Chapter 5

Since the incident when that man attacked me, I’ve been under house arrest.

…Well, to be more precise, it’s more like, “It’s dangerous during mating season, so let’s just stay home, okay?”

Normally, only merchants come and go between villages, but during mating season, men and women of all ages apparently travel elsewhere to find a partner.

The adults in our village had planned to explain my situation before outsiders arrived—but that man jumped the gun, and everything spiraled from there.

Word of his rampage spread quickly to the surrounding villages, and now he’s banned from entering every single one. Meaning, unless he travels far, he won’t be finding a mate anywhere.

Ha! Serves him right. He’ll be spending this “season of love” wandering endlessly instead.

Apparently not all men lose their minds during mating season, but everyone—men and women alike—does get a little more emotional than usual.

So, since I’d only just regained consciousness and was still naïve about a lot of things, it was decided I should stay quietly inside until the season passed.

“Uuugh, I’m bored.”

The sun outside was warm and gentle.

Fields and meadows that had been barren all winter were now blooming with tiny flowers, and just looking at them made my heart dance.

Not being able to go out at a time like this—it’s torture! At least let me eat lunch in Dad’s field, can’t I!?

But… after what happened, I couldn’t really argue.

Not only had I put myself in danger, I’d also dragged poor Huey into it. And Dad—who’d gone berserk and turned into a bear—still had the raccoon’s claw marks across his body. Every time I saw him secretly trace those scars, calling them “proof of love,” I didn’t know how to feel.

Knowing all that was my fault made it impossible to say anything.

While I was brooding over everything in my room, I heard a light knock at the front door.

Mom answered it.

But my ears and nose had already told me who the visitor was—and my tail wouldn’t stop wagging.

“Mimosa, it’s Huey,” she called.

“Yeees!!”

Before she even finished, I bolted out of my room to greet him.

A little rewind.

Two days after the incident, Huey had come to visit with his mother.

I wasn’t sick or injured, so we just sat at the table, chatting and snacking on sweets.

While our moms were happily talking in the background, Huey leaned toward me a little awkwardly.

“Mimosa, how are you feeling?”

“Huh? Feeling? Oh, I’m totally fine! I’m just dying to go outside again!”

At that, Huey let out a huge sigh of relief.

“…Good. I was worried you’d be too scared to go outside again.”

“Huh? Again? When was I ever scared to go outside?”

“What?”

We both stared blankly at each other.

“Because, Mimosa, when you first woke up, your memories were all jumbled. You locked yourself in your house saying things like, ‘I’m actually a guy,’ or ‘I have memories from a past life,’ remember?”

“Eh? I said that!?”

“Hey! Huey!”

Huey’s mother cut in sharply.

“Huh!?”

Even I jumped at her tone.

Huey suddenly looked flustered.

“N-no, I mean—anyone would be confused, waking up and realizing they’ve grown up all of a sudden! So, you know, it’s totally understandable that you’d start saying stuff like, ‘Actually, I’m another person deep inside!’ I mean, come on, we all used to say, ‘I have a secret power!’ when we were kids! You’re just going through that phase! There’s nothing embarrassing about it!”

Eeeeeeeh!? Wait, wait, wait—what!? They thought I was some cringey chuunibyou case!?

I instinctively glanced at Mom. Both she and Huey’s mom were shaking their heads frantically. From their faces, I could tell this was news to them too.

“It’s fine! All the kids understand!” Huey added brightly.

Nooooooooo!!

So that’s why all the village kids kept their distance after that visit!? They were “watching over me” because they thought I was deep in my edgy delusion phase!?

My face burned hotter than a furnace. My ears and tail drooped like wilted flowers.

I just wanted to run away.

But even as my HP hit zero, Huey wasn’t done.

“Mimosa finally started going outside again, so I thought you’d gotten better. But you’re still using ‘ore’ and talking like a boy, right? You haven’t fully settled down yet, and then something like that happened… I was scared you’d get too shocked to leave the house ever again.”

W-wait…!

Does that mean—Huey crying back then wasn’t out of fear or sympathy, but because he pitied the poor delusional me!?

Noooooooo!! What the heck is that!?

I—I…!

Unable to bear the weight of that horrifying revelation, I fainted and toppled right off my chair.

“Mimosa!!”

Before I hit the floor, Huey darted forward and caught me in his arms.

As my consciousness faded, I (Ore)—no, I (Watashi)!

For the sake of clearing my name from this ridiculous “chuunibyou” accusation…!

I swore, here and now, that I would seal away “ore” and always say “watashi”!

I am me! I am watashi! Watashi, watashi, watashi, hahaha, ahahahaahah—

And there, my mind went blank.

The next day, Huey’s mother came alone to visit me.

She apologized repeatedly, saying how sorry she was for her careless, thoughtless son—blurring out something like that in front of everyone while I was still emotionally fragile.

It’s true, what he said yesterday was shocking enough that I still didn’t want to remember it.

But over time, I began to feel… a quiet sort of appreciation for Huey’s kindness—his openness, even after labeling me as that painfully awkward kid.

I mean, if it were me—ah, I mean if it were me as I used to be—there’s no way I would have had the courage to approach someone who’d just woken up and was holed up at home, clinging to a made-up “character.”

The fact that Huey still talked to me… that proves he was willing to accept me, even while I was stuck in my “cringey delusional phase,” right!?

That means he didn’t see me as some fragile weirdo who shouldn’t be touched, right!? Right!?

Besides, it’s not like I have any other friends…

Even knowing he saw me that way, my heart was still too scarred to go, “Let’s be friends!” like nothing had happened.

I’d wait until everyone forgot about my chuunibyou episode before trying to make new friends again…

I told his mom I’d be happy if Huey came to visit again.

Not long after she left—looking relieved—Huey appeared at our door.

He apologized over and over, but when I snapped, “Are you trying to dig my wounds even deeper by saying sorry again!?” he immediately went silent.

Boys really don’t get it unless you spell it out for them… …I used to be like that too.

“Mimosa, now that I know you’re doing okay, I should probably head home,” he said.

“Eh? But you just got here!”

I’d been cooped up inside for so long, bored out of my mind. I wanted to talk a bit more.

Feeling disappointed, I followed him to the entrance to see him off, when Huey suddenly looked down at me.

“Ah, I almost forgot,” he said. “I still feel bad for what I did. Is there anything I can do to make it up to you?”

“Eh… umm…”

I hesitated.

Of course I already knew what I wanted to ask.

I wanted him to come visit and talk with me—since I wasn’t allowed to go out.

The neighborhood ladies often stopped by with snacks or tea to keep me company, but I couldn’t keep up with their girl talk. And sitting face to face with an older man for too long was… nerve-wracking.

That’s why being with Huey, a younger boy, felt so easy.

Before, we’d only exchanged a few words whenever we met, but now I wanted to actually talk to him properly.

…But even so, Mimosa is a girl—and Huey’s a boy.

Asking a boy to come over just to talk probably wouldn’t look right. And Huey might not enjoy it either.

I wrestled between honesty and propriety, but couldn’t think of any other request. I just ended up groaning.

“If you’ve got something in mind, don’t hold back,” he said. “If it’s too much, I’ll just say no.”

As I hesitated, I suddenly noticed his mother standing behind him.

“Huey! You ran off without a word again! I told you you’re grounded today—! …Huh?”

Ah, she must’ve chased after him. She was sweating and breathing heavily.

She caught her breath, then looked between us—me groaning, Huey standing awkwardly.

“He says he wants to apologize to Mimosa, but she won’t tell him what she wants,” Huey explained.

His mom seemed to understand and smiled warmly at me.

“Mimosa-chan, just say it. It’ll make Huey happier if you’re honest about what you want.”

Hmm… should I say it? They’re being so kind… and I really can’t think of anything else… maybe I should just say it…

As I hesitated, Huey gave me a bright, reassuring smile.

“I think of you like a little sister, Mimosa. You can rely on me more, okay?”

“…!”

What’s this weird irritation bubbling up in my chest? It’s like something’s prickling inside me.

Is this… what it feels like when someone you’ve always thought of as a cute kid or younger relative suddenly treats you like the younger one?

Was I really that petty of a girl!?

Huey watched me with a gentle smile, the kind that said, “Go on, tell your big brother what you want,” and somehow that only made it worse.

So I blurted out my wish—half out of frustration, half to get it over with.

From the next day on, Huey started dropping by almost every single day.

Yep. No doubt about it.

He really doesn’t see me as a girl at all.