Bab 170: Playing Tag
I thought that as time passed by, Ein would chase after me less and less... but boy, how naive I was!
Ein always tried to chase after me and tag along with me and my friends in all the opportunities he's got!!
"Ein, don't you need to spend some time with your friends as well?" When I asked him that, I felt like a question mark appeared next to his face as he answered...
"? Friends? Big Sis Lyra and the others are my friends, right?"
"Not that, I mean, your classmates? Kids your age?"
"Oh... Not interested."
"..."
Why am I friends with people who are bad at making friends? It's definitely not "birds of the same feather flock together"... right? See, I've made them all my friends, so that saying is definitely wrong in my case!
The first week passed by with Ein tagging along just like that... My other friends weren't that troubled by this additional member—sure, because they had nothing to hide from Ein...
I felt like my face turned stiff from having to deal with Ein carefully.
Even during when I separated from my circle of friends for going to the library or things like that—Ein decided to pop out in front of me. Yep, I realize that I'm his main target, okay?
"Is this how you're studying?" Ein asked in curiosity.
"Eh? This? No, I'm only borrowing some storybooks..."
"Storybooks? Do you learn something from them?"
"...Not really, like I said, I'm not as good as you think I am... I only study when it's about time for exams... Don't copy me!" I quickly realized that I was giving such a bad advice.
"But everyone said you didn't get any kind of strict education and training... doesn't that mean you're doing it by yourself in secret?"
"That is just my natural gift, then! I watch and learn!"
"Really?"
"Yep, that's why, I have nothing I can teach you..."
After I remembered that Ein was curious of me mainly because of my extraordinary talent (not wanting to be conceited, but that was how everyone saw it... when I only saw it as the fruit of my hard labor in my previous life), I thought that he'd follow me less after I answered his curiosity.
"It's fine! Then, it's my turn to watch and learn from you!"
"Geh..."
Then, the game of tag started between me and Ein.
I felt more relaxed when my friends were there by my side because Ein's attention wouldn't be focused on me, but I felt like wanting to take a break from all this pretense...
So I began to walk alone in a different route, hoping Ein wouldn't find me and stick with my friends instead. But oddly, Ein seemed to be able to find me in every occasion!
"There you are, Big Sis! Where are you going?"
"..."
I felt like he was stalking me—but he was still a child who thought of this as a game of hide and seek or game of tag—and that it was fun. His childish innocence baffled me.
Sure, if I was really a child, perhaps I'd entertain this idea, but sorry for having a secret I have to keep from you...
Therefore, I decided to resort to something I couldn't imagine I'd be using at school for this reason.
I was glad that I was born as a Hartmann. I put on an illusion to make me look older and change my appearance as I walked around at the seniors' area.
When I saw Ein seemingly looking for me near the area, I only kept my composure as he passed by me just like that.
Yosh, it's a success!
After this, I might spend some time alone before returning to my friends. Ein could still continue to look for me or return to my friends' side, but I think that should be enough for me to recharge my "alone time" or "me" energy.
But fate has another plan for me.
"Huh? Are you a new student or a transfer student? Why have I never seen you before?"
Suddenly, someone reached out to me and asked.
Upon identifying the person—geh, El-el!
"El-el, she could be a senior or junior despite her appearance, right?"
The girl next to El-el suggested.
"Oh, you're right. Please excuse me for making assumptions right away... This is out of my curiosity but... Hey, which class are you in?"
In that instant, my mind went blank and I noticed how bad this idea might be.
"Uh.... I... S-sorry, I gotta go!"
I decided not to answer and just... run for my life!
After entering the toilet, I ditched my illusionary appearance.
Another plan.
I transformed into a cat—the only transformation I could do perfectly and without feeling so tired and run for my life.
If transforming into a person would pose me another risk like that, I'd just transform into an animal!!
Having a cat wander around the school building wouldn't be good, so I went to the garden and wander around the school yard.
Just when I thought this was a nice idea, I found a secluded alley and slept so soundly there. It felt as if a cat's instinct got over me in that instant.
...Resulting in me being late for my next class.
So the next time, I braced myself to not lose to the temptation of napping and just explore the area!
--Second time ended up in me being chased by rowdy kids T__T
The third time, I hid myself in an area where people wouldn't pass through—only to deal with my fellow animal-kingdom friends...
...Being a cat is actually tougher than what I imagined, huh?
Thus, nothing was effective against Ein.
After quite a while, I felt quite tired from watching my words and action and from trying to escape to get "me time"... Day 5, Adventure time was my only relief. We were done with the guardianship period—but sometimes, we would explore the Adventure Field along with Alt-nii, Clavis, and Harvey. Sometimes, the three of them decided to go alone to the higher level.
"Heyaaaa, take this, take that, take this, too!!" I felt that [Adventure] period was more like [Stress Relief] period. I swung my sword to the monsters who appeared as I felt my pent-up stress decreasing.
The [Adventure Field] turned into my hunting grounds where I tried to put my swordsmanship and magic training into action. Since it was already Carbuncle's hunting grounds, she felt so happy to gain another friend!
"L...Lyra?" Iris' timid voice trembled.
"Whoa, way to go, Lyr!" Carbuncle cheered.
"...What's wrong with you?" Luca looked at my action in disbelief.
"Y-yeah, I've never seen you like this before...," Kiri muttered as his voice turned even smaller that I couldn't hear the words coming from his mouth after that, "even when I thought you were scary sometimes, this one is at a whole different level..."
"N-nothing! I just feel like letting my stress out, hahaha!"
"Stress? What are you stressed about, Lyra?" Alt-nii asked in concern.
"Eh... that is..."
"I feel like you're acting strangely these days... I also feel like you're gone from us more frequently," Iris stated her concern as well.
"Uhm..."
I'm not sure of how I could describe it... But in the end, I just described how I felt quite overwhelmed because of Ein. I didn't say I felt overwhelmed because I had to pay my attention to my words and action, I just said that I wasn't used to his attention that was directed mainly at me. And that I felt like I wanted more time to be alone because of it.
Yep, I still needed my alone time to recharge my social energy. Perhaps it was due to the influence of my past life where I was so used to spend my time alone. I just noticed how I was deprived of this alone time, as Ein would just be with me even when I separated from my friends.
It's not like we're always together too—sometimes my circle of friends separated into smaller groups, depending on what we wanted to do.
"Why don't you just tell him that? He looks like to be quite intelligent, he has surely picked up some hints so far, right?" Luca gave a solution that he felt like natural to do.
"Eh, but that is...," I hesitated. But wait, I think I masked my real intention so well—did he notice due to my stiff face, anyway?
"Do you want me to help, Lyra?" Clavis-nii offered his help.
"...No, it's okay. I will talk with him alone after this."
After thinking for a while, I came to a conclusion that it should be better to convey this directly to Ein, to make him understand, rather than repeating the tiring cycle all over.
PERTIMBANGAN PENCIPTA 
LynneSuzuran
LynneSuzuran If you want to support this novel, gain advanced chapter access, and help increasing this story's update rate, please support me there: www.pat reon .com/ConvallariasLibrary (remove the spaces!)
Thanks for reading and don't hesitate to comment~