CH 1

Chapter 1 – Do loli bishoujo’s have the lost child attribute?

「Dad, is thinking of a remarriage」(Dad)

At supper, my dad starting talking with a serious expression on his face.

To those words of his, I said–

「Isn’t that alright?」(Kaito)

I replied back with a smile.

Dad looked at me with a surprised expression.

「Is that okay? You’ll have a new family you know?」(Dad)

「I’m not a kid anymore, if dad wants to get married, I think you should」(Kaito)

I say so as I take the dishes to the sink.

I felt my dad’s gaze on my back, but pretended not to notice it.

As soon as I arrived at the sink, I started washing the dishes.

I didn’t slow my movement at all.

Yes—it was my usual behavior that doesn’t express my feelings on the matter any which way.

However, despite my actions, my mind was in turmoil.

New family…..?

This is a serious problem for me.

I can’t even make friends because of my communication disorder, but a new family?

Haa, it’s impossible.

Are you asking me to die?

Thinking about strangers becoming my new family, I can only despair.

It would be impossible for me to communicate with them.

Will this house, which was once my only place to relax, be a place filled with stress from now on….?

But—I can’t say that to my dad and I can’t let him notice my feelings.

Since I lost my mother at an early age, he has raised me as a single parent all this time.

Balancing housework and work must have been difficult.

I can’t thank him enough for that.

….then should I repay him by not being an otaku anymore and studying hard?

That’s a different story.

People have their strengths and weaknesses.

Just because you can study well, doesn’t mean that you can work.

Just because you have a lot of friends, that doesn’t make you a good person.

…..aren’t there things you can and can’t do?

2

When I returned to my room after washing the dishes, my smartphone was lit up.

Apparently I had received a message.

『What should I do, I’ve been told I’ll have a new family from now on (> _ <) it’s impossible to become a family with strangers (ノ Д`) ・ ゜ ・』

「Buh–!」(Kaito)

I couldn’t help but catch my breath.

Seriously, what a coincidence….

『I see….actually, my dad seems to be getting remarried, in other words, I’ll have a new family as well』

As soon as I sent that, I immediately got a reply.

『Eeeeeeeeh! What a coincidence! To think there was something like this!』

『Seriously it’s true! Haa……my feelings are heavy right now….but I can’t tell my dad I refuse….』

『I understand! My mom looked so happy I couldn’t say I didn’t like the idea….haa…..I wish Umi was my new family…』(TLN: So it seems that Kaito’s username is 海 which is “Sea” or “Umi”)

『If my new family was Hanahime-chan, I would be at ease….』(TLN: 花姫 means flower princess or “Hanahime”)

—Umi-kun was the nickname Hanahime-chan uses for my account.

My name is Kanzaki Kaito, so she just named me “Umi” (TLN: His name is 神崎海斗 so she took the 海 character from his first name which is read as “Kai” in Onyomi out and used that as the vocab word for sea which is “Umi”)

Because her account name was Hanahime, I just called her as is.

After that, we continued talking as if what we expected was impossible—

3

I was desperately trying to arrange my thoughts right now.

What I’m thinking about, is whether or not to talk to the girl in the distance who looks like she is crying…

After school, the teacher forced me to stay behind to help with something, and as I was returning back to the classroom, I met a girl who was pacing back and forth in the hallway in tears.

….you think I’m going to help her right?

It may be easy for other people, but for me it was too difficult to call out to people I don’t know.

Furthermore, even from this distance and despite being in tears, I can tell she is very cute looking.

Is she about 140cm tall?

Her childish features were small, but perfectly arranged, with sharp eyes.

In a few years time, she would definitely be a beauty.

However, there was only one part of a woman that was emphasized which completely contradicted her petite physique.

When 90% of the boys pass her, I suppose their eyes would instantly be drawn to her huge breasts?

If you are seen speaking to such a beautiful girl, other people would think you were trying to pick her up right?

More than that, wouldn’t it make you feel bad to call out to her?

Such thoughts were running through my head.

However, ignoring her would also hurt my conscience.

…..I suppose I have a conscience then?

….is that really the case?

It’s not a lie is it?

In the end I decided to be brave and call out to her.

「That….are you okay?」(Kaito)

「—-tsu!」(???)

When I called out to her, her body instantly shook.

It seems she was surprised to suddenly be spoken to.

「I’m sorry I surprised you. You’ve been pacing back and forth for quite a while, is something wrong?」(Kaito)

At my words, she looks up at me.

Even at close range, she was still a beautiful girl.

As mentioned earlier, she is a baby-faced girl with an innocent look and sharp eyes.

I’m sure she is a high school student because she is wearing our school’s uniform….but at first glance she looks like an elementary school student.

…..except for one part.

However her well proportioned face seems as if it has come directly from an anime.

It’s rare to see such a beautiful girl.

From the color of her tie, she looks like a freshman.

I mean, if she was in the same second grade as me I would have a more shocked expression….

「A, ano….I got lost…..」(???)

Aah, does she not know her way around yet because she has just been admitted to the school?

It’s been less than a week since the entrance ceremony was held and the school is much larger than a normal school.

「Where are you trying to get to?」(Kaito)

「Eto, the library….」(???)

Seriously….

I turned my eyes away.

I then chose my words as carefully as possible, so as not to hurt her too much.

「The library is the exact opposite from the first-grade classrooms here….」

「……」(???)

When I cautiously looked at her face after receiving no response, I could see her face was completely red.

「Ma, maa, it can’t be helped! You’ve just enrolled after all, it’s not strange you don’t know where everything is!」(Kaito)

I quickly say in a desperate attempt to amend my statement.

Though as a first grader, she should have been given a map of the building.

「That…Sakura has always had a bad sense of direction, I can’t even read a map….」(Sakura)

She muttered such a thing in a weak voice.

Could Sakura be her name?

Rather than that….did she get lost because of the map….?

Maa, I suppose there are people without a good sense of direction….

For example, sometimes when you get on a train, the train ends up going in the opposite direction that you thought it would….

In fact, I met a child that did that once in the past.

That was—-during my second year of middle school.

At that time, I still had friends.

I met a lost girl on the train heading into the city when I was hanging out with my 5 friends.

From her short statue and appearance, she seemed to be a child three or four years younger than me,

This child was watching the scenery outside the train pass by, almost crying.

I couldn’t leave the child alone, so I called out to her and asked what was wrong.

She replied that『It’s not going to the station I wanted it to….』whilst at the brink of tears.

She also gave me the name of the station—and when I heard it, I immediately realized something.

『This train is going in the opposite direction, so you can’t get there this way…..』

Well, the usually way of fixing it would be to tell her to get on a train going back in the opposite direction.

But the child was very young….and in tears.

I was worried about sending such a girl back alone, so I told my friends to go ahead first whilst I took the girl back to the station she was looking for.

I don’t know where that child is now, but she was as cute as the girl in front of me.

…..could it be, that all lolis have a lost child attribute?

For a moment, this stupid idea came to mind.

I thought it likely wouldn’t be the case and shook my head to get rid of those thoughts.

However, I was troubled….

Even if I explained where to go, it’s possible that she would get lost again.　

Or rather, this kid would definitely get lost again.

Because that’s how it usually goes in manga…..

I thought it over a little—

「Actually I was planning to go to the library to borrow a book. I have to go to my classroom to fetch my bag first, but if you’re okay with that, shall I go with you?」(Kaito)

I asked.

….I said it properly!

With this, I’ll be able to make friends in my real school life!

She’s a junior and a girl!

「A….yes, please!」(Sakura)

She replied as she smiled.

Needless to say, that smile made me nervous.

On our way to the library, I thought I’d at least try to have a good conversation with her.

I wanted to take this opportunity to improve my social skills.

But—-I can’t think of what to say!

Now that I think about it, the only topics I can talk about are light novels, games and anime.

I thought of possibly talking about anime…..

I glanced sideways at the loli girl walking next to me whilst smiling.

……there’s no way this innocent looking girl likes my favorite anime…..

After all, the only anime I watch are the ones that otakus like….

That’s right, I can only talk about otaku hobbies.

Do you think this beautiful girl knows about otakus?

—that’s a firm no!

Imagine if I talked about otaku things here.

She would probably show a forced smile and not really listen.

She might think I’m a weirdo and tell her classmates.

…..no, judging from the actions of this kid, that’s unlikely to happen…..

After all, she has a gentle atmosphere that is harmless.

In other words, she is a “friendly” girl.

It was so great to be able to have a normal conversation with her before.

But, what type of topic should I talk about….

「A, ano….」(Sakura)

As I was trying to come up with a solution in my mind, she ran up next to me and looked up, opening her mouth to speak.

「What’s wrong?」(Kaito)

「Etto, you are my senpai in second grade right?」(Sakura)

「Un, that’s right….you understood that? You can tell by the color of our ties, but I would have thought that since you are a freshly enrolled first grader, you wouldn’t know the differences between grades」(Kaito)

For the second grade, we have blue ties, third grade have yellow.

The color of the first grade ties for the students who entered this year are red.

It usually rotates, so next year’s freshman will wear the current third grade color, yellow.

Therefore, looking at the tie allows you to immediately know the students grade.

However, first grade students should not be able to understand the difference between tie colors yet, did a senior tell her?

「Sakura’s older sister is in the second grade, so I understand what it means. Maybe she is an acquaintance of senpai? I’m curious」(Sakura)

Her innocent words struck my heart.

I know she didn’t say it maliciously.

It just hurts.

….the reason why it hurt, is “that”.

Because I don’t have any friends!

『Do you know them?』is always associated with the words『I don’t have any friends so I don’t know』in my mind.

Even if I think that….I can’t say it out loud…..

「No…I’m not sure. I don’t have any friends that are girls」(Kaito)

I’m sorry, I’m being vain.

Let alone girls, I don’t even have any friends who are boys.

「Ah, is that so….please don’t worry about it….I think she’s hard to get along with as a sister….」(Sakura)

She said as she followed me.

You’re so kind….

I really want to get along with her.

Yosh, I’ll talk with her about it—

「Ah, we’ve arrived!」(Sakura)

—it was a miss….

Why did we have to arrive with this timing!

Read the air a little more, library!

I thought such a stupid thing.

Ah….but that’s right.

Just because we’ve arrived at the library, doesn’t mean we have to part ways here.

We can look around and choose books together.

「Hey, what book did you come here for?」(Kaito)

To my words, she tilted her head.

Then opened her mouth as if she suddenly remembered.

「Ah, that’s right, I didn’t explain it properly. Sakura didn’t come to the library to borrow a book, Sakura was meeting someone here」(Sakura)

「Eh, meeting?」(Kaito)

「Yes, as I mentioned earlier, Sakura has no sense of direction so she gets lost when she goes home alone. That’s why I’m going to meet my sister in the library and go home together with her」(Sakura)

What is that….

If you’re meeting someone, why not meet at your classroom?

Especially when this child gets lost so easily.

Isn’t it normal to think about picking her up from the first-grade classrooms?

It’s also strange to think that this kid hasn’t been contacted at all yet.

Is this kid’s sister doing club activities….?

So are you planning to wait here until she’s done and kill time?

…..but clubs aren’t running today…?

「Ah, senpai, will you wait here with me until my sister comes? Sakura wants to talk with senpai more and you can be friends with my sister too!」(Sakura)

「Eh….?」(Kaito)

My thoughts stop at that unexpected proposal.

No it’s not like the suggestion stopped me thinking.

『Sakura wants to talk with senpai more』I stopped thinking at those words.

Did she make a mistake?

Does this kid have an unexpected good impression of me?

Was I able to have a proper conversation in the end?

However her proposal was good.

Of course, I couldn’t help but accept it.

「Ah, in which case–」(Kaito)

『Let’s talk』I stopped myself before finishing that sentence.

It would be okay to talk here.

But wait a minute.

Wait with her until her sister comes?

That means I’ll be meeting her sister right?

This kid even said she wanted me to be friends with her sister….

But, her sister is in second grade like me right?

Also, didn’t she say that she was hard to get along with?

….that’s impossible.

「Sorry, I remembered some unfinished business, so I’ll be going home first」(Kaito)

Saying that I turned around quickly.

「Eh? Senpai, didn’t you come here to borrow a book?」(Sakura)

Of course, the excuse I used to guide her….

「I’m in a rush! I can borrow the book another time!」(Kaito)

Well although I read a lot of light novels, I don’t read any real novels so I don’t feel like visiting the library again…

Anyway, it’s better to leave here as soon as possible.

She was still saying something behind me, but I went home without turning around again.

–I messed up.

I didn’t even ask her for her name, let alone class number.

The number of people in this school was so large that if you didn’t know the class, it would be impossible to see her again next time.

Haa……

Having forgotten to ask her name earlier, I look down in regret.

–whilst I was walking and looking down at my feet, another student passed by me and my nose was immediately filled with the scent of sunflowers.

I looked back reflexively.

Ah?

Isn’t she Momoi?

Heh…so she uses the library too.

No, because she’s so smart I guess she reads a lot of novels.

Maa, I don’t want her to notice that I’m looking at her or she may slap me with some false charges, so I’d best return home quickly.

At that time, I didn’t really think about why she was heading to the library—a fact I would later regret.