Beautiful Barking Tsundere

Chapter 4

Original Author: ひのはら (Hinohara)
Date Submitted to Kakuyomu: 2021/09/13

Aira winces at the pain she feels in her back. As expected, sleeping on a sofa isn't as comfortable as on a bed.

However, she'll put up with that much if it means avoiding the alternative of sleeping in the same bed as Ema.

"Three months, huh...?"

She imagines sleeping on a sofa for three more months and doesn't feel confident she'll be able to endure it.

After washing her face in the washroom, she sneaks into the bedroom.
Remaining as quiet as possible to not wake the sleeping Ema, Aira takes out her school's sailor uniform from her suitcase.

Sailor uniforms are rare in Tokyo. She has heard people on the streets whispering about how cute the red scarf is.

The only customization option is choosing to wear either a sweater or knit, but since she's not picky about that, she has no complaints.　

After quickly changing into her uniform, she returns to the living room to eat the oatmeal that she brought from home. That's when Ema walks out of the bedroom with bed hair.

"...So sleepy... You're up early... Hm? You're in your school uniform."

Ema's staring causes Aira's face to contort.

Aira feels uncomfortable at Ema's curious gaze, but how does Ema take that response?

"...Aren't you being overly self-conscious?"
"Huh...?"
"No matter how cute you might be, Aira, I'm not going to lust after a 17-year-old."
"...Why are you saying something so crass?"
"You've been acting distant since yesterday and I'm sick of it."

Aira keeps silent at the words Ema spits at her.

"Sure, I'm a lesbian, but I definitely won't be falling in love with you nor will I be getting aroused by you, so you can stop worrying."

After saying that, Ema returns to her bedroom.

As Aira washes the dishes she used, she feels a sense of guilt.

Aira avoids Ema because Aira knows that Ema is homosexual.

That's the only reason.
Even though Ema hasn't done anything to her, she has been using that as a pretext to keep her at a distance.

She remembers the look on Ema's face earlier.

"Did she feel a little hurt...?"

After wiping her wet hands on a towel, she grabs her school bag to go to school.

"I'm off..."

Aira announces her departure, but of course, she gets no response.
Her heart aches because she realizes how childish her behavior has been.

Aira was 12 years old, in her sixth year of elementary school, when she learned that Ema is homosexual.

Back then, Ema still lived in Hokkaido with her parents. Aira was visiting the Ichijou family during a long holiday.

At that time, Aira happened to find one of Ema's favorite books.

"Ema-chan, what's this?"
"It's a romance manga between two girls."
"Are there things like that...? Don't girls usually fall in love with boys...?"
"There are many different kinds of people in the world. I like girls as well."

Without hiding it at all, Ema simply came out to her.

Aira found that shocking, but she didn't scorn Ema for it.

It's just that Aira had always been caught in the fixed notion that romantic love is something that happens only between a man and woman until then, so hearing something like that for the first time was too much of a shock.

She began to think of Ema as so much of a stranger that she forgot how they even talked to each other up until that point.

Unable to close the gap that formed between them, the two became distant.

After that incident, Ema stopped showing up to family gatherings, so the awkwardness in their relationship remained unresolved for 5 years.

The stares that follow her on her way to school are depressing, even though Aira tried to get used to them.

She has developed a habit of looking down at an angle to avoid meeting the eyes of salarymen she didn't know staring at her.

After arriving at school, she gets greeted by classmates she's not close with. When she walks down the hallways, she gets stares from both younger and older students alike.

Due to her appearance, she attracts attention no matter where she goes.

"Good morning, Aira-chan."

When she enters her classroom, her classmates come up to her and praise her, trying to butter her up.

Aira proceeds to the group of girls she's friends with, brushing off others that try to approach her along the way.

The only ones that Aira can let her guard down are the three classmates in this group that she's friends with.

"Aira, you got here pretty late today."
"I'm living with a relative now so my train station has changed."
"Eh!? Is your relative a handsome guy!?"
"A beautiful woman."
"Ah, so you're living with a woman. That sounds fun."

Since she's living together with another woman, there should be no chance of any romantic developments. She should be able to let her guard down like with the friends in front of her.

However, Aira knows Ichijou Ema's secret.
That's why she became wary of her and has been acting distant.

"In that case, you can treat yourself to the sight of a beautiful woman, right?"
"Mm..."

There's no way she could tell them that she just had a little squabble with that beautiful woman before leaving the house this morning.

Even though Ema didn't do anything, Aira had been overly self-conscious and that attitude offended Ema.

Aira is the one completely at fault here and she truly regrets it.

Despite the gap that has formed between them, Aira knows that Ichijou Ema is not a bad person.

The fact that Ema doesn't fawn over her feels quite new to Aira.

Aira doesn't know how to approach her, but she certainly doesn't hate Ichijou Ema.