Chapter 10 First Friend

First Friend

It’s been a week since I started college.

University classes have complicated names that make it hard to understand the content, and there are so many similar names that I don’t know the difference. I have to do all my registrations online, and while I’m doing that, each class is starting, so if I hesitate, I’ll be late. I’m really fed up with my ineptitude at times like this.

Chika also scolded me a lot too.

“Don’t hesitate!” or “That’s not right! You have to do it this way!” Unlike me, Chika is smart, impatient, impulsive, and straightforward, but she’s also caring, and if Chika hadn’t been with me in middle school, I would have ended up in a dumber high school.

In a way, I owe it to Chika that I am now a student at a national university.

Although in a bad way, it was Chika who made me want to go to a national university, and it was only because of Chika’s urging “Study like you’re dead!" that I was able to get into a high school that was good enough to go to a national university, even though I barely got in.

Well, there were people like Niiyama (新山) at that high school, so maybe Chika wouldn’t have cheated on me if she had gone to a different high school instead of going with me.

But if she had gone to another high school, maybe we would’ve broken up earlier, and I wouldn’t have gone to a national university. So in the end, I think that going to the same high school as Chika put me on an advantageous path for the future.

That’s what I should think, right?

Anyway, back to the point.

It’s about registering for classes.

I couldn’t figure out how to register online by myself, so I grabbed a heavily made-up female employee at the student affairs office and asked her all about it, but I didn’t understand even half of what she was saying, so I was stuck. Then I ran into Mizunami-san, who was there for a different reason, and when I asked her if she had finished registering for classes, she said she had, so I said, “I’ll buy you a coffee, so please let me know!” and took her to a coffee shop on campus. I was in a hurry to finish registering for classes.

No, I didn’t hit on her.

I’ve never hit on anyone, you know.

I mean, we exchanged contact information later, but it was Mizunami-san who brought up the idea of contact information.

Mizunami-san is good at teaching.

She’s completely different from the heavily made-up staff at the Student Affairs Office.

She said that her dream since childhood was to become a teacher.

Oh, that’s me too. Teehee.

Although she looks serious and quiet when you actually talk to her, she’s quite talkative, smiling, and very caring. Even when I asked her a lot of questions about class registration, she didn’t even look annoyed when I didn’t understand, and she carefully explained each one.

She’s like the kind of high achiever you find in the classroom.

As expected, when I asked her, she told me that she was often elected class leader in middle school and high school. When I heard that, it all made sense.

So Mizunami-san started listening to all the lectures the day after the entrance ceremony, one by one and decided what classes to take after listening to each one. That’s amazing, right? There are people like that. And as we talked, she told me a lot of recommended classes, so I ended up taking almost all the same classes as Mizunami-san.

Now I can rely on her for exams!

At this rate, I think I’ll be relying on Mizunami-san for course selection and seminars as well.

No. It’s like I’m a stalker, right?

Maybe I should at least choose my own seminar?

“Have you decided on your course yet, Sakamoto-kun?”

“Not yet. It seems like I don’t have to rush as much as when I register for classes, so I’ll have to put it off until later. I haven’t even checked what kind of courses are available yet.”

“Really? Um, if you don’t mind, would you like to look into it with me?”

“Look into your course?”

“Yes. Ah, but… that’s a bit rude, isn’t it?”

“No, it’s not. In fact, I’m the one who’s more like that.”

“Sakamoto-kun, you’ve been easy to talk to since the entrance ceremony, and even today, Sakamoto-kun started talking to me in the student affairs office, and I was so happy that I got carried away and started acting like a friend.”

“Eh? Mizunami-san? I’m a s🬀🬀ual harasser who suddenly holds hands at the first meeting, you know. And I’m a useless person who can’t even sign up for classes by myself, you know.”

“No. Sakamoto-san is not a useless person! You are very reliable! Even at the entrance ceremony, Sakamoto-san held my hand, and I felt so relieved, and I was so happy when you helped me!”

“I-Is that true? I’d be embarrassed if you said that to me.” Ehehehe.

“So, if it’s okay… um… could you please give me your contact information?”

“Of course, I’d be happy to give you my contact information.”

“Really?!”

“Yeah, well.”

And I’d finished registering for classes, so we exchanged contact information.

Mizunami-san was the first friend I made after entering the university. And she said I was his first friend too. She told me that with a really happy look on her face.

She seems like a reliable person and the type who would initiate conversations and expand her network, but when I asked her about it, she said, “Because I’m from the countryside, I feel a little intimidated by city kids my age”.

Well, I was a little like that, so I felt a little sympathy. Two people from the countryside seem to get along well.

“So what were we talking about?”

“We were talking about what electives to take.”

“Right, electives. We’ve become friends, and Mizunami-san is more reliable and dependable than I am, so it would be a big help if we took the same elective. And seminars too.”

“Then how about we make time to discuss and decide together?”

“Okay!”

“Ufufu.”

From the next day, I started spending more time with Mizunami-san at the university.

Or rather, we were together almost all the time.

Of course, that was natural since we were all in the same classes.

She always saved my seat for the first class, so we sat next to each other and took the class together, and we talked and ate together during breaks and lunch.

When I’m with Mizunami-san, I remember the distance? the feeling? when I was close with Chika in high school.

When I was in high school, I was in the same class as Chika during my first year, so we were together all the time, and even after school, she would wait for me every day until my club activities were over.

Everyone around us knew that we were a lovey-dovey couple and even thought that I was under Chika’s thumb.

Like an older wife?

Well, that was true.

But by the second year, we were in different classes, and both Chika and I expanded our circle of friends. I continued to work hard at club activities, while Chika prioritized hanging out with her classmates after school, and we both spent more time with other friends. It was like this even after I quit club activities in the third year.

Maybe that’s why hanging out with a girl like this reminds me of my first year of high school when I was still attached to Chika, and it’s kind of fun.

Well, it’s very rude to see Mizunami-san as a replacement for Chika. But Mizunami-san is a reliable person who teaches me a lot, so she’s like my big sister, which is different from Chika. I can’t help but be aware of her.

Besides, it doesn’t feel bad to be able to get along with a girl.

On the contrary, it makes me happy.

Because I’m a boy.

Fufufu.

It was like starting my adolescence all over again, and I was a little nervous from the moment I entered college.