───● The Literary High School Girl’s Declaration of Intent ●○●
A week had passed in the blink of an eye since that tutoring session where Shiori-chan and I arm-wrestled for some reason, and the calendar once again showed it was Saturday. Today was Shiori-chan’s last tutoring session of the year. Because the first session of the new year would land too close to New Year’s Day, it meant I wouldn’t be seeing Shiori-chan for about two weeks.
To make up for it, I had to make sure I assigned her a solid amount of homework.
The time was 11:30 AM. It was about time for me to head out, so as I was getting ready…
“Masato~ Are you here~?”
“Yes!”
It was Aika-san’s voice, so I went to open the front door.
“Heya, Masato,” she greeted.
“Good morning,” I replied.
Aika-san poked her head in, dressed in her usual office-like attire.
“Did something happen?” I asked.
“Nope. It’s just that you’ve seemed a bit out of it lately, Masato, so I got worried and came to check on you,” Aika-san explained.
“Urgh… I’m sorry.”
Truth be told, I’d been making more mistakes at my part-time job at the bar lately. It happened the other day when Seira-san visited, too…
I had a good idea of the reason why. It was because I was lost on what I should do now.
Even so, suddenly distancing myself from the girls didn’t feel like the right move either, so for now, I was trying to interact with them as normally as possible. But because I felt like I needed to come up with an answer, I kept thinking about it constantly, which often left me spacing out.
“…It’s not good to stress yourself out too much over things, you know,” Aika-san advised gently.
“I’m sorry, and thank you.”
Aika-san always treated me so kindly. I could never fully express my gratitude for how she looked after me like I was her own child. It really wasn’t good of me to cause her even more worry when she was already doing so much for me.
“Oh, but the tutoring is going well! Shiori-chan’s grades have been improving, too,” I offered.
“So I’ve heard. Her mother mentioned it to me. Today’s a tutoring day, isn’t it?”
“That’s right!”
Shiori-chan’s mother frequently showed up at the bar as well. It seemed Shiori-chan wasn’t too thrilled about that, but… well, considering that connection was the only reason I got this job in the first place, I couldn’t really complain.
“Shiori-chan is really easy to talk to, so right now, it’s honestly a huge help,” I said.
“…I see.”
To be completely honest, I wasn’t in a place where I could comfortably hang out with Koumi or Mizuho right now. Being around them just made me hate myself for still not being able to give them an answer.
In that sense, having Shiori-chan around was something I was incredibly grateful for.
When I looked at Aika-san after saying that, she seemed to ponder something for a moment before speaking.
“Are you heading out now?”
“Yeah! I’m planning to leave pretty soon.”
“Alright. In that case, could you give me some of your time around the end of the year?” Aika-san asked.
“Huh? Yes, of course.”
“Great. I’ll see you later, then. Try not to be too hard on yourself, okay?”
“Thank you. I’ll do my best!”
Having said her piece, Aika-san gave a light wave and headed home. Well, she only lived a few minutes away on foot, so it was easy enough for her to drop by.
Right at the end there, I got the feeling Aika-san was trying to tell me something. She had put it off for later since we were short on time, but… I wondered what it was she wanted to say to me.
“…Ah, crap.”
I happened to glance at my smartphone and realized it was already time for me to leave. There was no way I could be late for the last tutoring session of the year.
I hurriedly finished getting ready and bolted out of the house.
“So because of that, you can translate this part like so… Ah, that word is easy to misspell, so be careful,” I instructed.
“Ngh… I know I make a lot of spelling mistakes, but I’m just so bad at using vocabulary books…” Shiori-chan groaned.
Since arriving at Shiori-chan’s house, the tutoring session had been progressing as usual.
Now that she had discarded her polite Ojou-sama facade, Shiori-chan was much more capable of blurting out whatever was on her mind, making her words flow out effortlessly.
“Like, this is practically correct though??? Getting hit with a penalty just because I forgot to put it in the past tense is truly regrettable,” she argued.
“Hehehe…” I chuckled.
The little quirks in her speech were sometimes so amusing that I couldn’t help but laugh.
This was probably because she’d stopped worrying so much about what I thought of her.
In the past, Shiori-chan had always seemed somewhat stiff even during our lessons, but lately she appeared to be studying in a much more relaxed state.
Of course, she didn’t say anything bordering on sexual harassment (maybe?) during our lessons and tackled her studies seriously.
Although during our breaks, she would unleash those remarks without any hesitation whatsoever…
But to be perfectly honest, it was strange how being sexually harassed by a beautiful girl didn’t make me uncomfortable in the slightest, unless it was something severely messed up.
…Wait, does that mean if I’m in this world, I’d be allowed to sexually harass people too…? No, let’s not go there. I have a feeling that wouldn’t lead to a bright future…
“…Alright, let’s stop with the English for today,” I announced.
“Bleh~~~~ I’m so exhausted~ My stamina is completely depleted, I am truly out of MP,” she whined.
“Yeah, let’s take a little break,” I agreed.
After roughly an hour of tutoring, we decided to take a breather.
While praising Shiori-chan as she collapsed face-first onto her desk, I took a sip of the barley tea she’d prepared for me.
As I drank, I checked my smartphone, which I hadn’t looked at for a while, and saw a few notifications.
Mizuho: Masato, make sure you properly attend classes when the new year starts!
…Um~ You don’t need to think too much about it, you know.
Just taking classes together with you is enough to make me happy.
Maeda Yuka: Masato-san, I was actually called up for the regional selection team…
I’m feeling a bit anxious, so would you mind practicing with me again?
Any time you’re free is perfectly fine…!
Mizuho’s consideration pierced my heart.
She was such a kind, wonderful girl.
As for Yuka… that’s amazing. Getting selected as a first-year… well, given Yuka’s skills, I suppose it was a given.
Mizuho and Yuka.
I couldn’t help but recall the time those two had confessed their feelings to me.
To be completely honest, I was so shocked that I was in a state of utter confusion, but neither of them showed me any mercy and… let’s just stop there. Whether I liked it or not, the images of that moment flashed through my mind.
They were both so cute normally, but during that specific moment, it was like… I was completely on the side being hunted, or something along those lines…
As I was ruminating over those thoughts, Shiori-chan, who had seemingly revived at some point, suddenly appeared right behind me.
“Are you fretting over girl troubles a~gain, Masato-san?” she teased.
“Uhh… Well, I mean, yeah…” I stammered.
“Haa~… This is exactly why pretty boys are just too OP… I really appreciated your help during the culture festival, though…” she mumbled.
Figuring there was no point in lying, I decided to come clean.
It was a relief that Shiori-chan’s attitude didn’t change even when we talked about stuff like this.
Ever since we’d gotten close, she even let me consult her for advice from time to time.
“Is it Igarashi-senpai? Or is it another girl again?” Shiori-chan pried.
“Ah~ Well, Koumi is part of it, too, but…”
“‘Too’?! You just said ‘too’, didn’t you, Masato-san! This is why popular guys are just… What is it this time? Did someone finally confess to you?” she interrogated.
“…”
As Shiori-chan struck an exasperated pose, her words hit the nail on the head so perfectly that I found myself at a loss for words.
At that unnatural silence, Shiori-chan’s eyes widened.
“Eh… Wait, did someone actually confess to you?” she stammered.
“Well, you could say that, yeah,” I admitted.
“H-Hold on a second. Plus, earlier you said ‘too’, right? Doesn’t that mean multiple people…?”
It was too embarrassing to say it out loud, so all I could do was offer a wry smile and nod.
“No… way…” she breathed.
Shiori-chan seemed far more shocked than I expected.
Thinking about it objectively, I reflected that this probably wasn’t the sort of topic you discussed with the opposite sex.
“Sorry, sorry, it can’t be fun listening to this sort of stuff,” I apologized.
“No, um… It’s not a matter of it being fun or not, it’s just…”
Looking closely, I could see that Shiori-chan’s hands were trembling.
Ah, so this topic was that unpleasant for her… I really messed up…
“C-Could you give me a minute~?! I have a massive amount of flowers I need to go harvest right now, yes!” she exclaimed.
Leaving those words behind, Shiori-chan practically bolted out of the room in a panic.
That was bad… It definitely wasn’t a pleasant thing to hear. It wouldn’t be strange if it came off like I was bragging about how popular I was.
I’d apologize as soon as Shiori-chan came back. I’d gotten way too comfortable just because she had become so easy to talk to.
I was well aware that I was mentally unstable, having already caused trouble for Aika-san, everyone else working at the bar, and Seira-san, but that didn’t mean it was acceptable for me to start dragging Shiori-chan down with me.
I let out an involuntary sigh.
Lately, I was just completely useless.
After waiting for a while, Shiori-chan finally returned.
However, her hands still seemed to be shaking, prompting me to speak up.
“I’m really sorry, Shiori-chan. That wasn’t a very pleasant topic, was it?” I apologized.
“A-Ah, no, not at all. That wasn’t the problem, it’s just…”
“It’s just so easy to talk to you, Shiori-chan, so I ended up bringing up things like that. It wasn’t right of me,” I continued.
“Ah~ Ummmm… a-about that…”
I was a little surprised when Shiori-chan spoke up, nearly interrupting me.
Shiori-chan took a deep breath. I wondered what was going on.
She closed the door behind her back. …Maybe it was just my imagination, but it felt like she closed it a lot more deliberately than usual… I wondered why.
Shiori-chan closed the distance between us with forceful strides, stopping right next to me.
A distinctly sweet, feminine scent wafted over to me, making me instinctively take a small step back.
“U-Um, it makes me really happy that you feel I’m easy to talk to, yes, truly,” she assured me.
“Y-Yeah…?”
“B-By the way, why is that, I wonder?” she asked.
The reason? The reason, huh.
It was mostly just a feeling, so it was difficult to explain, but…
“Ever since you dropped your polite persona, I’ve felt really comfortable talking to you. Because it’s so enjoyable, I don’t feel tense around you… Something like that, I guess?” I answered honestly.
“I-I see~ That makes me veeeery happy,” she squeaked.
If she accepted that explanation, then that was a relief.
If Shiori-chan came to hate me, I didn’t know what I would do──
“B-But!!”
It was a louder voice than I’d ever heard from Shiori-chan, startling me in spite of myself.
Only then did our eyes finally meet.
When had it happened? Looking up at me, her cheeks were flushed crimson and her eyes were brimming with moisture. She looked incredibly nervous.
“U-Um…” she stammered.
Were the words she wanted to say getting stuck in her throat?
I felt like rushing her in this situation wouldn’t be a good idea, so I waited for her to speak.
…I wondered why my heart was starting to pound.
Taking two or three deep breaths, Shiori-chan finally met my gaze once more.
Her beautiful features—something I’d noticed even the very first time we’d met.
The realization that had struck me when she’d stepped closer.
Because I found it so easy to interact with her, I had selfishly assumed things.
But this girl too, without a doubt…
“J-Just so you know, I-I’m also… a girl, you know,” she breathed.
Those words, declared as she stared up at me──carried more than enough destructive power to completely shake my heart.