Chapter 10: New Friends

New Friends

I changed clothes at home and then headed to Ryo's house.

During dinner, Maya asked me if anything happened at school yesterday.

"Nothing in particular..."

"Oh, so everything was going smoothly, I'm glad then ♡"

"Ah, but as expected, the boys who weren't my friends were staring at me blatantly, and the girls were giving off an aura of being an outsider, so I don't know if I'll be able to get along with them in the future.

But Ryo gave me a lot of support, so that was helpful."

"Oh my, I'm relieved that Ryo is taking good care of you ♡"

"I won't be able to help you with PE tomorrow, so you'll have to do your best there by yourself. If you can't do it, you can just say you're not feeling well and run away."

"I don't want to run away if possible, but I think I'll be nervous being surrounded by girls."

"I hope you can make some friends soon ♡"

On the way back from Ryo's house, at the entrance

"By the way, Golden Week starts this weekend, are you free this coming Sunday? Would you like to go out and have fun together, Rui?"

"Huh? It's fine, but... Come to think of it, we haven't played outside together recently."

"Okay! I'll message you later."

Come to think of it, we went to school together so we would hang out on the way home, but we rarely went out on the weekends. Well, it's okay to do it once in a while, I was always bored anyway. In fact, I was told not to go out alone.

This is a good opportunity to go around to some of the stores I've been wanting to go to with Ryo.

Before going to bed at night, I exchanged messages with Ryo.

["I'll pick you up at 9am on Sunday morning."]

I replied with "Okay."

Ryo's POV

She... definitely doesn't realize it's an invitation for a date...

Well, it's okay, I want to make her realize it on our first date and get her thinking about me, and I'd like to go on another date during the holidays.

When I close my eyes, I can see Rui in her sailor uniform. She looks so cute in that outfit...

I want to bury anyone staring at her boobs, they're mine. They're not mine yet though.

She looks cute in an apron, and I'm not sure how long I can keep my cool.

•

•

•

I woke up early, had breakfast at Ryo's house, and then went to school together as a group of three.

As we got off the train and walked, I saw two first-year girls waiting for us along the way. They were the girls I'd introduced to yesterday.

I think their names were Shibata Makoto and Iwabe Ami.

"Good morning, Shibata here."

"Good morning, I'm Iwabe here."

The atmosphere was rather light-hearted, so they didn't have a bad impression, and we returned the greeting.

"Good morning, Makoto-chan and Ami-chan! I look forward to working with you guys from today onwards."

"Good morning, please take good care of my sister."

"Good morning, nice to meet you."

Since I hadn't spoken much yesterday, I didn't know how to respond so I just replied safely.

"Onii-san! Leave Nae-chan to me."

Shibata-chan is in good spirits.

Shibata-chan was so energetic.

With that, she pulled Nae-chan along, and the three of them started walking ahead in front of us.

"Your Onii-san is so cool, isn't he?"

"Of course, he is my Onii-chan, you know!"

"If only my Nii-san was this good-looking, things would be different."

"His girlfriend is also so beautiful, I'm so jealous."

Such things were going on, Iwabe-chan's Nii-san, do your best, though I don't know what to say.

And I'm not his girlfriend; to these siblings, I'm just a side dish.

"I'm not his girlfriend — we're just childhood friends and best friends."

Now all eyes are on me.

Ryo and Nae-chan looked at me, clearly with disappointed expression. While the other two looked puzzled.

"Really? It's a shame, you two are such a good match."

"Eh?"

"For now, it seems she's considering me her best friend. What a shame she is not my girlfriend yet."

What do you mean 'a shame', and what do you mean 'yet', there are no plans to do so.

I feel a little nervous thinking about the girls watching me. I guess Nae-chan hasn't mentioned that I used to be a boy based on their conversation so far, which means they see me as a normal girl.

I don't mind if complete strangers see me as a girl, but when it comes to Nae-chan's friends, it's a different story; I don't want to be seen as weird.

In that sense, maybe saying "ore" was a mistake, maybe I should have said "watashi" but it's also true that there are feelings I don't want to admit, so I have no choice but to go with being a tomboy.

"My name is Rui, nice to meet you two."

I said this as gently as I could and smiled.

The two of them suddenly straightened up, their faces bright red.

"Yes! Nice to meet you!"

They replied, why is their face red?

"She's an incredibly beautiful girl, a completely different type from Nae-chan, it's crazy."

Even if you say it in a low voice, I can still hear you.

"You should go easy on them a bit..."

"Eh, what?"

What on earth did I do?

•

•

•

During the break before gym class, I went to an empty classroom to change.

Since the two classes were combined for physical education, the teacher gave us a brief explanation and introduction to TS syndrome.

"I'm Sena, and starting today I'll be joining the girls' group. My body has completely transformed into a woman's, so please take care of me."

"Huh?"

"Is this really okay?"

"It... feels off..."

"What? That girl used to be a boy?"

"Wow, she's so cute..."

There were some unusual reactions from girls in other classes and some that seemed to be from our class.

Well, I was prepared for some criticism, so it's no big deal...

But this is pretty damaging. The feeling of rejection is worse than I thought.

As soon as class started, a group of three people approached me.

Their name name are... sorry, I don't remember.

"Hey there, Sena-san, you're alone right now, right? There are three of us here, so why don't we make a group of four? We can also do it in pairs."

"Well, that's fine, but is it okay?"

"What do you mean? Of course it's okay, why would it be not okay?"

"You used to be a boy, but now you're a girl, we don't care."

"On the contrary, we are completely smitten with Sena-san's transcendent beauty."

"I'd love to be your friend, how about you?"

"...Let's be friends, beautiful girl Sena-san."

Eh, really? Is there anything behind this? Will I get bullied?

Also, can you stop praising me saying I'm beautiful girl? Maybe that's the reason?

I just want to confirm.

"Um, is the reason you want to be friends with me because I'm a beautiful girl?"

"That's right! You noticed, we love beautiful girls and we really want to be friends!"

"If you meet a beautiful girl like this, you have no choice but to become friends."

"...By all means, let's be friends."

It seems several times more believable than a lame reason, so I'll believe it.

"Alright, please be my friend!"

"Yes, nice to meet you."

"Having such a beauty as a friend. This is definitely something to be proud of."

"...I have more fun every day."

Thanks to the three of them, the physical education class that day was enjoyable and went well until the end.

Furthermore, they even helped me get changed in an empty classroom. I was happy and had no ulterior motives.

"Wow, you are really beautiful up close, and the outfit looks good on you."

"This is how a beautiful girl should be, isn't it?"

"...I'm getting a nosebleed."

"I wish you guys wouldn't look too closely."

You wouldn't think I was in a position to be looked at, would you?

In fact, it seemed like the three of them had ulterior motives. Is it okay for me?

After talking to the three of them, I found out...

Tosaka Trio 1

Yamaguchi Tomoko: The leader of the three, big boobs, articulate, member of the volleyball club, popular with both boys and girls, loves beautiful girls, straight long, slightly brown hair reaching down to her shoulder blades, which she apparently tie in a ponytail when playing volleyball.

Tosaka Trio 2

Nakayama Sayaka: Unusual way of speaking, no boobs, works multiple part-time jobs, goes-home club, loves beautiful girls, medium-length brown hair reaching her shoulders.

Tosaka Trio 3

Saeki Kanade: Average boobs, calm and quiet, computer club member, popular with some boys, loves beautiful girls, has a lustrous black bob hair.

TOmoko, SAyaka, KAnade, so for short, Tosaka Trio.

It seems they're a trio who love beautiful girls.

And the target is me. 

While we were changing, we discussed how to call each other, and decided to call each other by our first name.

During lunch break, Tomoko called me and we ended up having lunch together as a group of four, so I apologized to Ryo.

I wonder if we could all eat together as a group of five starting tomorrow, but I don't think that's possible since we're both men and women.

We were talking about various things at lunch and we were thinking about going shopping at Saturday, but they found out that I didn't have any small accessories or girly things at all.

At first I was reluctant and said it was okay since I didn't really need them, but Sayaka was quite insistent, so I ended up saying that at worst I would just come along.

"Starting tomorrow, I'd like to have lunch with Ryo too, so can we do it in group of five?"

"Wait a minute, I can't refuse with that expression on your face!"

"That beautiful blonde girl is too strong."

"...It's cool, so I'm fine fine."

"Really?! So group of five is okay?"

"Damn, she's so cute I could die"

"Rui-chan, you sound so happy, I can't help it, it's fine."

"…Yeah"

Okay! Ignore the cuteness and happy looks and let's eat together as a group of five!

"I'll go tell Ryo in a moment."

"Ugh, my heart!"

"--They were best friends until recently, right?"

"Right now it just looks like they're dating."

"...I can understand that, considering how cute she is."

"Agreed!"

"Ryo! We're having lunch starting tomorrow, is it okay if it's five person group, including those three?"

"Well, if Rui is okay with that, then that's fine."

"Okay then, that's it from tomorrow onwards!"

"I don't know anything about them, so please tell me everything when we get back."

"I know, I'll be back then."

This is great, I've made some friends and I can eat meals with Ryo.

Because we've been eating lunch together for a long time, I feel lonely when he's not around.

Well, now it's the same morning, noon and night.

•

•

•

Ryo was fidgeting on the way home, probably because he was worried about Nae-chan. It seems he received a message on the way home saying that she got home safely.

Then he got a call from his mother.

["Rui-chan you seem to be in a good mood today. Did something good happen?"]

"Yes, she made some friends... and..."

["Huh? A girl?"]

"Yes, three girls. Well, the reason they become friends is because she is beautiful girl, but I thought with them, it would be okay."

["Well, if that's the reason, then it's probably okay, but you have to be careful ♡"]

"We're in the same class and starting tomorrow I'll be eating lunch with them, so I think it should be fine. I'll just keep an eye on her."

"I don't think you need to be so cautious, all three of them are interesting girls."

["Is Nae okay?"]

"Yeah, she was with her friends partway through, so I think she'll be okay if she can get home while it's still light."

["Be sure to call me if anything were to happen, okay?"]

"I know, I'll make sure to do that."

Ryo probably really wants to go home with Nae-chan instead of me. There's no telling what could happen again. She was so scared she's paralyzed and can't move, so she can't run away. He must be worried if that were to happen again to his precious sister.

On the other hand, it hasn't even been a week yet, so I'm not sure when it will be for me to get a turn for that.

Hm, wait, forget it. No, I don't want it happen to me too.