Even Though She's a Genius and Beautiful Childhood Friend, She Becomes Careless Only Around Me - Chapter 1 English

 Chapter 1 - The Thin Line Between Genius and Fool

I have a childhood friend who's a girl.

From kindergarten to our current high school, we've always been in the same learning institutions.

It's less of a childhood friendship and more of a cursed bond at this point.

Her name is Kamino Marimo.

A small miracle where God and a marimo algae ball coexist in one name.

And true to her name, which suggests embodying one's nature, she possesses abilities worthy of being called a prodigy.

I've suspected something since kindergarten.

She solved complex puzzles in 20 seconds that even adults struggle with and rearranged a Rubik's Cube so that no one could return it to its original state.

"I told her that's not how you play with a Rubik's Cube."

Looking back, that might have been the beginning.

—Indeed, Kamino Marimo is an undeniable genius.

By the time she started elementary school, she had mastered the kanji for melancholy and rose, discovered a new asteroid to commemorate her middle school years, and on her way to the high school entrance ceremony, she cracked the trick behind a locked-room murder, aiding in the criminal's arrest.

Solving a locked-room mystery while commuting, no less.

By this time, I thought it wasn't so much that God and marimo were cohabiting, but that God was the marimo—a super dynamic miracle.

But Marimo had her flaws.

Flaws due to her genius.

They say there's a thin line between a fool and a genius, but in her case, that line was paper-thin.

So thin that you could see right through it.

I wonder if it's thinner than a veteran chef's thinly sliced radish.

Let me put it bluntly.

She is a genius, Kamino Marimo. But at the same time, she's an incredible fool.

And now, I can finally introduce myself.

My name is Kirishima Kouhei, a rather common name for a guy who's somewhat good at studying.

If there's anything to add, it's that "for some reason, Marimo becomes a fool only in front of me," a baffling cross to bear.

Did I commit some grave sin in a past life?

Well, I'll get to a detailed self-introduction later, but first, let's take a look at a page from our daily life to see just how much of a fool Marimo can be.

"Help me, Kou-chan!"

It's 7 PM.

The time when hunger starts to sing its chorus.

I was getting excited by the sound of hamburgers cooking for dinner when my smartphone suddenly rang.

The message, of course, was from Marimo.

"What's up? Did aliens abduct you?"

It's probably something trivial.

That's what I thought as I casually dismissed it.

Seconds later, my phone kept ringing incessantly.

Is it broken?

"There's this wristband, you know!"

"I was wondering if it really only works on the wrist!"

"So I tried it on my head!"

"And now it won't come off! Help me! I'm gonna die like this!!"

I felt as if the vision of my hamburgers was running away into the distance.

Foolishness Information No. 1.

Perhaps due to her higher intelligence, Marimo's curiosity is insatiable.

"Wait there. I'll be right over."

And I can't leave such a fool alone.

I can't refuse when asked for help, and because of that, at some point, Marimo started turning to me 99% of the time when she did something foolish.

Her house is a 5-minute bike ride away.

After a brief greeting to aunt, I headed to Marimo's room,

"Kou-chan! Help me! If this goes on, I'll explode like Sun Wukong being punished by Sanzang!"

"What the— Don't hug me!!"

"But it might be our last goodbye!! I'll never forget you, Kou-chan!!"

The fool was in her school uniform, her head compressed by the wristband.

And then she tackled me.

"Why did you do that?!"

"I thought my head could just fit if I considered the wristband's durability and elasticity! And it did fit! But now it won't come off!!"

"Ah, you... Just wait a second."

I searched the familiar room and found a pair of scissors.

Approaching Marimo with them in hand,

"Mya! Wait, wait! Scary, scary! Don't hurt me, okay!?"

"...Your ideas scare me a hundred times more."

Afterward, Marimo was freed from what she called Sanzang's punishment.

Sanzang must be quite upset about being slandered.

"Ugh! That was close, so scary. But I'm saved now!"

"Yeah, yeah, good for you. I'm going home now. I'm seriously hungry... Oof!?"

Once again, Marimo hugged me from behind.

A malicious tackle, perhaps.

And then she looked up and said,

"Hehe, thanks! Kou-chan!"

—Damn it. Her smile is cute, though!

Let me make this clear, I'm not in love with Marimo.

A foolish Shiba Inu's smile is cute, right?

That's what I mean.

The story that begins here is neither grand nor moving.

It's the tale of Marimo, a genius full of weaknesses and also a fool, and me, an ordinary person desperately trying to cover for her.

The introduction to our opening act.

One last thing.

She's going to be the high school student council president this spring. Can you believe it?

Sadly, the things we wish were lies tend to be the reality of this world.