─● A Bookish High School Girl Dreams ●○●
Plain. A dork.
That’s pretty much the impression people have of me.
It’s not like I felt upset or disliked it or anything.
If anything, I even thought it might be for the best.
I became a second-year in high school.
Before I started high school, I thought maybe I’d get a boyfriend… but that illusion was shattered pretty quickly.
My high school is co-ed, and we have a decent number of guys.
There are only six of them in my entire class, and they’re split into two groups of three.
And the only ones who can talk to either of those groups are, for the most part, two other groups.
Only the girls at the top of the social hierarchy get a chance like that.
Or rather, it feels more like the top-tier girls are monopolizing all the guys. That’s just how it is. The reality of a co-ed school.
No scraps fall down to a potato like me.
(Well… honestly, I feel like I don’t really need one anyway.)
I think that when I look around.
The guys in my class are either arrogant or bossy if they’re even slightly good-looking. The rest of them lack any sense of hygiene or are way too overweight, so I don’t find any of them attractive as a member of the opposite sex.
And yet, girls still flock to them to some extent, and those guys just sit there grinning.
(If this is what it’s like, I’m better off without one.)
It wasn’t me being a sore loser or anything.
That’s just what I naturally thought.
Besides.
(I have… this, after all…)
I stealthily pull out a paperback novel from my desk.
It has a book cover on it, so no one can tell what it is.
It’s a so-called “women’s fiction” novel.
I’ve loved fantasy since I was a little kid.
The characters in stories are all pure of heart, clear-minded. The heroes are all handsome… and even the heroines have reasons to be liked.
The men and women in these stories are truly beautiful.
Haaaah, I thought, my mind drifting to the characters in the story. Then I looked again at the groups of students chatting in the classroom.
(Ugh… reality really is shit…)
This is all I need.
Ignoring the lively atmosphere in the classroom, I sat at the corner of the room, alone, blissfully lost in my story.
“I’m home~”
I’m basically a ghost member of my club, so I usually head straight home after school.
“Oh, welcome back, Shiori.”
After a quick “I’m home” to my mom, I went to my room.
Today, besides reading, I want to play some games too~. You know, visual novels. As long as I’m surrounded by handsome characters, I’m happy.
“Shiori, hold on a second.”
“…What is it?”
My mom called me to a halt.
I want to play my game already…
“You… have you made any friends, or a boyfriend?”
“What’s this all of a sudden? No, I haven’t.”
“You need to get into a relationship while you’re still a student. At the very least, you should try to interact with boys.”
Here we go again with this lecture.
How the number of men is decreasing these days, and whatever. I’m so sick of hearing it, honestly.
“Yeah, yeah. I’ll do my best.”
“Honestly… oh, right. You said you wanted to go to that national university, didn’t you?”
“…? Yeah, I did.”
University entrance exams.
I’m still only a second-year, so I haven’t really decided, but there is a university I’m aiming for. It has great facilities… and a huge library.
Being a national university, the academic standards are high, but it’s not impossible if I work hard.
“Through one of my acquaintances~, I found someone who goes to that university, so I was thinking of calling them in as a private tutor!”
“Ehh… I don’t need one…”
A private tutor? No thanks.
I can study on my own… and it’s sad to admit, but I don’t have many friends and I’m not in a club, so I have plenty of time.
Communicating with people is a pain, too…
“It’s fine, it’s fine! Just meet them once! I’m calling them over on Saturday, so make sure you’re home~!”
“Ehh~ I don’t want to… I’ll just turn them down, okay?”
“Well, you can turn them down if you don’t like them.”
“Huh, why are you smirking like that? It’s creepy…”
Well, if I can turn them down.
I feel bad for the tutor, but I’ll just make up some excuse and send them home. Without giving much thought to my mother’s creepy smile, I shut myself in my room.
Saturday.
I was in my room reading a book, as usual. It’s a romance novel with some rather explicit scenes. Kuh! This hero is to die for…!
He’s handsome, smart, strong, and on top of all that, super kind. A god. Well, it’s fiction, so of course.
If only there were a man like this in real life…
The only men that come to mind for me are the guys in my class or the bubbly celebrities on TV.
I’m well aware of what reality is like.
“Shiori! I brought the tutor! I’m coming in, okay?”
“…Okay~”
Honestly… I feel bad for the tutor, but I’ll send them on their way quickly. I shoved the paperback I was reading onto my bookshelf.
I had school this morning, so I’m still in my uniform. It’s fine, probably. My games and some clothes are a bit of a mess, but I hope they’ll forgive me for that.
It’s not like my room is in a state you can’t show people.
Click. The door opened.
I sighed and looked towards the door…
—and my eyes went wide.
“Ah, hello there, Shiori-san.”
My thoughts froze.
There’s a hot guy standing there.
“Eh?”
I instinctively dropped the smartphone I was holding.
Eh? Huh?
Why is there a guy here?
Eh?
“This is Katasato Masato-kun, the tutor I hired. Isn’t he handsome~? Come on, Shiori, say hello.”
…
It took my brain a few seconds to process.
And then, I understood what I needed to do.
“Jus—”
“Jus?”
“JUST A MOMENT, PLEASEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!”
I forcefully pushed my mom back and had the tutor who was behind her step out of the room as well.
Wait wait wait wait!!!!
I didn’t hear about this I didn’t hear about this I didn’t hear about thiiiiis!!!!
The tutor was a guy!?!?
“What are you doing, Shiori~?”
“Mom…! I will never forgive you for this, you hear me…!”
I can tell she’s smirking.
That bitch kept it from me on purpose…! I’m telling Dad about all the time you spend at the boy’s bar…!
First, I covered my bookshelf with a plain white bath towel.
There are too many books that I absolutely cannot let him see!!!
I hide my games too.
And my change of clothes, and the laundry.
After tidying up at an incredible speed, I finally stood in front of the mirror. I realized I was out of breath, and my heart was pounding like crazy.
And more importantly, that guy from before.
(Isn’t he way too handsome????)
I recalled him giving me a gentle smile.
He’s probably around 175 cm tall. His wavy, loosely permed black hair was gorgeous.
He was just like.
(A hero from a story…!)
My face is hot.
I didn’t hear anything about this.
I quickly composed myself and took a deep breath.
“Sorry to keep you waiting…”
After a short while, I opened the door.
And there he was again, the man. My heart skipped a beat.
“Ah, sorry about that. It seems like there was some miscommunication…”
“No, no no no no! It’s all my mother’s fault…”
I let him into the room.
What do I do, what do I do.
There’s a hot guy in my room.
“Pl-Please.”
For now, I offered him the chair that comes with the desk I always use for studying.
I sat down on my bed.
“Sorry, thank you.”
“No problem…”
Calm down, me.
He’s definitely handsome, but I can’t let that fool me.
He’s someone my mother brought here.
It’s entirely possible that he’s arrogant or has a nasty personality.
I won’t be fooled. I’m a woman who knows the difference between fiction and reality.
“Um, I’m not really sure what’s going on either… but basically, we’ll talk a bit today, and then you’ll decide whether or not to hire me as your tutor… is that right?”
“Ah, I think so, probably.”
Even to my own ears, my voice sounds like a mosquito’s buzz.
There’s no way I can speak in my normal voice.
“Honestly, this was all so sudden, so feel free to turn me down. I imagine it’s hard to tell me directly, so you can just tell your mother quietly after I leave. That would be easier for you, right, Shiori-san?”
“…”
…Whaaaaaat—?
Isn’t he too nice?
If this were one of the popular guys from my class, it wouldn’t be strange at all for him to say something like, ‘You should be grateful,’ in this situation???
No, not yet, Shiori. I can’t be fooled yet. This could be a ploy to get hired, acting all nice just for today.
Wait, but he just said I could turn him down…? Damn it, I don’t get it.
“Shiori-san, why do you want to go to my university?”
“Uh, um, the facilities are nice… and the library is big, and…”
“Wow, Shiori-san, you like books, huh!”
St-Stop it!! Don’t look at me with that sparkling smile!!
What is this? This guy’s hotness level is like a hundred, isn’t it!?
My heart pounds with just the slightest movement from him.
“Well, a little…”
“I see~ Our library is definitely big… What kind of books do you read?”
“…”
Crap. What do I do.
I didn’t think about this at all. If I say I like fantasy and romance novels, he’ll be 180% put off.
A safe… a safe answer is…
“Literary fiction, I guess.”
“Wow! That’s amazing. I’m really not good with dense writing… I read the famous ones, but I can never really get into literary fiction!”
That’s a lie. I’m sorry I didn’t read it at all.
This is bad, this is bad. This way, his true colors will never show! There must be a flaw somewhere…
That’s it! If a plain dork like me does something rude, even he should show his true colors…!
I feel a little bad, but this is for the future! For the future…!
I steeled my resolve and decided to say something deliberately unpleasant.
“…You should turn down this tutoring job, Katasato-san.”
“…? Why?”
“You don’t want to teach a dorky girl like me, do you? You probably wish you had a cuter student, right? A guy like you, Katasato-san, must have girls lining up for you.”
…Even I think I sound like a really pathetic and nasty girl. I’m getting sad just saying it. But, but this is for the future…!
With guilt in my heart, I watched him.
Then.
Katasato-san, without breaking his smile, shook his head.
“Nope. That has nothing to do with it. You’re working hard because you want to get into my university, Shiori-san. There’s not a single millimeter of superiority or inferiority in that. No matter what kind of girl you are, if you decide to do it, I’ll do everything I can to help you. Besides—”
“Shiori-san, you’re really lovely. When I first saw you earlier, I thought you were a beautiful girl.”
…Um.
It seems the hero from my favorite story has traveled through dimensions to meet me.
Let me keep this short. I’M FUCKING IN LOVE.
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