[Book of Eros] Chapter 71 - Reiko follows her new classmate. (Patreon)

Reiko didn’t understand why Leo was worried about the new girl. She seemed friendly and approachable enough. Sure, she seemed to be getting tired of people asking questions by the end there, but wouldn’t anyone? Still, she did as he asked since he looked serious about it.

Leo had been right that she’d go into the girl’s restroom. Reiko managed to see her going into one of the stalls and heard it locking. Not wanting to stand in the middle of the restroom waiting for her to come out, Reiko silently went into the stall next to Kaede’s. That was when she heard it.

“Shit…” the new girl muttered, immediately followed by low, restrained sobs. Was she crying? She was obviously crying! What!? The girl didn’t say anything else, because who cries their own sorrows out loud in a place where people can hear them?

On her part, Reiko was frozen. She didn’t know what to do, if there was anything she could do or even if she SHOULD do something. Why was she crying? She’d done a good job introducing herself, people were interested in her, she was beautiful, and probably had a Gift on the same level as Leo’s or Angela’s, right? What could she be crying about?

Rendered immobile by hesitation, Reiko stayed in the stall even after she heard Kaede leaving. It took her a few moment to get back her own bearings and go back to the classroom. Kaede wasn’t there, but Leo was sitting on his spot talking to a classmate. She figured it wasn’t good to speak of it in the classroom, so she gestured for Leo to come to her. The guy he was talking to seemed to tease him about it, but while it was embarrassing to her, he didn’t seem bothered at all and dismissed it casually. She liked how collected he could be.

“Did you find her?” he asked her, speaking in a low volume.

“Yeah,” Reiko nodded slowly, pursing her lips. “She was in the restroom, like you said. I… I think she was crying. I didn’t know what to do.”

He clicked his tongue and frowned. “Is she still there?”

She shook her head. “I thought she’d be back here. Leo… What’s going on?”

“I don’t know, and that’s the problem,” he groaned. He remained quiet for a moment, face towards the window in the hallway yet with eyes staring into nothing. Then he turned to her. “You said you wanted to be friends with her, right?”

***

After looking for her, they found her sitting at the top of the stairs leading to the rooftop. She was alone and trying to fix her makeup with a compact mirror and an eyelash brush. She froze the moment she saw her and Leo standing at the bottom of the stairs. Leo didn’t falter, however, and walked up to her. He stopped a few steps below her and leaned his back against the wall. Reiko, of course, followed him.

“You were wearing less makeup yesterday,” he told her. “I thought it looked better that way.”

Kaede’s eyebrows rose. She stopped doing her makeup and rested her hands on her lap as she looked down at her knees.

“Were our classmates too pushy?” he asked casually. “They seem to get overexcited over transfer students.”

Kaede quickly shook her head, messing her smooth, silky hair. “It’s… it’s not that.”

Reiko was starting to understand why Leo was worried about her. This wasn’t the friendly and energetic girl who had introduced herself to the class. She was far meeker and… afraid.

“I don’t like to make assumptions, so I’m just gonna ask,” Leo said. “Chiteki-san, are you forcing yourself to act like that?”

Kaede’s head rose, and her wide eyes met Leo’s directly. “…Ahaha…” the girl laughed humorlessly. “I guess it was obvious, huh?” She hugged her knees and hid her face as she spoke. “I… I don’t know how to talk to people. I just… don’t.”

“Could’ve fooled me,” Leo commented.

“I… I practiced that introduction over and over. I spent days thinking of what to say. I looked online for ideas to change my image, to appear trendy and all that. I thought of what kind of person I had to be to make friends, and… tried to become that.”

“…Why go through that?” Reiko found herself asking.

“Because being myself doesn’t work!” Kaede said, rising her voice and making Reiko flinch.

“…”

“…”

Leo sighed and looked at Kaede with a small, gentle smile. Even if she wasn’t looking back at him. “Really, people are too complicated. I suppose that’s what keeps things interesting, though.” He chuckled. “Hey, I need to buy some stuff for dinner after school. Want to come with us?”

Kaede’s face rose again, eyes wide once more and mouth half opened. Reiko found herself smiling, memories of the moment she and Leo officially became friends coming back to her. Really, extending a hand wasn’t a hard thing to do.

“We could stop by for some ice cream on the way,” she suggested, grinning. “I know a good place. Or… was that thing about you liking ice cream not true?”

Kaede shook her head again. “N-No. I do like it…”

“Then it’s settled,” Leo nodded, satisfied. “Also, we usually have lunch together at the rooftop. Since Angela has sort of become the school’s titan, no one bothers us up there. We can continue our talk there. If you’re feeling like it, of course.”

Suddenly, Kaede’s face twisted and tears started rolling down her face along with loud, unrestrained cries.

“W-W-Wait! Uh…” Leo started panicking, which was amusing to see but not the time to enjoy.

“Okay, your turn’s over,” Reiko said with a sigh, turning her boyfriend around by the shoulders and pushing him away. “Girls only from this point on.”

“Hah!?”

“Shoo!” she told him. And once he was out of sight, Reiko sat down next to Kaede and held her, letting her cry on her shoulder as much as she wanted for as long as she wanted. They didn’t speak, but they didn’t need to. Reiko even helped Kaede fix her makeup again, and it took them long enough that the bell rang. Reiko told the teacher Kaede was feeling a little sick from traveling and they believed her. Perks of being an honors student.