Chapter 4: The Widening Distance

It had been about a month since I reunited with Kazuya in this world.

That evening, during dinner, a thought suddenly struck me, and I decided to ask him.

"Come to think of it, you haven’t been hitting on girls lately, have you? You don’t have to hold back on my account, you know?"

Now that I think about it, ever since we started living together, I haven't seen him flirt with any girls.
From what I've heard—from both Kazuya himself and the guys who try to hit on me—he's supposed to be popular, always chasing after girls, but I haven't seen any of that behavior at all.

So I figured, maybe he's holding back out of consideration for me. And if that’s the case, I needed to tell him: don’t bother. There’s no need to be considerate about something like that.

I’ve had this silly little fantasy ever since I decided I’d stay with Kazuya forever.
In it, Kazuya has a wife, and they have kids—and maybe even grandkids—and the children call me “Great-Grandma!” and we all play together. Naturally, I’d still look like I do now—around seventeen.

And when Kazuya dies, I’d just disappear quietly. I even imagined that far.

I also once imagined myself as a loyal elf maid who serves Kazuya’s family for generations… and gets adored by his children and grandchildren.
But that idea got scrapped—Kazuya’s not from that kind of lineage, and I can't see myself being any kind of maid.

Anyway, for the sake of making that fantasy come true, I want Kazuya to get married and start having kids as soon as possible.

Kazuya, however, gave me a hard-to-describe expression and answered.

"It’s not like I’m holding back or anything. It’s just… I’m not in the mood for that kind of stuff right now. So don’t worry about it."

He turned his face away as he said it.

"Hmm. Well, I don’t really care either way."

I knew it. That’s the reaction he gives when he’s lying. I’ve been his childhood friend long enough to recognize it!
I don’t know why he felt the need to lie, but if he doesn’t want to talk about it, that’s fine. It’s not like I’m that concerned either.

The next morning, I woke up unusually early. It seemed Kazuya hadn’t come to wake me yet.

Still sleepy and without much thought, I decided to go back to bed. Just as I was slipping into a pleasant doze, I heard the sound of my room key turning in the lock.

Looked like Kazuya was coming to wake me. Ugh, talk about bad timing… I was this close to falling asleep again. Wait—this could be fun.

I decided to suddenly sit up and scare him. I watched through half-lidded eyes, waiting for the perfect moment.

"Hey, Miki. It’s morning. Get up."

He opened the door with the spare key, leaned his head in, and called out to me.

That wasn’t close enough. If I jumped up now, it wouldn’t surprise him much. I needed to wait until he got nearer—ideally when he was least expecting it. Come on, get closer.

Seeing that I wasn’t stirring at all, Kazuya sighed, opened the door fully, and stepped into the room.

Is it time yet? No… not yet. Wait just a bit more.

He scratched his head, sighed again, then picked up the blanket I’d kicked off in my sleep and gently pulled it back over me.

"You really are hopeless in the morning, Miki. And if you sleep like that, you’re gonna catch a cold someday."

As usual, I was sleeping stark naked. How rude—elves don’t catch colds. And even if I did, I could just cure it with magic. Probably. I think. Healing spells are pretty forgiving, after all… right?
Wait—can you even cure colds with healing magic?

While I was pondering that, Kazuya crouched down beside the bed, near my face, and started poking my cheek.

Crap. I missed my timing.

If I got up now, it’d just look like I woke up from the cheek-poking. I shouldn’t have gotten distracted with that cold-healing tangent.

Then Kazuya stopped poking my cheek and muttered softly.

"Yesterday… you asked why I haven’t been talking to other girls, right?"

Wait, what? Is he onto me?
No, no. If I get up now, I’ll be playing right into his hands. At this point, I just have to keep pretending to sleep and make him think he imagined it.

Come to think of it, I did ask him that yesterday… I think. I don’t really remember.

Pretty sure I saw through his lie back then. Not that it matters.

"It’s because I don’t even notice other girls anymore—because of you, Miki. You should’ve figured that out by now."

—Huh?

“—Huh?”

The words slipped out before I could stop myself.

I’d meant to say it only in my head, but they came out of my mouth instead.

Crap! By the time I realized, my eyes were already open—and I made eye contact with Kazuya.

Kazuya quickly clapped a hand over his mouth and started flailing.

"N-No! That’s not—! I mean, it’s not what it sounded like! What I meant was—! Why are you even awake?! Wait, wait! Forget what I said! Um—!"

While Kazuya stumbled through a mess of excuses, my mind was oddly calm.

What did he mean just now? Is he saying he… likes me? As a woman? But we’re best friends.

No, no, that can’t be. I’m clearly not calm either. We’re childhood friends. Best friends. There’s no way he sees me as a woman.

If he did, it’d be strange that he never made a move. I mean, the girl he supposedly likes sleeps naked right next to him. There’ve been plenty of chances.

Sure, maybe he’s the type to hold back because he likes me, and yeah, I’d like to think he’s that kind of guy. But still… who knows?

Anyway, it probably wasn’t meant in a romantic way. Let’s recall his exact words.

“I don’t notice other girls anymore.”
Which probably just means I’m too pretty and stunning, so other women look plain by comparison.

Yes, that’s definitely it. That makes perfect sense. Even if those girls put on makeup, they can’t compete with natural beauty like mine.

Yup. That must be it.

Now that I’ve reasoned it out, I feel much better.

Time to reassure Kazuya before he freaks out even more. I need to let him know I didn’t misunderstand anything.

"Relax, Kazuya. I’m not taking it the wrong way. You meant that I’m just too beautiful and stunning, so other girls can’t compare, right? I get it. Totally."

I said that while giving him a few pats on the shoulder.

Kazuya looked like his emotions were all jumbled up, but after lowering his head for a moment, he looked back up at me.

"Y-Yeah… that’s exactly it. You’re too pretty, Miki. My standards are ruined now—I can’t even see other girls the same anymore."

So I was right. Thank goodness. I nearly misunderstood something major.

It would’ve been a problem if Kazuya had feelings for me as a woman.
I’m an elf—I don’t really experience romantic or sexual emotions the same way humans do.
And more importantly, we’re friends. Best friends. Bros. Not like that.

If he actually liked me, this relationship would end right here. We’d stop being best friends, and I wouldn’t be able to trust someone who sees me that way.

Sure, Kazuya’s a special friend from my past life, and I do have feelings about that. I want to stay by his side for life.

But that’s not romantic. It’s friendship. Brotherhood. A hundred-year-long pastime.

Or… at least that’s how it should be.

"Can’t be helped. Even among elves, someone as beautiful and well-built as me is rare. Still, geez… I almost misunderstood and thought you were into me. That was close."

"O-Of course not! We’re… best friends, after all…"

Kazuya turned his face away after saying that, a sorrowful expression on his face.

But I didn’t notice the lie in his voice, nor the look in his eyes. I didn’t have the emotional awareness to pick up on it just then.

"Well then, hurry up and get dressed and come downstairs."

"Got it."

Kazuya left the room without turning back, still facing away.

I replied, but my heart felt heavy and uncertain. I stayed curled under the covers for a while, wrapped in a fog of emotions I couldn’t quite name, until Kazuya came back to call me again.

Ever since that incident, things between us had started to feel a little off.

On the surface, it looked like everything was the same as always, but there was a subtle shift—something only the two of us would notice. A faint sense of distance, a slight hesitation. We had started to feel that between us.

I knew things couldn’t go on like this. I felt that much. But I didn’t know what to do, or what to say to make it better, and in the end, I couldn’t bring myself to say anything at all.

And as we hesitated, aware of the growing distance, that very hesitation only made it worse.

Kazuya still came to wake me up like always. But at some point, as the distance between us quietly widened, I found myself not wanting him to see me naked.

It wasn’t embarrassment, exactly. It was closer to the kind of discomfort you feel when you can’t open your heart to someone.

Before I realized it, I had stopped sleeping naked and started wearing clothes to bed.

I wasn’t used to sleeping with anything on, so it felt uncomfortable. Still, I couldn’t bring myself to sleep naked anymore.

Maybe, back when things were normal between us, it wouldn’t have been an issue. But with how things were now, that change must have seemed to Kazuya like a clear sign—a clear rejection.

And before long, Kazuya stopped coming to wake me up in the mornings.

When I woke up just before noon two days in a row, I realized he’d deliberately chosen not to wake me.

What I felt then wasn’t selfish anger or sadness. It was more like… resignation. Like, “Yeah. That’s how it goes.”

Because our mornings no longer overlapped, we naturally stopped spending time together. Conversations outside of quests became rare. Even those around us could sense it.

Even when we were together on quests, it didn’t feel right. The coordination we used to have was no longer there.

That was when it happened.