“Hey, you cringey, delusional maid. Chatting while making your master wait—how comfortable you’ve gotten. Do you want to be fired?”
“…I don’t think I’m delusional. If anything, what I have is ‘ 8th Grade syndrome’.”
“Whatever. Just get in.”
“Grrr. It pains me to admit, but as a servant, I have no choice but to comply. Ah, I’ve now learned the suffering of the weak… knowing this pain, I can no longer torment those beneath me.”
Isn’t that actually a good thing?
As I watched Mary-san, she got into the car from the opposite door.
“Seatbelt on? Good, you’re wearing it. How commendable.”
“Do you think I’m a child? I don’t need a retro tsundere with twin-tails to tell me that.”
“There’s a saying that even a pig will climb a tree if you flatter it enough. It’s amusing.”
“Calling me a sow, are you? Interesting. Someday, I’ll kill you.”
…Is it okay for me to leave now?
While I was unsure what to do, Kurumizawa-san finally turned to me.
“Nakayama, sorry. My idiot maid caused trouble… I’ll make sure she doesn’t ride the car next time, so don’t worry.”
Unlike with Mary-san, Kurumizawa-san’s expression softened considerably when she faced me. She must be having a hard time with Mary-san… I could understand why she’d be cold to her.
“No, it’s fine… it wasn’t any trouble.”
“Alright. If you say so…”
“Yeah.”
“…”
Then, the conversation abruptly stopped. I thought Kurumizawa-san’s car would start moving, but it remained where it was.
Mary-san, sitting further inside, also looked at us curiously. I was puzzled, too, when…
“—Don’t be too nervous.”
Kurumizawa-san murmured softly. She seemed to have more to say, her eyes fixed on me.
“Just because we’re in the same class now doesn’t mean I want to bother you, Nakayama. A lot happened before, but I’ve reset my feelings and moved on.”
Once, she confessed to me.
We even kissed, so perhaps I had become guarded around her.
“I’m not asking you to be friends. Just treat me normally… that’s all. Sorry for saying something weird. See you.”
With that, Kurumizawa-san’s car finally started to move.
Watching the car drive away, I couldn’t help but smile wryly.
(Why am I so wary of such a harmless girl…?)
I suddenly wondered.
In terms of the story, Kurumizawa-san seems to be a key figure in this chapter.
That’s why I might have been overly cautious… if my caution made her feel bad, that wasn’t good.
Expecting something bad when nothing has happened.
In the past and now, that’s all I’ve been thinking about.
I’ve been trying to predict the future by interpreting reality as if it were a story.
Realizing that… I felt a bit scared.
