The matter of Rika's embarrassing past was settled with my promise not to tell anyone, but an awkward air still lingered in the room.
Having had her cringey history unilaterally exposed, Rika was now unusually quiet.
What would be the best way to get her back to her usual vibrant self?
As I mulled it over alone in the uncomfortable atmosphere, I soon found an answer.
If she was embarrassed because I was the only one who knew her secret, then I just had to reveal my own carefully guarded embarrassing past to her.
"Hey… don't be so ashamed. Everyone goes through an eighth-grade syndrome phase at some point. I had a pretty severe case myself back in middle school."
"…Really?"
Rika, who had been burying her face in a teddy bear, took the bait.
I nodded and showed her a photo from my middle school days on my phone as proof.
It was Kim Yu-seong (3rd year of middle school) from a time when he was deeply into urban fantasy manga and grew his bangs out long.
Since the picture was taken before I was transmigrated, he had a thoroughly rebellious look in his eyes.
It seemed Kim Yu-seong thought this was cool.
"Eh? This is you, Ryu? No way!"
Rika leaned in, her eyes widening.
She looked back and forth between the old photo on my phone and my current self, her expression like that of a child who had just learned the truth about Santa Claus.
"You were so small and cute in middle school. How did you turn into such a beefcake?"
*Well, that's a weird thing to be surprised about.*
While inwardly grumbling at her completely unexpected reaction, I defended myself as earnestly as I could.
"I felt I was too scrawny and not manly enough in middle school, so I started working out during the spring break before high school. It happened to coincide with my growth spurt, so my height just exploded."
My height was 167cm when I first arrived in this body.
Once I started working out with Chairman Nakayama, I began to grow at an explosive rate. I hit 180cm in my first year of high school, and now I'm 186cm.
What's even more surprising is that I'm still growing.
After hearing my explanation, Rika looked at my photo with a sense of regret.
"If I had transferred just two years earlier, I could have seen this version of you, Ryu? What a shame."
"So you're saying you don't like me now?"
"Ah, of course, the current you is fine too! But still, that face doesn't match the image you usually show at all!"
Rika waved her hands around frantically, but her excuse must have sounded flimsy even to her, as she lowered her head with a red face, letting out a little "Awoo."
The tense atmosphere finally seemed to be dissipating, so I laughed casually and said to her.
"Everyone has an embarrassing phase. So you don't have to beat yourself up over it."
"Ugh… If I could erase just one picture from my life, I'd definitely choose that one."
Rika grumbled, popping a Pocky stick, a snack she had brought from the first floor, into her mouth.
Still, she seemed to be in much better spirits than before.
It appeared that sharing embarrassing pasts mutually was more comforting.
It meant you held a secret of the other person's, too.
Now that we could finally have a normal conversation, I bowed my head and thanked Rika.
"Thank you for inviting me to your home today. Thanks to you, I got to meet and get an autograph from Master Kishimoto, whom I admire. I'll probably never forget today for the rest of my life."
Rika scratched the back of her head, looking bashful.
"Don't flatter me so much. All I did was ask Papa. If anything, I'm glad I could repay you for helping me on my first day of school. I'd invite you over anytime."
The thought of being able to meet Master Kishimoto whenever I wanted was, as a fan, the most thrilling thing I could imagine.
"Wouldn't I be a bother if I came too often?"
"That's fine. When I was in middle school, my friends came over for a sleepover at least once a month!"
A female friend visiting often and a male friend visiting often seemed like slightly different scenarios, but for the sake of Rika's innocence, I decided not to point that out.
"Then I'll take you up on that offer next time I have a chance."
"Heehee, you can come over whenever you want."
With that, our conversation came to a lull, and silence filled the room.
But unlike before, it wasn't an awkward silence, but a comfortable one that put me at ease.
Not having anything particular to talk about, I decided to read one of the many manga lining the bookshelf and stood up.
As I approached the bookshelf that took up one side of the room and began to examine it, Rika, who had moved from the floor cushion to sit comfortably on her bed eating snacks, asked me.
"By the way, Ryu, what got you into manga?"
I answered while scanning the titles.
"I was home alone a lot when I was a kid. My parents both worked, so there was no one to play with me. I guess I naturally started reading manga."
I picked a book that looked interesting and sat back down on the cushion, then asked Rika in return.
"What about you, Rika? What got you into manga?"
Rika, who had been hugging a cushion and watching funny videos on her phone, turned her head with a "Huh?"
"Me? Well… my father's a manga artist, so I just naturally started reading them. Whenever Mom went out and Dad was watching me alone, he'd always give me a manga. Hmm, I guess this is a form of early education?"
I opened the first page of the manga and said teasingly.
"You're not calling them Papa and Mama now."
Rika's face flushed. "Hmph!"
"It's not like I call them Papa and Mama all the time, you know?!"
"Whoa, whoa, calm down. No one said there was anything wrong with it."
As we chatted and I read the manga Rika recommended, two hours flew by.
***
In truth, I had already accomplished my original goal of getting an autograph. It would be rude for a guest to overstay their welcome, even at a friend's house, so I closed the book at an appropriate time and got up.
Rika, who had also been reading a manga, tilted her head and asked.
"You're leaving?"
"Yeah. I've been here for quite a while. I should go home for dinner."
As I said this, I pointed to the clock on the wall. Rika murmured, "It's already this late."
I had arrived at noon, so four hours had already passed.
"Then I'll see you out."
Rika got up from her bed.
As I picked up the bag I had set on the floor, something occurred to me and I asked.
"By the way, you said you were going on a family trip abroad starting tomorrow, right? Where are you going?"
Rika made a V-sign with her fingers and said proudly.
"Hawaii."
"Have fun. And make sure you wear sunscreen."
"Heehee, you know, sometimes you act just like a dad, Ryu."
In reality, it felt more like looking after a younger sister with a bit of an age gap, but I didn't bother to correct her.
After saying goodbye to Master Kishimoto in his study and Maria, who was watching a drama in the living room, I was putting on my shoes at the front door when Rika smiled like a cat and said.
"Well, I guess we won't see each other for a week. Don't cry because you miss me, okay, Ryu?"
I gave her a look of disbelief at her joke, then made a telephone gesture with my right hand.
"If anything happens, call me. I'll do what I can to help."
"Are you going to swim all the way to Hawaii?"
"…I'll take a plane, obviously. I guess I can break into my allowance savings."
Hearing this, Rika giggled and nodded.
"Okay. I'll see you at school then, Ryu."
"Yeah."
I said as I opened the front door.
"See you at school."
***
Kishimoto Rika watched Kim Yu-seong's retreating back, clutching her pounding heart.
*'If anything happens, call me. I'll do what I can to help.'*
Honestly, that was playing dirty.
Just when she thought the day was over and had let her guard down, for him to suddenly say something like that.
The reason she had developed a crush on Kim Yu-seong was undoubtedly because of his shonen manga protagonist-like appearance.
But it wasn't love at first sight.
At first, she just planned on being comfortable friends.
But as she walked, laughed, and talked beside him, she found her gaze naturally following his back at some point.
She liked the contrast between his gruff exterior and his subtly caring nature.
She liked his dependable presence, bear-like in size but never intimidating.
Throughout her seventeen years of life, countless people had confessed their feelings to Kishimoto Rika, from elementary to high school.
But she hated the lecherous gazes directed at her well-developed body, so she had rejected and pushed them all away.
Kim Yu-seong, on the other hand, always looked her straight in the eye when they talked.
His gaze would occasionally drift downwards, but he was such a novice that he'd shyly look away almost immediately.
With him, she wasn't scared.
In fact, she was even a little happy that he showed interest in her.
*'I like you.'*
She murmured silently, watching his shrinking figure in the distance.
They were words she had practiced countless times alone at home, but they would never come out when she was actually in front of him.
The only consolation was that there was still plenty of time until graduation.
*'Someday, I'll definitely tell him.'*
Making that promise to herself, she vigorously rubbed the neck of Taro, who was affectionately rubbing against her leg.