Chapter 05Â
 Kaname is Confused
âKaname, a lot of things moved forward yesterday.â
âMm, tell me.â
The next day, as usual, I sat in my classroom seat and decided to share with Kaname what had happened yesterday.
I had talked quite a bit with Yumi yesterday, but the first thing I thought I should tell Kaname was the part that actually concerned her. So I started explaining.
ââŠItâs gotten a little troublesome. To put it simply, if Yumi finds out that you and I are involved with each other, itâll be bad.â
âEhâŠ? Whatâs that supposed to mean?â
I explained the whole situation to Kaname.
Yumi thinks there arenât any girls around me right nowâthatâs the only reason she hasnât been aggressively going after me. But if she realizes thereâs a girl near me, she might think that girl likes me and then come at me even harder.
Thatâs why Yumi mustnât find out about my connection with Kaname.
After finishing, I added one last thing.
âSorry. I know you donât like me in that way, but still, itâs really not good if Yumi finds out weâre close.â
ââŠ.â
Kaname didnât move a muscleânot her body, not even her gazeâso I called out to her.
âKaname?â
ââŠSorry. Um, in short, itâs fine as long as she doesnât find out weâre connected, right?â
âYeah, thatâs right.â
She seemed a little off for a moment, but quickly summed up what Iâd said and responded like that.
âŠEven so, having to hide our connection could be a mental burden, so I tried to reassure her.
âBut you know, even when weâve gone out together before, Yumiâs never found out. Itâs not that easy to get caught.â
âMm⊠then, does that mean I canât go to your house anymore?â
âMy houseâŠ? Ah, yeah, unless Yumi happens to be out for some reason, itâd be tough. I mean, itâs not like weâve ever hung out at my place before, and honestly, I canât imagine you coming over in the future either.â
âRight⊠yeah, that makes sense⊠What is this evenâŠâ
Kaname placed a hand over her chest, clearly confused.
It didnât look like she was in pain, but stillâŠ
âYou okay? If youâre not feeling well, I can take you to the nurseâs office.â
âMy bodyâs fine⊠thanks for worrying about me.â
Kaname said that with a gentle smile. She normally didnât make expressions like that, but when we went out together she often showed me a bright side of herself. Spending time with her was always genuinely fun for me.
But just as I thought I felt something strange⊠Kaname pressed her hand on the desk and urged me forward.
âAnyway, can we talk about something else? If we keep on this topic, I start thinking weird things.â
ââŠReally? I donât get it, but if thatâs how you feel, then fine. In that case, thereâs something else from yesterdayâs talk with Yumi that I didnât mentionâitâs kind of a complicated matter.â
âWhat kind of talk?â
I recalled the conversation from yesterday.
ââŠIf, hypothetically, I looked at Yumiâat her body, or her figureâand started having dirty desires or emotions, would that be considered impure?â
The moment I asked that, Kaname immediately replied.
âThinking that about your little sister? Of course thatâs impure.â
Naturally, I thought the same, so I nodded and finally brought up the part I hadnât been able to answer yesterday.
âThen, if Yumi were toââ
âHold on.â
Before I could continue, Kaname cut me off, her expression serious, and asked me:
âHey, if itâs impure for you to feel that way about your little sister Yumi-chan⊠then what ifâjust sometimes, not alwaysâa friend wanted to hold hands with another friend, or hug them⊠or maybe even wanted to do more than that? Would that be impure too?â