Chapter 1: Is the Bookish High School Girl All That Prim and Proper?

───● A Bookish High School Girl Is Demure ●○●

Two months have passed since I came to this world.

I was worried about what would happen when I was suddenly thrown in here, but I guess things have a way of working out.

Well, besides the fact that their sense of chastity is a little messed up, nothing else is really different, so I guess that’s to be expected.

It would’ve been rough if I’d been whisked away to another world and told I was the chosen hero or something, but this world is kind enough that even a normal guy like me can get by just fine.

“Fwaaah… So sleepy…”

It’s Saturday, so I don’t have any classes.

Apparently, there are some lectures you can take on Saturdays, but Koumi said she wasn’t taking any, and I’m the type who wants Saturdays off anyway.

I glanced at the clock on the wall. The time was 10:30 AM.

Considering I worked late last night, I’d say I did a good job waking up this early.

“Today, I think my shift starts at… three… Hmm, guess I’ll make some lunch first…”

I have plans starting at 3 PM today.

Rubbing the sleep from my eyes, I sluggishly got out of bed. As I did, I picked up the smartphone on my nightstand and saw I had a notification.

<Koumi>That’s hilarious lol

<Koumi>So what kinda part-time job are you even doing with Masato~

“…What were we talking about again…?”

Ever since Koumi and I exchanged contact info, she’s been sending me messages like this two or three times a day.

Well, that’s a pretty normal level of communication, even back in my old world, and I enjoy talking to her, so I always reply.

“There’s no way I can tell her about the bar, though…”

Since I turned down Koumi’s invitation, she already knows I have a part-time job on Friday nights.

But if I were to be brutally honest and say something like, Lmao I’m working at a boy’s bar ww, it would only end with her saying, Ew… Gross… or With your plain look…?. I’m not that stupid.

However, an idea for my next move came to mind.

“That’s it! This should be fine.”

I quickly flicked my thumb across the smartphone screen.

<Katasato Masato> Yeah, about that, I’m actually working as a private tutor.

Yosh. No problem with this one.

That’s right, I’m also a private tutor.

Saturdays from 3 PM.

If I tell her about this one, there shouldn’t be any issues. It’s a normal part-time job. I closed my phone and headed for the kitchen.

I think I still have two eggs and some bacon left… Guess I’ll just whip up some fried rice~.

Fried rice is the ultimate meal for a guy living alone.

Ping.

Ping.

…Hmm?

As I was checking how much rice was left in the cooker, my phone started going off.

That’s weird. Koumi usually doesn’t reply for at least three or four hours after I send a message, and I don’t think I have any other friends who would message me.

I went to get my phone and saw the name <Koumi> on the screen again.

…Isn’t that reply way too fast?

<Koumi> A-A private tutor?

<Koumi> Don’t tell me you’re, like, tutoring a girl?

…? Is there a problem? She’s right, my student is a girl, but still.

《Masato》 Yeah? A high school girl.

I sent a simple reply and went back to what I was doing.

Is it really that surprising? I’d think there are plenty of university students who work as private tutors or at cram schools…

Just as I started scooping rice out of the cooker with the rice paddle, my phone started vibrating on the table.

BZZZT, BZZZT, BZZZT.

My phone was set to vibrate.

That wasn’t a message notification.

It was a call.

I could tell even from here. The screen displayed the name: 《Koumi》.

…Huh? This is fucking terrifying.

It was a little after 2 PM.

I left my house and was heading to my tutoring job.

“Man, you really never know what’s going to set Koumi’s switch off…”

After that, I answered the phone, and the complete lack of inflection in Koumi’s voice sent shivers down my spine.

Koumi usually acts like a cute little devil, and just sitting next to her in lectures is a feast for the eyes, but when her switch flips, she gets really scary.

I try to be careful, but I have no idea what her triggers are, so there’s no way to actually be careful.

In the end, I managed to get her back in a good mood during today’s call by explaining the situation.

Apparently, she reluctantly accepted when I said I’d explain everything properly when we go out on Monday. Thank god. Girls are so complicated…

I looked up at the deep blue sky.

Back in my old world, I never had much trouble communicating with the opposite sex. I think a big part of that was because the friend I was close to as a kid was a girl.

Thanks to that, even during that phase people call puberty, I don’t think I was ever particularly shy around girls and could interact with them normally.

So, I’ve had girls confess to me before, and I’ve even tried dating someone.

But.

“Katasato-kun, you’re just nice to everyone, aren’t you… I’m sorry, I guess I just misunderstood.”

…About a month into the relationship, she suddenly broke up with me with those words.

I spent a long time in an orphanage, and the person who was like a foster parent to me always taught me, “Be kind to others.” So for me, acting that way was only natural, and her words hit me like a ton of bricks.

At the same time, I was aware that I had continued to treat her the same way I treated other girls. And upon realizing that fact, I didn’t really feel like I could change my attitude just for a ‘girlfriend.’ I had no choice but to accept that that’s just the kind of person I am.

“Hurry, hurry! Everyone’s already at the park!”

“Wait up~!”

Cheerful voices echoed as a few little girls ran past me. The weather is great today. They’re probably going to play with their friends at the park. The backs of the energetic girls grew smaller and smaller until they eventually disappeared from sight.

…Yeah, no point in getting too sentimental. I should just forget about the past.

Trying to forget the bittersweet memories that had put me in a gloomy mood, I quickened my pace toward the station.

After a few minutes of walking, I arrived at the nearest station.

My tutoring job is about five stops away from here by train.

It all started about a month ago.

Back then, my only source of income was the bar, and Seira-san wasn’t coming in as frequently as she does now, so I was thinking my earnings were a little low. (Now it seems like Seira-san is paying a ton, so I can afford to be a little extravagant.)

At first, while I was learning the ropes at the bar, I took on a bunch of shifts outside of Fridays, so I thought that would be fine, but Aika-san told me, ‘It’s not good to overdo it with this kind of work,’ so I ended up with a fixed shift on Fridays only.

Aika-san covers a huge chunk of my living expenses, but I felt bad about that. So when I talked to her about it, she got this really excited look on her face and said, “Oh, well Masato, you’re smart, so there’s something I’d like to ask of you,” and that’s how I ended up with this tutoring job.

Apparently, the daughter of a woman Aika-san met through a work connection? is aiming to get into my university.

She asked if I could help her study.

And that’s how, for the past month, I’ve been tutoring a certain high school girl.

By the way, the other day Aika-san told me, “I deposited your tutoring fee into your account~,” and when I checked, an unbelievable amount of money was in there. Why?

Isn’t this amount of money insane for a student’s tutoring fee? I thought, but Aika-san just smirked.

Well… maybe Aika-san added some extra on top to make my life easier…

I really owe Aika-san everything.

“Alright.”

After getting off the train and walking for a bit, I arrived at my student’s house. There was a magnificent gate, and after a short walk through a garden, I reached the front door.

Just by looking at it, you could tell it was a nice house. I was still ten minutes early, but it should be fine.

I rang the doorbell.

“Excuse me, this is Katasato. I’m here to tutor Shiori-san~”

“Coming~!”

I heard a cheerful voice, and then a click as the gate unlocked.

I thought this last time too, but this place has some serious equipment.

When the front door opened, Shinomiya Shiori-chan’s mother was there.

“Masato-kun, hello! Thank you for coming~! I think Shiori is already in her room on the second floor, so I’ll leave her to you!”

“Yes. I’ll do my very best.”

I took off my shoes and stepped inside. Gotta remember to line them up neatly. You never know where someone’s judging your character…

I went up the stairs to Shiori-chan’s room. On the door hung a cute little sign. I knocked twice. Knock, knock.

“Shiori-chan? It’s Katasato. Can I come in?”

“Y-Yes. It’s okay.”

A clear soprano voice. Shiori-chan has a beautiful voice.

When I opened the door, a slender girl with long, glossy black hair tied up in a half-up style with a light blue ribbon was sitting in a chair.

Hmm, she’s a lovely girl who really fits the word ‘demure.’

“Hello, Shiori-chan.”

“Yes, hello.”

…Come to think of it, she’s not in her school uniform today.

Up until now, she’s always worn her uniform for our lessons. I wonder if there’s a reason.

“Oh, you’re not in your uniform today.”

“Y-Yes, that’s right. When I thought about it, I realized it’s a little strange to wear a uniform on a day off…”

Shiori-chan spun her chair around slightly to face me.

Yeah, yeah. The beige tablier over a black short-sleeved shirt… the type of overalls that connect directly to the skirt like a one-piece dress, matches her demure personality and looks really good on her.

“Wow, that’s nice. It really suits you. I’ve only ever seen you in your uniform, so this is a refreshing change.”

“…Hehe… Thank you. Your casual clothes look great too, Masato-san.”

“Flattery won’t get you less homework, you know~?”

I put down my bag and took out my teaching materials.

It’s hard to imagine now, but the first time I met Shiori-chan, she had glasses and her hair was in braids.

I don’t know what brought about the change of heart, but by the next time I came, she had already switched to this hairstyle and was wearing contacts.

Well, it seems her mother didn’t tell her her new tutor was a man when I first came, so she probably panicked.

What a mischievous mother…

“Alright… shall we begin? Oh, but we still have five minutes.”

“You’re right. What should we do?”

“Since we have time, let’s chat a bit before we start studying.”

I’m not a fan of being too rigid.

This is our fourth time, but she still seems nervous. If possible, I’d like her to relax.

Among all the girls I’ve met since coming to this world, I think she’s one of the calmer types.

Yuka gets so nervous she stutters all the time. There’s really no need to be that tense…

My eyes drifted to Shiori-chan’s desk and landed on a paperback book.

Right, she’s a literary girl.

“Oh, what book were you reading today?”

“Oh, um… Tasaka-san’s, this one…”

“Ah, that one’s great! Summer Fell From the Second Floor… I wonder what kind of life you have to live to come up with an opening like that…”

Honestly, I haven’t read enough books to call reading my hobby, but I have read a few of the famous ones.

I’m glad that’s another thing that’s the same as my old world.

Having read the same books can be useful for livening up a conversation.

Although, it seems like Shiori-chan is an avid reader, so a dilettante like me probably can’t keep up.

“Ah, haha, you’re so right…”

Huh, her reaction wasn’t as enthusiastic as I expected. Maybe she can tell I’m a phony… This is tricky.

About an hour passed.

“Here, there’s another way to read this. This symbol here jumps to this part, so the correct way is~”

My university is in the liberal arts, so the subjects I teach Shiori-chan are Japanese, Social Studies, and English.

I usually teach each for an hour, for a total of three hours, and then my tutoring session is over. We take breaks, so I usually finish around 7 PM.

We just finished English and have now moved on to Japanese.

“Um… Hmmm?”

It seems she’s struggling.

Right, this part is confusing… Oh, I know.

An idea struck me. I stood up and moved behind Shiori-chan.

Then, I leaned over from behind to look at her textbook.

“Okay? Shiori-chan, I’m going to trace it with my finger now. The order we read it in is…”

There, this should be easier to understand.

That’s what I thought, but Shiori-chan’s hand stopped moving.

Hm?

“…Oof.”

Eh?

I think I just heard a really weird noise.

Was that Shiori-chan? Just now?

Shiori-chan shot up from her seat with a clatter.

“Excuse me, I need to go powder my nose…”

“Oh, ah. Okay, sorry, sorry.”

Her face hidden from view, Shiori-chan headed for the bathroom. Crap, did I make her mad?

…Ah, maybe I got a little too close.

Having a guy she’s not that close to get this near her must be unpleasant. The skewed gender ratio has made me careless, but that was probably a bad move.

My apologies.

Shiori-chan returned a short while later.

Her face seems a little red, but is she okay?

“I apologize. Let’s continue.”

“Y-Yeah, let’s.”

Good. It seems she’s not that angry.

I was worried I had upset her.

Determined not to make the same mistake again, I moved to sit next to her to resume our study session.

“Eh?”

Shiori-chan looked at me with a puzzled expression.

Eh?

“Oh, no. Please, come at me from behind with all you’ve got. All you’ve got. Like you’re covering me, please.”

Eh?