Episode 4 – My Childhood Friend Shouldn’t Know About Me

“Tamio san. Is there any point in doing this makeup?”

The next day, Tamio Eiyuu san, the editor in charge, was putting on my makeup in the waiting room.

“In this day and age, you never know where your photos will be taken, so you have to look as good as possible. Especially a highschool novelist like yourself, your writer’s image will continue to follow you in the future.”

After saying that, he finishes my makeup.

Surely, in this golden age of smartphones, if an autograph session is held, someone might take a photo of it. 

If someone spreads a picture of me being a gloomy person, maybe my fans won’t approach me anymore.

If I lose my advantage as a highschool novelist, my future will turn pitch black, both for me and for the publishing company.

“The rest is just contact lenses, have you brought them?”

Tamio san asked me if I had contact lenses.

“Yes, I brought them. I’m afraid of putting a strange object in my eyes, so I have them in my bag ….”

When I showed Tamio san my bag, he nodded and said [well, go put it on in the bathroom. We don’t have much time, so hurry up, okay?]

I rushed to the bathroom and put on the unfamiliar contact lenses.

Then, I put on my contacts and looked at myself in the mirror. There, I saw a face that I had never seen before.

My face without contacts is so narrow that I have to squint my eyes to see things.

But what about the man’s face in the mirror. 

My eyes are wide open and have a somewhat baby face.

On top of that, unlike my usual hairstyle, my eyes are not hidden because my hair is straightened properly, so I look like a refreshing young man.

Perhaps my step sister will look at me a little more if I dress like this, but it seems like I’m flattering her in some way, so I won’t do it.

Above all, it’s a pain in the ass ! !

With that in mind, I left the men’s restroom.

Then someone jumped out from the women’s restroom and bumped into me.

“Ouchh…”

“Are you okay?”

I look at the woman who fell over when she bumped into me, and reach out my hand to her.

“I’m sorry, I was in a hurry…”

Then she grabbed my hand and stood up slowly.

And the moment our eyes met, there was a silence between us.

The one who bumped into me was my childhood friend, Miuchi Asuka.

…..why the hell are you here ! !

As I think about that, my childhood friend stares at me and stiffens.

Did she notice? I thought, but when I said [um…] to my childhood friend, she panicked.

“Uh, um. I’m sorry. I was going to the bookstore, but I got lost, and then I got so nervous that I went to the restroom and got even more lost ….”

Seeing my childhood friend moving her hands around in confusion, my cheeks loosened with a sense of relief that I hadn’t been caught.

“Well, I’m going in the same direction, so would you like to go with me?”

When I said that, my childhood friend replied [are you sure?] with a surprised tone.

“Yes, I’ll show you around, okay? Then, we should go.”

I successfully pretended to be friendly so that my childhood friend wouldn’t notice, and we started walking to the bookstore.

My childhood friend who’s following me silently without making a fuss as she did on the way home from school that day. 

After walking with distance between her for a while, I stopped when I saw the bookstore and turned to my childhood friend.

“This is the bookstore. Please be careful not to get lost again.”

When I told my childhood friend the destination with the biggest fake smile I’ve ever had, she said [Eh !?] while moving strangely.

“Oh, thank you very much ! ! Um, as a thanks ….”

“It’s fine. Then I should go…”

After saying that, I parted from my childhood friend as soon as possible.

No, I wanted to leave immediately.

Because if she finds out that it’s me, she might complain again.

After parting from my childhood friend and I returned to the waiting room, Tamio san caught sight of me and whistled [Hyu-]. 

“I hardly recognized you just by putting a contact. I didn’t know who was coming.”

“Enough with the flattery, hurry up and let’s do it.”

After all, a gloomy person is a gloomy person….and I half-heartedly listened to Tamio san’s words. Since the schedule time is drawing near, I suggested that we get started. It is my nature that I want to end something unpleasant as soon as possible. 

Then the signing session began.

My debut work called “I fell in love with you who’s standing in the rain” was a book version of a WEB novel called Kakeyome, which I had written before I took the entrance exam and which caught Tamio san’s eye and became novelized. 

The main target audience is teenage boys and girls, but recently the purchasing rate is mainly female. 

A brief interview will be held prior at the autograph session.

I was asked about how this novel was born and about my own experiences, and I had to answer the questions, but to be honest, it was embarrassing to tell that my age = no girlfriend because my head isn’t filled with flower gardens.

When the autograph session started, the people who bought my book came up to me one after another to ask for my autograph and a handshake.

I was surprised that dozens of people came to my first book signing, but I was even more surprised by something else.

Among those who’s asking for my autograph, there’s a figure of my childhood friend ! !

And what’s more, her face looks like she’s on cloud nine, and she was occasionally urged by the staff to move forward ! !

Well, no wonder i’m surprised and stopped thinking.

A classmate that she hates is working as an author in front of her.

When I was thinking about such a thing while dealing with people who asked for a handshake with a fake smile, it was my childhood friend’s turn.

Perhaps confused by my appearance, she didn’t move an inch in front of me.

So I decided to throw a preemptive strike.

“….We met again. I never thought you would come.”

While twitching the muscles on my face, I calmly talked to my childhood friend.

“Oh, um. Thank you so much for earlier ! ! I didn’t know you were Matsudaira sensei, I’m, I’m.”

Even though I was overwhelmed by her voice, when I received the book from her, I began to sign it.

“It can’t be helped. It’s my first autograph session, so it’s only natural that you wouldn’t notice.”

“No, I’ve been reading it since it was a web novel, so I’m happy to meet you today ! !”

Maybe because she was nervous, she talked really fast, while i’m handing the book that had been signed I murmured…. Even though we just talked yesterday〜. 

“I’m looking forward to future works from a sensei who is the same age as me, so please keep up the good work !”

Saying that, my childhood friend reached out her hand, so I made a fake smile again and said [Thank you..] and shook her hand. 

Then her turn was over.

She looked happily at the autograph that I had written, but she muttered as if she noticed something.

“Matsudaira…., Rikkun?”

I reacted with [Hm?] to those words, and when I turned toward her, I made eye contact with my childhood friend.

She was pushed back by the staff to leave, but her gaze was still looking at me for a while….. I thought. 

And then the signing session ended without an accident.

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