Spending A Lovey-Dovey College Life With A Spoiled Childhood Friend

The Byte Editorial Office was located on the second floor of the 13-story Department of Programming and Computer Science building. In front of the editorial office, there is a lounge with round tables and sofas. Apparently, students are free to use it.

“I wonder if it’s alright…”

Miyu looked distressed. It’s not surprising, since she hadn’t really interacted with any other boys in the latter half of high school.

“Don’t worry, I’ll be here with you, okay?”

I hold Miyu’s hand, trying not to make her feel uneasy.

“Un… Thank you.”

The tension eased up a little, and a smile returned to Miyu’s face.

“Please, Come on in.”

Kawaguchi-san encouraged us, and so, we entered the club room. What we found there was a somewhat bizarre sight.

In the middle of the room, there were desks lined up facing each other, like an island. The people sitting at the desks were typing away on their keyboards. Some people seemed to have noticed that we had come in and turned around. But…

 “Ah! Is she the freshman that I’ve heard of? Well, have a look around as you like.”

The reaction from the bespectacled female club member, who seated closest to the entrance, was light-hearted.

“Oh! you mean, she’s that freshman who drew those pictures? I’d like to hear how you did it.”

Said by a slightly overweight male member of the club sitting next to her. 

“You there! Sorry, I don’t know your name, but I’ve heard that your answers to the introductory programming exercises are very interesting. Tell me about it later!”

The tall, skinny male staff member next to me said so. He seemed to be talking about me. I wonder if I did anything interesting in the introductory programming class. The others were glancing at us, and the others were absorbed in their own work.

I was a little surprised, because I had imagined something different when I thought of a club tour.

“…”

“…”

We watched the scene in amazement.

“Sorry about that, but all of our club members are not interested in people. Just take a look around.”

I don’t know how he interpreted our situation, but that’s what Kawaguchi-san said.

“Okay, thank you very much.”

Miyu bowed politely to him.

“Then, Can I watch them work?”

Miyu asked him, but I guess some people don’t like being watched as they work.

“I already told them about the tour today. So, If you’re interested, you can look around as you like.”

But Kawaguchi-san gave such a simple answer. Miyu, who was a bit dumbfounded, seemed to be very interested.

“Did you make this 3D game?”

“Yes, and it’s based on the data from our university. But, it’s still a work in progress.”

A female staff member with a slightly plump figure answered.

“That’s awesome! How did you make the polygons?”

“Oh, that’s…”

Miyu asks questions in quick succession. The same was true for the other desks, and when I was interested in what was shown in front of me, I was also asking questions. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

一After a quick look around.

“So, what do you think of our club?”

“I had a lot of fun! I’m looking forward to working with you!

“I’m looking forward to working with you too.”

So it was easily decided that we would join Byte.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After returning home. As usual, Miyu lays down, using my lap as a pillow.

“Byte Editor… do you think I can do it?”

Unusually, she seemed to be able to communicate normally, but I was still worried.

“It’s going to be okay. I’m not sure why, but I could also talk normally.”

As I stroked her hair, Miyu giggled.

“No one seemed to be interested in your appearance, right?”

Thinking back, they were always eager to hear about what Miyu had done, but seemed uninterested in anything else. This is the first time I’ve ever seen such a reaction.

“Ah! That’s right!”

I heard Miyu clapping her hands.

“What did you find out?”

“The people at Byte aren’t interested in people. I think that’s why I could talk to them normally.”

“Well, In Miyu’s case, that was the trigger.”

I recalled the traumatic event that had happened to Miyu.

“I hope this will be a step for you to overcome your trauma.”

I’m hopeful that this will be the case.

“I hope so… But, Ryu! don’t let the female members of the club get your attention, okay?”

She abruptly changed the topic, but why such a topic?

“That won’t happen, and besides, you said the people in Byte are not interested in people, right?”

“That’s right, but…“

Miyu’s expression was one of puzzlement. I pondered on what was the cause of it, but I could not come up with an answer.

And that’s how we joined the Byte Editorial Department. In retrospect, this was the beginning of a major change in our relationship, but I had no way of knowing that at the time.