekko no imouto ga, naganen issho ni baka yatte-kita Netoge no friend datta

“Actually, there’s a girl in the same class that I want to protect.”

“…eh?”

“Waow!”

This was another unexpected line. The girl that Nanjo Rin wants to protect

― Is it about Shiyori?

I do certainly remember the story of how she acted and protected Shiyori, which in turn caused a great change in her.

“That’s why, even if it’s just in a game, I want to be someone who protects someone else… Is that still no good?”

“That’s not true! Right, Kreis-kun?”

“Ah, ah…”

However, she might have never thought that she is playing games with that very person. It was a surprise, to be honest. And subsequently, a question arose. What is Shiyori to Nanjo Rin after all?

Nanjo Rin is friendly and doesn’t discriminate against anyone. That also means that she doesn’t support anyone in particular. That’s why I couldn’t understand why she cared so much about Shiyori.

“Un, Un, it’s a girl that you like to that degree! Such Youth! Say, what kind of girl is she!?

“eh!?”

“HEY, Phi-san.”

Shiyori is also a girl. Maybe she likes that kind of love story— Nevertheless, this thing is suddenly going way too straightforward.

Her, Cinq’s behavior became more and more suspicious due to her unexpected thrust for an answer. … Well, I do think it can’t be helped if people think of it that way, from the way she worded it out.

“It’s a Misunderstanding desu! That’s not like it desu!”

“Fuhihi, you don’t have to be shy now~, We know~”

[TL: Why does this girl sounds like me in real life…]

“Kreis-san, please, say, something, too!”

“Ah~h. Shall we go hunting with a shield, Cinq?”

That was all I could say at this place.

A few minutes later, we were in the forest area.

“Here. I gathered a lot while I was at it! Good luck, Cinq-kun! I will heal your wounds if any!”

“O~, hey Phi-san, these are just way too many …!!”

“Awawa, awawawawawa.”

At that place, Cinq was swarmed and pushed around by dozens of goblins.

… Those were all the ones who were pulled and pushed around by Philia-san, guiding them to that place. Shiyori was quite unreasonable in games compared to her real self. She tends to prefer aggressive hunting like now, and for some reason, she is considered as one of the Night Owls who would stay up all night and fall asleep during the day.

“Cinq, if you see the signs of a skill being activated, don’t think and step back immediately! I’ll reduce the number by that time. Just think about surviving!”

“Ahaha! It’ll all be okay, it’ll all be okay. He will surely make it through ! …maybe.”

“Hi, hiiiiiii!”

A chaotic scene unfolded in front of my eyes. Cinq was in that chaos with dozens of goblins, dancing back and forth while defeating them. It was obviously not a number to push in on beginners.

In fact, even on the smartphone, “WHAT SHOULD I GO ON WITH THIS!? DO I NEED TO ENDURE THIS!?” and a flustered emoji was also included with it.

However—

“I’ve beat, them desu! Yay desu!”

“Un, Un, if you try, you tend to defeat them unexpectedly right~.”

“Phi-san, you…”

It was certainly a messy hunt.

More than that, it turned out to be such an impressive hunt that I could see Nanjo Rin thoroughly enjoying it as well.

“Well, even so, that tight feeling when you see a beautiful girl like boy being swarmed around by goblins from all sides is just awesome~, fuhihi~.”

“Phi-san, you’re speaking like an old man again…”

“Ahaha, I didn’t have time to take it easy, desu.”

yareyare

I let out a sigh of relief.

Cinq, who seems to have never cooled down, was still practicing guarding with his shield up. Anyway, I’m glad that you enjoyed it.

“But it was rather good for your first time.”

“Un, Un, that’s right! Protect that girl you have in your mind just like this!”

“… That girl, its not like I love her or anything like that, desu.”

“Fue!?”

“Cinq…?”

“It’s just like, I don’t like the surroundings around that girl… desu”

An unexpected line popped out from Nanjo Rin. It was so sudden that I didn’t know how to react.

It seems that Shiyori was also the same as me, as she stuttered, confused about what to do.

『Right now, the two of us are indeed friends, so I have to protect her… But that kid following her… is a really terrible person, you see desu?』

“Cinq-kun…”

“…”

Somehow, I felt like I understood why Nanjo Rin cares so much about Shiyori. People who only concludes about others looking at their surface, and the people who change their attitudes according to the changes on other’s surface… I guess she doesn’t like those sorts of people.

And, you can never learn what that person speaks about you from the shadows. So, I guess, she acted like that envisioning someone other than her going through that same circumstances, looking at that circumstances objectively instead of her own bias.

For a moment, I felt like I understood what kind of person the girl named Nanjo Rin was. However, in the end Nanjo Rin confessed herself that she doesn’t love Shiyori in any way like that. That—

“Cinq-kun is a kind person.”

“Th—that sort of thing isn’t!”

“Phi-san…?”

Even so, at that moment, from Shiyori, words came out that were far from my current understanding and feelings about her.

“If Cinq-kun was really a terrible person, you wouldn’t say such a thing about her now, would you? I think you wanted to talk to us about her because you dearly care about that person.”

“That’s… that might be true… desu”

“Because it’s a game, there are things you can just say here. I don’t think that’s a bad thing though…!”

“Philia, san.…”

…. A~h, what’s this? S**t! As I thought, Hiyori did change. She changed for the better.

“I’m thinking of trying to talk to that child!”

“Yeah yeah, do your best! Let me know if you were to date each other later!”

“No, that will never happen, desu!”

“Fuhihi”

With that, Philia-san ridiculed Cinq-kun yet again. It’s a sight you’ll never get to see happen at school.

But—somehow, Shiyori and Nanjo Rin; these two could unexpectedly become good best friends… That’s what I thought.

“What do you want to do with that person from now on? Isn’t the future more important than the past?”

“…!”

“Oh, that’s exactly so, Kreis-kun.”

Before I knew it, I sent the same words that was spoken to me by Nanjo Rin when she tried to push my back.

And then suddenly, my phone rang.

《Say, today at school, I looked very obviously cheerful at school, so did Yoshida-san find something was wrong with me there?》

《It’s okay, I swear on the name of Philia-san》

《Ahaha, I see》

On the screen in front of me, a smiling Philia-san was sending an ale emoji in text.