Students wander around the university building.
Since most of the people on campus are university students in casual clothes, we stood out a lot. It feels like we’re in some kind of costume parade.
If it were a costume parade, Nanaka, dressed as a lump of meat, would have gotten the season wrong, but unfortunately, it’s not a costume. It’s natural. Even if you saw it on Halloween, it would be tough, let alone all year round.
I could understand how being next to her gradually erodes your SAN value.
Due to the abnormal normality I’ve experienced since becoming a high school student, my SAN value is now practically infinite.
「Haee.」
「It’s beautiful, isn’t it?」
「Me?」
「The university.」
Nanaka lets out an admiring sound.
As expected of a private university, the campus was spotless. When I convey my dull impression to her, I get a response that seems like her brain circuits have shorted out.
「Even if it’s a lie, you should say, “You’re more beautiful than the university.”」
「Is that expression applicable even when it’s not about the horizon at sunset?」
「That’s a tough one. The mood is a bit…」
「I’ve never had a girlfriend before, so I’d appreciate it if you didn’t give me difficult topics.」
「Oh my, so it was just playing with Yuna?」
More like I’m being toyed with.
Whether or not you consider a zombie, a human corpse, to be a higher existence than humans, at least ordinary humans can’t complain to beings superior to themselves.
If Yuna were my girlfriend, I’d have to spend every day in a life-threatening situation. Plus, a lump of meat comes as a relative. And probably, one or both of their parents are monsters. It’s like a bulk sale on an online shopping site, just a set of unwanted products.
「It’s not that kind of relationship.」
「Oh, come on.」
「Really.」
Therefore, to convey to Nanaka what I’m thinking while wrapping it in euphemisms, and to make it clear that there’s no chance, I direct my cold eyes at her.
However, she seemed to take my words as a joke or a sign of shyness, and teasingly poked my cheek with her tentacle.
Stop it.
「Fufufu. I quite like that about you, Adashino-san.」
「Ah, I see.」
Thanks for the compliment that doesn’t move me at all.
──Light Novels──
──Read Here──
Could you come back after becoming human?
If you became the beautiful girl everyone says you are, I might not be able to keep my composure, and a typical romantic comedy might start.
If a talkative parrot whispered words of love, would anyone fall into a romantic relationship with him or her? Probably not. If there is, they’re probably very close to being a parrot.
I’m at a position infinitely far from a lump of meat, so even if a lump of meat says “words that would normally make me fall in love”, I can maintain the feeling of being blown by a lukewarm breeze.
As we continued our exploration, quite some time seemed to have passed.
After finishing the tour of the university auditorium, it was finally time for lunch, and since I was in the mood for noodles, I ordered ramen from the menu.
「Adashino-san.」
「Nnn」
「Can I join you?」
「Sure.」
Kusakabe Nanaka is treated as a beautiful girl by the majority.
Therefore, she usually interacts with friends of various classes, ages, and genders, but it seems today she wants to eat with the dull boy next to her.
Give me a break.
The steaming ramen is clearly instant no matter how you look at it, and the university cafeteria food, which had been shrouded in fantasy since I’d never set foot in there before, is now wrapped in disappointment as I realize it’s nothing special after all.
「Do you like ramen, Adashino-san?」
「Well, yeah.」
「What a coincidence. I ordered “konjac ramen”.」
Is that even ramen?
At a glance, overly yellow curly noodles are soaked in what seems to be soy sauce-based soup. To put it bluntly, it doesn’t look tasty.
However, for a “girl”, the calorie difference between wheat and konjac must be something they can’t ignore. Probably.
My current trend is to fully utilize the metabolism of a high school boy and eat in a way that will be impossible as an adult. Cup ramen eaten late at night is insanely delicious. It tastes forbidden. I was sure I was getting closer to death, confirmed by my hunger the next day.
However, even a lump of meat like Nanaka is a girl. Konjac ramen was born to meet the selfish demand of wanting to eat ramen but not consume calories.
As we ate facing each other in the novel auditorium, I felt even stranger than when we were swaying on the bus.
I think the main reason is the monster in my sight, but if I close my eyes to that appearance, it feels like a close female friend, so you could say I’m experiencing youth.
「……? What’s wrong, Adashino-san?」
「Nothing.」
I thought it was more fun than I expected.
As I watched Nanaka slowly bring konjac soaked in soup to her mouth, I slurped my ramen with a pair of chopsticks I had failed to break properly.