───● The Literary High School Girl is an Interesting Kid ●○●
After receiving those shocking confessions from Koumi and Mizuho, I spent my days completely unable to sort out my thoughts.
I just lay sprawled on my bed staring at my phone, letting the time pass by.
Lately, the only time I left the house was for my part-time job.
The only thing swirling around in my head was, without a doubt, them.
“I love you. I can’t hold it back anymore! …It’s fine if it’s impossible right now…! But please don’t see me as a little sister… see me… see me properly as a girl..”(Yuka)
“At the very least, I… ever since that day I first met Masato-kun, I haven’t been able to see anyone else but you.”(Yuka)
“I love you. Ever since that day… Katasato Masato-kun, I’ve loved you so much…. This feeling—only this feeling—is not a lie.” (Mizuho)
“So, let me say it. Let me tell you. Since the day I met you, Katasato Masato-kun—I love you.” (Koumi)
“Sigh…”
I was genuinely happy to receive affection from all four of them.
But I also knew that leaving their feelings hanging like this wasn’t right.
…What should I do?
Even as I sprawled out on my bed like a starfish, no answers came falling from the ceiling.
If you asked me whether I liked them or hated them, of course I liked them all. But if you asked me if it was romantic love…
“I have no idea…”
I thought they were all charming girls. Every single one of them was wonderful, so much so that I felt they were too good for me.
Because of this flighty feeling, whether I was playing basketball with Yuka or serving Seira-san at the bar, I found myself somewhat spaced out.
…Retaining my memories from before my reincarnation, I had those kinds of desires, appropriate for my age.
But no matter what, the words a girl I used to date told me were burned into my mind and wouldn’t leave.
“Katasato-kun, you’re just kind to everyone, aren’t you…”
Being told that with such a sad face, all I could do was apologize.
I couldn’t give anyone special treatment. My innate nature to want to be kind to everyone wasn’t something I could change now.
“If it means I’m just going to make them feel awful… is it just me running away to think like that?”
As I stared blankly at the ceiling, my phone chimed with a notification.
I picked up the phone lying next to my bed and turned on the screen.
Shinomiya Shiori]: “I look forward to our session today, Masato-san.”
“…Oh, right. Today is my tutoring session with Shiori-chan.”
Checking my phone again, the current time was 10:00 AM.
Whipping my heavy body into gear, I hauled myself out of bed.
“Well, things are pretty relaxed with Shiori-chan, but…”
Unlike when we first met, Shiori-chan didn’t use her polite, public persona anymore; she interacted with me using her true personality.
It made things easier for me too, and more than anything, it was fun.
She’s an interesting kid, that Shiori-chan.
Right now, my tutoring time with Shiori-chan was the only thing I could handle comfortably, just as I always had.
“I need to bring the homework answers too…”
I hadn’t felt like doing anything these past few days, but I had properly prepared the tutoring materials. I was genuinely happy to see Shiori-chan’s grades improving, after all.
I temporarily shook off the problems swirling around in my head.
I made up my mind to fully focus on tutoring Shiori-chan today.
…Even if it just meant I was running away from reality for a bit.
“Uoooh, substitute it into the equation! Substitute it into the equation!”
“I’m pretty sure you’re the only kid who screams like that while doing math, Shiori-chan.”
I found myself feeling relieved at the sight unfolding before me.
Shinomiya Shiori-chan. This high school girl, whom I’d started tutoring by some stroke of fate, was a little odd, yet a truly fun person.
“When you really think about it, the word ‘substitution’ sounds kinda lewd, doesn’t it…?”
“Even if you really think about it, it doesn’t sound like that at all.”
Looking at the bookshelf in Shiori-chan’s room, the curtain that used to be there had been removed. I could clearly see it packed tightly with her favorite books and manga.
“Oh, is there something that caught your eye?”
“Hm? No, not really, but…”
I couldn’t exactly tell her that I was feeling deeply moved and happy that she was no longer hiding her true self around me.
“I’ll introduce you to anything you want!”
“Only after we finish this math textbook, okay!”
“Rip me…”
Letting out a whine, Shiori-chan returned to the studying in front of her.
Ever since her emotions became clearly visible, Shiori-chan had become an even more interesting kid. I thought it would have been fine if she interacted with me like this from the start… but maybe that’s difficult in this world.
Feeling grateful that she was interacting with me like this now, I watched over Shiori-chan’s studying.
“I’m exhaaausted!”
“Yeah, good work.”
We had finished studying two subjects, leaving only one.
For now, we were taking a break, drinking the black tea Shiori-chan’s mother had brewed for us.
“At this rate, you could totally aim for my university, you know.”
“Really?”
“Really, really. I mean, if your grades keep going up, I think you could even aim for a recommendation…”
“I’d be on cloud nine if I could get a recommendation…”
As I sat in the chair provided for me, I thought about Shiori-chan’s grades. It had been a little over half a year since I first started tutoring her. Despite such a short time, Shiori-chan’s grades had been steadily improving. Even Shiori-chan’s mother had given me some words of praise.
…Well, I’m getting paid an extraordinary amount for a tutoring part-time job, so there’s a part of me that’s just relieved I’m actually producing results…
“Oh, since we have the time, let me introduce you to just one recommendation!”
“Oh, sure. I’m curious.”
I had promised earlier, so I decided to let her recommend at least one thing during our break. Shiori-chan gleefully went to rummage through her bookshelf.
“This one… no, this one…? Masato-sama, how about three…?”
“I’m gonna have to insist on just one!”
“Eeeh~”
We’d run out of time to do the last subject, after all!
“Then, I’ll go with this one! I thought it might be something a guy could enjoy too~”
“Uh-huh.”
What Shiori-chan pulled out was a manga. The cover featured a dainty girl with a handsome boy next to her.
“In this one, the girl has superhuman strength, and it’s a story where she uses that strength to help the boy out, but every single chapter is just so interesting~”
“S-she has superhuman strength looking like that?”
She didn’t look like that at all from the cover illustration… As I thought that, a memory resurfaced.
The time Yuka had forcefully pinned me down.
The time Mizuho had seized the initiative in the Ferris wheel.
Both of them were shorter than me, and I was absolutely sure I was stronger than them. Yet, they had pinned me down so easily.
“….Masato-sama, is something wrong?”
“Ah, no! Um…”
I played off the fact that I was recalling those past events… and decided to ask about something that had been bothering me.
“Say, Shiori-chan… are you, by any chance, really strong?”
“Huh? Me?”
Shiori-chan’s eyes went wide.
Honestly, Shiori-chan felt even more delicate than Yuka or Mizuho. Plus, when we played basketball the other day, she mentioned that she wasn’t very athletic.
If even someone like Shiori-chan had strength equal to or greater than mine, then I figured it must mean that in this world, girls were fundamentally stronger than guys.
I thought it would explain how Yuka and Mizuho had managed to push me down, so I tried asking.
Shiori-chan thought about it for a moment, then…
“…Wanna test it out?”
“Test it?”
“Do you want to arm wrestle or something?”
Rolling up her right sleeve, Shiori-chan suggested arm wrestling. True, it might be a good, simple way to measure arm strength.
“Oh, sure, let’s give it a try.”
“Let’s gooo!”
I didn’t know why she was so happy, but Shiori-chan joyfully took a seat at the low table.
“Here, have at me. Show no mercy.”
“You’re already assuming you’ll lose…?”
True, I felt like I could definitely beat Shiori-chan.
As Shiori-chan fluttered her right hand to beckon me, I sat down in front of her and grasped her hand.
“Oof…”
“? Is something wrong?”
“N-no! It’s nothing.”
Still, it’s hard to signal the start with just the two of us.
“Alright, Shiori-chan, you can give the starting signal.”
“Is that okay? Then here we go… Ready, go!”
Shiori-chan gave an energetic starting signal, so I put a little strength into it.
“Eeeek?!”
Instantly, Shiori-chan’s fist was slammed against the table. I-I hardly even put any strength into it…
“T-that’s weird… This is the event where I’m supposed to win and coolly show off my strength to you, Masato-sama, just like the protagonist of this manga…”
“Hahaha, I think that might be a bit too difficult for you.”
A part of me felt relieved. It seemed I had just been caught off guard with Yuka and Mizuho, and the power dynamic between men and women hadn’t actually reversed.
If I had lost to Shiori-chan too, I honestly wouldn’t have known what to do.
“…W-wait, at this rate it’s a bad end… Aha, Sensei did say it’s fine to brute-force it a little…”
“?”
Just as I was thinking of letting go, Shiori-chan muttered something to herself, and then…
“Waaah~ My hand slipped~!”
“Eh?!”
Shiori-chan collapsed toward me while still gripping my arm.
I casually used the hand I was holding to pull Shiori-chan’s body up.
“Eh.”
Thank goodness Shiori-chan was light. It would’ve been bad if she landed awkwardly and got hurt.
I caught Shiori-chan’s back as she was about to fall over, slipped my hands under her arms, and lifted her up securely. Holding her like that, I deposited her right into her desk chair.
“It’s just about time anyway, so let’s finish up with Japanese! Come on, sit.”
“Ah, yes…”
Shiori-chan’s body was as light as a feather. It was incredibly easy to sit her down in the chair.
Shiori-chan really is a mysterious, yet interesting kid.
“Shiori-chan, you’re a wonderful girl, so to make sure things go well when you find someone you like in the future, you shouldn’t do careless things like that.”
“…U-umm… yes.”
For some reason, Shiori-chan sounded a bit evasive.
I’m sure Shiori-chan will have some great encounters in the future. I can’t let her do anything weird so she won’t have any regrets when that time comes.
Thinking to myself that I’d done a good deed…
For the next hour, I saw Shiori-chan’s studying through to the very end today as well.