“Good morning, Hiro.
Oro~? You look tired.”

Tomomi sat down at my desk as soon as we arrived at the classroom and said those words. 

I stared at her with a stern look in my eyes and let out a small sigh.

“A little, mentally.”

“Is it difficult? Living together?”

“I wonder.
Well, Isn’t this just the beginning?”

I can’t tell if it’s hard or not.
At any rate, earlier was hard for me in more ways than one.(E/N: The mc is talking about their convo that morning, iirc it’s set the same day as this one.)

“Well, if that’s the case, you can always come and talk to me.
I can only listen to what you have to say though.”

As we were talking, our homeroom teacher came into the classroom.
She was in charge of maths, and since math was the first subject, she went straight into teaching.

“Yoshi~.
Then, I will return the quiz results we did the other day.
Come and get it, the one whose name is called… Aiga~”

The classmates were called one by one.
Eventually, it was my turn.

“Higashi-kujo!”

“Yes.”

I went in front of the teacher and received the results.
To be honest, I wasn’t confident about the test,  the result was…

“Higashi Kujo? You’ve been slacking off too much lately, haven’t you? Your second year of high school is an important time to prepare for the entrance examinations. After school, we’ll have remedial lessons.”

“Understood.”

I took the test I received and went to my seat with my shoulders slumped.
Fujita, who was sitting in the middle of the class, called out to me.

“Heeeh.
By the look on your face, it looks like you didn’t score well.”

“Yeah.
Unfortunately, it was a very low score.
I’m going to have to make it up.”

“Oh, my.
Well, I’m sorry to hear that.”

“Huh.
Why do you look happy?”

“Well, you’ve also got a pretty girl in your life, so you have to deal with it once in a while.
Everything in life is about balance.”

“Next, Fujita~”

“Yes.”

Fujita pats me on the shoulder and heads to the teacher, skipping.

“Fujita! What’s with this score! You’ll get remedial lessons, too!”

“Eeeeehh~!”

He’s even dumber than me to begin with, so why was he so confident? To be honest, it’s unsurprising that he has remedials too.

◇◆◇

“Ara~?”

“Oh? Kiryu?”

As I arrive at the station after my infernal study of mathematics, I spot Kiryu, who has started to become a familiar sight over the past few days.
I then call out to her,

“You’re pretty late.
What took you so long?”

“I had remedial math so I had to stay at school.
What about you?”

“Really? Well, good work.
I was at the library.
I was wondering if there were any interesting books there.”

“Didn’t you already borrow ten books on Saturday?”

“I read five of the books, so I returned it and borrowed another five.”

Kiryu shakes her handbag in her hand and shows it to me.
When I reach for the bag, she pulls it back and hugs it.
What?

“Huh? Are you gonna steal it?”

“I won’t steal it.
Give it to me.
It’s heavy, right?”

“Eh? I-I’m alright! No need for concern!”

“That’s not a line from a girl who made me carry twenty books.
Come on now.”

I took the handbag from Kiryu’s hand.
After a small cry of “Ah,” Kiryu made an apologetic, yet still slightly happy face.

“Thanks.It was actually a little heavy.”

“Books are surprisingly heavy but you borrow them pretty often.
How much do you love books?”

“It’s my hobby.
They have a great lineup of books there, but there’s a limit of 10 books.
I have a lot I want to read, so it would be nice if I could borrow a few more.

“Isn’t borrowing ten books enough already? I haven’t used a library since elementary school… Oh right.
I think there was a rental period or something?

“Rental period? Anyway we can borrow books every two weeks.
But only ten books? I can read them all in a week.”

“I’m not sure I’d finish that much book even if I had two weeks.”

“You see, I don’t have any friends.”

“Don’t say that everytime…”

How can I say this? It makes me feel kind of sad.

“Well, that’s why I’m free after school.
But that doesn’t matter, what about not being able to finish a book in two weeks being a high school student? Haven’t you read books since entering school?”

“I haven’t.
I’ve only read the stories in the textbooks.”

“Huh… I’m shocked.
I’m not trying to force you to do anything, but why don’t you get a little more familiar with reading? It’s interesting.”

“Maybe one of these days.”

If I get the chance, absolutely.
Well, maybe.
Nevermind, probably not.

“Well, don’t mind me.
If you can only borrow ten books, give up and stick with that number.
The sooner you return it, the sooner you can read others, right?”

“I know, but… it’s pretty far away, you know?”

“I guess.”

The library Kiryu is talking about is two train stops away from our apartment.
From the school, it is four stops.
To say it’s far would be an understatement.

“It would take less than an hour from school for some reason, right? It’s a waste of that time, and the train fare.”

“That’s a really unladylike line.”

“It’s better to be a cheapskate, don’t you think? A house where the wife has a firm grip on the purse is a prosperous place, right?”

“Is that how it is?”

 

Well, it seems like I’m going to have to take care of everything, not just the wallet, if I marry Kiryu.

“Is there any way we can–“

After speaking up to that point, Kiryu stops walking and raises her right hand in a gesture of realization.
What’s wrong?

“Oh…”

“Yes, Kiryu-san?”

“Uhh.
Higashi kujo-kun.
I have a small favor to ask of you.”

“A favor?”

 

“You don’t read that many books, do you, Higashi Kujo-kun?”

“That’s right.”

“Then… Can you make a library card..
And..”(E/N: Took her a  long time to realize that loophole, anybody here figured it out before she said it?)

It hit me.

“Oh, you want me to lend you that? No problem.”

I’m sure she’ll be very happy to make good use of the book card.

“I-it’s different! Well, by different I mean, even if you make a library card, you have to be the person to borrow it.”

“Really?”

But how do you verify a student’s identity? I don’t have a driver’s license.

“Well, to be honest, it’s not that strict.
But… if I try to borrow a book as ‘Hiroyuki Higashi Kujo’…”

“Oh.
There’s a high chance they’ll find out.”

”That’s right.
Plus, I’m kind of a regular, so the librarians remember my name and appearance.”

“They would probably remember you as the distinguished looking girl.”

“I agree.
I’ve never gained anything by having a good appearance, but I’ve lost a lot.”

You’ve never benefited from your looks?

““Ojou-chan, you’re adorable! I’ll give you some extra!”And so on.
Isn’t that what people say to you when you go shopping?”

“I don’t go shopping.”

“Ah.”

“Sometimes I’ve been criticized for my looks, but I can’t remember a time when I’ve gotten anything out of it.”

“What about the boys who take care of you? Who will carry heavy bags for you, or take over cleaning duty?”

“There are? For me?” 

“Probably not.
For Kiryu-san.” 

“Nobody is going to give me any flirtatious looks, probably because they are afraid of the stares of the girls.”

No, I don’t think it’s just the stares of girls.
You have the mouth and attitude of a villainess.
You may think it didn’t happen because you went to an all-girls middle school, but you probably won’t get that kind of princess-like treatment at a co-ed school, either.
Thinking that, I looked at Kiryu’s face and planned to ask… what? Why is she staring at my face? Don’t tell me you’re thinking I’m being disrespectful?

“So I…”

“..”

“Now, you’re holding the books for me like it’s a normal thing, aren’t you?”

“This?”

I lifted up the handbag and showed it to her.
Kiryu’s face, which was raised as if she was being led by the bag, had an embarrassed smile on it.

“I’m so happy.
It’s like… I am finally being treated like a girl…”

“Well… Th-that’s good.
I’m happy for you.”

“…”

“…”

“Anyway.
Well, it’s the same thing this time, isn’t it? It’s not a good thing to stand out and have your face and name remembered… It really isn’t!”

“I-I see.
It can’t be that bad, right?”

“It really is.
It’s a sin to be pretty.”

“A sin?”

“It’s more like punishment.
You could even call it the wrath of God.

“What’s with that hard mode of life? That’s a super s****y game.”

“I’ve been blessed in other places, so I guess it’s even.
And I digress.
Anyway, that’s why I need you to go to the library with me.
I-Is it a no?”

As if in fear of being rejected, she looks me in the eye as she picks at the sleeves of my clothes.
Hey, that’s pretty cute. 

“Well, I can do that much.”

“Really?!  Yay!  I’m so glad!”

I couldn’t help but let out a laugh at the sight of Kiryu jumping up and down on the spot.
Is she really that happy?

“So when do you want to go then? Maybe this Saturday–“

“Tomorrow! Let’s go tomorrow after school!”

“Eh, That’s quick! Tomorrow?!”

“What? You have something to do?”

“No, I don’t.”

As long as I don’t have any sudden remedial classes or anything like that, my schedule’s free.
We haven’t had any quizzes lately, so I should be fine, right?

“Then tomorrow it is! Yay! There was a book I gave up on today in tears! I’m so happy, Higashi kujo-kun! Thank you!”

“I hope it won’t be borrowed today,” I think, watching Kiryu’s back as she walks, mumbling something with a slightly anxious look on my face.

After that my smile turned into a look of anxiety as I thought “I really hope no one borrows it today”, while following Kiryu who was mumbling something as she walked.
(E/N: If you’re still confused on the borrow, he meant the book that kiryu was talking about earlier.) 

This is a date, isn’t it?

“What are you doing, Higashi Kujo-kun? Let’s go home quickly!”

 

I wondered if I was the only one who was aware of Kiryu’s sparkling smile.
I felt a little embarrassed, so I quickened my pace.

点击屏幕以使用高级工具 提示:您可以使用左右键盘键在章节之间浏览。

You'll Also Like