(LN) The Gal Is Sitting Behind Me, and Loves Me - Volume 01 (JNCodex)

Prologue
"...C'mon, don't look here."
"...I hear you, but the sight of you gloriously plunging your
foot into the gutter is just so eye-catching."
"I-I didn't do it because I wanted to! Aaah geez, this is the

worst! I have a part-time after this and no way I'm going
there while stinking of the ditch... and I've got dirt splattered
over my uniform and arms, too..."
"Part-time? From when?"
"...It starts at 5."
"You still have about one hour and a half there. How
about heading home first?"
"Huh? It takes me an hour to get home by train each way,

alright? I'm not gonna make it!"
"I see, that's certainly unreasonable... Let's see... wanna

come to my place? It's the apartment right over there. I can
lend you a shower, at least."
"Eh...?"
"What do you say?"
"...I'll borrow your shower. Thanks."
『fb.com/JNovelCodex』
—This was the first time Fujiwara Sandai had ever
exchanged words with Yuizaki Shino.
On his way home from school just after the start of the
second semester in early September, he happened to see
Shino missing her footing and plunging into a ditch filled
with dirty sewage water.
At the high school Sandai was attending, there was a

gyaru considered to be an extraordinary beauty—and it was
Yuizaki Shino, the one he'd just spoken to.
Shino was seated right behind Sandai, and the physical

distance between them was very close. However, throughout
their school life, Sandai had never had a single conversation
with Shino.
From the point of view of Sandai who was someone

ordinary with many otaku-like hobbies and a loner at the
bottommost end of the class caste, Shino was pretty much an
extraterrestrial existence to him; even when passing print-
outs from the front to the back, never had he talked to her
because he didn't know what she was even thinking.
This wasn't the outcome of a conscious decision, rather an

unconscious segregation of 'because the worlds they were
living in were different.'
However, it was for this reason that Sandai had got

surprised at himself suddenly getting talked to; nor could he
believe that Shino had readily accepted his proposal.
However, there is a word called 'coincidence' in this

world. That was why Sandai thought, That must be what is
happening now.
September 05 - September 12
Fate is More Normal Than Expected, Huh?
Thinking that it would be harsh for her to go to her part-

time job in a dirty uniform, Sandai lent her his clothes.
However, there was a difference in height and in physique of
a man and a woman, so of course, the size didn't fit, and it
was very loose-fitting when Shino put them on.
"That felt great~"
"Glad to hear that. Hear, I'll give you a paper bag, too."
"Hmm? Paper bag?"
"The paper bag is pretty big so you can put your uniform
there. If you get an express dry cleaning on the way to your
part-time, you can pick it up when you head back."
"What great hospitality~"
"You think so? —Alright, now get out."
Sandai pointed at the entrance.
He'd done all he could do, so now this was all wrapped up
—or it was supposed to. For some reason, the beautiful
gyaru in front of him looked unamused and didn't try to get
moving.
"...Aren't you kinda cold? Ah, I get it! You must be

thinking what to do if your parents see this situation now,
don't you? I mean, I guess you'd be asked what you were
doing bringing a girl in. I didn't see them, but could they be
out at work or shopping, and like they're gonna be home
soon?"
Perhaps trying to fool around and tease him, Shino

seemed to think that she'd hit the sore spot of a high school
male student with her comments about parents... though,
that didn't work against Sandai at all. After all, his parents
were overseas for work reasons.
"That teasing won't work on me."
Sandai shrugged his shoulders and claimed its

ineffectiveness, "I live alone after all."
Shino instantly got sullen and pouted. However, she

seemed to have thought of another way to tease a little while
later.
"...That's so awesome living alone. But then, you know,

could there be naught books all over the place? I mean, no
parents' eyes on you, so you can collect as much as you
want."
Like guys his age, Sandai certainly possessed that kind of

thing as well, but he was keeping as much of it as possible as
data stored in his PC.
However, it wasn't like he got zero physical goods hidden

either.
—Sandai's composed attitude underwent a one-eighty,

and he got plainly flustered by Shino's abrupt house
searching.
"You idiot! Stop!"
"What's with the panicking? Don't tell me..."
"You'll find tons of mangas, but you won't find any
naughty books no matter how hard you try. You'll find
nothing. Forget about that, just get out already."
"Aww c'mon, don't get so uptight like that."
"What do you mean 'aww.' Trying to be cute or

something?"
"I can try, you know? Rawr~ rawr~"
"Shut it! C'mon get moving! Shoo shoo!"
Having kicked Shino outside while pushing the paper bag

where her uniform tossed inside to her, Sandai shut the
front door quicker than the eye could see and sat down on
the spot.
"...Normally you don't just go fishing through someone's

home. She really is a race living in a different world; both
our common senses and values are too different. I totally
would never go rummaging through someone's home. Oh
well, from tomorrow we'll no longer be involved with each
other anyway."
Sandai talked to himself about a kind of societal order or

truth.
Even if an irregular event occurs in the world, it will not

become the norm and will always try to return to its original
form.
It is such a thing.
Though, there are exceptions to everything.
Sandai didn't notice it—that he himself had become that
exception.
***
Next morning, Sandai was taking out his naughty books

for trash disposal.
The reason was yesterday's Shino's failed attempt at

house fishing.
Although Sandai thought that the chance of encountering

a similar crisis would be extremely low, he couldn't
completely dismiss the really slim chance that it might
happen, and the next thing he knew, he'd been tying up the
naughy books.
He'd love to sell it for money if possible, but his status as a

high school student stood as a barrier. He would have to
show identification to sell them, and his school would
definitely be contacted at that time. That would make it a
very troublesome thing.
As he watched the garbage pickup place through the

window, he saw the garbage truck arriving and two workers
tossing the books into the back of the truck.
Although it was certainly Sandai's own volition to give up

the physical goods, it was strangely sad for him to see the
naughty books tied up with strings disappearing.
The naughty images and books stored in his PC remained

untouched, so it wasn't even unnecessary to feel forlorn,
though...
Well in any case, now Sandai would be back again to lead

his ordinary, uneventful, and lonely as ever school life—
—Or supposed to.
Sandai himself was completely not expecting this, and he

couldn't go back to his usual school life. The cause was —
Shino.
***
Before the start of the first period, Shino suddenly went to

talk to Sandai.
"Here's the clothes I borrowed when I got to your home

and took a shower yesterday. Also my part-time is at a cafe,
and I'm giving you some confections made there, too!"
Shino said loudly and brazenly, and placed his clothes and
what appeared to be thank-you confections on Sandai's desk.
Setting aside the fact that she had meant to give the
clothes, the surroundings were even more shocked at Shino's
words and actions than Sandai, the concerned party.
The relationship with the opposite sex of Shino, a leading

beauty, was a topic of interest to students regardless of their
school year, class, or gender, and Sandai was suddenly the
man of hour, as 『the man brought that Shino to his home
and in addition lent her a shower.』
The instantly sparked rumors didn't stay in the classroom,

but quickly spread throughout the school. The loner Sandai
couldn't even get the opportunity to make an explanation.
He would be watched wherever he went, and whispers

could endlessly be heard.
***
"I stand out in a troublesome way... Why... do I have to go
through this... Come on, please wake up quickly if it's a bad
dream...!"
It was only after school ended, and Sandai rushed home

to his apartment and locked the front door that he was
finally able to catch a breath.
While frowning at the surging exhaustion, Sandai first

went to shove the returned clothes into the closet and put
them away.
But then a small cherry-blossom colored memo fluttered

down from the gap in the clothes.
『It's my contact info! I'm especially giving it to you!』
A message app ID and phone number were written on the

memo along with such a text.
"The heck is this...? Is this that thing where you call and
the scary big brother answers? Or could she be trying to drag
me into MLM or something?"
I'm not gonna fall for that kind of trap, Sandai crumpled
up the memo, tossed it into the trash can, and headed to his
desk sighing.
Forgetting all that for now, he started studying to kill time

until the start of late-night anime.
There was a way of killing time with manga or light

novels, which he would often do as well, but the pace at
which Sandai would go consume them was rather fast, and
he currently got zero backlog.
That was how Sandai spent his time: studying at that kind
of time. Studying was a casual way to kill time for Sandai,
which was close to daily routine or habit.
He would have the choice to head to town were he to have

a friend, but Sandai was a loner. He got no friends to hang
out with.
—Dull youth.
Seen from the outside, no doubt Sandai's daily life would

appear so, and one could say indeed it was. However, in
exchange for such bitter loneliness, he'd also gained results
in the so-called 'grades.' In fact, he constantly ranked first in
his school year since enrollment.
"...Come to think of it, I was given confections, huh. The

shop's name is written on the bag, so I guess this really
doesn't seem to be a trap or something."
He opened the confection bag to check the content, and

saw that it contained amarettis. Since there was no weird
smell, and didn't seem like it would be extremely spicy when
eaten, Sandai picked one up and threw it into his mouth.
It was delish with just-right sweetness. No matter how

much of a gyaru she was, it seemed she really didn't intend
to tease people with food.
(Note: Amaretti are small, crispy cookies made with

almonds that are sometimes referred to as "macaroons".
They were first tracked in Italy during the Renaissance and
there are varying recipes.)
"...This is just plain good."
He was reaching for it while continuing with studying,

and the amarettis were all gone before long.
...I just hope I won't get any weird attention tomorrow,

Sandai thought while crawling into the bed, after having
finished studying by late at night, and finished watching the
anime he'd been waiting for.
...Though, in fact, it wouldn't go as he wished.

Unfortunately, no change the next day—no, if anything, it
got worse.
***
"(So I hear Yuizaki-san going to a guy's home and taking a

shower...)"
"(A woman taking a shower at a man's home... it's gotta be

screwing, no? Totally screwing, right? I wanna screw
Yuizaki, too!)"
"(Looks like that man called Fujiwara or something is a

gloomy loner. What's Yuizaki even doing with a guy like
that? I'm definitely a better man here.)"
"(Maybe she's been brainwashed with hypnotism...? That

or her weakness. I wonder if I can also get Yuizaki to be
mine if I can get hold of her weaknesses.)"
The side irresponsibly creating rumors may be having a

good time, but the side being rumored about was extremely
stressed. Sandai was gradually driven into the corner
mentally, the content of the lessons was entering his ear and
out the other, and when walking, he was losing his sense of
balance, and his steps were becoming wobbly.
Though, he couldn't shut people's mouths. He could only

endure. Sandai decided to curl up like a turtle in his seat and
wait for the time to pass.
But then he got poked in the back with the tip of a

mechanical pencil. Sandai looked back wondering what was
up, and found a smiling Shino there.
Speaking of which, sitting behind him was this gyaru.
What's she doing...? I see, I get it. If she gets involved

with me, I'd be getting even more cornered by the people
around. She must want to have fun watching that. That
kinda stuff is fun to watch from the sidelines.
Sandai now wanted to make a complaint, but that was

precisely the reaction Shino was seeking, so Sandai decided
to ignore her, not wanting to worsen the situation.
"Poke poke, poke."
"..."
"Your response?"
"..."
If he were to give no reaction, Shino would most likely

lose interest before long. Gyarus were supposed to have such
a personality.
Thus the thing he ought to do was sit quietly and wait for
the time to pass.
Come to think of it... Sandai thought. The surroundings

are also gradually calming down like, 'Maybe there was
some kind of misunderstanding', and everything will be
settled.
Sandai's plan was largely fruitful.
Around lunch time, Shino's poking came to a stop, and

she began to indulge in conversations with her own friends.
Although the looks from around were still showing no

singing of fading, surely it would be just now. He was feeling
somewhat comforted in thinking that it would stop before
long.
"...Probably it's still gonna take time, but it looks like my

daily life can somehow return."
Sandai took lunch alone at the cafeteria, "Phew~" let out a

sigh of relief, returned to the classroom, and put his hand on
the door—but stopped short when he heard the voices of
Shino and her friends talking from inside.
"Say, Shino, is it true you went to Fujiwara's home?"
"Eh? It's true, you know? I borrowed a shower and some

clothes, too."
"For real? Is one like that your taste? Fujiwara's just a

loner, though?"
Knowing that he was being bad-mouthed, Sandai's temple
began to pop veins and twitch.
However—
"It's not about taste or anything... It's just, that I thought

he's a kind guy, I guess."
"Kind?"
"You know, the reason I went to Fujiwara's home was

because I screwed up and plunged my foot into the ditch. I
also got part-time, so when I was thinking I've gotta do
something about it, he said, 'Wanna come to my home?' I
could sense there were no ulterior motives at all, so... so I
followed him. And then he didn't do anything weird as I
expected. See? Fujiwara's kind, right?"
"I feel like it's simply more of being a wuss than kind,
though... but well, I guess you're also very sensitive to that
kinda thing."
"And you also notice ulterior motives right away, and

often reject them rather harshly by their responses and
attitudes even before talking to them."
"Shino... could it be that you've never dated a man even

once?"
"T-That's right... 'cause I'm not good with guys..."
"A maiden does exist in reality. This is so precious..."
Maybe... Yuizaki is not that bad of a girl... I guess? he
thought, and his anger subsided right after.
Sandai silently left the door and went to gaze out the
window in the corridor.
Clear blue skies stretched out endlessly, and the sound of

cicadas and the lingering summer heat around his skin
gradually seeped into his body.
***
Come afternoon, Shino resumed her poking attacks.
As for the reason for doing it again... Sandai wasn't really

sure, but anyway, his hostility towards Shino was fading,
and he was wavering whether this time he should respond or
not.
However, it didn't mean that he got a change of heart

enough to proactively try to get involved with her just
because his hostility was fading, so he still continued the
plan to ignore her. In terms of original standing within
school, it was a natural relationship where neither side
would get involved in the first place, and he also got a strong
feeling that it should return to such a normal condition.
Though, surprisingly without even getting sick of it the

next time, Shino continued to poke Sanda's back the next
day and the day after that when she saw an opening,
contrary to the thought of Sandai.
About the time marks seemed to start forming on his

back, Sandai finally looked back, judging that she wouldn't
seem to stop unless he faced her and talked.
Then he found Shino making a lonely-looking face. Sandai
also couldn't help but at a loss for words at the expression he
hadn't expected.
"W-What's with you and that face...?"
"...I'm waiting, you know?"
"Waiting? For what?"
"Hmph." Shino then suddenly looked away. "Even though

I put a memo in there..."
The mutter from Shino was so tiny that Sandai couldn't

hear it clearly.
However, it was clear that it was some kind of words

expressing a change of feelings, and Shino stopped the
poking attack ever since, no longer trying to get involved.
And then as if to match that, the gazes and interests

towards Sandai from the surroundings was beginning to
calm down, albeit little by little.
Although it had gone slightly differently from expected,

Sandai should rightfully be happy as this was the end he had
hoped for... that said, welling up in Sandai's heart wasn't joy,
but a fuzzy, vague feeling.
That never leaving, unpleasant feeling clinging to his

heart continued to remain even after a day and two had
passed.
Why was Shino making a lonely-looking face? Although

he certainly had gone all the way with giving zero reactions,
he hadn't said any cruel things, or threatened her or
anything...
When Sandai noticed it, he had only been thinking about
it around the clock, and today as well, he continued to mull
over it until after school.
He understood that he couldn't continue being like this. It

would come up as a hindrance to his daily life if prolonged,
so he would have to do well to regulate his own heart.
The solution Sandai took after much worrying was a very

simple one: 'forget it' and 'pretend to have never seen it.'
"...Alright."
Sandai slapped both his own cheeks, and attempted to go

about his business as usual while being aware of his
subconsciousness.
***
After going back to his apartment, taking an early bath,

checking new releases of mangas and light novels, he began
studying.
Time went by in the blink of an eye.
Next thing he knew it was a little after nine at night.
In order to take some break, Sandai went to make a coffee

and turned on the TV. It was either dramas or news
programs being played at around this time, but he had no
particular interest in drama so he chose the news program.
『 A typhoon is rapidly approaching. The Meteorological

Agency has issued a warning that the typhoon will hit in two
hours and that people should refrain from going outside
unnecessarily. Also, in response to the typhoon, the train
service has been suspended for the day with the last train
departing earlier at 20:28.』
He went to check the outside through the window, and

saw strong pouring of rain and raging wind. He hadn't
noticed it as he'd been immersed in studying, but the
typhoon seemed to be approaching unnoticed to him.
"Looks like I can't go outside... Well, not like I have

nothing to do outside, though."
Sandai murmured, and the doorbell rang.
"...Who is it? Home delivery or something? Nah nope, I

don't remember having asked for package night delivery...
Actually, they wouldn't have come in the midst of all this
mess about a typhoon coming even if I'd asked for one. Don't
tell me it's not new religion recruitment, is it? And going like
'This typhoon is the wrath god~'."
Sandai turned on the intercom's speaking function and

video, and then froze. He found Shino there.
『S-Sorry. I was done with my part-time and about to go

home, but then the train stopped because of the typhoon. S-
So, can I spend the night today?』
He understood it wasn't package night delivery nor new

religion recruitment. Though, what would be the correct way
to respond to this?
Bewildered, nevertheless, unable to leave Shino alone
sneezing, going "Achoo!" Sandai hurried down to the
entrance.
"Yuizaki..."
"Yahoo."
"...I'll prepare the bath, so come on in for now."
"Eh? You sure?"
"You're just gonna catch a cold like that."
"...Thanks. I appreciate it."
Having pulled Shino into his home, Sandai refilled the hot
water in the bathroom, and tossed his night clothes to
change into and a bath towel into the changing room and
had Shino hold it.
"Wawah...! Geez~ you're so rough. You've gotta be more

gentlemanly or you won't be popular, you know?"
"It's not like I live my life to get popular."
Sandai said, mixed with a sigh.
Shino puffed up her cheeks and pouted.
"'Cause you're always just so cold... Aah no, not that..."

Shino was mumbling something. "You really don't seem to
be thinking weird things, so I guess I got interested, too."
Though, it was too tiny of a voice for Sandai to hear, so

with his hand placed on his ear.
"Yeah? You just mumbled something where, what's

wrong?" he asked back. "You've got some complaint or
something?"
"Not really."
Shino stuck out her tongue and turned away.
I'm curious about what she's saying, but it feels like I

wouldn't get an answer even if I were to forcefully get her
to tell me. Probably not saying anything important
anyway.
Sandai gave up doing it, and closed the door to the

changing room.
Shinos's silhouette visible through the changing room's
frosted glass let out a sigh and began to undress. As the
black shadow put its hand on the underwear, Sandai
suddenly thought.
Come to think of it... mangas and light novels often have

this kind of situation where it would develop into a lucky
pervert peeping.
Given that a lot of naughty stuff was stored in his PC, it

didn't mean Sandai got no interest in perverted
developments—though, as expected, there is a clear line
between reality and creative works.
In fiction, girls would easily forgive perverseness, but it

isn't the case in reality. That is an obvious thing, or rather,
he got a high amount of fear of causing emotional scars.
Shino in particular—that risk seemed likely on her.
Shino had told her friends: "I'm not good with guys."
It was just something Sandai had happened to hear, but

Sanda remembered it.
Shino's tone of voice hadn't sounded like telling a lie, so it

was probably true, and besides, Sandai had something
popped up in his mind.
At the very beginning—when talking to Shino who had

been down in the ditch, she'd taken a slightly curt attitude.
Only after he actually had lent her a shower had her
demeanor softened a bit.
If Sandai didn't like Shino, then a harassment suicide

attack disguised as an incident would be a brief amusement,
but it wasn't as though he didn't like Shino that much. The
ignoring was purely because he thought there should be
segregation.
So Sandai just went back to the living room and quietly

waited for Shino to finish bathing.
The second hand on the wall clock cycled around, and the
minute hand moved.
Again and again that went on repeat, moving the clock's

hands forward, 10 minutes, 20 minutes, 30 minutes.
Different from Sandai who would take a quick bath, it

seemed it was a long bath for Shino.
"Well, I also hear girls' baths are longer and all."
Sandai gazed outside through the window, and fixedly

watched the even stronger downpour and gale. He checked
the clock again after some time had passed and found that it
was almost one hour.
Shortly after, Shino came out along with the trail of the
oversized night clothes' hem.
"Hauuh~"
Shino's face looked pleasantly happy, perhaps because her

body had warmed up.
She was awfully carefree despite throwing his conditions

and feelings out of order in many ways—though, it was
nothing more than a matter of Sandai's personal way of
thinking and perceiving things, and Shino wasn't doing
anything wrong.
Sandai could also come to an objective view or so, thus
without even expressively exposing what was in his mind, he
normally spoke to Shino who was squashing the sofa's
cushion with her butt. "...You were in the bath for pretty
long there."
"Girls just take time."
"I'd be done with it in ten minutes here."
"So quick... Are guys like that?"
"I've got no friends so I don't know, but probably other

guys are also like me... By the way, I've got one thing I
wanna ask."
"...Something you wanna ask? What is it?"
"I think you said it will take an hour by train to get home,
didn't you? I know it's not a walking home distance, but..."
"But?"
"Is it really okay for you to stay here? I'm a man, and
there's no one but me in here. Are they parents who allow
that kind of thing?"
"Ah... I might get scolded if they found out, but... well it's
fine. I've already told them I'm staying at a female friend's
house."
Sandai was left with his jaw dropped. Glancing at such

Sandai, Shino chuckled.
"I'm happy you're worried... but it's really fine, you know?
I've never lied like this before, so I'm pretty trusted by my
parents. No worries."
"So it means the first lie? I've got a feeling it's not fine,
though..."
"You know, from time to time you are getting back with
funny replies."
"I'm just saying things at random. More importantly,

wouldn't you normally think of staying at a female friend's
house instead of going out of your way to come to my place
and all? You could find some friends living around here if
you try, right? Around here is close to school, and I think
there are a lot of them deciding their high school with a
reason like 'cuz the commute to school is easy.'"
"There's certainly girls living nearby, but... suddenly

saying 'let me say' is gonna inconvenience them, right?"
"So you're saying it's fine to inconvenience me."
"T-That's not what I... It's just, here was the place that
suddenly popped up in my mind."
Shino made puppy eyes, and poked her fingers together.
Sandai was taken aback by that fully apparent apologetic

gesture, and lost all motivation to ask in detail about the
reason for visiting.
"So, well... You chose my place, and that was already in

the past, and there's also no point saying this and that."
"Right, right."
"I sure do envy you for being able to act as you felt,
Yuizaki."
"It sure is getting me embarrassed when you compliment
me."
"It's not like I'm complimenting you... So, what are you
gonna do with your uniform? It will smell if you let it dry out
straight from soaking up the rain, right?"
"Aah, about that... with this typhoon... dry cleaner's

probably won't open, even the one operating 24-hours a day,
right?"
"I guess it's gonna be closed temporarily."
"Thought so. Can't help it. Guess I'm doing it myself. Lend
me laundry detergent and a bucket if you have any."
Sandai made a dumb, "Eh?" sound at Shino's request.
...A gyaru who doesn't seem to have a clue about

housework doing laundry? Actually, can uniforms be
washed by yourself in the first place?
Although he couldn't hide his many confusions, for now

he lent them to her as requested as he got a detergent and a
bucket.
And then Shino rolled up the sleeves and the hem of the
nightclothes and began to deftly hand-wash her uniform in
the bathroom.
"...I've got a washing machine, you know?"
"This one gotta be hand-washed. Have you seen the label

on the uniform?"
"Label?"
"Look, here."
Shino showed him the inner part of her uniform in the

middle of washing. There was a label with a picture of what
looked like a hand dipped in a bucket.
"This illustration means that you should hand-wash it

when you do it yourself, so no washing machine."
"I've never checked this stuff before... Actually, you're a

gyaru, but you know this domestic stuff, huh?"
"That's just prejudice that gyarus don't know

houseworks~"
That was correct. It is certainly simply a prejudice to

arbitrarily decide to categorize people and assume they are
like so and so.
"...My bad for assuming."
When clearly in the wrong like this, the more excuses

made, the deeper the damage will be. It is better to apologize
upright as the wound will be superficial.
Shino grinned at the meekly apologizing Sandai.
"Whoah you apologized? Could this be my win?"
"I don't think it's about winning or losing... but right, let's
say it's your win."
"Fufuh... But well, the impression you've got isn't actually

that wrong, though. There are lots of girls who can't do
houseworks as a whole like this, you know? I guess you can
figure it out pretty easily if you look at their fingernails."
"Nails...?"
"My nails. They're normal, right?"
Shino's nails were indeed normal, but not quite getting its
connection with houseworks, Sandai tilted his head.
"Have you ever seen a girl with flashy nails? Like drawing
flowers, sparkles, and stuff."
"...Now that you mentioned it, I think some are like that."
"Manicures do look pretty, but like the color or lamé

might get transferred when cooking or doing laundry. That's
why I guess girls who do housework tend to be more
reserved. Well I guess there are also girls who do it without
caring, and not having manicures doesn't necessarily mean
they can't do housework... but it's the tendency, I think?"
"I see."
Sandai nodded as he could understand Shino's

explanation.
"So... My home doesn't have a lot of money, and I help out

with houseworks including taking care of my little sister
when I have time, and I also have a part-time job so that I
can have some money to use freely on my own, but my
workplace is a cafe with foods and drinks, so I can't and
don't do anything with my nails."
"...Hearing that kind of story sure is changing my

impression of you."
"Oh really?"
"You're starting to look like a girl who got it together."
"Thanks! When I'm talking to you, somehow it's becoming
fun for me. It's strange." said Shino.
—The next moment, a prickling pain ran through Sandai's

chest.
Sandai suddenly felt somewhat embarrassed for having

arbitrarily distanced himself from her, thinking not
interacting was only natural in their relationship.
Shino must have wanted to have a conversation exactly

like this now; in short, she had just wanted to interact with
him normally.
He'd been refusing such a simple thing.
Once he realized it, he felt guilty.
"...What's wrong, Fujiwara? You look like you're in a lot of

pain. Your belly hurts or something?"
"Nah, nothing like that. Right, I'll help with the washing.
Please let me do it, too."
That was an offer that, in Sandai's own way, was also

meant as atonement.
However, Shino's face turned bright red, and she waved

both her hands exaggeratedly telling him no.
"I-It's fine, you don't need to help. It's all right!"
"C'mon, don't be so reserved. Just maybe, but hand-

washing takes quite a bit of strength, right? As a man I can
be of—"
"—I'm saying it's fine!" Shino roared.
Sandai took a step back with a start. He hadn't expected to
be refused so adamantly.
"T-The heck... So you don't like me so much...?"
"I don't... mean that."
"What?"
"I mean... I'm also washing my... wear, too."
"...I can't hear you clearly, though."
"I-I was also washing underwear along with it, so... no..."
On a closer look at the inside of the bucket, he could see

something reddish under the bubbles. The uniform wasn't
that color, so in other words: underwear.
Speaking of which, Shino had been drenched when she'd

shown up. Of course her underwear would've been wet, too.
Not realizing that a little thinking would've been enough

to figure it out, Sandai's face turned as red as Shino's in
embarrassment at having seen her underwear, albeit
accidentally.
"I-I see... So you've been washing underwear, too..."
"Yep... I was washing it..."
Unable to fully endure the strange, awfully hard to

describe mood, Sandai turned around, hurriedly left to
scurry away into the living room, sat on the sofa, and
distracted himself by watching the continuation of the
typhoon coverage coming from the TV.
『...The typhoon has made landfall as it remains to move
slowly, and the rainstorm is expected to continue until early
morning. The Meteorological Agency and the electric power
company in charge has issued advice to take extra
precaution against power outages and so forth as lightning
strikes have been confirmed in some areas.』
Listening to the news presenter giving information about

the current typhoon was gradually making his bashfulness
fading. When hearing a serious talk, his excitement was
surprisingly subsiding.
However, while Sandai had calmed down, Shino was still

blushing when she came back after finishing washing a little
while later.
"Done with the washing?"
"...Yeah."
"I see."
"...This is gonna be an after-the-fact report, but I found a

drying machine so I used it. Sorry."
"Drying machine? Oh sure, you can just use it."
"Thanks... I mean, it's amazing to have a drying machine

at home. That's gotta be expensive, right?"
"I wonder about that. I don't know if it's expensive or

cheap. It was something that had been fitted out since the
beginning. More importantly, what did you do with the
uniform after drying it?"
"I straightened it out so it doesn't lose its shape, and then

hung it there." Shino pointed towards a slightly protruding
edge in the corner of the room. It was hung there with the
hanger smoothly hooked to it.
There was an indoor drying space, so there was no need to

hang it in such a place, however...
"You don't have to hang it—"
—And there Sandai noticed Shino was hanging her head

down and bashfully pouting her lips, and guessed the reason
why she'd gone out of her way to hang it in the corner.
Because there was also underwear, Shino had

purposefully chosen a place where it wouldn't come into
Sandai's view as much as possible. That's how it was.
"...Actually, right, that might be the best place instead. It's

unexpectedly near the AC. It's possible it could still be a little
wet no matter how much you used the drying machine.
Machines aren't flawless either sometimes. But if you hang it
there and put the AC to dehumidify, it will be reassuring in
case of something happening."
Sandai made use of his tact to change the subject and

operated the AC. Then Shino patted her chest looking
relieved.
Not that he was especially conscious of it, but the

conversation stopped there. Only the sound coming from the
TV continued to echo in the silent room.
The one who couldn't stand this somewhat suffocating
mood first was Shino.
"We've got nothing to do and all." she muttered softly.

"Don't you have anything to play with?"
Sandai lifted an eyebrow and responded.
"...I hear you, but that sure is sudden."
"Anything is fine really. Please."
"Guess I've got no choice... I'm gonna go look for

something so just wait."
Sandai went to rummage through the wardrobe and

closet, and found an old game console and games from his
childhood. He was looking at it completely covered with
dust, and somehow some unpleasant memories were coming
back.
It was something he had bought with a vague feeling of

wanting to play it together with friends someday, however...
he couldn't make friends.
Since he had always been alone and got no one to play

with, he couldn't get so into video games, and had got more
and more into late-night animes, mangas, light novels and
such where the content could be enjoyed even alone.
Well, it's also a waste of time to look back on your own

sad past. The past is, after all, the past. No other choice but
to come to terms with it, and Sandai did so.
For the time being, Sandai went back to Shino with the
game console and a board party video game of his choosing
that seemed to be playable with two people.
"I've found a video game here."
"Nice! Then let's get right to it."
"For the record, this is a pretty old game console, okay? It

doesn't have pretty visual images or smooth motions like
newer ones. Don't complain, alright?"
"I won't. So let's go."
Sandai was slightly anxious whether she really wouldn't

make a complaint, but that was a groundless fear. When
they actually started up the game and began playing, Shino
was enjoying it just fine.
The game board continued to progress along with time,

and they were approaching the midpoint.
"Hold on, Fujiwara... don't use the item to steal that you
just picked, okay? Looks like it's stealing at random, but I
don't want to get to be the target."
"Then just when will it be okay for me to use this item?"
"C'mon, you can just not use it at all."
"Eeeh...?"
"By the way, aren't the NPCs kinda too tough?"
"It's set to the weakest setting just in case, but right,

somehow they sure are tough, huh."
The setting was set to be 『 Easy 』 so that even two

beginners could enjoy the game, but for some reason, the
NPCs were blasting away and taking over the top spot. The
NPCs were always in first place even in the mini-games
played along the way.
"C'mon, let's restart from the beginning."
"...Right. Then let's restart."
Since it certainly wouldn't be fun to continue as it was,

Sandai decided to restart from the beginning like Shino was
telling him.
Then, this time, the NPCs became dramatically weaker.
The earlier one probably had been a bug or something,

and when the game progressed to the midpoint again, Shino
was first place this time. And Sandai was in third place and
normal placement.
"We're about to enter the second half, and I'm already so

far ahead. I guess this is my win~"
"Next is my turn, huh..."
"Isn't it a bit tough for a comeback from there? How

unfortunate of you~"
Despite being riled up by the triumphant Shino, Sandai

calmly rolled the dice and picked up a strange box on the tile
he'd advanced to. He pressed 'Yes' on the 'Do you want to
open it?' popup, and an item that would allow fellow players
to swap places appeared.
"Whoa this one is..."
He checked on Shino with a glance, and her composed

expression was making a 180. She seemed to be shuddering
at the unforeseen item; going "Awawawa" with both hands
on her mouth.
"Y-You won't use it... right?"
"Ah... Well, I don't really care about winning or losing

anyway."
"Thank god..."
"Though, now that I've got it it's a waste to not use it, isn't
it? You're telling me not to use the item, but y'know, it's no
fun for me if I just accept it as is." With that said, Sandai
pressed the button and used the item. The result: he
swapped places with Shino and jumped to first place.
"Y-You liar~!"
"I never lied."
"But you said you wouldn't use it! You don't care about
winning or losing, don't you?"
"I certainly said 'I don't care about winning or losing.'

but I never said 'I won't use it.' not even once. Don't just
wilfully go make any weird interpretation."
Now on the verge of tears, Shino was hitting his shoulder,

pomf pomf. Sandai couldn't help but smile at the sight of her
being so serious about a mere game.
And then—
A lightning struck nearby in the next instant, and all

electricity was cut. Both Sandai and Shino opened their eyes
wide in surprise at the sudden event.
"A lightning struck... and it got all dark."
"Must be a power outage."
"I just hope it gets restored soon."
"I do think 'soon' is far-fetched. The storm was crazy, and

I suppose it wouldn't be easy to do repair work."
"...Even though we were in the middle of a game."
They were only able to see faintly in the total darkness,

nevertheless, Sandai could still somehow tell that Shino was
puffing up her cheeks.
Shino seemed to want to play a bit longer, but a power

outage was an accident beyond his control. He would have to
have her give up.
"It was getting pretty late anyway, and it's time to call it a
day even if there wasn't a power outage. It's time for most
people to hit the bed."
"I guess it can't be helped. Aye aye, sir! And so... where do
I sleep?"
"You can go ahead and use the bed in my room."
Sandai didn't have any reluctance to lend his own room to

Shino, a girl. Luckily, he had disposed of all of the physical
naughty books, and all he got in his room was the bed, study
materials, and then mangas and light novels after all.
And as for the naughty stuff stored in his PC, the PC itself
couldn't be used in the first place because of the power
outage. Even if it was normal times, it would always be
locked.
To sum it up: as long as no one was not standing behind
him while he was in the middle of appreciating lewd stuff, he
was usually in a position to be able to stand tall.
"I appreciate you lending me your own room, but... where

are you going to sleep?"
"I can just go sleep on the sofa or the floor."
"There's no bed or futon in other rooms?"
"There used to be one in the room my parents were using,

but they would rarely come back, and when they do, they'd
just drop by for a bit and leave again later that day. Well, it
got tossed out because they said they weren't using it. And
now it's totally become a storage room. For the record, no
need to strangely worry about me, alright? If I let a girl sleep
randomly somewhere and I sleep soundly in my bed, I'm
already nothing but a brute at that point, and I just don't
want to be like that. Think of it so that I won't turn into a
brute, and quietly sleep on the bed."
said Sandai matter-of-factly, and Shino chuckled.
"It's not like I'm trying to, though. If I were that type, I
wouldn't have wilfully chosen your place as my refuge, or
asked you to get something to play with, come on."
"...I guess that's true, too."
"But well, thanks, for saying it in a way that's making it

easy for my mind... And so, where is your room?"
"Over there."
"Come on, you said it's over there but I can't see anything
since it's pitch black... You go take my hand and lead the
way."
Shino held Sandai's hand and intertwined their fingers.
Sandai's heart spontaneously quickened at the feel of the

gyaru's small, slender, soft, and slightly cold hand.
"You've got... a cold hand, huh."
"...Do you know what kind of a person someone with cold

hands is? It's a superstition that's been told to exist since
forever."
Sandai forgot where he'd heard it, but he had also heard
the superstition Shino mentioned. Someone with cold hands
has a warm or kind heart, something of the sort.
Sandai was of the belief that superstition was just

superstition, though, only now did he feel he could believe it.
The reason was simple.
Sandai was taking a rather cold attitude towards Shino.

However, without even minding that, Shino was interacting
with him normally.
Shino was kind, and her hand was cold, so it was also
making him feel he could believe it.
"...Thank you, Yuizaki."
"W-What's wrong, so suddenly?"
"You really are kind."
"...Praising me won't get you anything, you know?"
"It's not like I said it because I wanted something. I just
gave it a try, saying what I felt. I've been pretty cold, yet you
were interacting with me normally. That's why it made me
want to say thank you... I'm sure you are the nicest woman
in the world, Yuizaki."
Sandai said as if to let it all out.
Then Shino gulped down a saliva, and suddenly turned

silent without uttering even a single word thereafter.
Despite feeling anxious whether she might've gotten put

off, Sandai had no regret. After all, precisely because he had
always been a loner all his life, he knew by feel that a
moment in which he could convey what he'd like to convey
was precious.
So despite the sense of accomplishment, there was not a

hint of regret.
Though, Sandai had no idea how Shino took the words

he'd just said. Shino didn't make any gesture trying to shake
his hand off, so he knew that at least she didn't consider it to
be creepy, but...
Unfortunately unable to see her expression due to the

pitch-darkness, there was an overwhelming lack of materials
to make a judgment.
However, by simply knowing that it wasn't considered

unpleasant, Sandai didn't even think of trying to know more.
If the feelings of gratitude were fully accepted, there

would be no need to know further.
When they arrived in the bedroom, Shino, still silent,

fumbled around to confirm the shape of the bed, lay on her
side, and curled up stirringly.
"...Good night."
Sandai muttered to Shino and quietly left the room.
But immediately after, he could hear the sound of arms

and legs flailing around coming from the room.
"W-What?"
Having nervously peeked into the room, Sandai only now

did notice that he got his phone in his pocket, and went to
turn on its light to see inside.
"I heard some kind of noise just now." he tried to talk to

Shino for the time being, "did something happen?" but
Shino remained wrapped up in bed and didn't move a
muscle.
"Hellooo?"
"..."
"No reply... Already asleep, huh? Was the noise just now
my imagination? ...Oh well, more importantly."
Sandai softly closed the room's door, and checked the

time as he turned off his phone's light.
It was 00:20 — about time for his hobby of late-night

anime to start.
He would like to watch if he could, but it appeared to be

impossible in the current situation with the power still out.
But there was still time until the start of the broadcast, so
there was still the possibility that the power would turn back
on before then.
Sandai decided to wait for now.
However, the light was still out even when it was the time
for it to start.
"...I'm more towards wanting to watch anime on its first

broadcast, but the situation is what it is, so I guess it can't be
helped. I guess I'll watch it online later."
Sandai lay on the sofa and closed his eyes. The sofa was
surprisingly comfy to sleep in, and he slept like a baby.
***
Next morning.
Sandai couldn't wake up with his own power.
What finally made him wake up was a somewhat good

smell of a cooking tickling his nostrils and getting hit in the
forehead again and again with a ladle at a good tempo.
"Wake uuuup."
"My forehead... my forehead is... Huh? Yuizaki?"
"You finally woke up~"
"I did... but I kinda want to check with you... I don't want
to believe it, but have you been hitting my forehead with that
ladle in your hand this whole time?"
"Don't you think it's bad that you don't wake up?"
"So you have..."
"I was doing it without trying to hurt you, so you can rest
assured."
"That's not the prob... By the way, I've been smelling

something good since earlier, though."
Sandai looked at the table as he twitched his nose, and

saw a simple but proper breakfast of cooked rice, grilled fish,
miso soup, and pickled vegetables.
"This is..."
"Breakfast. I made it."
"You did? Even though there's no ingredients at home to

make a proper meal? There was nothing in the fridge,
right?"
"Ah, there's certainly nothing, but..."
Sandai practically wouldn't cook for himself, relying

instead on supermarket or convenience store's packed
meals. Not even one ingredient was home, except for rice
and seasonings he was keeping just in case, so where in the
world did the fish, pickled vegetables, and miso soup come
from?
Shino smiled wryly at Sanda tilting his head in

puzzlement.
"I went out a bit to buy ingredients. The typhoon has

passed and all, so I thought maybe the supermarket which
will be open since early morning will be open, so I tried to go
there, and it's open... I got a place to stay, so at least this
much, okay?"
She seemed to mean it as thanks. Though, Sandai hadn't
given Shino a place to stay because he wanted her to do
something like this.
However, it would certainly be hard to tell her to back out

now that the dish had been completed. Shino also had taken
the trouble to make it, so it would surely turn unpleasant.
Left with no other choice, Sandai in the end decided to

accept it... but before that.
Shino said she had gone out to buy the ingredients, which
meant she had spent money. Sandai was feeling inexplicably
bad about that.
Taking his wallet, he approached Shino—
"—Ouch."
Tap tap. And his forehead got hit with the ladle.
"Why did you take out your wallet?"
"No I mean, it cost money to buy the ingredients, right?"
"It didn't cost me that much. It's not even a thousand

yen."
"Maybe for the hassle of going out shopping and making

it..."
"The supermarket is just close by, and I wasn't even

making a single elaborate dish~ It's just stuff I can quickly
whip out. You can't honestly say 'thank you' like you did last
night?"
As Sandai was racking his brain to somehow give the
money, Shino's expression gradually turned stern. She was
clearly unhappy.
It wasn't like Sandai was looking for a fight either, so he

would have to back down now that she had taken such an
attitude. He got something in mind, but he stopped the
useless resistance and expressed his thanks.
"...Thank you."
"That's good!"
Seeing Shino smiling happily and cheerfully, Sandai had

his breath taken away. After all, it was exceedingly pretty.
Shino was originally one of the most beautiful girls, so it

was obvious she would be pretty, but Sandai had never been
conscious of it nor taken a proper look.
Beautiful double eyelid on a well-ordered contour without

a single waste. A nose that wasn't too high nor too low, fair
skin that was giving off a refreshing feeling. The soft and
fluffy pigtail hair as well, the end was slightly dyed in cherry
blossom color, which enhanced the fluff and cuteness.
It made him realize that she was truly a genuine beautiful

girl who would seem to overshadow lousy idols or actresses.
"What's wrong? You're staring at me like that."
"It's nothing..."
As to be expected, he wasn't able to say that he got

captivated.
"You're weird. Actually, what kind of food are you usually
eating?"
"What kind... I'm buying packed meals. Cooking for

myself is bothersome so I don't do it."
"A no-good-man-like statement came out."
"Whatever you say."
Sandai faced away, took a seat, and ate the breakfast

silently. In response, Shino sighed, seeming to want to say:
Good grief.
Having finished breakfast while squinting their eyes once

in while at the morning sun shining in through the gap in
the curtains, they did the dishes, and decided to go to school
together as they were going to the same school anyway.
"...This is my first time going to school together with a

guy."
"...It's also my first time going to school together with a

girl, huh."
As they were advancing, avoiding puddles of water

created by the typhoon, Shino suddenly took a step ahead of
him and turned around.
"Speaking of which, here."
Shino took out a sheet of memo she fished through her

bag, and shoved it into Sandai's chest pocket with a gusto.
"W-What...?"
"I hurriedly wrote it before you woke up, so it might be a
little hard to read, but... it's a memo with my contact
address."
"Contact address?"
"Yep. I also slipped in a memo when I returned your

clothes, but I thought it maybe got lost somewhere. That's
why I'm giving you another one here."
Then Sandai remembered; about the memo in his

returned clothes he had assumed to be a prank, which he
had crumpled up and thrown away.
Although he understood it now, that hadn't been a prank.

In that memo he had gotten from Shino had really been
written with her contact address.
"Don't lose it this time, okay? I'll be waiting to hear from

you."
In the world colored by the light reflected by puddles of

water, Shino raised the corners of her mouth and smiled,
and Sandai's cheeks heated up at that sight.
"Huh? Aren't your face kinda getting red?"
"...It's not."
"Nuh-uh, it's read, y'know?"
"It's not red. Doesn't it seem that way because of the light
reflection or optical illusion or angle or something?"
"I don't think so, though~"
Repeating such questions and answers, Sandai felt a
strange sensation he had never experienced before:
something somewhat sweet and sour.
His heart was fluffy.
What made Sandai's strangely unsteady heart able to calm

down was because and thanks to the noisy gazes pointed at
them from the surrounding after arriving at school and
passing through the gate.
The fact that they were going to school together seemed to

have given a renewed energy to the rumors and suspicions,
and naturally, the whisperings from the surrounding were
reaching his ears even without him trying to listen to it.
It was a rather irritating kind of attention to be honest,

but Sandai wasn't particularly perturbed as he had already
experienced such a situation once before.
"(Look... over there.)"
"(I knew it, those two...)"
"(Going lovey-dovey aren't they.)"
"(Does this mean that guy is... Yuizaki's boyfriend? ...I

guess that's how it is since they're together in the morning...
A loner like that is Yuizaki's... The world is so ridiculous.)"
"(I do think it's hypnoticism. Yuizaki is being

brainwashed. I mean, how else could it be possible?)"
"(What do you mean hypnoticism. Snap back to reality,

you.)"
...They sure are saying whatever they please again.
Sandai sighed, and beside him, Shino tilted her head and
repeatedly blinked her eyes. It was a gesture that seemed to
want to say: I don't know why I'm being looked at.
"Somehow.. I feel like I'm being looked at more than

usual. Something similar also happened a little while ago,
but I wonder why."
She was feigning ignorance... or not. Shino didn't seem to

be self-aware just how much of a conspicuous existence she
was.
No, more precisely, she was deliberately not aware of it, or

something along those lines perhaps. She got such a feel
somehow.
When humans are stressed, they would shut out and

avoid information, regardless of consciously or
unconsciously. Sandai got a relatively high stress tolerance
and wouldn't block out information to the same extreme as
Shino, but that was a kind of brashness.
"For the time being... I guess it might be better if we stay

away from each other at school."
Sandai thought that that would be the very best way to

lighten the burden on Shino even a little. The degree of the
effectiveness wasn't definite, but it should be better than
doing nothing.
Though, Shino didn't seem to take fancy to Sandai's

proposal and got sullen.
"Why? Why is it better to stay away?"
"Why, you ask... You don't get it? Anyway, forget about
me at school, just get along with the rest of them. Aren't you
always talking to other girls and stuff in the classroom?"
"You're suddenly getting cold..."
"We can now talk outside of school if we want to. I've got
your contact address after all. It's not like it's necessary to
forcibly associate at school... I'll contact you tonight. I
promise."
The words Sandai muttered with the flow were,

inadvertently, the first words in which Sandai, out of his own
intent, declared to have a relationship with Shino.
Sandai's heart was shaking; more than the tender fresh

leaves beginning to sprout. Shino seemed to have noticed
that change and opened her eyes wide in surprise.
"...I heard your words just now loud and clear, and have
memorized it, okay? Totally contact me in exchange for not
approaching at school, okay? It's a promise you said
yourself, so you absolutely can't break it, okay?"
"I-I got it."
"Good!"
Pom-pom. Shino hit Sandai's back lightly, found female

friends among the students coming to school, joined the
group, and began chatting happily like usual.
Still stopped in his tracks, Sandai pressed the back of his

hands against his own helpless cheeks, which had been
burning since some time ago, thinking of cooling it down.
However, the heat didn't cool off easily. It was a heat that
would linger in the core of his body.
September 12 - October 05
The Relationship Progressed, Huh?
Shino kept the promise with Sandai, maintained a sense

of distance close to prior to their meeting, and didn't get
involved with him at all at school.
The rumors continued to fly about nevertheless, but

around the time it became after-school, there were some
who began to cool off like: "Maybe it was just coincidence
they were together this morning, and we just had a weird
misunderstanding..."
It was moving in a good direction.
Sandai finished packing up to go home, passed by Shino

with a blank look on his face, and got out of the classroom
while yawning.
And then got called by a female teacher wearing a white

robe.
Nakaoka Kayoko. The homeroom teacher of Sandai's

class, and also a chemistry teacher. She should be in the age
of thirty this year or... something along those lines.
"Heeey Fujiwara! Come over here!"
"...What is it?"
"There's something I want a bit of help with, you see."
"Help?"
Sandai got confidence in his own loner-derived stealth
ability, and was a bit surprised as he had never been asked of
something ever since enrollment.
Well, he had gotten a bit conspicuous lately due to his

involvement with Shino, so it wouldn't be strange for his
stealth ability to become useless, however.
"You're in the go-home club, right? I just thought you

seem to have time. Anyway, just help me. You don't have
anything to do anyway, don't you?"
"It's not that I have none, though. I mean, I study and

stuff."
"...Speaking of which, you were first in the overall school

year, huh. That said, it sure doesn't seem like you were on
your wits' end desperately defending your rank. Don't you
have a lot of leeway in your study progress?"
"For the time being, I can at the very least get 80% on the
National University Admission Test if I take it now..."
"That's a top ranker level of super advanced high school if

you can get that much now in your second year, alright? Just
why someone like you is in our mediocre high school..."
"This place is the closest to my apartment, so I chose here.

Studying can be done at any school. I suppose I also had the
choice of advanced high school if I want to study hard and
have an endless competition in the same space with people
who are as good or better than me at studying, but it's not
like I'm looking for something like that, so..."
"So you made a rational decision that sat well with you,
huh... Well, I don't care about what your personal choice
criteria is, though."
"You don't... Then why did you bring it up?"
"Too much studying isn't good for the body either. I

wanted to have a talk about something like that. Come on,
let's go."
"Eh, wai—"
—Grabbed by the collar of his school uniform by Nakaoka,

Sandai was pulled and dragged away. Even if he tried to
escape, Nakaoka's strength was unexpectedly strong, so he
wasn't able to break free from her.
Where they arrived was the school history reference room.

There were various things such as documents and stuff
placed in a very disorganized manner. According to what he
heard, it seemed she wanted him to work together with her
organizing this place.
"...It would've taken me until dusk if I were on my own

after all. You're a lifesaver."
Sandai would love to end this quickly and go home, so he

began to organize matter-of-factly without even returning a
reply.
However—
"By the way Fujiwara, lately... you seem to be close with

Yuizaki, huh?"
—It was Nakaoka's fault for saying a weird thing that his
hands stopped moving.
"Actually it's a hot topic among the teaching staff, you see.
Even today there was a teacher who mentioned it in a small
talk."
"How should I put it... well, our seats are also back to back
after all. That aside, let's just get this place organized
quickly."
Sandai evaded it and tried to let the topic drop.
Nakaoka, however, was unbudged.
"Don't be cold like that. I just thought it was unusual that

Yuizaki got involved with a man, you see. You might not
know this as a loner, but Yuizaki avoids men, and acts
hostile towards them at times. Male students are, of course,
subject to this, and male teachers as well... This thing is like,
if she feels she's seen as a woman for even a moment before
getting to know one another, she will put up a wall. She
seems to not care much about other people's eyes, but at the
same time, she is a girl who is awfully sensitive towards the
oppposite sex."
"..."
"Well, if you were that pretty, it's not that I don't

understand, though. I'm sure there were times she was made
to feel various unpleasant feelings. It's a kind of self-
defense."
Nakaoka seemed to want to talk about Shino from the

beginning; it was such a way of starting a talk. The 'helping'
was just an excuse.
"However, half of the people in the world are men, and

that's an unchanging fact in spite of all the effort made. The
grace period for high school students to become an adult is
not that long, and legally they will become an adult while
still enrolled; with the age of majority being 18 years old and
all. Well, you'll still continue to be treated like a child while
still a student, and from there, the grace period will extend if
you go to college, but... you're going to go out into society
sooner or later. Over time, you'll encounter situations where
you can't be selfish and avoid men because you're not good
with them. It's only now that you're being forgiven, worried
about, and taken into consideration for 'being not good with
X'."
"That is... well... I suppose as you say."
"That's how it is. If I were to state it briefly and

conclusively, this is how I would put it to you: date Yuizaki."
Nakaoka uttered something outrageous with a nonchalant

look.
Sandai opened his eyes wide in surprise.
"What...?"
"What's with that fish-brought-on-land face? For the

record, I'm not suggesting this just for the fun of it, but also
for a good reason."
"Rea... Reason?"
"Because It will help in overcoming Yuizaki's sense of 'I'm

not good with men.' If she gets to know a man, she will not
have to be pointlessly afraid of them. Even if it doesn't reach
dating, due to the process to arrive at that result, it would be
a welcome thing if Yuizaki was able to get used to men even
if only a little. Or what, are you trying to say to that cute little
Yuizaki that 'she should continue to suffer from being not
good with and not understanding the sense of distance with
men'? Is that what you're thinking? Which is it? Hmm?"
"It's so sudden, I don't know how I should..."
"And then it's also for your sake to get close to Yuizaki."
"For my sake...?"
"Because you're always alone and putting on a face that's

saying that school isn't fun. It's clearly visible from the
teacher podium. If you take action, create some chemical
reactions in your life, and turn that dull youth into a bright-
colored one, school surely will also get a little fun."
Nakaoka's expression was soft and gentle; that was the

face of a teacher thinking about her student. Even Sandai
understood that the suggestion was out of Nakaoka's own
thinking—that no matter how it would turn out, it would be
very likely to turn into a good outcome for them both.
Though, it was certainly not a suggestion that he could

just unthinkingly nod his head to and say, "Yes, I
understand."
"I understand what you are trying to say, Sensei. But...

there's also Yuizaki's feelings, and besides, I've also never
thought about wanting to be in a relationship like that,
though."
"You hate Yuizaki?"
"I don't hate her, but..."
"Then that means you like her. There's no problem."
"'If you don't hate it, then you must like it'... Isn't that
logic a bit weird?"
"What a troublesome guy you are... Have you got no

assertiveness? Huh? Have the guts to forcefully make her
look back at you. Show enough desire to get her into a good
mood and ravish her. Be a wolf! Rawr! Rawr rawr!"
"...Are you seriously saying that?"
"I'm serious."
"I think it's not good for a person to force themselves on

someone, and besides I think normally you'd just get hated."
"That will change depending on the prior likeability.

Ascertainment is important, it's the key here. You don't try
to understand the complex woman's heart with logic, but
grasp it with intuition."
Shino didn't seem to have that type of a troublesome

personality, but all that aside, it was an intuition Sandai
couldn't grasp at all.
"I think intuition like that is kind of impossible for me to

understand... Well, it doesn't really matter, but no matter
how much you try to fire me up, I don't have the will for it.
Even if Yuizaki did get involved with me somewhat, I think
she is thinking that she really is not good with me either. I
also know that Yuizaki is not good with men. So..."
"Inside Yuizaki, you are maybe... the first man she's not at
all uncomfortable with, you know? Or maybe... she's waiting
for you to approach her. Nah, it's also possible she's thinking
of making a move from her end."
There was a slight smile on Nakaoka's face. In addition to

being concerned about her students as a teacher, it was
apparent that she was trying to have some personal fun by
teasing a troubled youth.
"Maybe this, maybe that... In the first place, it was only
recently me and Yuizaki made contact with each other, and
the reason and time to come to like one another as well..."
Sandai frowned, and Nakaoka unnaturally shrugged her

shoulders.
"Falling in love has nothing to do with reason and time.

Virgins are quick to seek that in love, but it's a bad habit. Are
you happy to be told, 'Actually, I've liked you for a long
time'? Even though 'I didn't like you enough to take action
right away.' just equals being kept as a Mr. Backup. If the
past events were deftly decorated, you'll be tricked into
thinking, 'I see, so since that time...' and stuff."
"Isn't that too suspecting of a view?"
"No, it isn't. Also, it's a terrible thing to say you like

someone because you have a reason. Humans are
multifaceted creatures; only if you truly love someone, only
if you love their many faces, will you find it difficult to find
the reason for liking them. 'Like' with a clear reason is too
light if you ask me; because it means the 'like' is only that
much."
What Nakaoka was saying was undoubtedly outside of the

typical common sense. However, It was strange as it
sounded strangely persuasive when asserted this way.
***
It was dusk when Sandai was released from the never-

ending conversation with Nakaoka.
Having grown tired of Sandai continuously taking

indecisive attitude, Nakaoka folded up, with a sigh said,
"Well, just think about it," and ended it. The organizing of
the school history reference room was brought to a finish as
well.
Completely mentally exhausted, Sandai returned to his

home, unsteadily entered his own room, and plopped down
on the bed immediately after.
"I just wanna go straight to sleep..."
He was being urged by such an impulse. Though, he

would have to do something before that; in the morning,
he'd promised to contact Shino later.
Sandai slowly got up and booted up the messaging app on

his phone. Firstly he added Shino's ID, and then tried to
send a message to her... and his hands stopped.
The various things Nakaoka had told him flickered in his

mind. Somehow he felt like his current self was facing an
important crossroad, making his fingers stop moving.
Time passed by just like that in the time Sandai remained

frozen, and it was already nine when he realized it.
"...I mustn't think about unnecessary things. I should

completely forget Sensei's words. Trying to send a message
will be harder and harder the more I think about it."
Sandai forcibly emptied his head. And then, albeit slowly,

his fingers began to move.
"And like... this."
Sandai decided to send the message with only his name

on it, as letting her know that the sender was him would be
fine for the time being.
Sandai hit send, and a strange sense of accomplishment
and fatigue hit him at the same time.
Sandai tried to get some drink to take a breather—only to

get startled by his phone ringing.
He nervously checked it, and it was from Shino.
『I've been waiting~』
"It hasn't even been one minute since I sent the message,
though..."
Not expecting such a speedy reply, Sandai gulped down

his saliva while sweat oozed out of his forehead.
"...I've gotta respond to Yuizaki's reply, don't I?"
Sandai frettingly began to think what to reply, but before

he could even send any text, follow-up messages from Shino
came one after another.
『Thanks for keeping the promise.』
『 I was so nervous, wondering when I would hear from

you.』
『By the way, it's funny it's just your name. You sure have
humor.』
In the face of super speed follow-ups with no thought of
his pace, Sandai thought that it just might be easier to
pretend he hadn't seen it and later send a 'My bad, I didn't
see it' message as an excuse, but a feature of the messaging
app put that to a stop.
This app would show 『Read』 telling the other side that
it was seen. Leaving no reply would be equal to ignoring it.
He couldn't use the excuse that he hadn't seen it.
"What do I do... That's right... I guess I'll start by telling

her I'm not used to an app like this."
Thinking result: Sandai decided to be honest and tell her

his current situation for the time being. Honesty would be
best at a time like this. Probably.
"Errr... 『My bad, I've been a loner so this is the first time
for me to contact someone. I think my reply is going to be
slow, or there could be some confusion, but please do excuse
me.』 ...Done."
『Realsies? Kay!』
"'Realsies?' and 'Kay'? What's this? I don't get it. I beg

you, please use proper language."
Sandai would like to ignore the words he got no idea at all

what it meant, but remaining clueless would make
understanding one another difficult, so he inevitably asked
the meaning.
And then—
『Realsies? is the slang for 'for real'?, and kay is short for
'okay'~』
"Ah, I see. So it's slang and short for it."
Such exchange of messages with Shino continued for

pretty long.
Shino was beginning to slow down her pace, allowing

Sandai a bit of breathing room, and the conversation started
to roll fairly nicely.
In the middle of such a casual chat, Shino suddenly

mentioned she'd like to go to Sandai's home next Sunday.
『 —Can I come to your place next Sunday? So I make

confections at work, and I want to practice that. Let's make
it together.』
Sandai questioned whether his no-experience-at-making-

confectionaries self could be of any help in the practice. He
checked with Shino just in case, and she replied, 'It's okay.'
If the one proposing it said so, then it surely would be

okay. As for letting her into his home, Sandai didn't feel any
reluctance since he had already had her in twice.
With the time starting to get late, the chat ended with
sending, 『Good Night.』 to one another.
"...What's the time now? Already time for anime, huh."
He looked at the clock, and saw it was five minutes before

late-night anime.
Sandai was sleepy, but not watching wasn't an option, so

he slept after watching late-night anime.
***
In the time leading to the following Sunday, they spent

their days feigning indifference to each other at school, but
exchanging silly messages at home at night.
Attention from other students began to decrease

significantly. Even Nakaoka who had tattled on and on;
perhaps taking a wait-and-see approach, she didn't try to
meddle even if she were to give a suspecting gaze.
In the meantime, Sunday came. Sandai changed into his

outside clothes, headed to the station, and sat on the bench
on the platform, waiting for Shino to arrive.
Shino got off the train that came shortly after.
Sandai waved his hand. Shino noticed it and went to rush

to him in a small jog.
"Did you wait?"
"I just got here."
"Thank god~"
Shino was naturally wearing plain clothing as it was a day

off, putting on a casual getup of short-ish cropped pants, a
white shirt with polka dots, and then flower-patterned
sandals. She was also holding a big-ish wicker basket with
the inside unknown to him.
Although it was now entering the last third of September,

there were still many days with high temperatures. And
today was one such day, so Shino seemed to be dressed in
summer clothing
As Sandai had only ever seen Shino in school uniform, the

plain clothing gave off some fresh feeling.
"...Shall we go?"
Sandai asked and got up from the bench.
"Wait a minute..." and then Shino put the brakes on.
"Umm... It's gonna be so sudden and I'm sorry, but..."
Shino was scratching her cheek with an apologetic look,

and then a small girl suddenly and timidly came out from
behind her.
Sandai tilted his head at the appearance of the mysterious

girl.
"Umm... When I left home, she suddenly said she'd come

along with me."
"Eh... Came along with you when you left home? Don't tell
me, Yuizaki... have you been a... mother of one?"
"Y-You are wrong!"
Shino waved her hands and denied it in panic.
"Who even has a kid this big at my age!? I mean I'm a
virgin, how could I even have a—n-no, forget what I just
said!"
Apparently it wasn't her daughter, but when given some

thought, Shino was still a high school student and moreover
not good with men; there was no way she was having a child.
I've made a misunderstanding that can be easily figured

out if I think about it calmly... Sandai reflected as he
scratched his cheek.
"Err, I think I've mentioned it before, but I have a little

sister. And it's this girl. I knew I should've let you know
when I was on the train, but... it's just hard to bring up, you
see."
Shino had indeed said she got a little sister before. Sandai
remembered that as well.
"Come on, say hello to Onii-chan."
"...Nice to meet you. I'm Miki."
Shino's little sister—Miki looked a lot like Shino, as one

would expect from sisters.
The only difference that could be discerned at first glance,

apart from the color of Shino's dyed hair, would perhaps be
around the eyes.
In contrast to Shino's distinct double eyelid, Miki also got

a pretty double eyelid but hers were droopy eyes.
"Nice to meet you, Miki-chan."
"O-Ohay..."
Miki shut her eyes tight and looked down; not scared, but
seemed embarrassed.
"I'm really sorry, Fujiwara..."
"You don't have to apologize."
"It wouldn't be good if I troubled you, so I did tell her to

be a good girl and play with Mom and Dad at home,
though."
"I don't think it's any trouble at all so it's fine, really... It's
just maybe, but Miki-chan, could it be that you love your
Onee-chan so that's why you wanted to be with her?"
Sandai crouched down and smiled, only for Miki to smile

pleasantly and give a small nod.
"Yup. Miki loves Onee-chan."
An innocent girl befitting her apparent age; that was how

it seemed to Sandai. Though, Shino was making an
indescribable expression as she was watching the whole
thing from the side.
"What's wrong, Yuizaki? What's with that face?"
"...I'll let you know ahead of time, but Miki is a girl who
instantly turns into a rascal once she gets along with
someone. She's good at playing innocent, so try to not get
fooled."
said Shino, only for Miki to avert her eyes away.
And she said, "Onee-chan, still mad about yesterday...?"
"Nn? Well of course."
"Don't be so mad like that... It's 'cause Miki thought a
small melon might fit in your bra, Onee-chan... and then it
fit..."
"Even so you don't go swing it around and play with it like

that! Both the strap and hook got broken, you know!?"
"Your boobs' unexpected bigness is at fault, you know..."
"No, it's not."
"What a selfish body..."
"...Where did you even learn those words?"
"It was on TV."
"You lose nothing in not watching that kinda thing."
They were talking about something terrific, like playing

with a bra or something. Miki appeared to be a well-behaved
girl, but it was actually like Shino had said; she seemed to
just be playing innocent, and her true character was quite
free and wild.
Sandai knew it was not something he should listen to so

attentively, so he blocked his ears with his hands for now.
"(Nn? Huh, that Onii-chan blocked his ears. Oh well, it's

just right. Heh hey, Onee-chan, got a minute?)"
"(What's wrong?)"
"(You were talking about going to a friend's home, but it's

not a girl's home, huh?)"
"(...I've never said anything that it's a female friend's
home, you know?)"
"(Is it better to not tell Dad and Mom? You were hiding it
from Miki, too, so that means you also haven't told them,
right?)"
"(I-I'm thinking of telling them one of these days, but we

don't have that kind of relationship yet, too... umm... I hope
you don't tell them if you can.)"
"(That kind of relationship? Yet? Hmm... fufu... Miki

doesn't really get it, but if you want to, then Miki will stay
silent. But instead, go smoochie smooch with that Onii-chan
in front of Miki, okay?)"
"(Eh?)"
"(Miki saw a smoochie in a drama, and then, Miki got

curious how it will be like in real life and wants to see it.
That's why, Miki will stay silent if you smoochie smooch. It's
not like you hate that Onii-chan, right? It's the first time
Miki saw you interacting with a man other than Dad, Onee-
chan. If anything, you like him, right?)"
"(Now that you said it... I like him... I guess?)"
"(You guess? What's that now? Miki will tell Dad and
Mom, okay?)"
"(...I like him, I think.)"
"(You think?)"
"(I-I like him. I like him! Is this okay now?)"
"(So you do like him. Miki hears momentum is important
in something like this, so come on and make the decision
today.)"
"(...)"
—Their quarrel seemed to have stopped, so Sandai

dropped the hands covering his ears.
He didn't know what they had been talking about, but

Miki was grinning, while Shino was fiddling around with her
bangs with her face red up to her ears.
Why is Yuizaki blushing? ...Ah, I see. The anger about the

bra thing has calmed down, but the embarrassment is still
there, isn't it?
Sandai made such a guess.
It's probably that. And then he vowed that would try not
to say a word that would be associated with that if possible.
It would be a different story if Sandai had a hobby of

making people get into an uncomfortable mood, but he got
no such warped fetish.
Now, having grasped what to look out for in a

conversation, Sandai headed for his apartment with them as
they couldn't just stand around forever.
It wasn't that far from the station, so they reached there

after a few minutes' walk.
***
"...Onee-chan, Onee-chan."
"What's wrong?"
"Kind of exciting, isn't it? A multi-floor building like this

is nowhere near home."
"Rather than a multi-floor building, it's an apartment,

okay?"
Upon passing through the entrance, Miki suddenly began

to gingerly look around. It seemed to spark her interest as
apparently there was no such apartment near Yuizaki's
home.
Yuizaki's home was an hour's train ride away; Sandai

remembered hearing about it. Further out of the suburbs
distance-wise... that would be a bit rural already.
In many ways, it seemed to be a new experience for Miki

who was still very young and probably also got little
opportunities to go out into the urban area.
"...You shouldn't look around so much like that, Miki. It's

not like near our home. I don't care if someone gets mad at
you, okay?"
"Who's gonna get mad? For now, Onii-chan doesn't look

angry, you know? Then that means just a little bit is okay,
isn't it?"
Miki's deduction wasn't mistaken. Sandai wasn't bothered

by Miki's behavior because in this apartment there was an
unspoken agreement of mutual non-intervention between
residents.
No one would frown just because a very young child was
unable to calm down.
Yet, earlier than Sandai could defend Miki's words and

actions.
"But still." Shino flicked Miki's forehead.
"Owie... What're you doing, Onee-chan?"
"Even if no one cares or is angry, it doesn't mean bad

manners are A-OK."
"Unlike how you look, you are straight-laced on the

inside, huh, Onee-chan... haahh... Maybe smoochie smooch
is impossible after all."
"Smoochie smooch is... err well..."
Smoochie smooch or something — Sandai wasn't really

sure what Shino and Miki were talking about halfway
through, but anyway, although late, he told Shino why he
didn't mind Miki's behavior.
Though, despite hearing what Sandai said, "Nuh-uh."
Shino shook her head, not yielding.
"Even if no one cares, bad manners aren't good." said

Shino.
Both in terms of morals and education towards children,

Shino was on the right. Sandai kept silent, as he was unable
to make any counterargument and felt that putting up a
petty resistance might cause unnecessary discord.
Upon entering his home and heading for the kitchen,
Shino began pulling out various cooking utensils from the
wicker basket she had brought while humming a tune.
"Ooh... So these are utensils for making confectionaries. It

uses various things, huh."
"Well yeah. Now all we need is an oven."
"Oven? There's probably none here."
"There is, y'know?"
"How could you know?"
"I made breakfast here last time, right? I found the oven
then, so I know there's one. It's this one."
Tap-tap. Shino tapped a box in the corner of the kitchen.
If Sandai wasn't mistaken, that box had always been there

according to his memory.
He wasn't certain since when it had been there, and had

only been aware that it was a box he didn't really know that
looked like a microwave oven but somehow different,
however...
"So that was an oven, huh..."
"Eh? You didn't kno... wait, come to think of it you don't

cook and stuff, don't you? Then I guess it can't be helped if
you don't know since you don't use it..."
"I'm extremely happy to have your understanding."
"No shame?"
"I don't really care about that. More importantly,
something is kinda bothering me..."
"...Something is bothering you?"
"I don't see Miki-chan anywhere. So where did she go?"
For some reason Sandai couldn't find Miki anywhere;

though, Sandai had noticed after arriving at the kitchen.
"Huh?"
Shino tilted her head, apparently noticing it once Sandai

pointed it out.
"You're right. I wonder where she went..."
"She should've been with us when we passed the front

door, so I think she's probably somewhere in here, but... I'm
gonna go look over there."
"Okay, please do."
They split into two and began the search for Miki.
There were multiple rooms, but it wasn't as big as a

detached house, so Miki was found rather quickly. Sandai
spotted her lying down on the sofa in the living room.
"There you are, Miki-chan."
"Wuh?"
"She is here!"
"Okaaay!"
Shino rushed over in response to Sandai's finding report;
then narrowed her eyes in displeasure the second she saw
Miki.
She was angry.
"Miki..."
"You're making scary face, Onee-chan..."
"Listen here, this is not your home, Miki. It's this Onii-
chan's. It would be rude and just causing trouble if you acted
like it's your own home, right?"
"Even if you say that."
"Even if I say it... what?"
"No, it's nothing. That aside, Miki's specialty is eating, so

you two go ahead and make it, 'kay?"
Miki didn't seem to feel guilty to a surprising degree, and

Shino glared at her. Though, that was only for an instant.
Shino gradually lost vigor and hung her head down, her
face somehow looking like she could cry at any moment.
"...What is it you want, what am I gonna do if even I the

big sister got seen as a selfish woman because you're like
that. What am I gonna do if Fujiwara hates me..."
The words spilled out by Shino sounded slightly shaky;

furthermore, the volume was too low making Sandai unable
to hear them clearly.
Nevertheless, having thought that he should cheer Shino

up if she was down despite not knowing what she said,
Sandai tried to say something to her.
However, his mouth didn't move for some reason—his

hand did.
The hand moved on its own, and Sandai found himself

patting Shino's head. That was truly an unconscious action.
"Eh... Wai..."
By suddenly getting patted on the head, although obvious,

Shino was surprised, but she immediately blushed and cast
her eyes down.
There was no sign of her resisting.
"..."
"..."
"—Miki hasn't eaten any sweets yet, but Miki's belly seems
full already... If it's like this, maybe smoochie smooch will be
pretty easy?"
It was when Miki sniffled that Sandai realized what he

was doing. He hurriedly withdrew his hand and quickly
stepped away from Shino.
"I..."
Sandai swallowed a gulp of his saliva and stared intently

at his own hand. What he suddenly recalled was Nakaoka's
words.
"——What a troublesome guy you are... Have you got no

assertiveness? Huh? Have the guts to forcefully make her
look back at you. Show enough desire to get her into a good
mood and ravish her. Be a wolf! Rawr! Rawr rawr!"
Sandai wasn't taking Nakaoka's words that seriously.
Something certainly did come to his mind; nevertheless,

the thought of not wanting to make a dark past by making a
move just as he was being fired up was stronger.
Part of him also didn't want to put Shino on the spot by

making a weird misunderstanding.
Despite all that, his body had moved on its own.
Sandai was becoming increasingly confused about what

was going on. He desperately tried to think and find the
reason for his own action, but no matter how hard he tried
to, he couldn't arrive at the right answer.
As a last resort, Sandai now decided to forcibly change the

subject to run away from this question.
He thought: if the topic changes, the mood will change; if

the mood changes, he won't think of unnecessary things;
and then he should be back to his usual self.
"Come to think of it... there's no ingredients for

confectionery making!"
"...I was thinking of going shopping while asking you

about your taste preferences."
"I see! Then we've gotta go do some shopping!"
"...Okay."
Shino looked at him with puppy eyes. Her eyes were

teary-eyed, and Sandai recoiled back and turned his face
away in response.
He felt like he wouldn't be able to retain his sanity were he

to continue looking at her in the eyes.
"...Even though it was just so close~"
Miki whispered to herself, shrugging her shoulders as she

watched their closeness.
"Onii-chan, he sure got surprisingly strong self-kontrol.
No, just barely?"
***
Upon heading out to buy ingredients for confections,

Sandai began to calm down as he felt the mood had
somehow changed.
It seemed he was right in the judgment of: if the topic

changes, the mood will change.
However, whereas Sandai was feeling relieved, Miki said

she wanted to go to a big place that also got a game arcade—
to a large commercial complex—as opposed to Shino who
tried to go to a store specializing in confectionery
ingredients, leading to almost another quarrel between two
sisters.
However, a quarrel to the point of a definite fallout never

occurred, and the next thing he knew, Shino and Miki made
up and began having a stealthy secret talk.
"(Geez... Come on, just be a good girl, I'm asking you.)"
"(Hmm?)"
"(W-What?)"
"(The mood earlier was good, wasn't it? Miki doing what
she pleases, and when you got down, Onii-chan patted you,
wasn't it?)"
"(...Somehow you sounded like you were aiming for that,

though?)"
"(Miki was, though?)"
"(Eh? Realsies?)"
"(Realsies.)"
"(Hm-Hmm...?)"
"(And so, 'good news' for you, Onee-chan... Earlier Onii-

chan looked like he fell, you know? He was making a falling-
in-love face when patting your head. That's why this is when
you go for an attack. Cover it as an accident, then 'smooch.'
Nothing to get scared of. Momentum is important, okay?)"
"(Miki... you... aren't you kinda enjoying it?)"
"(It's fine too if you think that way. 'Cause you're the one
who chooses, Onee-chan. It's just... you can cover it up as a
natural accident better at bigger stores, you know? And Miki
can go play at the game arcade to stay away, too. Gotta get
some money to play games, though.)"
"(...)"
"(It'll probably annoy Onii-chan if you decide so slowly,

and it's better to quickly decide if you don't wanna get hated,
y'know?)"
"(I-I got it. There's some point in what you said, too... I'm
in. Getting all indecisive isn't in my nature anyway, so I'm
seriously gonna do it. I've made up my mind.)"
"(Nn.)"
What they could've been whispering about? Sandai had
not the slightest idea, but was told only that they'd decided
to go according to Miki's demand.
They arrived at a large commercial complex, and Miki

immediately started to look for the game arcade. The game
arcade was on the second floor.
Miki raised a voice of delight at the sight of the rows of

flashing machines.
"Nyufufu, now then, Miki will go play here alone until you
two are done shopping."
"...It's late but are you gonna be fine alone?"
"There's a person at the counter just right there, so it's

fine. You go worry about yourself instead of Miki."
"You cheeky mouth..."
"Money."
"Here 500 yen."
"500 yen, huh... You can only play the crane game a few
times with this. Miki just can't kill time with this unless it's a
medal game. No, maybe it's still gonna be tough."
"Don't go saying selfish things. I mean, I'm not rich

either."
"Yeah Miki knows..."
Miki frowned and groaned. She seemed to not be satisfied

with the amount of spending money given by Shino, but
well, it was also true that the amount of time she could
spend playing wouldn't be that big.
Sandai didn't plan to go shopping for a long time, but he

felt finishing it in five or ten minutes would also be tough.
Shino had said she would ask about his preferences and
stuff. In other words, that meant they wouldn't go buying
ingredients decided beforehand, so finishing it in a flash
would be impossible.
Almost certain that Miki would use up the money and

wait for them, but... Sandai imagined such a sight of Miki
and began to somewhat feel pity for her, so he took out a
500 yen coin from his own wallet and made her hold it in
her hand.
"Onii-chan...?"
"That makes it a thousand yen. Now you can play a little

longer, can't you?"
"Thank you! ...Fufufu, alright, then Miki will tell you

something nice as thanks, Onii-chan."
"Something nice...?"
"Lend Miki your ear."
Despite tilting his head quizzically, Sandai lent her his ear
as told.
"(...You see, Onee-chan is surprisingly scatterbrained. She

sometimes misses her step on the stairs or something. That's
why at that time you go 'squeeze' her, and protect her so she
doesn't get hurt, okay? Miki thinks she'll miss her step
today.)"
That was such strangely specific advice—as if she knew
what would happen, so to speak.
Sandai tilted his head even further only for Miki to just
gallop away into the game arcade.
"...You don't have to give Miki money. She'll learn she can
get it if she complains."
Shino let out a sigh next to him.
It was probably true that it was bad for education, but in

Sandai's eyes Miki just looked oh-so pitiful.
Besides.
"It's not like I'm doing it everyday, and in the first place
weren't you also giving Miki-chan spending money?"
"There's... a reason..."
"Reason? Now I don't know about all that, but you

certainly can't say anything about me when you yourself are
also giving her spending money. Well, I mean, look, wanting
to play when going out is what kids do, so don't you think it's
fine just for today?"
"...You seem like you would spoil your kid so much if you
had one, huh, Fujiwara."
"Is that so?"
"Sure is. I can somehow imagine your life after marriage. I

feel like you'll be a kind papa."
"So you say, but I sure don't think I can even get a
girlfriend before the marriage, though. I'm a loner. Not even
do I encounter anyone."
"I think there are also loners who have a girlfriend or are
married, though? I mean, even you had an encounter. Don't
you feel like... that other person is very close by right now?"
That was very a suggestive remark, and it made Sandai

want to ask back what that meant.
However, he felt like there ultimately would be no turning

back once he knew the answer, making him get cold feet and
unable to ask.
"I feel like... there is, but... I also feel like there... isn't."
Such a reply was the best he could give.
"I see... like there is, and there isn't?"
"T-That's right. It's like that."
"...Hmmmm?"
Shino narrowed her eyes; her expression was as if to

examine, to probe. At the end of that gaze was Sandai's lips,
but the person being looked at was unaware of it.
He was sensing only that the air around Shino had

changed slightly, but that was all.
Though, no matter how dense Sandai might be, if the

things called feelings were to actually be put into action, he
would have no choice but to understand them.
***
They proceeded with their shopping in the confectionery
ingredients selling area in the upper floor while talking
about flavors, shapes, and such, and were done after about
30 minutes.
Now they just had to meet Miki—however, they oh-so

unluckily got stuck in traffic. There were lines formed for
both the escalator and the elevator, making it seem
impossible to immediately get to the second floor where
Miki was.
They joined the line for the time being, but somewhere on
the front queue jumping happened each time the line moved
forward a bit, forcing them to step back and leaving them
unmoved from their initial position.
He understood in his head that for it to be crowded was a

given since it was Sunday, and that he should just accept it,
but he was getting irritated nonetheless.
Sandai's face was gradually turning into a scowl. And then

Shino tugged his sleeve.
"...Let's just use the stairs." Shino said as if to mutter and

pointed to a corner of the floor. "It's over there, so..."
The stairway quietly lay in that empty place.
"...The stairs, huh."
"Yeah."
"The line doesn't look like clearing either. Sure, we can

take the stairs."
It was also certain that continuing to stand in line would

just be a waste of time, so Sandai decided to go with Shino's
suggestion.
They went down the quiet, empty stairway. Tac, tac—

Sandai was the first to set foot down on the second floor
along with the echo of his footsteps.
In the next moment—
"Kya!"
—He could hear Shino's scream.
Sandai turned around in surprise to find Shino diving at

him, seeming to have broken her posture.
"Oh no, I'm falling down."
That was a very monotone voice, but Sandai had not even
the time to notice such a thing. He hurriedly caught Shino in
his arms in order to save her.
"Watch out!"
And then—
Thud. His back ate the floor hard.
While enduring the coming pain, Sandai slowly opened

his eyelids—only for him to open it even wider in surprise.
After all, there was Shino's face right in front of his eyes with
her eyelids closed.
Late did he notice the soft, slightly sweet feeling

overlapping his own lips. He nervously checked, and found
that it was Shino's lips.
"...!?"
He couldn't fathom it.
He had only caught Shino in his arms to save her—yet he

was kissing her for some reason.
After a good ten seconds with their lips overlapping one
another, Sandai's eyes caught the sight of Miki rushing
towards them.
Having attracted a glance from Shino, grinning, Miki

commented.
"Miki was waiting around wondering when you're gonna

show up, but... really... you did it flashily, huh? Are you
okay?"
After her own pupils dilating as wide as a cat's at night,

her cheeks taking on a reddish pink color like peach petals,
Shino broke her gaze from Miki, and went to give a follow-
up attack to Sandai whose mind was coming to a stop.
He overlapped her lips on his again.
The second kiss was brief. After immediately making a

'chu' sound of lips parting, Shino's face pulled away.
"...Thanks for saving me. It's a coincidence, but we kissed,

huh. We did... something you shouldn't do unless you're
lovers. Fujiwara, I... calling you like that makes some kind of
distance, so I'll call you by your first name from now on,
okay? Sandai... I like you."
That was too sudden of a confession. Sandai's head

instantly went blank, only to realize that he was also making
an idiotic face like his soul had come out out of him.
"As for the answer... looks like you can't give one
immediately, huh."
"Wh... Why did you...?"
"I mean I just can't help it. The reason is... I can't explain
it well, but... because I thought you were a good person."
"It's such a light..."
"It's not like it was light, you know? It's my first time
confessing to a guy, and I needed a lot of courage. And so,
how do you feel about getting my first kiss and confession?"
"...H-How?"
"Wasn't it a bit sweet? Earlier I secretly applied a sweet

flavored lip balm, and so I think it was probably sweet."
"It was slightly sweet, but..."
"Fufufu, then I'm glad. It's just awful if I got thought of as

stinking in my first kiss."
"That's not the prob... Yuizaki... Err..."
Falteringly, Sandai was trying to put out words, only for

Shino to get a little miffed and pull his cheeks.
"Call me Shino, not Yuizaki."
"I-It hurh..."
"Say it."
"I-I goht it. I goht it... H-Hino."
"Now all good."
"..."
"...You don't have to think too hard about it. I just wanted
to convey my feelings, and of course I'll be happy if you like
me, but I also intend to just give up if you don't. Probably... I
will cry a lot, but I don't want to become a high-maintenance
woman so I'll come to terms with it."
Shino said with a smile, her lips quivering slightly. It was

completely obvious that she was enduring and holding back
her uneasiness.
Although it is something that Sandai as the one on the

receiving end of the confession doesn't understand, the act
of confession is something that scares one to the point of
cruelty. Approval, rejection, postponing, ignoring... it
doesn't matter which; after all, there will always be a result
one way or another.
Neither can it stay in limbo, nor can you guarantee that

you'll get the answer you want. You'll be left only to feel
scared and scared.
That is why it is often said; that confession requires

courage.
Sandai didn't remember much from this point forward.

They headed back to the apartment and did their original
goal of confectionery making, but his consciousness was
blurred.
He couldn't tell the taste of the confections even when

eating it, nor did the conversation that Shino and Miki were
having at a hearable distance from him enter his ears.
"(...Miki was surprised, y'know?)"
"(About what?)"
"(Well, to think you even went for confession.)"
"(What are you saying? Weren't you the one who said
momentum was important, Miki?)"
"(That's about the kiss, Miki's not saying it's about

confession...)"
"(...Eh?)"
"(Look there, Onii-chan is going blank. He's like a broken

robot. It's not weird now even if there's a sound effect like
'beep boop boop bop' or something like that, you know?
You've gotta think about Onii-chan's capacity.)"
"(Could it be that... I've done something absurd...?)"
"(Miki didn't think your head's gonna be this slow, Onee-

chan.)"
"(S-Shut up! I-It all looks good! Going blank just means
he's conscious of it...... probably.)"
"(This is why no experience in romance is frightening...)"
Sandai's gaze was locked on Shino's lips. He would

remember the feeling of the kiss everytime those lips moved,
and then his head would blank out again.
***
"Onii-chan, see you later~"
"...Yeah."
"See you later, Sandai."

"...Yeah."
Although unsteadily, Sandai saw Shino and Miki off at the

station, and then sat down on the bench on the platform
after the train they'd boarded was out of sight.
He softly touched his lips with his middle finger, and his
body temperature suddenly shot up; even the beating of his
heart could so clearly be heard.
"What's this development...? ......What the hell!?"
Feeling strangely uneasy and bittersweet, Sandai writhed

and yelled. Passersby were startled and turned to look at
him, but he didn't have the leisure to mind that.
"Like... Kiss... She... She said she likes me...?"
Shino had certainly said so; not in the sense of liking him
as a friend or a person, but as the member of the opposite
sex.
The face, the expression of Shino when they'd kissed

would come and go inside his head. As it repeated over and
over again, it became etched into the back of his mind and
wouldn't leave.
I've got to calm down somehow. Immediately after

returning to his apartment, Sandai tried to distract his mind
by studying without taking a single break, or by binge
watching late-night anime.
Though, none of those worked, and his mind remained

unsettled.
With his exaltation still not calming down, Sandai slipped

into his bed. Then, finally, he realized that Shino had sent
him just one message.
『 Sandai, I'll stop contacting you until you can give the
answer, okay? 'Cause I'll look like I'm rushing you, and I feel
bad.』
Shino told him that she'd give him the time to think alone.
This was a very appreciated thoughtfulness, and Sandai
patted his chest down in relief.
However, even if they stopped exchanging messages,

there would still be the physical closeness of distance due to
their back-to-back seating relationship at school on
weekdays. Willing or not, they would be aware of each
other's presence.
Not sure what kind of face he should make, Sandai

thoroughly avoided Shino at school.
It turned into a blatant avoidance without any holding

back even from the viewpoint of an onlooker, but it never
did become a problem, nor was there another student
catching interest.
After all, there was the accumulation of the agreement of

'not getting involved with each other at school' from before
that had been kept ongoing, so it was not at all unnatural
even if Sandai was strangely avoiding Shino.
Then days passed.
Sandai was still unable to give a clear answer, but with the
passage of time, he was gradually regaining his calmness
and gaining a bit of leeway to think.
...Can I keep on not giving an answer forever and wait

until we both forget about it, making the confession never
happen? thought Sandai as he gazed out the window, but he
also immediately realized that this thought was too
insincere.
Shino had told him during the confession; that she would
just give up if he didn't like her, and that she didn't want to
become a high-maintenance woman so she would come to
terms with it as well.
No matter what form it would take, Shino wished for a

clear answer. And yet, aiming for it to die out in course of
time was proof that he wasn't facing Shino's feelings.
I...
Suddenly, the face of Shino sitting behind him was

reflected on the window. Shino was tightly biting her lower
lip and hanging her head down without confidence.
The longer he delayed the answer, the more painful it

would be for Shino. It was an expression that made him
understand that even if he didn't want to.
I don't want to see a sad face like that, your smiling face
is what I—
Sandai suddenly realized.
He realized that his answer had already been inside him.
Or rather, there was no need to agonize over it to begin

with, he had already decided on the answer from the
beginning.
However, he was scared to admit it.
He didn't have the courage.
He was a loner, so he was bad at making a decision that

would bring about a big change, making him fall into the
habit of trying to run away and keep it closed under a lid.
"...I'm such a total jerk, huh."
Sandai made a bitter smile in such self mocking, and

began to use his phone under the desk so the teacher
couldn't see it.
He would just have to muster up the courage like Shino

had mustered up hers, do what he could, give all he could.
His loner self wasn't sure how far he could go with a lover,
but he had come to an acceptance that there was no need to
be cowardly anymore.
No longer intending to play games, the violent beating of

Sandai's chest reached Shino through the radio wave.
Reflected on the window, Shino picked up her phone

while puzzlingly tilted her head, and opened her eyes wide as
soon as she looked down at the screen.
Afterwards, Shino gradually broke into a smile—and

finally into a radiant smile.
On the last third of September at the beginning of fall in

his second year of high school, Fujiwara Sandai, a mere
loner, developed into a loner with a girlfriend.
***
The season also began to truly turn into fall. The uniform
was changed as well starting October, switching from
summer to winter uniform.
On such a day after school, Sandai suddenly passed by

Nakaoka and was stopped by her. Nakaoka looked hard at
Sandai from the top of his head to his toe as if observing and
said,
"You have... changed somehow lately, huh?"
"Is that so?"
"How should I put it, it's like you seem composed, calm,
something like that... Could it be that you?"
He was continuing to keep his relationship with Shino

hidden at school, but having been observing him
occasionally, Nakaoka seemed to have noticed.
"I would say it's... as you guessed."
"I see, so that's why you seem different! When I gave you
some advice, you were just refuting this, refuting that, so I
was thinking you might be no good, but... looks like it's gone
in the good direction, huh."
"Somehow, well, you know..." Sandai said and smiled

wryly.
"Go enjoy your youth, youngster. Studying should be

taken seriously as well as part of a student's duty, but it's
also okay to turn your attention to something else for a bit.
However, just make sure you use contraception, you hear?"
"C-Contraception...?"
It'd been two weeks since they'd started dating. Their
relationship was deepening to a degree, and even he was
able to willingly give a kiss now, albeit awkwardly.
However, those were just in the category of a wholesome

relationship. It still wasn't the time to think about beyond
that point.
Sandai couldn't help but blush.
"What's with that face... are you telling me you're still a

virgin?"
"I-Is it bad? Is it bad to be a virgin?"
"You still have it?"
"I still have it!"
"Then you normally wouldn't be able to put up with it."
"What do you think male high school students are?"
"Sexual drive monster."
"That's just a bias!"
"Nah, it mustn't be a bias but a fact. Even at the staff

meeting this morning, the student counselor was talking
about finding a student watching a porn video on his phone
and confiscating it yesterday."
"T-That's just a part of the students, so..."
"Then have you never bought porn books or watched porn

videos?" Nakaoka looked at Sandai suspiciously while
stroking her chin.
While knitting his brows, Sandai looked away at the
question that would be very hard to answer that would make
a lie sound like a lie if he were to lie and say, 'No, I haven't.'
"...I've gotten rid of them. The physical goods."
"The physical goods? The way you put it sounds like you
have something other than physical goods, huh? Ooh?"
"...Please stop it already, spare me from that kind of talk.

It's plain embarrassing, and it's just not something a teacher
should be talking about to a student."
"Nah, it's something a teacher should be talking about to

their students. Regarding such sexual issues, for example,
the regulations don't directly prohibit sexual relations
between fellow high school students, but it is also a healthy
desire of youngsters to have romantic feelings for the
opposite sex of the same age and to desire their body.
However, the deeds, although obvious, come with a
responsibility. As a teacher, I have to remind you. I'm not
telling you not to do it. I'm just saying be responsible. Don't
become the kind of trash who knocks someone up because
they prioritize feeling good and don't take any measure,
alright?"
"I'm... satisfied even if I don't have sex, so..."
Although it didn't mean that Sandai was not interested in

physical relations, simply kissing and holding hands were
enough to satisfy him.
However, Nakaoka dismissed Sandai's state as 'just for

now.'
"...Sooner or later that won't satisfy you. Besides, there's

also the possibility of Yuizaki wanting what comes after the
kiss. Heart and physical connection go hand in hand. There
are people who regard platonic relationships as important,
but it depends largely on each individual, such as due to
religious beliefs, or mental instability like being too
fastidious. Otherwise, physical relations stand as the highest
level of expression of love and act of validation... I guess I'm
nagging too much, huh. What I want to say in the end is
that, go think of your partner."
"..."
"By the way, make sure you put on a condom, you hear?
Don't go saying things like you don't use it because you don't
know where it's sold, alright? It's usually sold in a drugstore
and the like, so go look for it."
Sandai knew Nakaoka was talking about serious stuff, but

it wasn't any immediate matter anyway and was just
embarrassing, so he turned his back on her.
"Don't be so cold like that... Well, I'll tell you just one last
thing." Hearing that would be the last one, Sandai turned
around without thinking. "Don't buy condoms at a place that
might sell adult toys, alright? I hear places like that also sell
ones specifically made to break immediately. If you
accidentally buy stuff like that... you're gonna be a papa at
that age, you know?"
I wish I never turned around. Sandai left the school

behind along with such regret.
***
There wasn't much change in Sandai's activities after

returning home compared to before. However, there was
just one component added that was different from before.
"...About time, huh."
Having checked the hands on the clock to confirm the

time, Sandai tidied up his studying tools and checked his
phone. And then he received a message from Shino.
『I'll be there soon so wait for me~』
Speaking of a component different from before, Shino

would now come to Sandai's apartment every night after her
part-time job was over.
Shino had switched from taking the 21:00 train she had
previously been taking to the one an hour later to allow that
extra hour to be used for boyfriend-girlfriend time.
They were hiding their relationship at school, and if they

were to exclude days-off, this one hour would be the only
time they would have as lovers during weekdays. It was a
precious one hour.
Sandai was waiting in seiza at the entrance when the

doorbell rang. It was Shino. Sandai nervously headed for the
front door.
"Yoo-hoo!"
"Been waiting for you here."
"I was impatiently waiting, too! Yah!"
Sandai hugged Shino tightly as she came jumping at him,

and he went inside with her in princess carry.
"...Kiss me." Shino said at the entrance, and Sandai slowly
put his lips on hers despite feeling bashful.
It was still awkward. Nevertheless, he put his feelings into

it to convey it to her.
Shino's lips tasted like fresh citrus. It was a flavor a little

different from usual, but Shino would change her lip balm
from time to time, so that was the reason.
"Did you notice the flavor change?"
"Err... Mandarin?"
"That's right. The last one was strawberry and the one
before was vanilla, but which one you like? I'm trying to see
what kind you like, Sandai."
"You can just use what you like, Shino."
"I do want to like the flavor my boyfriend likes!"
"I also want to like the flavor you like, but... if I say this,
looks like we won't be on the same page no matter how
much time passes, huh. Then I guess I'll have you put on a
lip balm that matches mine. Strawberry."
The strawberry had a flavor and smell that was like giving
the actual feeling of kissing one, and Sandai kind of liked
that.
"Okay!!"
Shino said with a smile, and began to fish through her

pouch, apparently already going to reapply it.
October 24 - October 26
Got a Makeover and Introduced, Huh?
The date had further passed and finally entered the

second half of October.
Every day had been going well.
Today the same as always, Sandai had warmly welcomed

Shino coming to his place after her part-time job, placed her
on his lap, and was playing a console game together.
"Aah, I'm gonna lose!"
"Today's gonna be my wi—"
"—Then how about this!"
Shino kissed him, seeming to try to cause a physical

disturbance.
Having a sweet smell of strawberry gently tickling his

nasal cavity, Sandai unintentionally dropped the controller
in his hands, got the tables turned in that gap and lost.
"I won!"
"Hey... out of the blue like that is not fair."
"It's not not fair~"
Shino stretched as if to say she was in a good mood, and

began to get ready to go home because it would almost be
time for her train.
With the street at night being risky, Sandai decided to
walk Shino to the station, though he'd always done so. Then
on the way there, Shino pressed her index finger on her lips,
and went, "Hmmm," as she tilted her head.
"What's wrong?"
"It just hit me, but... somehow it's just like being subtly
noticed."
"Being noticed?"
"You know, us, we're trying not to talk at school, right?"
"Sure we are."
"But it's like, there are people who kinda have guessed our
relationship. Or rather, somehow it's like, there are those
who seem like that."
It seemed some students were beginning to vaguely

suspect their relationship, perhaps the limits of keeping
their relationship under wraps began to show.
They'd been taking various care to avoid it getting found

out, but even so, both their eyes would also be filled with
passion were they to make eye contacts when passing by
each other.
That truly would just be an instant, but from the

beginning Shino had been a beautiful girl who would
constantly attract attention, so she would be watched by all
sorts of students for every single move of her. There was a
sizable number of folks who would not miss even a mere
instant of that, so to say.
"So, if possible, I... sure would love not to hide it anymore.
And I so wanna tell people that I'm dating you, Sandai.
Telling them you're the boyfriend I'm proud of."
Sandai got just a little embarrassed from being told he

was the boyfriend she was proud of. He was happy to hear
that from her, but he was feeling awkward.
"Is that.. a no?"
Shino was poking her index fingers together while

pouting. When it came to being asked like this...
Well, all that aside, to hide the relationship was somehow

just a continuation of the decision made at the time he
hadn't thought they would be dating, and now that they were
actually lovers, various things should certainly change as
well.
Disclosing the relationship would also be a choice with a

big advantage to Sandai. After all, it would become a strong
deterrent against men secretly aiming for Shino.
"...Well, I guess there's no need to forcibly hide our

relationship anymore."
"Then—"
"—Right, then let's go as you say. That said, like suddenly

showing a boyfriend-girlfriend relationship in the classroom
seems like it would cause chaos at many levels, so I'd say it's
gotta be done gradually."
"Gradually... Then should I tell my friends that we're

dating and have them spread the word?"
"My bad, I have no friends, so it looks like I've got to rely
on you, Shino."
"No need to apologize. In the first place the one who said
not wanting to hide it was me, remember?"
The talk thus came to a conclusion, and it was decided to

gradually spread their boyfriend-girlfriend relationship.
***
And now, after school the next day.
As Sandai was about to go home while looking at the back

of Shino going straight to her part-time job from a distance,
he was called out by a group of five flashy gyaru students.
Even Sandai knew of these five. They should be Shino's

friends, and he would often see them chatting happily
between breaks.
"Hey Fujiwara, got a minute? So we heard from Shino

herself, and you two are dating? It vaguely feels like that, but
like, it's just plain surprising, though."
As planned, Shino had immediately told her friends about

the fact of her relationship with Sandai, but still, the gyarus
somehow seemed stiff.
Could they be thinking that I'm not a good fit for Shino?
And so Sandai spontaneously put himself on guard with his
bag as a shield, only for the gyarus to sigh all at once.
"...You don't gotta be on guard like a stray cat like that.

It's not like we're trying to find fault at you or anything.
Shino thought you're a good man and chose you, so not
gonna make any complaints about that. It's not about any of
that, there's just a bit of something we're troubled with, and
like, we sure love to have your cooperation."
They seemed to have come to ask for a favor, and not to

make a complaint. Sandai lowered his bag feeling
anticlimactic.
"So there's like a 'gathering' or like 'dinner party' and stuff

like that, the kind where there's also guys coming... and
we've also been inviting Shino to one since ages ago, but
she's just always declining, you see. Especially lately it's just
totally hopeless. If she's gotten a boyfriend, then that's
understandable, though. But I'm telling you it's totally
different with or without Shino. The Shino Boost is really
just that amazing."
"Yep yep. Not just guys from other schools, but college
students sure would also come in droves. If Shino's name is
mentioned."
"You maybe don't know, Fujiwara, but Shino is actually

famous even outside of school. She even got invited to be a
model or an idol and the like. Well, Shino refused, though."
It was the first time for Sandai to hear about invitations

from the show business, but she was that much of a beautiful
girl, so there was nothing weird about it.
"I... I see."
"With that reaction I guess you really didn't know just

how amazing Shino is, huh... I wonder if that kinda thing
looked good to Shino instead."
"Prob."
"Shino and Fujiwara's beginning of romance's not
important right now, so let's just put it aside for the time
being. Errr, so I'm gonna be straight, we're talking about
making you come to the dinner party with us. Like, we
thought maybe Shino will come if we do, get me?"
"Well, we sure would love to have at least one more Shino

Boost. It just really makes a difference in the guys joining
in... So please."
Then the five gyarus went to lower their heads to Sandai

in turn.
Their attitude was conveying that it was a rather serious

favor. That said, it was also something he wouldn't want to
accept as her boyfriend, frankly.
"I get what you're all trying to say, but Shino's not good
with men, so I think it's just not right to bring her out to a
place like that, alright? Besides, like going there together
with her boyfriend, the men you called sure are gonna get
mad as well. In other words, just quietly give—"
"—Wait. It's mutually benefitting, you know?"
"...Huh?"
"First, we're gonna be able to naturally tell the guys,

'Shino actually got a BF, so no-no. That's why choose from
among us, 'kay?' And so, if you show off your presence in
front of the guys like, 'I'm her boyfriend here', it's gonna
become a repellent for them not to get close to Shino, right?
This is the so-called mutually benefitting."
Sandai's mind began to waver slightly, thinking that that

way of thinking was a blind spot and that it might have a
point. Then, as if to say this was their chance, the gyarus
pressed in.
"I think Shino will be happy with the result, you know?
You girls think so too, right?"
"I sure do. If in front of other guys you go 'Don't you dare
lay your hand on my girl...' like a chad, that's totally heart
throbbing, right?"
"And Shino looks pretty crazy about you, Fujiwara, so that

sure is gonna KO her if you do something like that. You
might just make her not want to leave you her whole life."
"Totes~ And she gonna be like, 'All I can see is you now!'."
"And it's gonna be a chance to see Shino's happiness-to-

the-max face. There's no choice but to get on board, don't
you think?"
Being rallied up, Sanda was somewhat becoming inclined

as well. It began to seem like something that could only
benefit him.
"By the way... wanna give Fujiwara some makeover? If

we're bringing him, you want him looking a bit cooler, right?
He's just too plain."
That was probably an opinion that just popped out all of

sudden, but the gyarus' ears twitched, and they showed their
approval, going, "Agree!" one by one, and it got approved
unanimously in just several seconds.
Sandai was bewildered as he hadn't expected the

conversation to go in a direction like that, but first he got
both his arms caught in a tangle by two of the gyarus, and
then got pushed in the back with a gusto by the remaining
three, turning it into a very difficult situation to flee from.
"Then let's get going."
"Right, while the iron still hot~"
"H-Hold on! This makeover or whatever stuff is just too

sudden, I—"
Although Sandai was putting up a resistance somehow. "If

you get cooler~ ...I think Shino will also be happy, though?"
He got whispered with such sweet words close to his ear,

and his strength suddenly was wearing thin.
Sandai also knew by feeling that Shino liked the way he

was, not giving any demands or anything regarding his usual
look and such.
However, while that may be true, it didn't necessarily

mean there was no dissatisfaction at all. There was also the
possibility of her thinking, 'I wish he could get a little cooler.'
Such an anxiety smoldering in the furthest back of

Sandai's mind was tickled. Unlike Shino, these gyarus
seemed to be greatly used to the opposite sex, and seemed to
know what to say to sway a man's heart.
"We'll pay for it, so no worries."
"Well, that's just fair, isn't it?"
"Can't be helped."
"And we're the ones who decided for it, right~"
"Right~"
Now that such a deal was arranged, Sandai found himself

nodding his head slowly.
***
Now then, the first place Sandai was brought to was a

beauty parlor.
Although so far Sandai hadn't particularly cared about his

hairstyle, he thought that it should be within the normal
scope, but... this seemed to be a no-no. The gyarus had
looked up for beauty parlors on their phones, begun to
indiscriminately call them to see if a same day appointment
was possible, and chosen a place that seemed to be
fashionable from among the hits.
Although feeling timid to be in a fashionable beauty

parlor which he had never come to one before, Sandai sat
down in the chair he was led to. The hairdresser to be in
charge of him came shortly, but that cheeks of hers cramped
up after seeing the bizarre sight of a plain-looking boy
surrounded by five gyarus.
"H-How do you want to look today? If you haven't decided

on anything in particular, you can choose one from this..."
But, despite being clearly bewildered, the hairdresser

never did mention the gyarus around him. Seemingly good
in reading the mood perhaps due to her line of work, she
ignored them and gave Sandai the hairstyle catalog despite
feeling bothered.
For the time being, Sandai opened the catalog to read it,
but...
"Dibs!"
"Wha, hey!"
"Alright alright, just wait there."
"Right~ we'll choose for you."
...The catalog was snatched away by the gyarus,

apparently not going to give the right to choose the hairstyle
to Sandai.
"M-My opinion is..."
"You can't know what hairstyle gonna look good on

yourself, you know?"
"Leave it to us!"
"She said it, this is our turn to shine."
The gyarus rattled on and began to have a discussion

while ignoring Sandai, the concerned party who would have
his hairstyle changed.
"Nnn what's gonna be good, I wonder? How about

something like this manly undercut with shaved sides?"
"Nope~ Fujiwara is better with this prince bob cut than

with that. It's cuter and all."
"Eeh? I sure think it's better with this foreign guy-ish

shaved head than with stuff like that."
"Ugh, there it is, the baldy lover. I mean, you might be all
happy with baldness, but Shino sure is gonna get mad.
Probably... I think this is good. Don't you think this mullet
with perm is good? I sure do love stuff like this."
"Nuh-uh, nothing old fashioned."
"Eeh, then which is good?"
"Let's see... Isn't middle parted hair that got both fashion
and charm good? Don't know if it's gonna look good, but the
proof is in the pudding like they say."
Somehow it seemed turning into him being made into a

toy.
Having a hunch that this would go to an unpleasant

outcome at this rate, Sandai appealed with his eyes telling
them, 'Please stop making the decision for fun.'
The gyarus surprisingly noticed Sandai's complaint

quickly, but they didn't take any attitude of feeling sorry at
all.
"Well, I guess the most important thing is whether Shino

will be happy with it."
"I guess in the end it comes to that."
"Nn."
"No objection."
"Sorry for saying as we please, Fujiwara."
It was a light reflection and apology that didn't seem to

come from the heart at all, but it was all good since at least
having his hairstyle changed for a strange reason had been
avoided.
"But Shino's taste... taste... what she likes, I wonder?
Anyone know?"
"Dunno. I mean, Shino just always runs away when it

comes to talking about what kinda man she likes, right?"
"Shino tends to run away from talking about men, so who

knows what she likes. I think she can't just keep on saying
she's not good with men this, not good with men that
forever, though... Wait, she got a boyfriend, so I wonder if
her not-goodness with men also decreased. Well anyway, she
chose someone like Fujiwara, so doesn't she like plain-feel
then? If we ask for a fresh and cool look, then we can have
him get finished up to look good."
"The heck, that's very so-so."
"I mean we can only ask for that, right? Earlier we just got
glared at by Fujiwara, too. If it were my boyfriend, I'm gonna
turn him into a guinea pig no questions asked, though."
"I guess that's true... actually, isn't saying if it's your own
boyfriend it's okay to make him a guinea pig just the same
awful thinking? I feel bad for the men who will date you,
actually, don't you think that's why men won't approach
you?"
"Can you stop with the super fast straight ball?"
"It's a direct hit LOL."
"Asking for a fight, aren't cha?"
"Alright, okay okay, slow down slow down, we're almost

leaving Fujiwara behind again. I'm going back to topic,
okay? So, about the fresh and cool look, well, I've got a
feeling it's got a high chance of satisfying Shino. So you okay
with that too, Fujiwara?"
That seemed to be the safest bet, and above all, Sandai

also didn't want it to turn into him being made into a toy
again, so he immediately approved it, "A fresh and cool
look," and at the same time gave the request to the
hairdresser.
"...I see. Understood." The hairdresser nodded with a wry

smile and began to deftly get to work.
His freshness and stylishness were upped in a flash,

turning Sandai into a clearly different self than before
despite not that much change in just the silhouette.
A mild and nice smell drifted from his head from the use
of a hairdressing product as the finishing touch; thanks to
that, his air or perhaps vibe was becoming much better.
"It's all done. I'm adding an undercut to trim up the

thickness, but just enough that you can't tell it unless you're
forcibly showing it off. It is simply just to curb the thickness.
And then it doesn't mean the current state is correct, I'm
also leaving enough for you to play around with it and work
it out on your own. It's that kind of hairstyle. Next is... I used
DEUXER 3 for the wax, but I'm also making sure it can look
like that even without making yourself use it, okay? A
student probably doesn't have much money anyway... How's
this look? I think it's right on the money on the coolness and
freshness, though."
Sandai apparently had gotten various minute work done,

but most of the thing said was lost on him.
But it didn't seem to be a problem even without much

maintenance, so not understanding it seemed problem free.
"T-Thank you very much."
"I'm glad you liked it. So you have a pretty plain face, that
said it's not that bad and looks good you know? It doesn't
seem like it would look out of place in a catalog or something
either—that's right, do come back here if you feel like it, I'll
make a haircut model."
Even if it was a mere flattery, being complimented made

Sandai happy, so he scratched his cheek and got up while
feeling bashful.
And then his eyes met with the gyarus who was grinning
for some reason.
"W-What's with that face you're all making? It's not like
it's weird, right?"
"Eh? Aaah... well it's not weird."
"Rather than weird... this is... right?"
"Could it be Shino knew this?"
"She's not the type to think that far and you know it."
"Guess so. I think Shino totally didn't know this. She sure
got good intuition~"
The gyarus were acting weird for some reason, but Sandai
couldn't ask for the reason. After all, he would hate it if it
was out of reason like: because there were parts to criticize.
Sandai quickly went outside ahead of them.
"Haahh..." A sigh spontaneously came out of him.
He had just been sitting there, yet was strangely worn out.
He would love to quickly go home, but... this wasn't the end
of the makeover.
Even thereafter, Sandai was being dragged around by the

gyarus to pick out clothes and shoes, only to find it was
halfway through eight in the evening already. It had taken a
very long time, but it was also thanks to that that on a glance
Sandai had become to look like he could be in some
magazine.
"Alright! Makeover done!"
"Hmmm~ He's gotten to actually look cool, huh."
"Personally I like it a bit more flashy, though..."
"That's just your taste. Even so, it's gotten to the level of
making me want to betray Shino a bit. Fujiwara is... the type
who seems to be everywhere, but rather hard to find when it
comes to searching for him, isn't it? And his personality
doesn't seem bad either."
"I get how you feel, but as a person, let's just drop it."
Each of the gyarus was giving their final evaluation, but

Sandai was beginning to be more concerned about Shino.
Time wise, Shino would be on her way to his apartment

after her part-time job. In summary, Sandai would
immediately debut his current self to Shino were he to
return home.
I... changed not in a bad way, right? And will Shino be

happy?
As Sandai was suppressing his restlessness, "Heyo,
Fujiwara. Actually we just contacted Shino earlier, like, 'We
gave your boyfriend a makeover.' And looks like it's just
right when she's done with her part-time, so she said she's
gonna be right over... Look, here she comes."
Being let known by the gyarus they had called Shino out
without him knowing, Sandai hurriedly looked around.
Then he saw Shino coming running while out of breath

from a distance. Shino came right before Sandai's eyes in a
flash, and hugged him with full force. Then, with moist eyes,
she for some reason ruffled Sandai's head with all her might.
In the time he was unsure what was going on, the

hairstyle he'd gone out of his way to get done by a
hairdresser was becoming a mess.
"S-Shino...?"
"NOOOOO! DON'T GET COOOOOLER! OTHER GIRLS

GONNA START APPROACHING YOU!!! DON'T WANNA!!
AND EVERYONE DON'T JUST GIVE SOMEONE'S
BOYFRIEND A MAKEOVER WITHOUT PERMISSION!
LIKE BEFORE IS FINE!! JUST LIKE THAT IS FINE!!"
Shino shouted with her lips quivering.
There wasn't the slightest sign of her being happy at

Sandai's improved appearance; it was the opposite reaction
instead.
She was angry, thinking more about the possibility of him

catching the eyes of another woman.
Although little by little, it was still a makeover Sandai had

accepted with the thought that it would make Shino happy,
but... he got her on the verge of crying as well as ruined her
mood.
That was the result, making this Sandai's first blunder

since they had started dating unexpectedly.
"H-Hey."
Sandai quietly checked on Shino to see her state, to find

her raising her brows in anger and biting her lower lip.
Not knowing what to do at a time like this, Sandai briefly

raised a complaint to the gyarus with his eyes for help, but
the gyarus averted their faces away, absolutely not making
eye contact.
"Well... to think Shino would be like this."
"It's really just beyond expectations... that Shino is this

much in love."
"What to do?"
"No choice but to run away!"
""""Agree!""""
The gyarus tapped Sandai's shoulder one by one going,

"Take care of the rest, BF-kun." and they all fled, slipping
into the crowd. It was just a moment.
"H-How irresponsible... Wait!"
Sandai hurriedly tried to chase after them, but Shino

tightly grabbed his sleeve.
"...Where are you going?"
"W-Where...?"
"Are you leaving me?"
"That's not what I... it's just... I don't know how to act
towards you, Shino... that's why I thought of asking them..."
"I don't get it. Why can't you just ask me? It's not anyone
else who knows best what I want, it's me."
The one who would know Shino's heart best was Shino
herself; that was an obvious thing. However, Sandai didn't
notice that due to him panicking.
"You're my boyfriend, so have confidence and go ask what

it is that I want. If you don't... I'll hate it."
Tears streaming down Shino's cheeks fell and spilled on

the ground. He ended up making her cry in earnest.
"S-Sorry..."
"Don't apologize..."
"I understand... What is it that you want, Shino?"

With his face hanging down at the ever growing feelings of
guilt, Sandai decided to be upfront and ask Shino what she
wanted. The person in question said she wanted it that way,
so to do so would definitely be the right thing to do.
"...Squeeze me."
"Eh? Squeeze?"
"It means hug me."
"A-Aah, so that's what you mean."
Sandai hurriedly hugged Shino and gently patted her head

as if soothing a small child.
"...You're gonna ruin my hair if you do it like that."
"S-Sorry. Then I'll stop the patting."
"No."
"No, I mean, you said it's gonna ruin your hair, right?"
"It's not gonna break that easily. I mean, I didn't tell you
to stop, so don't stop."
This would mean telling him to understand the 'feelings'

hidden behind the words, but what a very high level of
demand.
Though, Sandai didn't make a complaint towards such a

demand.
One minute, two minute—as time went by, Shino

gradually calmed down and stopped crying.
"...If another girl approaches you, absolutely don't go to
her, okay?"
What Shino laid bare was a clear possessiveness. It was a

truly pure desire of wanting to protect her position as his
lover.
If it were a man who would play with a woman's heart,

perhaps they would be proud for making a woman say such
words, but Sandai was not of such personality; he simply
and only felt sorry—that he had made Shino feel uneasy
because of his rash move.
"You don't have to worry about whether I would go to

another woman or not."
"Really...?"
"Yeah really. I mean, I'm a loner, alright? I'm not

popular."
"There's absolutely women out there who won't mind a

loner."
"It's fine, really. As for me, I'm more worried about

whether or not you would dump me than about whether or
not a woman like that would show up, Shino."
"...I'm not gonna dump you."
Shino nuzzled her face into Sandai's chest. Perhaps

completely reassured by doing so, Shino's mood went back
to normal.
Thank god... I wondered what would happen for a time,

but she settled down somehow.
Feeling relieved, Sandai patted Shino's head just one
more time, and explained many of the various details of
today. All of it.
"...As for me, I just wanted to make you happy, Shino.

They're also saying they would be the one paying and all, so
yeah."
Sandai finished sharing the details, only for Shino to be

astonished.
"I'm happy that you wanted to make me happy, but... try

to think about it for a bit. For example, how would you feel if
I begin saying things like, 'I got forcibly kidnapped by your
friends, Sandai, but I got into it in the middle ♪ . They were
surprisingly nice to me and also paid for me, and I got cute
thanks to that, too. So you'll also be happy right?' Somehow
it makes you feel unpleasant, right? Feel disappointed,
right? Uneasy, right?"
Completely as Shino said, and Sandai was at a loss for

words.
Too much fooling around with the opposite sex—seeing it

from the view of the one affected, it was an unpleasantness
inducing act that looked like nothing but a betrayal.
"You're right... If the same thing done to me, I think I'll

feel very unpleasant."
"Right? That's why stuff like that is now 'nopenope',

okay?"
"Nopenope..."
"Not trying to be cute. Just now means: don't fool

around."
"I know. I'm sorry..."
"Yeah... Also, I don't know if it's a gathering or dinner

party or whatever, but I'm not gonna go, okay? I'll refuse it."
Shino sighed and roughly placed her phone to her ear.

Apparently she would be directing her anger not to Sandai,
but to her own friends.
When a third party of the opposite sex is involved with

one's lover, there will be a difference in how men and
women react—such is one of the well-known say. It is said
that many men would take out their anger on their
girlfriend, and rather than towards their boyfriend, many
women would direct their anger towards the same sex who
tried to kidnap their boyfriend.
And Shino seemed to be no exception to this.
With each repeated ringing tone before the call connected,

Shino was looking more and more furious. Sandai was
worried whether he should soothe her, but if he opened his
mouth now, it seemed like she would say, 'Why are you
defending other women?' so he quit it.
He could read the mood that much.
『Shino, what's wrong?』
"Looks like there's some gathering or something

whatever, but I'm absolutely not gonna go!"
『Oof, you sure seriously got so mad. You wanna convey

your raw emotion, and so like you called?』
"I'm sure it's just gonna get ignored anyway if I take out
my anger in the groupchat! You're toying with someone's
boyfriend, and used that as an excuse to lure me out to top it
off, have you got no human heart? Go be sorry now!"
『That Fujiwara sure did tip us off...』
"Sandai did nothing wrong! You're the one at fault! Don't

play games with me!"
『It's not like we're trying to—』
"BE — SORRY!"
『...Y-Yes.』
"Good grief."
『...Well umm, we also want a BF... so you know...』
"Go put in an effort if you want a boyfriend. I also put in

an effort here."
『 We do know that, though. Totally... Still, he made you

put in effort, Fujiwara is pretty amazing, huh? Even though
generally it's the men who kneel.』
"...Don't play with me. Then bye."
『Nn.』
Shino roughly cut the call and tugged on Sandai's sleeve.
"W-What's wrong?"
"I want a mood lift."
Shino raised her face and closed her eyes, appealing for
him to guess what she wanted even without putting it into
words.
He immediately knew the correct answer; he just had to

kiss her. Shino was telling him that everything would be
bygones then.
Sandai closed his eyes and put his lips on hers.
"...Nnh."
Shino's charming, sigh mixed voice was something he had

heard many times, but it held a mysterious addiction that
would make him want to hear it over and over again.
I want to hear this voice... just a bit more.
When their lips were in contact for long enough that

counting the time becoming bothersome after Sandai
succumbing to such desire, looking pained, Shino pushed his
body in a jerk with both hands.
"I-I'm satisfied now! Sure with the mood it was me who

asked for it, but does it normally take this long~?"
"...I can't?"
"Not that you can't, but there's gotta be moderation."
"Well about that, yeah, I'd say because it made me want to
hear it."
"...Made you want to hear it?"
"Your sigh is cute, so it just made me want to hear it again

and again," Sandai said while scratching the tip of his nose,
making Shino's face turn red immediately.
Sandai would seldomly face his own desire and put it into
words; thanks to that, the brief remark just now seemed to
have affected Shino unexpectedly.
"Even if you say that... Y-Yeah yeah! I understand what

you're trying to say! I hear you loud and clear~!"
Shino said like howling and quickly began to walk, but not
watching where she was going, she hit her head on a utility
pole, "Gueh!" and let out un-girlish voice.
Sandai almost laughed at the way Shino was flustering,

which was the kind he had never seen before, but enjoying it
would be mean, so he immediately chased after her and held
her hand instead of laughing.
"W-What?"
"Holding hands gotta be better. You were staggering

there, alright? What are you gonna do if you get hit by a car
or something?"
"...Hey."
"Yeah?"
"I love you." Shino said and turned around.
She had a radiant smile.
Although Sandai knew that Shino had an abundance of

emotions and expressions, a surprised attack still got him
startled.
"..."
"So what's up with the sudden silence?"
"...It's nothing."
"Should I guess why you went silent~? ...Maybe like, you

got startled? 'Cause I actually kinda aimed for it."
The 'I love you' earlier seemed to be on purpose, and

Sandai fell for it spectacularly.
There is the so-called 'initiative' in love, and it is the rein

that everyone wants to grab; and in fact, Sandai also would
love to have the initiative close at hand.
So it had been a good opportunity for having made Shino

flustered, but... the situation immediately got turned upside
down by her surprise attack.
That said, Sandai didn't intend to fully give up, so he

played the fool to suggest that the surprise attack just now
wasn't effective.
"Did you... say something just now? I couldn't hear you

clearly."
"Eh? No I'm saying—"
"—Yeah? I can't really hear you, though?"
"E-Eeh...?"
"Sorry, my bad I can't hear you. I got bananas in my ears."
"You sure are trying to snatch the pace so forcefully.

Actually, what's with 'I got bananas in my ears'? Well, it's
not the first time you're saying something weird, though...
By the way."
"Yeah?"
"So tomorrow, do you have something to do right after

school?"
"What now, that's so sudden."
"It's the plan to spread the fact that we're dating, right?"
"...Is something wrong with that?"
"Can you come to my workplace? If I introduce you at my

workplace, I think it would spread from there, too. I actually
thought of having those girls do it, but they're just trying to
mess around with someone's boyfriend... It's like, I've got a
terrible feeling it will turn out awful if I ask them, so I don't
really want to ask them."
In her own way, Shino should certainly have taken it out

on her friends, but while that might be true, it apparently
didn't mean that she had forgotten all of her anger.
Well, setting that aside, making their dating relationship

itself also known outside of school was also one of the
reasons why Sandai had decided to listen to the gyarus. Thus
he had no real reluctance to it.
"If that's the case then."
"Can I take that as an OK?"
"I don't really mind."
"Thanks! Then we'll go there together. It's tomorrow,

okay?"
"I got it."
Thus tomorrow Sandai would head to Shino's workplace.
***
The next day. Sandai felt that the time passed by faster
than usual; as he was taking classes quietly as usual, it
instantly became after school..
"...That's all. All right, all dismissed."
The class teacher Nakaoka announced the end of the

homeroom and listlessly went to leave the classroom while
yawning. Each of his classmates were also leaving, starting
with those who got club activities, committees, or stuff to do.
Sandai also began to pack his textbooks into his bag in

preparation to return home. Then from the seat behind
Sandai, Shino grabbed him by the collar and pulled him
back along with the chair with a jerk.
"Oof."
"It's after school!"
Srrt. The sound of the chair being dragged across the floor
echoed powerfully and attracted the attention of the
classmates still in the classroom.
Sandai as well, he looked at Shino while repeatedly
blinking his eyes wondering what was happening.
"It's after school, y'know~ You remember, right?"
"...No way I'm gonna forget a promise made just

yesterday. I clearly remember the talk about going to your
workplace together, Shino. It's just, our relationship is still
totally not known at school, so for now we're gonna go out of
the school separately and then..."
"Then let's go!!"
Shino forcibly pulled Sandai's hand and kept on moving.
Given that the only people at school who certainly knew

their relationship were Shino's friends and their classroom
teacher Nakaoka, it goes without saying that they attracted
attention from the rest of the school.
Though, just like Shino had pointed out before, there

seemed to be no small number of people suspecting it, so a
part of them could be heard saying, "(I knew it!)" but...
"(Hey look.)"
"(Are you serious...)"
"(Well they've been rumored a lot for some time now.)"
"(Wasn't that just some misunderstanding? And so that's

why the rumor went away pretty fast.)"
"(That's true, but the sus feeling continues, y'know? I

mean, sometimes they were also staring at each other. And
that's not just once or twice, but again and again.)"
"(You saw them staring at each other many times...? Why
are you witnessing something that's only happening
occasionally like that?)"
"(I liked her, alright? I liked Yuizaki, that's why I was

always watching. I knew even if I didn't like it. And it's not
just me, the guys who were watching Yuizaki.)"
"(You were always watching...? And there are others...?

What's with this school? Does it have a stalker infestation?)"
"(That guy, he's Fujiwara-kun from Yuizaki-san's class,

isn't he? He's plain so I don't remember if we might've
passed by each other, but on second look, he's a pretty cool
looking guy, huh.)"
"(And apparently Fujiwara is really kind... wait, I think it

was Yuizaki-san who said that. I feel like I heard she said
something like that the very first time the rumor started.
Well, that means she's caught an excellent hidden gem.)"
He could guess what was being said; it was 'Those two...'

stuffs
***
"I wonder if actually showing our relationship at school

would surely make it spread out gradually... Just kiddin'!
The truth is I can't hold it anymore. And I also want you to
be aware that the initiative is on me, Sandai~"
Shino stuck out her tongue and smiled mischievously.
Although dumbfounded, Sandai quickly understood the

situation.
In short, Shino wanted to say that Sandai's way was slow;
as well as saying that as the one taking the initiative
regarding their lovers' relationship, she got the right to
revise that.
Sandai was being hit by a considerable selfishness, but it

being done this brazenly was just so refreshing that he felt
no desire to complain.
They went out of the entrance, out of the school gate, and
onto the sidewalk. And while still being led by the hand by
Shino, they arrived at a block a little off the city center after
about thirty minutes.
Although away from the shopping district, it was a place

with a fair amount of pedestrian traffic.
"It's that one."
What Shino pointed at was a cafe of an antique-style

exterior with a calming atmosphere; that seemed to be her
workplace.
Somehow... It sure is an atmosphere the ladies seem to

really like.
Sandai got some bad feeling, and unfortunately, it came

true; once inside, all of the customers and employees were
women only.
On the blackboard by the counter that suddenly entered

his view was written with: 'Everyday is 30% off for ladies♪'
along with drawings of cute deformed animals.
"What an amazing place..."
"You think so?"
"It's all women here."
"Well I'm not good with guys, so..."
Although it might get misunderstood when they were

together, Shino was basically not good with men. Choosing a
part-time job with a high percentage of women like this was
obvious.
Although Sandai could understand it, he felt timid at this

overwhelming, away disadvantage feeling.
"Go take the seat at the back there."
Then Shino just left her own standing-stock-still

boyfriend and disappeared beyond the door written with:
『Employees Only.』
For the time being... Sandai hurriedly moved. On the way,

he got suspiciously looked at by the female customers.
"Ah, excuse me..." he said, lowering his head and cutting

his way through.
"...Nn?" Feeling eyes on him upon taking a seat, Sandai

restlessly looked around.
Then he noticed a number of female employees staring at

him through the gap in the employees-only door Shino had
just entered.
"(Shino-chan says she brought her boyfriend, but... it's

that?)"
"(Shinopi said it's that seat, so isn't that the case? Hmm
but it might be a bit of a letdown. I just didn't think it would
be background character-ish like that~)"
"(He's plain but sure is a cute guy. Isn't the 'background

character-ish' because you're making your own too deep of
character as a standard? Like those twirling ringlets or I
guess chocolate cornets... that hairstyle is just too intense.)"
"(How cruel! These aren't chocolate cornets! This

hairstyle is cute! I'm taking an hour everyday getting it done,
you know!? Boohoo!! Waaa waaa!!)"
"(I've told you not to make fun of this girl's hairstyle.

She'd immediately cry.)"
"(Sorry sorry. That hairstyle sure is cute.)"
"(...Yeah.)"
"(But well, Shino-chan herself is surprisingly a serious

girl, so considering that, I guess it might be just inevitable
for her to choose a guy like that.)"
"(That's for sure... wait urgh the assistant manager, since

when did you...)"
"(What? Got a problem?)"
"(No Ma'am.)"
"(Then good. Now someone hurry up and bring out the

boyfriend privilege.)"
"(Go, Chocolate Cornets. It's cute so go.)"
"(Uwh... I'm telling you it's not chocolate cornets... wait
do you really think it's cute?)"
"(I do so just go.)"
He couldn't tell what they were saying because of the

physical distance. But still, even Sandai understood that they
were holding curiosity.
Perhaps Shino had already told them about Sandai. So

they should be coming out to observe out of curiosity.
I guess... I can't tell them I want them to stop staring.

They're Shino's co-workers, and if they think that I'm a
man with a troublesome personality, I suppose it's possible
it would make it hard for Shino to stay working here.
Sandai decided to just keep his mind empty. Then a

waitress with a hairstyle like chocolate cornets walked up to
him.
The girl who looked about the same age as Sandai and
Shino gently placed a small cake and a cup of tea on the
table.
"H-Here you go~ Enjoy~"
As Sandai was a little bewildered by being presented with

something he didn't remember ordering, the girl spoke up in
a flirty-like voice while hiding her face with the tray.
"Shinopi's Boyfriend-kun... I'm correct, right?"
"That's... right, but... what's with the cake and tea by the
way?"
"This is a boyfriend privilege~ We serve it to our
employee's boyfriend for free, limited to once a day."
"Uh-Uhuh."
"And so I'd like to ask about all sorts of things between

you and Shinopi... ah no not good, I'll get yelled at if I do a
voyeur-like thing like this... Well, Shinopi will soon
introduce you anyway, so just wait until then, okay? Then
later."
The girl said in rapid fire, and then left in a small run
going, "Hya~" while still hiding her face with the tray.
She was a somewhat bizarre girl, but that aside, the cake
and tea seemed to be free as some kind of a boyfriend
privilege, so he decided to accept it.
***
Both the cake and tea were fairly good, so half of them
immediately made their way into his stomach.
And right then Shino showed up.
She'd changed into the same uniform of the waitress from

earlier—a triangular neckerchief on a white shirt, and a
seemingly common, calm-colored beige apron dress with the
shop's logo on it.
It was a very ordinary uniform, not the kind that would

put importance on frilly-like cuteness nor the risque kind
you'd find in a shop catering towards male customers. That
said, it looked so cute when Shino wore it.
"Ehehe... I'm showing you this outfit for the first time, but
what do you think?"
"It looks good on you."
"Yay!"
Shino raised both hands in delight, and immediately

called and gathered her not-busy co-workers, and smilingly
and happily began the introduction.
"Ahem... Sorry to have kept you waiting. Now I will

formally introduce him to everyone—this is my boyfriend,
Fujiwara Sandai."
The assembled girls in unison all went, "Oooh~" and then

launched a barrage of questions as if to say they'd been
waiting for this.
"Fujiwara-kun, hey hey, how did you guys end up dating?"
"How far have you gone? Have you at least kissed?"
"Who was the one confessing~? Or was it more like you

were dating by the time you realized it? I wanna know so
badly~!"
Being vigorously pressed on by multiple people all at

once, "Uh..." Sandai groaned. He reflexively sent a gaze
asking for help to Shino.
His heartfeltness seemed to have reached Shino without

problem; she replied with a wink and clapped her hands
multiple times.
"Everyone calm down~ Allow me to explain one by one.

First is the one who fell in love first. If I had to pick, it was
me."
"Does that mean the one attacking was also you, Shino-
chan?"
"Ahem!" Shino puffed up her chest, and the girls' eyes

sparkled all at once.
"You sure are courageous~ I've also got a boyfriend, but
it's kind of not sitting well with me to be the one saying it, so
I just forcibly induced him to say it."
"Speaking of guys, they're surprisingly timid, so they

really wouldn't just say it, don't they? It's possible for them
to get snatched up by another girl in the time you're
wondering whether they would straight up say it, so I just
know it's better to quickly convey my feelings than to have it
come to that."
"Wooow~ oh gosh~ I want a BF, too~"
"I see, so Shino-chan who did, huh... Alright, I, a senior in

life and an assistant manager, have some words to say here.
I think it's good you were the one confessing, Shino-chan.
It's because just because you're a girl, it's not right to just
wait. And so for Fujiwara-kun... Don't take advantage of that
just because you were the one who got confessed. Don't say
something like, 'It's not me who fell in love.' It's because you
bear responsibility for the fact you got confessed to. You
accepted the confession because you like her, right? Then
having made her say it is a chain. So you have to devote
yourself to Shino-chan."
"So the one getting confessed bears responsibility? Then

what about the responsibility of the one who said it, eh? ...
(That kinda thinking is why you still don't have a
boyfriend.)"
"Hm? You said something?"
"Eh? I'm not saying anything, you know? Isn't it just your
imagination?"
"Is that so?"
"I heard it though~ You got bad-mouthed, you know?"
"Huh?"
"Eeek..."
"She says the assistant manager is a pain in the butt~ She

says you're annoying 'cause of all the constant complaining,
and 'cause of that you won't even be able to know true love,
and the sighing during breaks is also overbearing so she
wants you to stop or something like that~"
"I didn't say that! I didn't say that much! That's basically
just what you're feeling! This friggin chocolate cornets—aah,
Assistant Manager, please stop that scary face."
Then Sandai just got ignored, and it was turning into

insider's talk, but this seemed to be the usual scene seeing as
how Shino was smiling wryly.
Well, Sandai wasn't good with being put in the center of a

conversation surrounded by a large group of people and
getting talked to about this and that, so it could be said that
it saved him.
***
In the meantime, by the end both Shino and the other

girls began to get back to their work.
Time went by little by little, and the number of customers

began to grow around the time the evening sun was setting.
Office ladies in suits who must've come from the business
district came in to occupy more and more seats.
Guess time to head back...
Both the cake and tea from the boyfriend privilege were
already gone, and any further stay would just be a nuisance
wastefully occupying a seat.
Sandai got up from his seat and tried to leave after letting
Shino know, but he couldn't see her anywhere, so he
reluctantly decided to drop a verbal message to a nearby
waitress girl.
"Umm... excuse me. I'm heading back now, so I wonder if

you could let Shino know."
"Eh? W-Wait a bit BF-kun. Shino-chan's in the back right

now."
"It's fine, you don't have to call her."
"No no, it's not like that. Shino-chan's getting ready to

leave now. She'll be out soon so just wait for her."
"Eh?"
And right then Shino came out from the back in her
school uniform.
"But her work hours..."
Currently it was a little past six in the evening, but usually

Shino would be working until about half past eight, so she
was clocking out more than two hours early.
"Let's head back together."
"Are you done with work?"
"I got told I can leave already today. The assistant

manager told me, 'I'll keep your earnings like you've
worked the usual hours, so go be with your boyfriend.' It's
gonna get a little busier at this time of day, that said it's a
weekday so they'll manage she said... Well, I also got
warned, though. She said the privilege is a service to help the
boyfriend coming to pick us up pass time while waiting, and
next time I should have you come around the time I'm done
with work."
"...I see. Then I guess I've gotta pick you up around the
time you're done with work."
"...You'll go pick me up?"
Sandai spontaneously nodded. After all, it was an act

natural for a boyfriend to do. However, Shino was very
happy with such a natural gesture.
"Thank you!!"
Shino said and intertwined her arms around his; with too
much gusto, and his arm hitting her chest... Sandai
spontaneously scratched the tip of his nose at the soft
sensation.
Guys can also be said to be a profoundly mysterious

creature in a different sense from girls. Even if the other
person is their girlfriend, there are times when they are
dominated by awkwardness when they touch an unexpected
part of the body.
"S-So, what are we gonna do now? Anywhere you wanna

go?"
"Somewhere I wanna go... Then wanna see fall colors? I

looked it up on my phone and found the fall leaves are at its
peak right now in Memorial Park. A go-to choice for a date
in fall! Or so they say."
"Let's go there then."
***
Sandai had never been to a place like the Memorial Park

and such, but it was surprisingly close by; it was a place only
10-minute walk away.
"Wooow amazing! So pretty." At the same time as

entering the park, Shino dropped her walking pace, and her
eyes sparkled from seeing the rows of fall colors shined by
lights. The ginkgo and maple trees that were beginning to
turn into deep colors of fall were vibrant, and the dancing
falling leaves evoked a strong sense of the season.
Suddenly, they both stopped. Simultaneously with the sun

completely setting, the light up enhancing the fall colors
suddenly lit up.
"It's sparkling."
"...It sure is sparkling."
"......Yeah."
"......"
It being a weekday, the park got few people and was quiet,
and as if to match such an atmosphere, the number of times
they spoke continuously decreased.
Although they eventually stopped exchanging words

altogether, it wasn't particularly awkward. The warmth
transmitted from their intertwined arms was much more
eloquent than words in showing the depth of their bond.
Though, "Fuaaahh..." Shino suddenly yawned.
"...Tired?"
"A bit..."
Shino rubbed her eyelids, making her eyeshadow collapse

slightly.
Sandai was troubled whether he should tell her, but he

decided to not tell her now but at parting.
"...C'mon, hop on my back. I'll carry you to the station."
"Nn..."
Carrying Shino on his back, "Heave-ho," Sandai stood up,

and a mild vanilla-like smell grazed his nose. When he
sniffled in search for the source, he found it came from the
back of Shino's hands.
...The smell of hand cream, huh. Well, it's already fall I

guess.
Shino seemed to have begun to pay more attention to

moisturizing, perhaps because it was the season of dry air.
"...Sorry for making you carry me."
"No need to apologize. I'll wake you up when we arrive at

the station, so just sleep till then."
"...Thanks."
Shino's chest was pressed to his back, and there was the
feel of her butt in the palms of his hands, but he didn't feel
too awkward this time. Each time he captured the sound of
Shino breathing through her sleep close to his ear, only and
only the thought of wanting her to get a good rest welled up.
Taking care to walk at a steady pace so as not to shake
Shino as much as possible seemed to have made her able to
rest a bit, and her complexion was improved by the time he
woke her up at the station.
"Then see you tomorrow."
"Oui. See you... Goodbye smooch."
"All right."
He gave her a goodbye kiss as the train's arrival broadcast

was being announced. Chu—despite feeling reluctant to part
at the sound of their lips parting, Sandai then told Shino that
her eyeshadow was crumbling.
"...By the way, Shino."
"Yeah? What is it?"
"Your eyelids are a mess there."
"Eh? Wah, wawah! ...It is!"
Shino was startled by the reflection of her own face on a

small mirror she pulled out of her bag, and started removing
the eyeshadow with cotton immediately.
"Aww~..."
"You rubbed your eyelids when you got sleepy in

Memorial Park, right? I guess that's when."
"That's before you were carrying me! You should've let me

know at that time! Aaa~even though I didn't want to show
you something like this... geez... what should I do...
reapplying is a pain, too... no choice, might as well take off
all the makeup now it's gotten to this..."
Shino was also cute with no makeup; or better say,

without makeup she was mature-like and pretty instead.
And yet why would she care so much about makeup?
Sandai could somehow guess that girls tended to try to

express what they thought was cute rather than genuinely
seeking beauty, but he couldn't really accept it. He thought
that if the no-makeup was the most lovely, then they should
just show themselves as they were.
Though, he could tell from looking at Shino that she was

putting an utmost effort into looking 'cute,' and nobody
would want to be denied what they were giving their best at,
so he didn't say anything unnecessary, though...
Well, there was also the perk of being able to enjoy two
versions, before and after makeup. It seemed like a good
idea to secretly enjoy the 2-in-1 deliciousness without saying
anything.
***
After seeing off Shino's train, Sandai noticed that he

himself was also tired, went home, and immediately took a
bath.
Having finished taking the somewhat longer than usual

bathing, he wiped dry his body and head, and lay down on
the living room sofa. He was gradually overwhelmed by
sleepiness, but he couldn't afford to sleep as there would still
be late-night anime.
As Sandai was leisurely and idly watching the TV to wait
for the start of the broadcast, a brief news special being held
between programs appeared on the screen.
『It's still the height of fall, but some seem to be already

scrambling and getting busy for Christmas. Christmas is an
ideal day to give a present to your special someone to convey
your continuous appreciation for them. Today, we will be
reporting on the people who work behind the scenes to make
such a Christmas happen.』
Speaking of which... Christmas will be in two months.

I've gotta prepare something myself. Sandai spontaneously
thought.
However, he didn't know what he should give despite

racking his brain to think about it.
Taking Shino's personality into account, it was easy to

imagine her getting happy no matter the present, but for this
reason he ended up troubled.
It would be easy if Sandai could just coldly cut corners

and choose something half-heartedly if she would be happy
no matter what he would give, but unfortunately, Sandai was
of a character who'd want to be meticulous about such a
thing.
"Hmmmm..."
He ruffled and scratched his head. He got stuck in a

precarious situation, becoming more unsure the more he
worried.
"Well... there's time until Christmas."
That was an answer derived from Sandai's rule of thumb;

that it would be best to take some pause when his thoughts
got stuck in a mud.
There had been little he had gained to date from forcibly

hurrying.
In elementary school, he had fallen down and gotten

injured when running in a hurry because of almost arriving
late.
In middle school, he had ended up dozing off before

watching late-night anime, and in a panic of waking up and
looking for the remote to turn on the TV, he had stepped on
it and broken it.
So he had decided to drop it for today and think about it

next Sunday. On Sunday during the day Shino would also be
working at her part-time job, so Sandai got extra time to
spare.
『Well then, have a pleasant night everyone.』
The image of the newscaster with a big smile turned into a

commercial, and when that too ended, late-night anime
started. It was already such a time.
『Let us begin!!!!』
Today's late-night anime was a school romantic comedy
depicting a fun school life. Sandai looked for a character that
would resemble Shino somehow.
He knew it would be futile to search for one as this series

had been progressing far in the number of episodes and not
even a single look-alike had appeared.
He was aware that he was doing something puzzling.
In the first place, he could've just looked at the said

person, and they were also doing something like kissing
usually. There was no need to seek for Shino even in the 2D
world.
But there was still a part of him ending up seeking it.
"Too bad..."
Sandai finished watching the late-night anime along with

a sigh and crawled into bed.
October 27 - October 30
Choosing a Present is Hard, Isn't it?
When Sandai went to school, he got showered with gazes

to an annoying degree; it was because the relationship they
had been hiding had instantly become well-known because
of Shino's action.
Though, Sandai had predicted it to be like this, so he just

ignored it without any panicking or getting bewildered.
On the other hand, speaking of Shino, on top of

understanding that the people around were looking at her,
she got a strong attitude of, "So what of it?"
But that seemed to bear fruit, and none came up to ask for
more details. It had been so brazen that it made it hard to
approach.
With such school life, his after school had even been
added with the routine of going home once and picking up
Shino later on.
Then time flew by in the blink of an eye, and Sunday

arrived.
As planned, Sandai had set aside this day to think about a

Christmas present for Shino. For the time being, he booted
up his PC and began to look it up as he tapped away on the
keyboard.
10 minutes... 20 minutes.
After about that much surfing through the internet, he

found several websites listing presents a girlfriend would be
happy about. However, Sandai tilted his head as the presents
and the reasons for them were greatly in contrast for each
site.
In short, it would be like the following:
『 Small items that can be carried close are the best.

Everytime she looks at it, she'll get reminded of your face. To
always want to remember the man she loves is the woman's
heart. If you give a present that can be used up, the feelings
for you will become empty at the same time the content runs
out, so please keep it in mind.』
『 Makeup and skin care products should be a good

choice. Small items of any kind would simply be a challenge
for her to handle. A considerate man is the one who prepares
a present that won't become a mental burden.』
Something that would be considered okay on one website

would be denied on the other; all of them were like so. Once
again he became unsure what the right answer would be.
"..."
Tick tock tick tock. As the sound of the clock's seconds

hand ticking was echoing through the room, the doorbell
suddenly rang.
"Who is it?"
Sandai stopped his thinking for a moment to check on the

visitor; then he saw that it was Miki, Shino's little sister.
Sandai hurriedly headed to the entrance.
"Yoo-hoo Onii-chan."
"Miki-chan, it's been a while, isn't it?"
"Isn't it?"
"You came alone? Were you fine with the train?"
"Even Miki can ride the train alone... That aside, can Miki
go to your room?"
Although it was sudden, there was no way Sandai could

chase out his girlfriend's little sister who had come here
alone, so he decided to take her all the way to his room.
"Well, not like I mind letting you in, though..."
"Yaaay!"
After letting the grinning Miki inside, Sandai took a

canned juice out of the refrigerator and handed it to her.
"Here, a drink."
"Thanks."
"So, Miki-chan, what's up today? Did you have some kind

of errands?"
"Reason? Not really. Miki just kinda wanted to come and

play."
It certainly seemed that way judging from her attire;it was

easy-to-move-in overalls. It truly was such an atmosphere of
'wanted to come and play.'
"I see."
"Yup... Eh, Onii-chan, is this..."
As Miki was gulping down the canned juice, she suddenly

saw the PC screen.
A chill ran down Sandai's spine for an instant, but he

remembered that all the screen was displaying was present-
related, and he patted his chest down in relief.
It would've been a disaster had it been showing a naughty

picture or video. He was glad it didn't come to that.
"...Present? Are you gonna give something to Onee-chan?"
"Yeah? Well... you could say that."
"Miki sees. Just maybe, but... Onii-chan, are you not sure
what to give Onee-chan? Alright, this gotta be Miki's turn.
Miki shall let you know what Onee-chan will be happy with,
Onii-chan."
Although Sandai was dazed for a moment, he immediately

thought, I guess I could also ask Miki-chan for advice.
At any rate, Miki was Shino's little sister; no doubt she

would be well-informed about what Shino liked as well.
"It sure would be great if you could tell me. And I'm
certainly unsure just like you said, Miki-chan."
"That settled it. Then let's get to the store."
"Eh, the store?"
"'Cause it'll be easier to understand by just showing it

than explaining it."
"Oh I see now. All right."
When Sandai expressed his understanding, Miki held out

both her hands while grinning.
"And those hands...?"
"Miki can't just tell it, you see. You get it, right?"
Speaking of which, Miki was this kind of girl. Previously

she had pestered Shino for money to play at the game
arcade.
Sandai had also given her money at that time, but... that
was simply because making her wait without being able to
do anything had made him feel sorry for her, and the
situation was a little different now.
That said, pocket money in exchange for helping with

something was also fair game, so he didn't particularly feel
like criticizing her for it.
Despite thinking that Shino would probably get mad if she

saw this, Sandai handed Miki 500 yen.
"Here."
"500 yen, huh..."
"Sorry. It's not like Onii-chan's rich either."
"Well, Miki is kind so Miki will still tell you even if it's 500
yen. But... if Onee-chan's happy with the present, add extra
as the success reward, okay? That much is fine, right?
Pleeease~"
Truly a girl with a very good mouth and head. Looking at
how she mixed in a cunning, cute-girl-playing-innocent-
and-helpless acting at the end, it seemed she would turn into
a very calculating woman in the future.
When Miki eventually grew up to be a beautiful girl on the

same level as Shino, she might quickly realize that she could
use her charm as a weapon and think of ways to make the
most of it.
It would be good if she wouldn't start a business that

might create many victims with toyed feelings like, 'One
handshake with a boy is 100 yen, +100 yen for locking
fingers,' though... Well, it was simply just that there was a
possibility of her doing something like that.
It wouldn't be good to be so assuming, and there was also

the possibility that she wouldn't do such a thing. To trust
would surely be more important than to doubt. However—
"Right, I guess I'll add it if it's a success."
Miki smiled broadly after hearing Sandai's words.
Huh... Could I have made the wrong judgment?
Feeling that he had ended up encouraging Miki to tread a

path in a no-good direction, Sandai began to regret it, but he
also realized about the gentlemen other than him falling
victim in the distant future.
Well, if I don't get victimized, guess that's fine...
That was simply not a full-acceptance, but it was also

essential to give up like this at times. That was how it was.
***
After getting into town and walking for a while, Miki
stopped in front of a certain store.
"Let's choose the present here."
"Here...?"
Sandai froze from seeing the signboard while shielding

himself from the sunlight with one hand—after all, it was a
lingerie shop; it was a store selling women's underwear.
"..."
"Nn? What's wrong, Onii-chan?"
"M-Miki-chan, i-isn't this store the place where they're

selling girl's underwear?"
"That's right. So?"
"E-Eh so...? Err..."
"Ah right, there's gotta be many things you don't know.

You're a guy after all, Onii-chan. Well, just don't worry,
because Miki here knows lots of stuff like the design Onee-
chan likes or her size... Onee-chan will surely be happy,
'cause she's the type of woman who's fairly into underwear."
What Sandai remembered then was the typhoon day

when Shino had come to stay the night last time.
The underwear Shino had been washing at that time had

been red.
Sandai wasn't exactly sure under what basis women

would choose their underwear, but he did know that red was
generally regarded as a risqué color. Since she would wear
such colored underwear, it sounded like it made sense for
her to be somehow or the other particular about it.
But not so fast.
Even if that was the case, it'd take courage to enter the
store. Sandai groaned in cold sweat, only for Miki to shrug
her shoulders exasperatedly.
"Don't you want to see Onee-chan's happy face?"
"I do want to, but..."
"Then you've gotta go in. C'mon move."
"I-I still haven't prepared my..."
"Move it!"
As Sandai was entering the store with Miki pushing his

butt strongly, the surrounding female customers all at once
went to look at him the instant he took a step into the store.
Sandai froze up at the awfully awkward silence and stillness.
"H-How can I help you...?"
A female employee with twitching cheeks quietly

appeared and talked to him. She was clearly looking at
Sandai as a suspicious person, so he tried to smooth it over
with a forced smile.
"Haha..."
"Is something the matter?"
"..."
"Sir?"
"..."
"Siiiir? Hellooo... Wait, the face is bright red."
Not knowing how to begin to speak up, Sandai got

embarrassed at the sight of nothing but women's underwear
to his right and left, making his face turn bright red.
"Do you have a fever? Should I go fetch some ice?"
"No... umm..."
"Yes?"
"..."
Sandai went silent again, "We are here to buy underwear,"

then Miki sent him a lifeboat. "This onii-chan is Onee-chan's
boyfriend, and for present."
Then the female employee clapped both her palms. "So

that's how it was."
Sandai managed to calm down a little after seeing the

reaction that coming here to buy a present wouldn't be
strange. He got calm enough to be able to talk normally.
"Umm... are there plenty of men coming here to buy

underwear as a present for their girlfriend?"
"There sure are."
"I'm glad to hear that. I've been so flustered that people

might think that I'm a pervert."
"Eh? No, I do think there are many who think so, though."
"Eh? No, didn't you just answer that men also come here
to buy underwear as a present?"
"Errr, men who would come to buy underwear as a

present usually come with the intended recipient, which is to
say their girlfriend or wife. Other than that... for example, to
come here together with a little girl like this is not something
you see so often. Even if there is a circumstance, you only
know about it after asking it. This time I have asked about it
and was relieved, but if seen from the side without the
information... umm... see?"
The female employee glanced at the telephone receiver on

the wall connected to an emergency number.
It was a terrible misunderstanding, but if seen objectively,

it couldn't be helped even if people thought that was actually
the truth, so he couldn't make any complaint.
"And so... about the girlfriend's body shape... in other

words all sorts of sizes, do you know of it?"
"Sizes?"
"Yes."
He could get the idea of Shino's body shape, which was

vague—just an impression based on what he had seen from
above her clothes—but he was hopeless about the details.
Sandai glanced at Miki. And then Miki took out a memo pad
out of the front pocket of her overalls and showed it to the
employee.
It seems better to leave it to Miki-chan here.
Sandai decided to sneakily hide behind a pillar a little bit

away and just observe from a distance.
He couldn't hear their conversation well, but he couldn't
even give an answer were he to be dumped with a question
from carelessly staying close-by, so he would defend this
spot for dear life until the conversation was over.
"—Not only the three sizes, even the thighs, calves, upper
arm, neck, shoulder width, and head size are all spot on."
"Wow... What an onee-chan with a good figure. Is she

modeling or something?"
"She's not modeling or anything, but well, just the body

and face. Her waryness is strong, but her head is just bad if
anything."
"What an unforgiving way of putting it... Do you not like

your onee-chan?"
"Miki doesn't not like her, you know?"
"I-Is that so? Err... anyway, since you know this much, it
seems there's no need to worry about the fitting and stuff.
And so, what kind does your onee-chan like?"
"She likes slightly showy colors and fabrics with a nice feel
to the touch. A cute design may be good."
"Showy... nice feel... cute... hmmm, then maybe the corner

over there."
"I understand. Alright, let's go then, Onii-chan... wait,

where did he go?"
The conversation seemed to have ended, so Miki began to
look around looking for Sandai; then she found him hiding
behind a pillar, dumbfounding her.
"Since when you were here..."
"O-Only for a bit. Like, even if the subject was brought up,
I can't even answer, you know?"
"Yikes... that's just too pathetic."
Even Sandai was aware that he had run away, but he

didn't want to put it into words if possible; having it pointed
out pierced him deep in the heart.
But well, no use worrying about bygones.
"It's over here."
In any case, Miki began to move, so he chased after her,

then arrived at a corner where there was nothing but grown-
up underwear.
Many were in colors such as purple, red, and pink, and

lewd designs to top it off; Sandai's cheeks turned bright red
for the third time, and he ended up covering his face with
both hands.
"Hey, Onii-chan... c'mon, you have to choose now."
"I-I think I'll have you choose, Miki-chan..."
"Miki will give advice, but the one deciding gotta be you,
you know? It has meaning because you choose it, you know?
Do you get it, Onii-chan?"
Although that was a sound argument, he couldn't take a
straight look at it nonetheless.
"...Guess can't be helped. Let's see, Miki thinks the one

that should make Onee-chan happy is... something like this
maybe?"
Sandai created gaps between his fingers and glanced at

the underwear in Miki's hand. It was a deep, cherry-blossom
colored see-through top and bottom set with gathered lace.
It was the kind of underwear which was sexy but still cute
and such.
"This is..."
"Onee-chan likes something like this, you know? And the

size is certainly 65F, too."
"...F?"
"Huh? You didn't know? When Onee-chan takes her

clothes off, she's fairly big-boobed, you know?"
Shino seemed to have hidden big boobs according to Miki,

but that also didn't seem to be entirely mistaken. When
Shino and Miki had almost gotten into a quarrel, he felt like
there had been some mention of a small melon put on her
bra and so on.
Moreover, he had just recently piggybacked Shino, and it

was indeed breasts with enough presence that he could feel
its sensation.
Indeed—it was big.
The reason Sandai hadn't realized such a clear-cut fact
until now was because the majority of the feelings he was
harboring for Shino were directed internally.
Of course he got the interest in a woman's body like a

young guy would, but he was repressing it well in his own
way. Though, because of Miki's exposition, the balance of
reason that had been in equilibrium until now was
beginning to tilt in the no-good direction.
"...Go imagine it, Onii-chan. Imagine Onee-chan with this

underwear."
When he tried to imagine it as Miki told him, a nosebleed

started to ooze out on its own. Sandai hurriedly wiped his
nose.
W-Why nosebleed... I just imagined it after Miki-chan

told me to, it's not like I'm thinking of anything to feel bad
about... I'm not!
While making a silly excuse in his heart, Sandai shook his

head with a gusto and erased the image of Shino in the
underwear from his mind.
"Onii-chan... Your face sure was turning into a pervert's

face a bit. That was just awful."
"T-That's not true."
Sandai glossed it over with a cough and forcibly put up a

composed face to the best of his ability. "It's just your
imagination, Miki-chan."
"Is that so?"
"It is. That aside... that underwear sure feels a little too
mature; in Onii-chan's eyes."
"If anything this underwear is in the cute type and not

that mature, though... Isn't it just your lewd-ish delusio—"
"—A-At any rate, let's go with more normal ones."
"Miki thinks this is also normal enough, though. It's the

issue of how you see it, you know?"
Now that she said it, not choosing this underwear would
also seem to be the very thing attesting to his own wicked
thoughts.
Having wanted to avoid being branded as a 'perverted

man,' Sandai decided to buy the underwear in Miki's hands
after much mulling.
"...That said, Onii-chan sure does think that this one is

good, too."
"It's suddenly changing, isn't it? What you're saying."
"That's not true. Just like you said, this one should
certainly be the cute type, and I think it would look great on
Shino. That's right, it's 'cute' after all."
"..."
"What could that 'yikes' face mean? Hey, Miki-chan."
"...No, it's nothing. You're right, 'cause this underwear is

'cute,' isn't it?"
Miki seemed to have made many guesses, and didn't say

anything to delve further after that. What a girl who could
read the mood.
When Sandai rushed to the cash register with the

underwear in hand, the female employee from earlier was
standing at the counter. He was relieved as it was possible
for him to be given a strange look and to give an explanation
again had it been another employee.
"Oh my... the one from earlier."
"The bill, please."
"Certainly... That will be 24,580 yen."
"Twenty?" Sandai doubted his own ears at the unexpected

large amount; he thought he had misheard. "...Umm."
"Yes."
"24,580 yen?"
"That is indeed."
It seemed it hadn't been a mishearing, so Sandai's jaw

dropped.
In the first place, the variety of underwear for women with

big breasts is small, and the ones with a good design among
them would be especially pricey—but Sandai was unaware of
such special circumstances, and could only think nothing
but, Why is it so expensive?
"Is something the matter?"
"N-No... umm... err... it's nothing."
"Then please proceed with the payment."
In shambles, he went to check the inside of his wallet.
When he counted the bills with trembling fingers, it felt like
he just got barely enough with him.
As a result of living alone, Sandai would have money

transferred by his parents on a set date each month for
living expenses, and that would just be an amount enough to
live normally, not enough for him to live in luxury. He felt
depressed at the thought that life would be harder from
tomorrow onward because of this pretty costly expense.
However, thinking that this would be a small price to pay

if he could see Shino's happy face, Sandai paid the bill.
He got no regrets.
"Thank you very much, and this will be your change. And
about the wrapping... thinking normally, it's needed, isn't it?
It's for a present, right?"
"Please do. I'm thinking of giving it for Christmas, so I

would be happy if you could wrap it up for that."
"So it's for Christmas. You sure are so quick to start

preparing for it now."
"I don't want to panic at the last minute, so..."
"Your girlfriend sure is blessed to have you thinking so

dearly of her. Then please wait a moment."
The female employee moved to the next counter and

began cutting the wrapping paper with practiced hands,
but... "Fhuu." she smiled self-deprecatingly and mumbled
something midway through.
"(...Underwear for a Christmas present, huh. Is it, 'I don't
want today to be a holy night, I want it to be a sex night' or
something like that? Young guys lately sure are incredible,
like having a meek face but a beast. Well, better that than a
wuss, though.)"
He couldn't really hear it, but she was supposed to tell

him directly if there was something amiss. And Sandai
rather gazed at the now lonelier contents of his wallet.
...It sure is making me want to get some kind of part-

time job.
Expenses like this time would continue to happen from

now on. Times would also just go by so fast that even winter
vacation would come by in no time. At that time, they would
surely be talking about going somewhere a little farther away
even.
The more entertainment expenses you have, the more

extent and options you can enjoy. He felt like he could work
hard for that, for the sake of an enjoyable moment with her.
Having been a loner until now and with socializing not

being his forte, he didn't know whether he could work with
no problem, but still, he thought of giving it a shot.
Not even realizing his own face unknowingly turning into

a smile, Sandai got home and hid the underwear wrapped in
flower-patterned wrapping paper in the closet. And then
Miki poked Sandai in the back with her finger.
"Looks like there's nothing to do anymore so Miki's gonna

go home now. It was a lot of fun, and Miki was satisfied,
too."
Sandai couldn't figure out where the fun factor had been,
but Miki apparently would be going home now in any case.
"I see. Then I'll walk you to the station."
"Thanks."
"Same here, thanks for the advice. By the way... what

about lunch? I don't have a lot of money, but if you're ok
with someplace cheap, I can make it just barely, you know?
Wanna go somewhere to eat?"
"Miki's happy with the feelings, but Miki actually told Dad
and Mom that Miki will be home by lunch. They're probably
waiting for Miki."
"I see. So that means you plan to be back by lunch from

the beginning."
"Miki's not gonna be outside till dark, you know? There

are many dangerous people in the world today, and today's
Miki's first time riding a train alone too, and Miki doesn't
wanna get lost after dark and stuff either."
Miki seemed to have solid crisis management. He could

somehow understand the reason why her parents had
allowed her to go walk around alone this time.
"Ah, also... Miki got a request, Onii-chan."
"A request?"
"Keep it a secret from Onee-chan that Miki came here

today, okay? She's gonna get so mad if she finds out Miki
came here on her own."
Miki certainly had helped Sandai in a lot of ways today, so
he decided to accept her request; he gave a brief nod. Miki
sighed in relief and smiled.
When they arrived at the station platform, the train

arrived exactly right then. Pssh—Miki jumped in as soon as
the door opened.
"Be careful, okay?"
"Okaaay... Oh that's right, Onii-chan, got a moment? Lend

your ear."
Miki was beckoning him with her hand, so Sandai brought

her face closer while scratching his head—chu—only to get
kissed on the cheek.
"...Miki-chan?"
Sandai was dumbfounded, and Miki smiled broadly.
"Miki's adding insurance, okay? If you break the promise,

Miki will tell Onee-chan you cheated on her with Miki."
It got a weird punch to it; he sensed something that if he

broke the promise, she would really put it into action, and
not just a mere threat.
That daringness with no hesitation whatsoever in acting

up to own words somehow reminded him of Shino. Although
their personalities were clearly different, he could tell
nevertheless that they were sisters from such a point.
With a wry smile, Sandai told her, "I got it."
Even if Miki were to say something, Shino wouldn't be

likely to believe it straight away, but still, he had been
overwhelmed to the extent of making him think that he
should be careful about it just in case.
"Then see you later, Onii-chan."
As the doors closed and the train moved forward, Miki

looked at him as she stood in her seat with her hands
sticking on the window.
When Sandai waved his hand, Miki waved back.
***
After leaving the station, Sandai stopped at a random

convenience store to buy a sweet bread and a juice for lunch
and filled his stomach.
The current world was a good time to be in, as a few

hundred yen would be able to fill up one's stomach. Shino
would likely scold him that it was bad for his health if she
were to find out, though.
While walking at leisure, Sandai casually began to browse

through part-time job websites on his phone.
The reason why he became quicker at starting to take

action after thinking of giving it a shot might be because a
part of him was unknowingly becoming similar to Shino. It
is often said that lovers influence each other and are little by
little becoming more like one another, and Sandai was
apparently no exception to that.
"This sure is no go... Looks like I can do this one... Nah,

hard to tell, huh..."
He groaned as he searched, but couldn't easily find one,

and it was turning into the evening the next thing he knew.
Setting aside that he felt the time was moving faster lately,
Shino's shift on Sunday would finish earlier than on
weekdays, so it would be almost time to pick her up.
Though, he knew it wouldn't be good to arrive too early,

so he went to take his time; he arrived at the cafe about 10
minutes before the end of Shino's work.
"Welco—oooh, Shino-chan's BF-kun."
"Hello."
"Since you're here, does that mean Shino-chan's shift

almost ends? Err... then there's an empty seat over there."
"Okay."
When he sat on his given seat, he was immediately served

the confection and tea of the boyfriend privilege. He
excitedly brought them into his mouth.
Jazz music was playing in the cafe illuminated by not-too-

bright, calm-colored lighting. It really seemed out of place
for Sandai to be at this place
Though, over the course of a few visits, Sandai was

growing tolerant of this atmosphere. Humans are creatures
of the environment, and will get used to it and adapt.
"Thank you very much!"
She looks lively today as well.
Having confirmed Shino's presence in the middle of

working, Sandai smiled. Then the waitress who had shown
him his seat whispered something to Shino.
Shino went to look around, and then smiled when she
spotted Sandai. That waitress seemed to have told Shino he
had come to pick her up.
Before long, Shino went into the back and came out in
plain clothes.
"Did you wait?"
"Not that long."
After exchanging such canned words, they held hands and

headed home. Sunday allowed a slightly greater amount of
time for the two of them than on weekdays, so naturally
their pace got slower.
When walking at a slow pace, signs of stores usually not

paid attention to were well noticeable; perhaps because of
that, Shino noticed a small piece of paper posted under a
certain sign and stopped in her tracks, seemingly interested.
『 We are selling taiyaki that might become all the rage

one of these days! We only have one flavor for now, but do
come to our store!』
Written with 'one of these days', 'for now' and such, it was
a paper label with a questionable willingness to do selling,
but Shino seemed to just get the hankering to try it, so she
stealthily slipped into the store and then came out after
buying one.
"People normally wouldn't get suckered into buying

something by a dodgy sign like this."
"C'mon, it's fine, isn't it? That aside, lookie here. It's
funny, hahahaha."
While laughing, Shino showed him the taiyaki that got an

unusual shape; it was a sea bream with its mouth wide open,
and cocoa brown ice cream was placed on top of that mouth.
"So cute!"
"It sure got a funny shape. Say, you don't take pictures
and upload it or stuff for something like this? Like to an
SNS."
"SNS? No, I don't do SNS. I was doing it for a bit before,

but I was getting so many creepy DMs saying like they
wanted to meet that it got scary, so I immediately quit."
From within Shino's casual reminiscences, Sandai

suddenly felt like he had caught a glimpse of one of the
reasons for Shino's dislike of men.
When confronted with a large amount of affection from

the opposite sex that you are not interested in, it is not
surprising even to tend to distance them, hate, or take on a
harsh attitude.
Speaking of which, Nakaoka had also mentioned

overcoming Shino's awareness of not being good with men
previously. She had told Sandai to take on that role through
their youth, but he had never really been aware of it until
now, in fact.
But, even if Sandai remembered that, there was a limit to

what he could do now. A mind and emotions trapped in the
negative rather than positive are not something that can be
easily corrected, and must be seen through in the long-term
and little by little.
"Even if I blocked and blocked and blocked, I'd still get
DMs every day from different people one after another."
"...That sure was awful."
"Right? That's why, to heal that old emotional-scar of

mine, do the 'aahn' and feed me this taiyaki!"
Although it was a sudden begging, to fulfill such a thing

would also be the role of a boyfriend. Sandai took the taiyaki
and placed it on Shino's mouth.
"Here."
"Wai, too close, too close. I want space to open my

mouth..."
"I got too close, huh. My bad... Alright how's this?"
"Nn, now this is just right."
Shino was acting all haughty like she had become some
kind of queen and started eating the taiyaki—omnomnom.
"...Nn?
Sure just like a kid. As Sandai was gazing at Shino, he

spotted some ice cream sticking to the tip of her nose.
It seemed to have stuck there when he had gotten too

close. However, the person in question didn't seem to notice
it, so he decided to wipe it off with his finger.
"Wha, whawhawha, what...?"
"You've got ice cream on you."
Sandai said and stared at the droplets of melted ice cream
resting on his fingertip.
He could just wipe it off to clean it, but it was somewhat

wasteful, so he licked it off and tried tasting it.
A faint, not too strong sweetness and the mellow aroma of

cocoa spread in his mouth.
Although they seemed to place all of the focus on its

amusing look, the contents of it seemed to be surprisingly
well made as well.
"I-I'll give you a bite if you just say it, though?"
"Ah nah, it's not that I wanted to eat it. I just thought it
was wasteful."
"...How should I put it, you sure do things beyond my

imaginations so suddenly, huh, Sandai."
"Is that so?"
"You do. You know, like that kissing spree the other day."
"Should I just stop?"
"I don't hate it, so you don't have to stop, though..."
"Looks like there's no problem then."
"You sure are sly, Sandai—"
Then at that moment.
『 —Christmast will come before you know it! Start the
festivities preparation now!』
Such an advertisement was being played on a huge screen

on the wall of a commercial building. They both looked at it
together spontaneously.
"By the way... that reminds me."
"...What's up?"
"So in December... in exchange for taking a shift on the

25th, I got the 24th off. If I don't book it now, there might be
more girls who have a boyfriend and want to take a day off if
it's the last minute, so it'll just become a competition when
that happens."
As Shino turned her head downward and gave the puppy

eyes, she squeezed Sandai's hand tightly.
"It's because I want to be with you all day long on

Christmas Eve... I can, right?"
With her eyes, Shino appealed, 'You're my boyfriend, so

you're gonna make sure you're free on that day, right?'
As Sandai had already prepared a present for Christmas,

there was no way he would have anything to do on that day.
Even if Shino got a shift, he would nervously wait all day so
that he could pick her up right away.
"Fine with me."
"I see... Fufuh, right, of course you're not gonna have

anything to do. You've got no friends after all."
Although one misstep would have led to a deep and hard
jab, it was clear to see from Shino's happy expression that it
was not a snide remark.
The true meaning behind those words could certainly be

said to be the expression of her sense of relief over the fact
that there was little chance for the shadow of another
woman to flicker. She was merely putting that into words.
While scratching his cheek, Sandai said,
"...Well, that's how it is. By the way, I've got a Christmas

present for you, so look forward to it."
"Eh? What are you giving me?"
Shino reacted to the words 'present.' Her ears were

twitching like a cat.
"...Well it's for Christmas."
"I'm looking forward to it! Actually, I was thinking of

giving you something for Christmas, too, so look forward to
it too, Sandai!"
Shino seemed to be coming up with something as well.
Sandai also got curious about what she would give, but
that would go for the both of them until the appointed day.
November 03 - November 05
A Loner Won't Even Remember The School Festival,
Isn't it?
The calendar had turned to November, but Sandai's

everyday remained the same.
It went like this: still not able to find a good pick despite
actively looking for a part-time job while attracting attention
at school.
Speaking of something that could be called a change...

Shino had started making lunch for him, and it should be
just about that.
Sandai would now eat lunch together with Shino after

they had completely stopped hiding their relationship, but
this had led to Shino making lunch for him now.
Seeing the teacher going outside after the bell signaling

the end of morning classes echoed, Sandai yawned and
turned around to find his girlfriend sitting behind him
fishing through her bag and pulling out two flashily
decorated lunch boxes.
"It's lunchtime~"
"Lunchtime it is."
When he opened the lid of the lunch box wondering what

today's lunch would be, a crazy big pink-colored heart
appeared.
"I tried making a heart out of pink fish floss~"
"Ooh!"
"So I was making it with that, trying to express my

feelings, and actually the heart is almost sticking out...
'Cause my 'love' is too big to completely fit in something like
a container~"
"I'll take it all in even if it's sticking out."
Although their sense was slightly numb, it was an

exchange not at all embarrassing for those two. But it was
only the case for the two of them, so the surrounding
classmates who were being shown that turned bright red in
the face and were hanging their heads down in unison.
And they, boys and girls of the age liking to gossip, went
quiet now that those two were actually flirting in front of
them.
"(Don't just say nothing, someone go stop them. My heart

is being destroyed...)"
"(Your heart can just go broken for all I care.)"
"(Still, those two, they're really unbelievable, huh.)"
"(So Yuizaki-san's good at cooking. I didn't know.)"
"(Uh-huh.)"
To begin with, Shino was good at cooking and

confectionery making, so there was absolutely no
shortcoming in the taste of the lunch she made.
However, Shino was not at all satisfied with the status quo
as she had been eyeing Sandai's nonchalant reactions during
meals and fine-tuning everyday.
Shino should know that Sandai was a man who wouldn't
make any complaint even if it was unsavory, but she
wouldn't get spoiled by that and allow any compromise.
Sandai didn't say that it would be fine for her not to try so
hard; after all, it would do no good to throw cold water on
the person in question's enthusiasm, and she would
probably find a way to cut corners just right in her own way
before long.
Besides, Sandai believed such words like 'it's better like

this and like that,' if going too far, would simply be imposing
one's own sense of values.
Sandai knew full well of such a very important thing that

everyone would tend to overlook: 'don't do to others what
you don't want done to you.'
As a result of being a loner who had continued to keep his

distance from others, he was able to see parts that would be
too close to see.
A loner is status that tends to be taken negatively in

general, but it is curious that it also has such a charm the
regular people wouldn't have.
Perhaps, that could be 'The Fox and the Grapes.'
Many people feel that they don't know how to deal with a
loner, that they don't know what a loner is thinking, but not
getting closer ends up making it like a discrimination, so
they decide that 'a loner is a no-good existence' and secure
the justification to stay away.
It is an awful thing, but on the flip side, it is also a special

fruit that only those who have approached unafraid, only
those who have given their best to extend their hands—for
example, only a girl like Shino—will be able to obtain it.
The person in question didn't seem to be aware,

however...
***
Although the same for any school, the number of lessons

in the afternoon were fewer than the one in the morning,
and it was the same for the school Sandai and Shino were
attending.
After lunch, the after school would come soon.
And so, with today's school life over, they left the
classroom together. However, suddenly, a male student with
glasses and hair parted to one side stood in the way with his
arms wide open.
This male student should be the class president. It was a

face that even Sandai got a recollection of at least.
"—Hold your horses."
Neither Sandai nor Shino could remember having done

anything to earn a warning, so they quickly went to walk
past the class president like nothing happened.
And then—
"I'm saying hold your horses!"
The class president once again stood in their way,

exhibiting an attitude of not letting them through at any
cost. Just what could he possibly want? Sandai sighed, and
Shino shrugged her shoulders.
"...Just what do you want?"
"We've got no business with you, Prez."
"I know you guys have no business with me—That's not

what I meant, I have business with you guys... I have heard
of your relationship. You two are dating, right? Love birds,
right? I'm not going to ask such a thing like 'How in the
world could that happen even though there doesn't seem to
be a point of contact anywhere?' because privacy should be
protected, and I'm not trying to get in your way either—No, I
mean, look around you!"
When they looked around as told, it was brimming with

lots of students making sign boards and decorations.
"You get it, don't you!? It's the school festival! Don't try
not participating at all! We've got only a week left here!"
It was certainly the time for the school festival. School

events were alien for Sandai, so he had completely forgotten
it.
As a side note, not only Sandai who had the school festival
slipped from his mind, but apparently Shino as well, and her
eyes were swimming around.
"I-I was so busy with my part-time job that I didn't have

the time to participate, and so like, that's why I forgot it?
Isn't it pointless to remember every single event you might
not participate in? I mean, I've also got work today."
"I'm basically a gloomy loner... In other words, asocial? So

because it's like that, from the start I was seeing the school
festival as an event to ignore. Not remembering it gotta be
the so-called act of God."
"Yuizaki-kun's reason is still okay, but concerning you,
Fujiwara-kun, just where in the world would you find an
asocial loner who makes a beautiful girl as his girlfrie—No,
I'd just let that sink in. I understand you guys have your
reasons. But however, nevertheless, I want you to participate
to the extent you can. You guys probably don't even know
what our class' program is seeing the two of you are like this,
but we have decided to run a cafe."
The class president kneeled on the floor and fluidly

prostrated himself.
It was such a beautiful motion that one might be

convinced that it was a part of some kind of a religious
ritual, and it even got a strange sublimeness to it.
"It's not compulsory, and I know it's sudden for you guys,
so it's fine for you to leave for today... The preparations for
the school festival would go on smoothly even if we're short
about two people, but it's not going to make such a memory
of how we've all worked hard together, right? As the class
president, I want to make sure that it will remain in
everyone's memories by having everyone participate. It is a
once-a-year event in our only three years of high school life.
You might be thinking that we have one last time left next
year since we are in our second year, but that is wrong... It
will turn hectic because of the college entrance exam next
year, and there will be people putting on the final push as
well. That's why this year is essentially the last school
festival where it is possible for everyone to participate."
Sandai and Shino looked at each other. They were trying

to just somehow avoid this, but with such passionate feelings
demonstrated head-on in a prostrating position, they would
completely be the bad guys if they ignored it.
"I'm begging you! I'm begging youuu...!!"

Being shouted at by the class president as if it was the last
push, they folded up; they nodded, hanging down their
heads.
"Oooh... My ardent passion must have reached you!"
Seemingly overcome with emotion, the class president

stood up and tried to hug Sandai while crying.
The next moment—
Shino instantly narrowed her eyes, and landed a front

kick to the rushing class president's stomach. Perhaps
hitting a bad spot, the class president fell to his knees and
bent forward.
"O-Oww..."
"Don't go trying to hug someone's boyfriend. I won't allow

it even if it's a man."
"I-I was just so happy, so..."
"I say don't. If you try it again, I'll trample you on the
most important part of a man."
"...I-I understand. It's my bad. I won't do it again. S-So

please don't say scary things like that. Your eyes are looking
serious there, Yuizaki-kun. You should joke in modera—
"—I'm being serious, though? No way I'm joking around."
"..."
The class president went silent, overpowered by Shino's

matter-of-factly remark.
The reason Shino's anger had manifested in a violent
direction should probably be because of the class president's
action that would involve Sandai, and because she was bad
with men, making it two unreserved bullseyes, but... Sandai
felt like he had ended up seeing a staggering side of her.
"He said it's fine for us to leave today, so c'mon let's go.
Let's ask around if anyone wants help with the school
festival tomorrow. I've got work off tomorrow, so it's also
just right for me... Wait, you're making a weird face there,
what's wrong?"
"I-It's nothing. Don't worry about it."
"You're weird. What's wrong, really?"
Since Sandai, no matter what, couldn't say that he got

scared, he decided to dodge it .
"Y-You called me weird... but to begin with I've always

just been weird since I'm going out with you, Shino. At any
rate, I started thinking only about you, and that's my top
priority, just anyone will agree to that that I'm a man who's
becoming weird."
He felt it was slightly too blatant, but thanks to also

mixing in what he truly thought, Shino genuinely took it
without even noticing. Her cheeks turned vermillion, and
she suddenly looked away.
"It's not weird thinking about your girlfriend... That's just

obvious."
"Is that so...? Wait, why you're not saying it while looking
over here? Are you getting bashful?"
"I'm not bashful or anything."
"Then why you're not turning your face over here?"
"It's nothing really. Don't worry about it really."
When Shino looked at Sandai with only her reproachful

eyes moving, she immediately returned her gaze back.
Suddenly a wind came in through the window.
The wind blew through Shino's hair, and the tip of her
fluttering hair tickled Sandai's nose.
"Aa... achooo!" He sneezed, and a snot also oozed out

along with it.
"Crap... You've got anything to wipe with?" Sandai asked,

and Shino took out a handkerchief from her bag.
"...You're just so hopeless~"
She said and began to gently wipe Sandai's upper-lip.
"I-I can do it myself."
"It's fine, it's fine... You're just like a baby, with a snot. A
big baby. Fufu."
Feeling a kind of never-before-felt embarrassment from

being treated on the same level as an infant, Sandai got
bright red up to his ears, only for Shino to smile seemingly
amused by that.
Seeing that innocent smile of hers, Sandai felt sorry for

having felt fear for Shino a moment ago. When Shino had let
the class president eat her front kick, she had merely been in
a battle ready state, and her natural state in normal times
was this one.
There was not even a need to be afraid.
***
The next day, the two of them went around asking their
classmates if they needed help. However, the responses
weren't really good.
"Eh?' Help? Nah, I'm on schedule so it's fine... I mean

even if it gets hectic, I don't want to be working while
breathing in sweet air, so I'll refuse... go to hell."
That was what a male student told the two, and from a
female student—
"By help... you mean you two together? I can only see that
as you picking a fight with me who's never got a boyfriend
for as long as I've been alive, though?"
Such words came out and were thrown at the two.
They just seemed to be awfully hostile, but... well, the act

of showing off one's intimacy is something that is generally
frowned upon.
But it didn't mean everyone was showing such a response,

as Shino's gyaru friends clapped their hands and welcomed
them.
Though, Shino was asked to appear with them as a
waitress wearing a slightly risqué outfit together at the event
day as a member to attract customers, which of course Shino
refused. Shino clearly refused it in dislike, saying, "Not a
chance will I ever show myself in risqué outfit to anyone
except my boyfriend." and making an X with both arms.
The refused gyarus didn't get dispirited. Given that they

knew of Shino's personality, it seemed from the start they'd
thought of just giving it a shot and nothing more.
"Haah... it's a no, huh."
"I've told you we can only give up if she used her BF as a

reason."
"Yep right. Shinopyon just lives in a different world from

the likes of us who got no boyfriend."
"Ah~ I want a boyfriend too~"
"I get you."
The gyarus stuck out their tongues and waved their hands,
then left to go see the outfit.
Although he didn't know just what kind of outfit they got

in store, it would probably be the kind with lots of exposure
given that it would be risqué. As to be expected, as Shino's
boyfriend Sandai simply would hate for her to be dressed in
such an outfit being seen by other men, so he sighed in relief
at the fact that she'd refused it.
Then Shino smiled, reassuring him.
"...C'mon, you don't have to worry. I'm not inconsiderate

like that after all. I might tease you, but I won't think of
trying to make you jealous. You'd totally hate things to get
shaky from doing something like that, right? Well?"
Unlike Sandai who might make the wrong decisions

occasionally regarding actions related to people's feelings,
Shino drew the correct answer truly without hesitation.
Incidentally, she was also good at giving a warning;

indirectly saying, 'Don't do anything unnecessary like
trying to make me jealous.' She seemed to be wary around
this area, perhaps because he got the previous offense of
ending up worrying her.
Such words like 'That was inevitable' or 'How long are you
gonna be holding a grudge?' would have the opposite effect,
so Sandai nodded without saying anything.
Shino narrowed her eyes and stared fixedly at Sandai's

profile.
"..."
"W-What?"
"...Nothing really."
It felt like she was suspecting him whether he really

understood or not. Since getting weirdly shaken would only
stir up suspicion, Sandai deliberately pretended to be
oblivious and changed the subject.
"But still, there sure are nothing but people who said they
don't need help."
They had already asked around so much, but got shot

down everywhere, and the only one showing willingness to
accept them so far was Shino's friends, but she'd refused that
as well.
At this rate, they might not even be able to say 'We've

participated in the school festival preparations.'
"I think there are still some classmates we haven't asked,

but... looks like we're gonna get similar results, huh."
"...Well, it won't hurt to ask, and if it's a no then so be it."
When they sat down together on the stairs at the back of

the gymnasium, caww caww, the cawing of a crow
resounded. They both hung their heads down feebly.
Suddenly a shadow of a person fell upon them. When

Sandai looked up, it was the class president.
"...So it's you, Prez."
"Fufufu... It has reached my ears about you guys going

around asking people if there's anything you can help with!
I'm extremely delighted as you seem willing to participate."
"...We got refused from everywhere, though."
"That's just how it's going to be if you show off yourself

flirting around. Just everyone will get pissed."
"Rather than flirting, we're just going about as usual,

though."
"Yup."
"You're completely not aware, huh..."
"We're not even aware of it, that's why it's as usual... Nah,
this talk seems like just gonna go around in circles. Anyway,
since everyone says they don't need any help, we can't help
but not be able to join the school festival, right?"
"That's not the case. I have good news."
The class president snorted, and pointed at a certain

corner of the school building.
Over there was the room for cooking class, however...
"Looks like there's a girl practicing to make the food for

the cafe, but she seems to be troubled as it's not going well.
By all means, go help that girl out. The girl's got the
personality that won't give you guys the cold shoulder, so
rest assured... You're good at cooking aren't you, Yuizaki-
kun? Seeing that you're even making boxed lunches where
looking at it makes me feel embarrassed and all. I'm
counting on you. Well then, I have things to do as a class
president."
The class president said and then went off somewhere

with a rough huff.
How to put this, maybe it could be said that he was

surprisingly very caring... He seemed to have guessed the
situation on their side and found a place they could help
with.
In the sense of 'the rare chance of not having to help out

in any way was destroyed,' it was nothing but uncalled-for,
but saying that wouldn't do any good either. Heave-ho,
Sandai and Shino stood up and headed for the cooking-class
room.
***
There was a single girl in the cooking-class room.
That bob-haired, like-a-small-animal small-built girl was

silently stretching a dough with a rolling pin.
It was a face Sandai had never seen before.
When Sandai tilted his head wondering whether there had

ever been such a girl among his classmates, Shino gave an
answer.
"...It's Takasago-chan."
"You know her?"
"I won't remember a man's name unless I'm super

interested in them, but I will remember a girl's name. That
girl is Takasago Mahiro-chan."
"Let alone someone of the same school year, I don't even

know my classmates well to begin with, be it guys or girls."
Sandai remembered only to the extent of students who

were standing out like the class president or Shino and his
homeroom teacher Nakaoka, and no more than that.
It was because he thought that knowing someone with

whom he would never get involved with anyway would just
be a wasted use of brain capacity.
"...That's so like you, Sandai."
When Shino chuckled, Takasago suddenly noticed them

and turned to look.
"Umm... errr... Yuizaki-san and Fujiwara-kun...?"
Immediately after asking and jolting up, Takasago went,
"Awa awa!" and moved to the corner of the room and curled
up. Apparently timid just like how she looked.
"You don't have to get that scared... We've been asking

around trying to offer help with the school festival
preparations, but we got refused everywhere we went, you
see. Then when we wondered what to do, Prez led us here."
Sandai explained the situation while scratching his head.
And then Takasago responded to the 'Prez' part.
"Prez... Shihouin-kun did...?"
"Shihou... in? Eh?"
Sandai couldn't help but glance to the side. He hadn't

expected the class president to have such a cool, high-class
sounding surname.
"Somehow... what an amazing surname he's got, huh?

That Prez."
"I mean, I also didn't know Prez's username, though...

Sounds like a rich kid."
As Sandai and Shino were talking in whispers, Takasago

came closer albeit nervously, perhaps a little less tense now
after having seen them like that.
"U-Umm... err... so you came here to help... a-at

Shihouin-kun's order?"
"Order? Oh well, it wouldn't be good to argue semantics.

Well, that's right."
"Well, something like that."
"Thank you so much. Then this is sudden, but I'd like you
to see what I've made. I think I made this one up nicely."
Takasago bowed her head repeatedly, and immediately

brought a plate of cookies, but they were of an incredible
color.
They were seven-colored.
"Umm... what an amazing... color, huh."
Sandai swallowed down his saliva at the sight of the

cookies in color he had never seen before, and Shino picked
one up and stared at it intently.
"I-It's cool in a sense... and there are also sweets like this,
but... how do I say it, it feels different from those..."
Contrary to her round-about way of speaking, Shino was

awfully grim. She'd like to defend Takasago's own hard
work, but... she was at a loss for words, so to say.
That said, although those were awfully disquieting

cookies, it would also be possible for the impression and the
reality to be different.
"W-Well, look, it's common for foreign sweets and the like
to be colorful... and this might be in that vein... right?"
"T-That's certainly possible, but... this is... n-no, yeah,

you'll never know unless you try it, isn't it?"
Shino said and put the cookie into her mouth.
In the next moment—
Shino broke out into a puddle of unpleasant sweat all over
her face, "Ueeh." spat out the cookie and then immediately
collapsed.
Sandai was startled and rushed over to her.
"H-Hey!"
"I-I'm sorry! I'm terrible at cooking and making sweets! It

might not have tasted good... and I didn't taste test it, too..."
"This is totally not on the level of being terrible at it, it not

being good, or not taste testing it..."
While glancing at Takasago with a horrified look in his

eyes, Sandai wiped Shino's mouth which still got some vomit
on it and rubbed her back.
Although Shino was out cold for some time, she somehow
managed to regain consciousness with Sandai fervent,
continuous nursing.
"Uwh..."
"...You feeling good? Should we go to the infirmary?"
"It's okay... I mean, these cookies are crazy."
"By crazy... How crazy?"
"If you eat it... you'll know."
It is true that experiencing it would be quicker, but Sandai

had seen Shino immediately spitting it out and collapsing, so
to be honest, he wouldn't want to eat it.
However, it was also the truth that there would be no
other way besides that to truly understand just how
dangerous these cookies were.
After some contemplation, Sandai held Shino's hand,

nodded, and extended his hand for a cookie.
"U-Umm... I think it's better for you not to..." Takasago

anxiously looked at him and gave a warning, but not
planning to back down anymore, Sandai readied himself and
tossed it into his mouth—only to feel a bizarre stimulation.
A pain like being stabbed with a pin or something ran

through his sinus, he involuntarily cried, then next his
tongue went numb, and the back of his ears suddenly heated
up.
Poison.
Unmistakably a poison.
Sandai collapsed while foaming bubbles.
***
"I thought I was gonna die..."
"See? It was crazy, right? Feels like it could turn into a big
problem in a bad way if you serve this."
"Rather than it could, it absolutely will."
Having regained consciousness, Sandai borrowed Shino's

shoulders and got up while staggering, and Takasago
repeatedly lowered her head.
"I truly don't know how I should apologize for this... O-
Other people in the cooking group could do it right, but I'm
the only one who's like this, that's why then I'm practicing
alone... and Shihouin-kun did encourage me to keep trying,
but... like, Shiouin-kun also collapsed and... but..."
Apparently the class president had eaten the cookie, and

then judged that this wasn't at the level where self-help
could do anything, and then brought this up to them.
The class president had requested Shino for this, but well,
he got an eye for people. Including confectionery making,
she was good at cooking as a whole, and her personality
wasn't bad either, so she would certainly be cut out for
helping the timid Takasago.
Shino herself seemed to catch on to her role and patted

Takasago's shoulder, pom-pom.
"Eh? Umm, err..."
"I might not seem like it, but I'm good at confectionery
making, so I'll be sure to teach you how!"
"...Are you sure? Even if you know that all I can make is
poison-like sweets that will knock you out if you eat it, are
you still going to teach me?"
"It's turning poisonous must absolutely be because of a

series of weird mistakes, so we just need to fix the mistakes
one by one, don't you think? It's gonna be OK."
"...T-Thank you so much."
"Well then, now try making it again from the beginning."
"Yes!"
Takasago wiped away her overflowing tears, placed a bag
of wheat flour on the desk... and then took out a small tube
from her pocket.
He thought it might be some kind of flavoring or

condiment, but on a closer look, the packaging was different.
That strangely familiar-looking thing was the paint used in
art classes.
He got a bad feeling.
"...What is that?" Shino asked with her cheeks twitching—
"It's paint, you know? I mean, this is needed to add colors

to sweets, isn't it?"
Only for Takasago to give a carefree smile as if that was

absolutely normal.
Frightening.
Of course, Sandai who was listening from the side, and as

well as Shino who was being told that directly to her face,
were taken aback with their cheeks twitching.
"Y-You don't need it, you know? You don't use something
like paint."
"Eh? But to add colors..."
"We add colors with something different. There's one

used for sweets."
"Is that so? Then we need this, right? Sa*poru."
"That's... a toilet cleaning agent."
"That's true, but it would be a disaster if some germs get
mixed in and cause food poisoning, so I thought it would be
best to use something with enough sterilizing power to clean
a toilet."
"It's very dangerous so don't do it."
"Is... that so?"
"It'll be okay if you wash your hands properly beforehand,

and you're going to bake it in the first place, so it'll be totally
safe there... By the way, what did you plan to add after the
paint?"
"After that is... err... it's been getting colder lately, so I

thought of using something like the content of a hand
warmer so that it would keep the body warm. So I divided
them into small bags like this and brought them with me..."
Takasago seemed to be taking it seriously in her own way,

but ignorance is a cruel thing, making her go in all the wrong
directions for what she thought would be the right thing to
do.
...Well, I also can't go that far in making fun of people,

though.
Naturally, Sandai wasn't as bad as Takasago, but

nevertheless, he was an amateur all the same and he himself
fully knew that. There was the possibility of ending up
somewhere like Takasago if he opened his mouth.
Thus, You go girl, Sandai cheered for Shino in his mind

and stealthily migrated to the corner with a nonchalant look.
At a time like this, it would be best to observe quietly.
Despite being stung by Shino's gaze who seemed to want
to say something, Sandai turned his face away and
pretended he hadn't seen it.
"Geez..."
Seemingly also understanding that her own lover would

be of no help, Shino let out a deep sigh and began to teach
Takasago all by herself.
***
Sandai was gazing out the window—the sun was gradually

sinking, the sky became deep orange, the dead leaves of
trees planted on the school grounds danced in the wind.
It was the very essence of tranquility.
Ah, today too has come to an end, as I gaze far beyond the
clouds where the fall breeze blows—someone once wrote
such a poem.
Indeed, it was Fujiwara No Sadaie.
The conversation between Shino and Takasago and the

sound of confectionery making could mysteriously be heard
vividly. However, a short time later, that ceased.
"...I think we managed to make a decent one. Hey Sandai,

don't just go looking like a melancholic poet like that, here
give this a try."
They had made normal-looking macarons, apparently the
confectionery making guidance had gone off all right. But
even though it looked normal, his instincts might reject it, as
Sandai's body had remembered the toxic-substance like
taste from earlier.
That being said... he couldn't run away from this one, and
besides, he could tell it wouldn't end terribly from looking at
Shino's reassured expression.
Sandai resolved himself and threw a macaron into his

mouth. And then a taste of a moderate, just right sweetness
spread out.
"...This is good." Sandai spoke.
With a smile, Shino shrugged her shoulders and turned to

look at Takasago. "See? If you just follow the recipe, there'll
be no problem."
"Y-Yes! To think that I can make sweets that could be

eaten, I'm moved! Moreover at the level where it would be
okay to charge money for it...!"
"I think you're just exaggerating, though... In any case,

don't go making strange alterations from thinking like it
might be better this way or that, okay?"
"Yes!"
While ignoring Shino and Takasago's exchange, Sandai

glanced at the clock to check the time.
It was almost six.
Looking around, the school was also practically becoming
devoid of people.
Especially staying behind any further than this without

any particular reason, they might get scolded by the
patrolling teacher.
"It's already getting dark, so let's head home."
"It's already this late...? You're right, then let's head home.
Takasago-chan, see you later."
Having quickly left the cooking-class room along with

Shino, Sandai casually looked back, and then noticed
Takasago hanging her head down with blushing cheeks.
At first he thought that maybe she was feeling sick, but

that didn't seem to be the case.
"...I did my best, so I wonder if Shihouin-kun will praise

me... N-No, but, but, I'm sure there must be other girls who
think he's cool. He's so cool with how he's always giving his
utmost, so I'm sure I'm not the only one who notices that,
right?" muttered Takasago.
It appeared that Takasago was harboring some kind of a

special feeling for the class president, but well, from her
standpoint, it wasn't an impossible-to-understand feeling.
Despite her making poison-like sweets, the class president
had encouraged her without abandoning her, and even sent
help on top of it.
That kindness that wouldn't forget to be considerate, from

the standpoint of a girl like Takasago, would be seen as a
great charm that could make up for the shortcoming of a
quirky personality.
And then, having sensed such a bittersweet atmosphere of
love, Sandai at the same time fell into an indescribable, odd
feeling.
Perhaps, it could even be said that he got affected by it.
"Hmm? Sandai, what's wrong?"
"Well... it's like, somehow I want to kiss you now, Shino."
Hearing Sandai honestly expressing his current feeling,

Shino grinned and came to a stop.
"I see, so you want to, huh. Then sure, here you go." she
said, crossed her hands behind her back, and closed her
eyes.
The cute girlfriend he was proud of apparently would, and

generously as well, accept his desire, so Sandai would love to
take action, immediately right this instant... or so how it
was, but he would have to do something first.
Checking the perimeter.
Although there were few signs of people, this was still at

school.
Everyone and their dog already knew that they were

dating, but however, he was nervous about kissing at school.
Eating lunch together and clinging close like glue would

be no more than expressing 'intimacy,' so it would still fall in
the category of a wholesome relationship.
However, to kiss is not an act that would give off the

feeling of 'intimacy,' but that of a 'man and woman.'
Something like a kiss was something they would regularly
do and was nothing more than a confirmation of love, and in
the first place, it is something just about every adult does,
for example.
That said, neither Sandai nor Shino was an adult, and at

the same time neither were they a child—a place called
school was where one would be faced by that reality.
By no means are there only people supportive of how

those with the unripe title of a student are going into
romance. In other words, he couldn't even guess what would
happen if someone with uptight public morals were to
witness them in a kissing scene.
If it was at their home or outside, they could just play

dumb that it was an accidental resemblance; it would work
out one way or another. However, they wouldn't be able to
make an excuse if they were spotted at school.
Sandai restlessly checked the surroundings. No eye-

catching figure of a person could be seen but Takasago a
short distance away. That being said, Takasago was heading
towards the entrance with an unsteady gait without even
looking over here; she didn't seem she would turn around
either.
Sandai patted his chest in relief, and pressed his lips

against Shino's in the hallway illuminated by the flickering
fluorescent lights.
"...Nnh."
"...Nh."
Sandai's face spontaneously heated up from the tension

he was holding and the strange sense of guilty pleasure
coming a beat late.
It was then—
Sandai heard the sound of footsteps suddenly getting

closer from somewhere and got startled.
Someone was coming.
Shino didn't seem to have heard it, but given that it was
around the time where breathing would become hard, Shino
pulled her lips back albeit slowly, which was a godsend.
"Your heart... is beating so hard, Sandai. Even though

we've kissed countless times... but I do understand the
feelings. Because when we kiss, actually my heart is always
pounding too, and deep inside my body will get so hot that I
feel like it might break."
Although Sandai was brimming with the feeling of joy at

how cute his girlfriend was, right now wasn't the time to be
saying such a thing.
The kiss was over for now, so he grabbed Shino's

shoulders in order to get out of that place.
"Shi... Shino!"
Sandai's expression was ghastly; he was that serious.
But that backfired and gave Shino a strange

misunderstanding.
"What now~? Wanna do it again? ...Sure."
Shino said in an excited, shrill tone, and then without

even waiting for Sandai's next words, wrapped her hands
around his neck and quickly pulled him closer and kissed
again.
...It's no use. We're screwed.
Sandai felt happy at the feel of her soft lips applied with a
lip balm of his favorite fragrance, but at the same time he
was filled with despair at what would unfold.
However, the so-called small mercy occured. The one

showing up, the owner of the footsteps, was his homeroom
teacher Nakaoka.
"...Hrmm."
Holding a flashlight with a 'Patrolling' plate hanging

around her neck, Nakaoka was fixedly staring at them
kissing.
Perhaps because of her tolerance towards students'

youth... rather, perhaps also because Nakaoka was the
perpetrator who had incited Sandai at the very beginning,
she seemed to have read the mood perfectly instead without
even getting angry nor surprised.
She retreated back without making a noise and quietly

disappeared.
That was a close one... thank god.
They somehow managed to weather through, but it was

just luck this time. Had it been a teacher other than
Nakaoka, it would have undoubtedly led to problems. He
should be careful from now on.
"...?"
Shino finally noticed that Sandai got a relieved expression
on his face, but she tilted her neck looking puzzled.
***
Although there had been hair-raising events of collapsing

due to poison-like sweets and being seen kissing, they had
managed to get involved with the school festival at any rate.
When sandai reported the matter to the class president

the next day, "Very well," the class president nodded
contentedly. And then apparently they could just give a little
behind-the-scenes help on the day of the event. "Do tell
Yuizaki-kun that I appreciate her efforts."
"She's just right there since we're all in the same class, so
go tell her yourself."
"U-Uhuh. That's as you said, but I just can't deal with

Yuizaki-kun, you see... Since I got kicked, I'm actually kind
of scared of her."
The class president was apparently beginning to feel not

able to handle Shino, but that being the case, because exactly
this reason to want to talk alone with Sandai was a bad
move.
That kick was fueled by her jealousy in addition to the

circumstance of her not being good with men, and hence
Shino had reminded the class president to stay away from
Sandai.
And yet, when it came to creating a situation like this one

now, he could tell from looking at Shino's face as she was
sitting in her own seat; it was beginning to look unbelievably
scary.
As it seemed like it would turn ugly, Sandai decided to cut
it here.
"Prez... see you later."
"Y-Yeah."
On the way back to Shino, Sandai passed by Takasago. He

looked back on reflex, and saw Takasago talking to the class
president.
"Shihouin-kun, umm, I can now make sweets from being

taught by Yuizaki-san! I also tried to make it after I got home
yesterday, and here it is, but would you like to taste it...? I-
It's all right! It doesn't taste weird anymore!"
"...Looks like the colors are normal now. The taste seems
like it'll be fine either. All right... Oooh! These are sweets
with a normal taste here!! It's not poison anymore!"
"Poison... So you really did think that way, Shihouin-kun."
"Eh? No, you're wrong! I-I wanted to say it now lacks

originality, and I was just kind of lacking for words! It is
originality that lacks flaws! Me of all people, though... That's
rude of me, my apologies."
That really sounded like a forced excuse, but Takasago

didn't seem particularly unhappy about it; she gave the
feeling of, 'it's fun to be able to chat with the one I like.'
"Speaking of which... There will be end of term tests after
the school festival is over, and I'll be cheering for you, so
please do your best, Shihouin-kun!"
"Yeah. My goal is first place in the school year... However,

there is a strange thing nevertheless. I usually put all my
energy into studying and also go to a preparatory school and
cram school to a certain extent. That's why I can get a high
score, but not even once have I been able to get first place.
It's the second... I'm curious about who is in the first place,
but under the name of protecting personal information or
whatnot, our ranks will only be told to each of us... I intend
to take first place next time for sure."
"Yes! I-I will celebrate it if you get first place!"
"N-No, you don't really have to... you should think about
your end, Takasago..."
Not knowing at all about the class president eyeing for

first place, Sandai, having been secretly and always
maintaining first place, idly scratched his head.
To think that his own grades would play a role in the

development of a man-woman relationship of a pair...
I think I'll cut corners a bit in the next end term test,
Sandai began to think such. Not that he was fixated on the
first place, but he had simply found himself always being in
the first place from having been studying to pass all the time
he'd got in the world during his long-term loner period
before meeting Shino.
He neither got emotional attachment nor obsession with

rankings.
I wonder how many points I should drop. Well, if Prez is
second place, I think the margin is slim, but... five points...
nah, I guess I can drop ten points to get a safe margin.
While Sandai sat on his seat while ruminating about it,

poke poke, Shino poked his shoulder with her finger.
"Nn? What's up?"
"I just thought you're making a serious face for some

reason."
"Ah well, I just caught up in thinking about the end term

test."
"End term... test?" Shino suddenly turned to look serious.
"What's with that face?"
"I-I'm fine. Just some test is no big deal. I've managed to

get by till now anyway."
Shino was putting up a bluff that was somehow giving him

a bad feeling. Since Sandai could not simply pretend not to
see, he decided to just send a helping hand indirectly.
"Well you know, I don't want to brag, but I'm the type
who's good at studying. You can count on me when push
comes to shove, alright? You can think of it as me wanting to
show my good side."
Shino pouted and hung her head down.
"...Thanks."
"I've got no clue what you're talking about. That aside,

Prez said he appreciated your effort."
"I don't wanna talk about Prez."
"I-I see..."
November 09
The First Friend Is Confusing, Isn't it?
Now, after school on the day before the school festival.
With many students excited about the school festival that

would finally come tomorrow in his side vision, Sandai
parted with and saw off Shino going to her part-time job as
usual, and then booted up the app listing part-time job
offers that he had just installed recently.
Although there had been various stuff going on day by

day, he hadn't forgotten to also look for a part-time job.
While he would use his PC when at home, he would use an
app to look for one when outside with a free time like this.
"Let's see..."
When he specified the area and filtered the search, rows

of new job offers showed up. As he was checking it one by
one while scrolling down, he suddenly discovered one that
caught his attention.
『 We are looking for cleaning staff for a new, medium-

sized aquarium scheduled to open on December 1!』
The conditions for this were close to ideal.
Sandai was aware that his communication ability wasn't

that high, so he was avoiding places where there might be an
established circle of interpersonal relationships, but that
concern now disappeared if it was to be a staff on opening
day where almost everyone would meet for the first time.
In addition, the job description of 'cleaning' was also a

welcome to Sandai. After all, he could get the job done with
just minimum communication even if there was someone he
couldn't deal with.
A job offer this ideal for himself was unexpected and rare
with no telling when it might appear again, so he hurriedly
contacted them for an interview.
Then Sandai was told, 『If the time is all right with you,
please come for an interview now. 』 , so he hurriedly got
back to his apartment to change to plain clothes and then
headed out.
When he got near the address mentioned in the job

posting, he could see a building under construction nearing
completion. It seemed to be here.
There was an information board at the front entrance that

said 'Interview is this way,' so he followed the instruction
and arrived in front of a room with a paper written with
'Interview Room' on it.
There were many chairs lined up in front of the room, but

it was deserted with no one there.
Since the opening seemed to be close, the large-scale

recruitment of the main staff might have already been done
much earlier. And then perhaps, after that the condition was
that they were recruiting whenever they identified the
personnel they might need.
"...Well, I get nervous when there's a lot of people, so it's

just right, though."
For the time being, he knocked on the door to let them
know of his arrival. However, no voice signaling him to get
inside was returned from behind the door. "Hmm?" Sandai
knocked on the door once more while tilting his head;
harder this time, but there was still no response returned.
"I hurriedly came here after being told to come now, but
absent, huh... Guess no choice but to wait. They know I'm
coming, so they'll probably be here soon."
He sighed at the unexpected situation, but the other side

might have their own circumstances, so to lose temper
would be narrow-minded.
Sandai decided to sit and wait in a chair in front of the

door.
And then before long, a girl about the same age as Sandai
showed up to where he was.
From the casual outfit of a sweater with the sleeves long

enough to hide her hands and skinny jeans, she didn't seem
to be here for an interview, however...
The girl was looking around restlessly. Everytime she

shook her head, her evenly-cut short bob hair swayed.
"Ah... err... um... hello."
When the girl noticed Sandai, she greeted him with a very
husky, androgynous-like voice and timidly gave a slight bow.
Lured by it, Sandai returned a slight bow.
"Hello to you as well. Umm... Could you perhaps have

come for the interview for the aquarium here?"
"Yes."
She seemed to have come here after seeing the

recruitment like Sandai.
Sandai wasn't good at dealing with new people, and in

addition those with a truly girly vibe, but they might become
co-workers. Sandai decided to be as friendly as possible.
"I've also come here for the interview, but it looks like the
interviewer still hasn't come, so I'm sitting here and
waiting."
"Oh, I see... May I sit next to you?"
"B-By all means."
"Well then... Umm, I'm called Saeki Hajime, second year

in high school... I'm sorry but, are you maybe the same?"
Setting aside the fact that she had guessed he was of the
same age from his appearance, to think that it was a real life
bokukko.
He would always see it often in manga or anime, but it

was exceedingly rare in real life.
But nevertheless, there was no particular feeling like it

was out of this world; she was a strange girl who was oddly
suited to it and hardly out of place.
(Note: A Bokukko is, literally, a girl who uses the first-

person Japanese Pronoun "boku", primarily used by boys
and young men.)
"Second year... I'm the same as well. Ah, my name is

Fujiwara Sandai."
"Really? I'm soooo glad we're in the same year—eh, ah, I-
I'm sorry that I talk casually..."
"Aah no... we're the same age so talking casually is... right,
okay, then I'm just gonna do that. You can also go do the
same."
"O-Okay! Nice to meet you, Fujiwara-kun!"
The girl who called herself Hajime smiled carefreely.
That cheerfulness with no sense of particular motifs

behind it gave off the impression of modest and gentle like
that of blueberry flowers.
Surely, she must be captivating a lot of men on a regular

basis. Although with so much charms both in looks and
impression that it seemed natural, the one called reality
would sometimes hit you with an unexpected reality.
"Ehehe." Hajime stuck out the tip of her tongue and

laughed, "But I'm glad, that the person I met was the same
sex. I'm not good with women, so..." only to make Sandai's
eyes pop out of his head.
"...What did you just say?"
"Eh? Umm, err, I said I'm glad that the person I met was
the same sex."
Hajime's appearance, no matter how you'd twist it, was

that of a girl, and despite the voice being androgynous-like,
if anything, was that of a girl, that was why the impression
Sandai he'd gotten was completely that of a girl.
It was suddenly hard to believe for Hajime to be a man,

but... the person in question also didn't seem to be lying.
Sandai rubbed his eyes again and again in worry, wondering
if his eyes had gone crazy, but that still didn't change the
reality.
A normie with crazy high communication ability might be

able to give the correct response in an instant even in such a
time, but it was impossible for Sandai. He could only be
baffled, and looked away to flee from the mismatch between
reality and his perception.
"Fujiwara-kun, you're suddenly looking away, what's up?"
"It's... nothing."
"? Ah, is there maybe something on my face? Where is it?

Hey c'mon tell me."
"D-Don't come any closer."
"Aww why~? C'mon."
"It's not good."
"C'mon, I'm not gonna do anything weird, I just want you

to tell me... I wonder where. My cheek?"
Maybe this considerably close sense of distance was the

embodiment of Hajime's 'I want to get to know you quickly'
feeling. Or perhaps, Hajime would like to be friends with
Sandai, going beyond the category of co-workers or
acquaintances.
But Sandai was hesitating and troubled; he had never

gotten any friends because he had been a loner for so long.
He got no idea about that sort of thing.
He knew how to treat a lover, however...
As Sandai was lightly scratching his head wondering what
to do now, a woman around her mid-twenties wearing a
cardigan showed up from further down the hallway.
"Let's see... Are you two the ones who came for the
interview? You were surprisingly quick. I guess I ended up
making you wait. I'm sorry for coming late. Then I will start
the interview. Come with me into the room... You can sit in
any empty chair over there."
She seemed to be the interviewer. If he were to be alone

with Hajime, he would surely end up thinking about this or
that, so it was perfect timing.
Sandai entered the room and sat on an empty seat as told.

Having entered the room a step behind, Hajime sat next to
Sandai.
"Then to start with... I think I'd love to see your CV."
Sandai handed her an envelope with his CV inside.
"And mine..." Haijme submitted his CV as well.
As the interviewer took turns comparing the CV she had

gotten.
"Ooh... So you both are high schoolers? Well, from the

looks it seems that way, though. And so... if I remember
correctly I think the desired position from both of you is
cleaning. As for Fujiwara-kun, I somehow understand from
how he seems, but Saeki-cha... Eh? S-So you're a boy. I-I see.
Oh well. Saeki-... kun, you have a cute appearance, so I feel
like it's a waste, I guess. You seem suited to putting on some
cosplay and standing in front of people, though?"
Apparently Hajime also wanted to do cleaning. Sandai
was under the vague impression that Hajime seemed to
want to work in a position that would appear in front of
people, so it was unexpected.
When Sandai glanced at Hajime, Hajime was trembling

with his cheeks dyed bright red redder than a ripe apple.
"Well, umm, I was forced into a strange outfit at my

previous part-time job... and it was so embarrassing... I was
made to serve customers in a qipao for girls, and there were
also older men looking at me with strange eyes..."
Contrary to that appearance and personality of his, there

seemed to be a really good reason as to why Hajime wished
to do cleaning in which he wouldn't appear in front of
people.
Simply listening to his words, it might seem like he had

just been taking part in a fun event, but the important part
was how the said person felt about it.
Hajime looked like he would burst out crying at any

moment. He saw it as a past that would be painful to recall.
"...I think I've asked something I shouldn't. I'm sorry... I'll

make sure not to bring it up again."
"No, It's the fault of my weak heart."
Sandai somehow got curious and imagined Hajime in

qipao, despite thinking it was a bad taste.
However at the same time, Shino all of sudden popped up

in his imagination. Shino pouted her cheeks like a hamster
and swung her arms around to start erasing Sandai's
imagination.
He simply had just imagined a feminine guy in qipao; of
course no ulterior motives, and Shino herself was not here
either.
And yet, it was strange as it was making him feel like he

had done something bad.
***
"Well then, this will conclude the interview. As for the

pass or fail, you are both hired. The truth is, I'd like to say
that it will be told after a screening process, but cleaning is
not that attractive and we don't receive enough applications
to warrant one."
The interview went smoothly, and fortunately cleaning

wasn't that attractive, so the result was decided on the spot.
"And so... you will be doing training on the cleaning

procedures, but as expected it won't be today so on another
day, okay? It'll still be under construction for several days
after all. I'll contact you about the date and time of the
training later on. Also, this came in the end, but I'll
introduce myself. I'm Omaki Mika. I'm more or less the vice
director and my age is 28."
The interviewer—Omaki introduced herself, and then

lightly announced, "And then you can leave now."
It seemed to be over with this.
It was Sandai's first time to have an interview for a part-

time job which made him plenty nervous, but he managed
through it somehow. He sighed in relief.
And then, "Hey, Fujiwara-kun."
Hajime tugged on Sandai's sleeves.
"What's up?"
"...We both passed, huh?"
"Ah... You're right."
"I think there will be, like, times when we both have
troubles, or things we want to consult each other about.
That's why... umm."
Hajime pulled out his phone and gripped it tight.
"I hope... you can tell me your contact address... Is it a no?

It's weird for co-workers to not know each other's contact,
you know?"
Certainly, there would probably be times when they would

have to contact one another or exchange information for a
bit, so there was a point in exchanging contact address.
But nevertheless, that way of saying that was filled full

with cunning cuteness that made it strangely hard to refuse.
It didn't seem Hajime was aiming for it, but... Sandai felt
that this was probably the cause why Hajime had been
forced into weird outfit in the past.
"It's okay... right?"
"...Well I guess so. I guess it's better to know."
"Thanks! I'm so happy, ehehe. Then your phone number,

email address, messaging app ID, and then SNS ID where
you post photos and short videos, and also..."
"H-Hold on, I don't have any apps like that."
"Is that so?"
"Just look at me. I'm an asocial loner just like how I look
here. I almost never do any SNS."
"Hmmm... You do look reserved, but not so much as to be

asoci... I mean, there's no law saying you can't do SNS if
you're asocial, you know? I mean, I'm a more asocial type
myself."
"You look like the social type to my eyes, though."
"That's not true... This is a good chance, so you go install

the app too, Fujiwara-kun. C'mon, let's take a selfie and post
it. And adding some hearts on it and making it look like a
couple."
"D-Don't wanna."
"Eeh~"
Sandai was overwhelmed by Hajime's close sense of

distance, but he was able to come to a conviction thanks to
it.
The fact that Hajime would like to become his friend.
He was in a lot of confusion in the face of an existence

that could become his first friend, but he didn't feel bad
about it. In some respects, there was softness in Sandai's
expression as he gazed at the new contact address registered
on his phone.
However, there was also a point that bothered him.
It was Shino.
Sandai was slightly troubled not knowing how Shino
would take in Hajime's existence, but... he thought of hiding
it for now.
November 10 - November 17
The Dull Youth Is Vibrant Before You Know It,
Huh?
The interview for the part-time job had gone off with a
success. That said, Sandai got busy again without even being
allowed to catch a breath; the school festival was here.
It being Saturday, the school festival was very bustling.

Other than the local residents, there were plenty of people
like students of other schools and college students showing
up.
For having decided to not participate and ignore it last

year, Sandai was completely not in the know of the scale of
the school festival and bewildered by the scene in front of
him.
"...So it would gather this many, huh."
Shino chuckled from seeing Sandai with his eyes wide

open and scratching his cheek.
"Fufu, well... our school is on the large side in student

numbers, so there's also the scale to go with it. Many people
will also come to see."
"I ignored it last year, so I didn't know."
"I think I participated last year more or less, since I got a

bit of time and all. They said we were gonna do a haunted
house, so I got to be a ghost."
"Oh really?"
"It was a very common program, and yet somehow it got
popular and many people just came to see. Many people
would also stop and stare hard at me, so I thought I must've
done a really good job at the ghost makeup, so it made me
somewhat happy."
The cause for attracting visitors hadn't been because she

had done a good job of disguising as a ghost, but because a
very stunning beautiful girl had been doing the role of a
ghost. Without a doubt.
However, the person in question was happy thinking that

it had been because she'd done a good job with the makeup.
To untactfully say 'that's not that case' would only spoil her
mood, so Sandai gave a suitable interjection.
Well anyhow.
Sandai and Shino moved to carry out what the class

president had previously told them to; helping out behind
the scenes with the cafe of their class program.
Among several girls and guys including Takasago working

attentively, they nonchalantly joined in while trying to be as
inconspicuous as possible.
But the presence created by a couple of a different

qualities that of a gyaru and a loner by no means could be
hidden that easily.
"Hey, pass me the honey there."
"This one?"
"Yup.
"Honey again~"
"...You're gonna put on more honey? Won't that make it
too sweet?"
"That also depends on the honey type, I think? Because

the taste will change based on what kind of flowers the bees
get the nectar from. For this one, look, it says 'chestnut
flowers' so it's got a slight bitterness to it."
"The taste will change depending on the flower... now that

you mentioned it, that's true too, huh. By the way, they call it
honey in English, isn't it?"
"...Can you try calling me honey for a bit?"
"...Honey."
"Oh gosh, it's giving butterflies so much!"
Such was the exchange those two were having, so the

classmates working behind the scene immediately noticed it,
and some looked away and got distracted; like ending up
mistaking salt for sugar and putting in a huge amount of it.
"What a lucky guy Fujiwara is, dating a girl like Yuizaki-

san. I want a cute girlfriend, too."
"...I want a boyfriend, too. A cool boyfriend."
"Fujiwara-kun got a beautiful girl like Yuizaki-san, so

maybe we can get a super hot hunk too in reverse, so it's like
giving a big push in the back, isn't it?"
"If I do my best, maybe I can also get a beautiful

girlfriend, too..."
"Shihouin-kun... I wonder what he thinks of me..."
Being hit by the sugar in the air was maybe making them
want to consume sugar themselves—all the audible
murmurs were suggesting nothing but that.
***
The school festival went on without incident, and time

just flew peacefully... or so Sandai thought, but things
behind the scenes were beginning to gradually get busier.
He got a feeling something was off.
What they were doing was just a cafe, and he didn't really
get how it could get busier given that there was not a shred
of newness about it.
Sandai took a peek at the scene—
Only to find male customers as far as the eyes could see

spread out there.
He could also see the sight of girls wearing bunny ears

and cat ears on their head in a risqué outfit of garter belt and
bunny girl suit serving customers.
In many senses, it was a spectacle that just made him

want to cover his eyes, but upon second thought, the omen
had been there from the start that it would turn like this.
Shino had refused to dress in a risqué outfit, but the
situation that made it seem normal to dress in a risqué outfit
was weird in the first place.
That was to say, it had already been done deal by then

that it wouldn't be a normal cafe.
"——You sure have come just at the right time, Fujiwara-

kun."
"Guweh."
Sandai yelped from having the collar of his uniform

suddenly grabbed. He looked back and found it was the class
president.
"Actually, we made one too many signboards because we

got the numbers wrong, you see. It's a waste, so I'll also
count on you to use this to tout to people. Go parade it
around the school."
The class president said and made Sandai hold a

somehow suspicious black signboard.
"Eeeh... making me do it just because there's an extra

signboard is just not what you promised."
"I can't hear you, Fujiwara-kun. It's 'strike while the iron
is hot' as they say."
Sandai stared full of doubt at the signboard while being

pushed by the class president with a gusto. This was what
had been written there with a pink, rounder handwriting:
『 Cute girls in risqué outfits going nyan nyan~ serving

customers nyan~』
Just like a signboard for a sex establishment.
This would make the adults mad no matter how you

looked at it, and it was strange that the serious-looking class
president hadn't given this any doubt, but Sandai could tell
from looking at those excessively shining eyes of the class
president that he was losing his cool.
'Essentially the last school festival.'
The class president had mentioned that, but precisely

because it was the last school festival where they could go all
out, he had gotten so passionate that he had ended up
forgetting common sense. Since there were no other
classmates who expressly saw this as a problem, Sandai
could tell that the whole class was of the same sentiment.
It would also be useless pointing out anything to people

who lost sight of their surroundings, and it would only lead
to a fight. Wanting to steer away from unnecessary dispute,
Sandai reluctantly decided to take on the job.
For now, he tried to wander around while holding the

signboard to keep up appearances. If he looked like 'doing it
half-heartedly but it was just a formality' for the touting, it
should be okay.
Perhaps it was a bad idea to walk around without

wariness due to such a mental attitude—Sandai, who was
walking around the school at random, encountered someone
he must not encounter.
"——Hey Fujiwara, what's that signboard?"
He got found by Homeroom Teacher — Nakaoka.
"'Cute girls in risqué outfits going nyan nyan...?' I

remember giving permission when I heard you were going to
do a cafe, but I don't remember giving permission to do
anything like a night shop like this, though?"
"Err..."
"What on earth is going on here?"
"I was just told to hold this and advertise it, so..."
"I see."
Nakaoka placed her hand on her chin and wrinkled her

brows. She then continued:
"Well you know... the school festival is open to the general

public, so that means it's attracting an unspecified large
number of people. It's necessary to give a certain amount of
thought at an event like this. We probably can't change the
theme of the program now, so I guess our class will be
canceled."
I suppose that's how it is. was Sandai's honest feelings.
For example, even if it was a reckless enthusiasm

resulting from striving to make memories, it was a given for
high school students to be chastised for brazenly copying a
questionable shop in broad daylight.
Sandai looked up to the sky.
The sun was high in the sky, and it was probably about
noon.
Although the school festival as a whole had only just

begun, the school festival of Sandai's class came to an end
without reaching the most exciting moment.
『The cafe is closed.』
Nakaoka stuck a paper with that written on it on the door,
sighed, and walked into the classroom. And then Sandai's
classmates began to complain to Nakaoka one after another.
"It's not like there was any physical contact!"
"We just put on a slightly lewd outfit, didn't we...?"
"It was a little embarrassing, but some people gave a tip

too, so..."
"We just ran a cafe with a peculiar outfit! The people who
think this is erotic are the one who are perverted!"
Nakaoka glanced at the bawling out classmates, sucked in

a deep breath, and rebuked loudly.
"DON'T COMPLAIN! BE SILENT!"
Although Nakaoka would at times amuse herself over the

recklessness of students' youth, she would also at times get
serious. She was the type who would respect the
independence of students, but would get firm and mad if a
line that must not be crossed was crossed.
And the classmates, perhaps as one would expect coming

to an understanding that they had gone slightly over the
bounds of common sense, began to yield one after another.
"Y-Yes."
"...Sowwy Nakaoka-teacher."
"So sorry."
"Gomenasorry."
"What's with that language? Are you really feeling sorry?
...Well, no matter. Anyway the school festival is open to the
general public, so a large number of people will come. If any
complaints are made, and the vice principal or the principal
hears about it, it will turn into a big problem. I might not be
able to fully cover up for you either. Good grief... garter belts
and bunny girls suit and whatnot... I don't know where you
gathered these from, but I'm confiscating it all."
Nakaoka said and crammed the numerous outfits into a

cardboard box.
"Then you're all dismissed! Go enjoy other classes'

programs as a guest for the rest of the school festival!"
She said, closed the door with a bang and left.
An awfully heavy silence befell the class, but... the number

of people coming to terms with the reality of the program
getting canceled increased with time, and one by one, they
disappeared from the classroom.
Sandai and Shino were originally not so strongly

interested in participating, so unlike other classmates, they
were not discouraged.
Not in the least.
"Somehow... poof, the school festival ended just like that,

didn't it?"
"Nothing you can do about what's gone spoiled. Let's go

check out other classes or the school year's program, since
we're free and all."
"Okay."
When Sandai and Shino left the classroom as if nothing
had happened, they heard the sorrowful cry of the class
president from behind.
"UUUOOOOOOHHHH!!! IT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE A

MEMORABLE SCHOOL FESTIVAL AND
YEEEEEETTTT!!!"
The class president's zeal for the school festival was

certainly the real deal.
That was plain to see.
However, there was a limit to everything. Having lost

one's cool because 'in essence it was the last school festival'
was not good.
Paying for one's mistakes, in short... However, there was

also a classmate who was worried about that class president.
It was Takasago; she hurriedly rushed to the class
president's side.
If there was a lucky break from this cancellation, it would

be that the relationship between Takasago and the class
president might be taking another step forward. Being
nestled up in times of sorrow is a classic recipe for kick-
starting romance to move forward.
Since it would be best to not become a hindrance in such a

time, Sandai decided to quietly leave them alone and began
to tour around the school festival together with Shino.
One by one, they went around to see the program of each

class in each school year. There were those running an
exhibition of something, those performing a live concert or
drama in the gymnasium; the school festival's programs
were diverse, and it was a school with a large number of
students with many classes as well, so touring around was
also a pain.
"I'm pooped~ Piggyback me~"
Shino said with her eyes turning into an X, seemingly

tired from walking; easy to understand wanting to get
spoiled.
"...Guess I've got no choice. Here."
"Uww."
He knew of this because he previously had also carried

Shino on his back, but she was really light. Even Sandai,
whose stamina and strength weren't that much, didn't get
that much trouble with it.
Although Sandai got a boundless interest in Shino's

slender and soft body, like a healthy young man would, he
nevertheless like last time tried not to enjoy the sensation.
Precisely because he didn't openly express his desires,

precisely because he didn't think only of satisfying nothing
but himself that Shino was fawning on him.
The only thing he wouldn't want to do was any action that

would betray that.
"Go~ go~"
"Yeah yeah."
"That doesn't sound like a horsie's neigh~"
"Neighhihin... Are you happy with this?"
"Good."
The sight of him carrying Shino on his back was attracting

attention in various senses, but inquisitive gazes and the like
had always been showering them until now. Sandai had
always been on the thick-skinned side, but he had become
more so recently and was now in a position where he would
no longer care about how others looked at him.
Sandai spotted a bench as he made his way through the

gaps in the crowd, and then bent down to lower down Shino.
"Wee~ a chair spotted. Break time~"
"I'm gonna go get some drinks from the vending machine.

Anything you wanna drink?"
"I'm OK."
"I want you to let me do boyfriend-like stuff, like taking

action for my girlfriend. Besides... Now lately you've always
been making lunch for me after all."
"...Thanks. Then I wanna drink milk tea! It should be

there."
"Roger."
***
Clang. The milk tea fell down into the vending machine's
outlet with a clang. Sandai took it and leisurely made his way
back.
That was when.
Weird voice could be heard coming from the school
infirmary he just happened to pass by. Sandai spontaneously
came to a stop.
"Pyo-Pyon."
"Nakaoka-sensei... looks like there's still embarrassment

left in you. It's not bunny-like."
"No, imitating a rabbit in this outfit at this age indeed

really is..."
"I've said it's fine. It's still totally do-able. We're still just
barely young people after all. Just barely."
"Is that so?"
"Yup, that's right. Thirty something women are

youngsters, you know? ...Now then, one more time with the
mind of a true bunny. One, two, three—go!"
"Pyon!!"
There was a conversation that made him curious about

what was happening inside, so Sandai quietly opened the
school infirmary's door.
In there, there was his homeroom teacher in a bunny girl

suit. In rhythm to the clapping beat of the school nurse lady,
his homeroom teacher put her hands on her head to make
rabbit ears while shaking her butt, repeating, "Pyon. Pyon."
"Nakaoka-sensei... what are you doing...?"
Sandai asked like to murmur while speechless.
Nakaoka and the school nurse looked back at the same
time. The two women in their thirties froze as their eyes
opened wide, and gradually sweat broke out on their
foreheads.
Gulp. Sandai swallowed down his saliva.
What Nakaoka was wearing was one of the clothes she'd

taken away after scolding her students. And she had
borrowed that willy-nilly and was imitating a rabbit.
"Sensei..."
"...P-Pyon. You're mistaken-pyon. It's just a little bunny

here-pyon. There's no woman called Nakaoka-pyon.
Fujiwara-kun, you didn't see anything-pyo... n."
Sandai had a hunch that it would be better to pretend he

hadn't seen this.
Even Nakaoka was a person before she was a teacher, so

she'd probably committed an error out of passing, sudden
impulse. No mistaking that she hadn't even thought that she
would be witnessed by a student, moreover by one she
herself was in charge of.
He could tell from seeing that shaken state of hers.
This was a situation where Nakaoka's honor as a teacher

and then, more than anything, Nakaoka's dignity as a
woman were being threatened, so this was a spectacle that
should be forgotten if it were to protect those.
If it were someone who would think of crooked stuff like

making others do as one pleases after obtaining some dirt on
others, this would probably be a situation where they would
say 'I've got a good material' in joy, but unfortunately Sandai
wasn't such a guy.
Besides, Sandai was also indebted to Nakaoka. He owed

her one. Despite having witnessed Sandai and Shino kissing
just recently, Nakaoka had read the mood and pretended to
have not seen it.
Thinking that this was the perfect opportunity to return

the favor, Sandai made a right about-face in a robot-like
movement, stepped into the corridor, and slammed shut the
school infirmary's door.
"...That boy, is he a student from your class?"
"...Yeah."
"..."
"..."
"You've been... seen, isn't it?"
"T-This is your fault! You made me do it!"
"I-It's certainly me who recommended it, but the one who

decided to do it was you, Nakaoka-sensei! You're an adult so
you're responsible for your own act—"
"—Shuddup shuddup shuddup! I don't wanna hear

excuses! In the first place what's this perverted body even!?
Huh!?"
"Please stop~ don't fondle ittt~"
Sandai resolutely swore to himself that he would pretend

to have not seen the whole thing. That being said, forgetting
the scene just now was certainly also fairly hard.
It was such a shocking scene that even after returning to
Shino's side, the shocking image of Nakaoka in a bunny girl
suit remained etched into Sandai's mind and couldn't go
away.
However, he must forget it. Sandai shook his head and

forcibly kicked Nakaoka out of his memory.
"...What's wrong?"
"I just kinda came across a big rabbit. It's because of that."
"Rabbit?"
"Nakao—nah, it's nothing. That aside, here's the milk tea."

Sandai swallowed down the name he'd almost blurted out
without thinking, handed the milk tea, and sat down next to
Shino.
Shino was tilting her head, but without making any

attempt to ask about it in particular, maybe because Sandai
was also making eyes like a dead fish, she put the can on her
mouth and began to drink.
"...Dewicious."
"Glad to hear that."
"Yep. Thanks... Wait, speaking of which, you didn't buy

one for yourself?"
"Just because I'm not that thirsty."
It was not a lie and it was the truth that he wasn't thirsty,
but—
"Nn."
—Shino stopped drinking the milk tea halfway through
and held it out to him.
"...Let's go halfsies. I already drank half so drink the rest."
Sandai could've just refused and told her not to mind it,
but Shino probably wouldn't have agreed to that, so he took
the offer. He gulped it down and threw away the now empty
can into the garbage can for empty cans. Clang, the sound of
the can falling echoed into the hallway.
The evening sun streaming into the hallway was about to

begin to sink. The school festival was over, and the students
were also starting to clean up.
Many classes went out for launching fireworks, an

evening party, dinner, or karaoke and such. Sandai's class as
well, despite their program getting canceled, there were
those who were finding their classmates still at school and
passing such talk around.
But Sandai and Shino opted not to participate. After all,

wanting to prioritize their time together was their reason.
"...Let's go home."
"...Yeah."
***
Taking a stroll downtown, heading back to his apartment

and chilling around together—after spending such a time
together, Sandai went to walk Shino to the station.
And then, they kissed. After that he saw off the train and
then checked the clock.
"Ten o'clock..."
When he thought about the time until the start of late

night anime, he wondered whether he could do studying a
little.
As Sandai left the station while yawning, his phone rang.
"...Is it Shino? Nah nope. It's an SMS... who is it?"
He thought that it was perhaps a for-the-first-time-in-a-

while message from his parents, but even if that was the
case, it would show the name. As for this one, only the
telephone number was shown. In other words, a message
from someone not registered in his contact.
"Is this the kind of prank where they send a message to a

random number?"
That was the first thing that popped up in his mind, but
there was also a possibility that it was an urgent message
from a government office or power company and such, so he
checked the content just in case.
『Don't tell anyone what you saw in the school infirmary

today. Please. I'll do anything.』
It was a message that immediately let him know who the

sender was.
"...Sensei."
As for how Nakaoka had got to know of Sandai's number,
probably through the contact information previously given.
Due to the fact that his parents were overseas, Sandai had
put in his own phone number on the class' contact
information. She had sent the message after taking a look at
it.
Maybe it was embarrassing to talk directly from the fact

that she had sent an SMS and not given a call. Well anyhow,
Sandai sent, 『I didn't see anything, though.』
Although Sandai was unsure whether Nakaoka was

perhaps relieved or perhaps sensed his tight-lippedness, no
further reply came.
"Good grief."
Sandai shrugged his shoulders, but however, he received

another message from someone else. Sandai's phone was
just so busy today.
"What is it now..."
He took a look at the sender as he groaned, and saw it was

from the aquarium where he'd gotten a part-time job offer.
The content was about asking him to come next Sunday at

1 pm for the job's detail explanation and training, and also
an apology for contacting him at night.
"Next Sunday, huh..."
He would have no particular things to do on next Sunday,

and Shino would also be working during the day. In other
words, Sandai would be free during the day. He sent back his
acknowledgement as he also got no reason to refuse.
***
As Sandai was spending his days flirting with Shino

without fail even with the limited time, next Sunday came in
a flash. After confirming the time specified by his part-time
job was drawing near, Sandai got ready and headed there.
It being Sunday, many people were walking down the

street, so he was walking while being careful not to bump
shoulders with other pedestrians.
Given that he had headed out with some time to spare, he

arrived twenty minutes earlier than the specified time. Then
he saw Hajime. "Fujiwara-kun!"
"Ah... It's Saeki."
Somehow feeling like he hadn't seen Hajime for a long

time, Sandai felt weirdly nostalgic. It hadn't been that long
since the interview, however...
"It sure feels like we haven't met for about half a year."
"Eh? It hasn't been that long, you know? And the

interview was just last week. Aww c'mon, a joke like that's
not funny."
Hajime ballooned up his cheeks and hung his head down

while pouting his mouth.
It was a very sweet and cute gesture—but Hajime was a

guy. Hajime looked like a girl no matter how you looked at it
—but he was a guy.
"A boyfemboy is not a man... but being a boyfemboy is also

another fact, huh."
"W-What's wrong? You're talking weird... Is it philosophy
or something?"
"I just thought the world's full of wonders, you see."
"Hmm... By the way Fujiwara-kun, you didn't contact me

at all, huh?"
"Contact?"
"We've exchanged contact addresses, and yet you didn't

contact me at all, so I was feeling lonely, you know?"
"That's an issue with my personality, I must say."
"Do you like neglect-play?"
"Could it be you're trying to tease me?"
"I don't mean that, though..."
"Well look... you said about contacting, but I don't know

what I should do either here. At any rate, I was a complete
loner until not that long ago. Instead of waiting for a contact
from me, I want you to do it."
"Somehow I just feel like I'll lose if I'm the one

contacting~"
"You know it's not even about winning or losing."
As they were having such chit-chat, Omaki came out from

the aquarium and called to them.
"You two sure are quick. I'm so impressed."
"Good morning!"
"Good mor... good morning?"
Sandai tilted his head in puzzlement because Hajime had

said 'good morning' even though it was noon.
And then, "Ahem!" Hajime puffed up his non-existent

chest and began explaining.
"In the service industry, it's pretty much 'good morning'

when you come in... I'm not really sure why, though."
"Right, like Saeki-kun said, there sure are many places in

the service industry where they say 'good morning' when
they come to work. I don't really know why either, though."
Since the two people who got no particular point of

contact with each other, Hajime and Omaki, were in
agreement, it must be the so-called 'common sense.'
"I see."
As Sandai was nodding his head in understanding, Omaki

brought a brand new cardboard box.
"Well, setting aside the greeting's origin... It's today's

main topic. Now go change into this you two."
There were work clothes with the aquarium's logo and

boots in the cardboard box. Although it gave Sandai such a
feeling of, I'm gonna start working for real, huh, it seemed
to be only him.
As for Hajime with his fair share of working experience,

"Okay," he took it without getting worked up.
"Hey hey, look at these work clothes, it's got a dolphin

picture on the back!"
"Sure they do."
"The locker room... looks like over there. We're gonna

change together, huh?"
"Yeah su—"
—re we are.
Sandai had almost nodded his head following the flow,

but he suddenly came to his senses.
Changing clothes together with Hajime... There was

nothing to worry about as they were fellow men, but Sandai
felt like it was somehow not right nevertheless.
"...I'll go get changed in the toilet."
"W-Why? C'mon, let's change together."
"Just because."
"Do you hate me...?"
"I don't mean that, but how do I explain this... I'm just of
the principle that likes to get changed alone."
Sandai gave some random excuse.
But despite getting slightly dispirited, "I see," Hajime gave

his understanding.
Sandai sure did feel strangely sorry, but he got a hunch

that if they changed together, he'd learn of something
serious—something he wasn't supposed to know.
With the work clothes in one hand, Sandai hurried to the

toilet and began to change. Although it took him slightly
more time than expected due to him being strangely worked
up, he pulled through somehow.
When Sandai got out into the hallway, Hajime was

waiting with his back against the wall, apparently having
finished changing ahead of Sandai.
"You were waiting for me? It's not like you really have
to..."
"Don't go saying sad stuff like that. I want to get to know

you better, Fujiwara-kun... If you want, wanna link arms?"
Is linking arms a measurement of closeness between

fellow men? Sandai wasn't really sure, but felt like it was
wrong.
"...Is linking arms stuff fellow men do?"
"If they were close, even men would link arms, you know?
You might not know as a loner, but that's how it is these
days, you know?"
"I-Is that so?"
"Just jokin'! It's just a joke. You're so kyut, Fujiwara-kun."
Hajime smiled radiantly as if to say, 'Gotcha!'
Hajime probably wasn't aware of it, but the way he would

tease people was exactly like a girl. When combined with the
looks, it made Hajime like a perfect beautiful girl that of
men's ideals, so Sandai somehow understood now the
feelings of those people wanting to make Hajime wear a
girl's outfit by all means.
Well, that aside, they returned to Omaki since they were
done changing, and then were handed a paper outlining the
work procedure, a brazier, and a garbage bag.
"So about the work's procedure, or I should say training...

There's nothing that requires that much proficiency. Just
carry on as written on this paper and you're all OK. No
special skills or techniques required whatsoever!"
There was also a section of 'cleaning with running water'

that seemed to require some knowledge, but there was also a
note that a supervisor would give an instruction on this. It
seemed there was no need to think complicatedly.
"For now, the goal for today is to have you get the hang of
it, so let's take it easy. Of course, I'll make sure today's time
is counted as your work time, too. Now then, let's start by
picking up trash around the area."
The trash picking went smoothly without any particular

problems showing up, but they encountered a forkroad not
long after, so they had to split up into three groups.
Beyond the forked path, Sandai leisurely and calmly went

to pick up the trash. He simply was going about it the same
like when studying—not slacking by any means.
This kind of steady work would bring results when done

steadily and without haste. In fact, his bag got full in no time
at all as he was calmly picking up trash one by one without
missing a single piece.
When Sandai returned to the aquarium, Hajime and

Omaki weren't there, apparently first to arrive. The two
returned about ten minutes later.
"You're so quick, Fujiwara-kun..."
"...Looks like it took a bit of time for me and Saeki-kun.
Well, boys are different in the way they move and their
stamina, so it can't be helped if things don't go the same
way, though."
"I'm a boy, too..."
"R-Right, of course, Saeki-kun is also a boy. T-That's

right, now let's start sorting out the garbage we've collected,
shall we?"
Omaki opened the opening of the garbage bags to gloss

over her careless remark, and quickly walked closer to
Sandai next.
"Hey... Fujiwara-kun, I think you realized after trying it

out for a bit, but you think cleaning is a plain work, don't
you?"
There was an examining-feel to Omaki's tone; or rather,

feeling like she was worried to be told, "I knew it, I don't
want to do this."
Cleaning job was, just like Omaki had pointed out before,
plain. But not all youngsters would avoid it, and Sandai had
applied for it precisely because it was a cleaning job in the
first place.
"Personally, I think this kind of job is pretty interesting

too, you know?"
Sandai stated matter-of-factly, making Omaki stop

looking worried and look bashful.
"...You're right. There are many young people who think

only whether or not they can do flashy activities, but it
doesn't mean a plain but necessary work like this isn't
interesting, isn't it. Looks like you'll become a man who got
himself together, Fujiwara-kun. Maybe Onee-san should
make her claim?"
It was probably just a simple joke, but it would get

troublesome in the unlikely event that it wasn't. So
immediately.
"I have already been claimed so my answer is No." Sandai

politely declined it.
"You've already been claimed? Hmm, so you have a

girlfriend?"
Omaki was very doubtful, apparently thinking for Sandai

to have a girlfriend to be unexpected, perhaps because she
saw him as 'plain.'
"What is it with those looks, I really do have a girlfriend."
"...What's she like?"
"Is it like, I have to speak no matter what?"
"Maybe you really don't have one?"
"I'm saying I have..."
"Then tell me."
Always getting doubted will also be bothersome, having

thought so Sandai gave up and showed Omaki Shino's
picture he got on his phone.
"It's this girl."
"Uwah! A super beauty... I guess I've got no chance if she's
like this~"
Although he couldn't tell whether it was a joke because of

the light tone, in any case, Omaki's interest seemed to have
subsided from learning about Shino's existence.
"Haaah... Onee-san wants a boyfriend, though."
"Although I don't know your age, Omaki-san, you seem to

have passed the age of majority at least, and so aiming for
high school boys just sounds so..."
"I'm not that old, you know? I'm still 28."
"It's about ten years apart, you know...?"
"Ahaha."
Omaki laughed and glossed it over, but there was a hint of

regret in those eyes of hers. It appeared she wouldn't ask any
more weird questions.
Thereafter, while making a lap around the premise, they

were lightly taught how to clean each place.
***
"...This is all for the training. I don't think there's anything

else in particular. I'll contact you later for your provisional
shift, so if there's any issues just let me know at that time.
Then you can take your leave now!"
Having said their leave to Omaki who was wiping her

forehead, seeming to want to say 'hard work done,' Sandai
and Hajime changed back into their plain clothes and went
outside. Of course, they changed in separate places.
As Sandai was about to leave while letting out a yawn,
"Wait a minute," Hajime called to him. "Hey Fujiwara-kun,
so I heard your talk with Omaki-san earlier."
"My talk with Omaki-san...?"
"Yep. So you have a girlfriend?"
"Aah, that one. You heard it, huh. Well, I do."
"I heard she's super beautiful, though? Show me, too!"
Hajime clung to Sandai's arm and begged.
Well, It wouldn't make sense either not showing it to

Hajime yet having showed it to Omaki. It would be like
being given unfair treatment, which should hurt Hajime's
feelings as well.
"It's this girl."
Hajime went, "Wah!" when Sandai showed Hajime

Shino's picture. "...I mean she's cuter than a model or idol,
could she be Yuizaki Shino-san?"
"You know her?"
"She's super famous, you know? Even at my school

someone will always bring her up... Yuizaki-san doesn't
seem to have any SNS, and it's impossible to get into contact
with her in any way, and so there are many guys who feel
she's sort of like someone with even more rarity value."
"She certainly did say she hates getting weird DMs so she
doesn't do SNS."
"I see now... But, how did you meet Yuizaki-san who's got
such a high guard?"
"We go to the same school."
"Ah... I get it now. If that's the case, it sure looks like you
can get to know each other directly."
A small breeze suddenly came, and a sweet and soft smell

drifted from Hajime. It had the same smell as Shino's.
"...? The smell just now..."
"Yeah?"
"No, I just thought something smelled good is coming

from you, Saeki."
"Something smelled good? Maybe it's my scented hand

cream? Here, try taking a little sniff."
When Sandai sniffed the back of the hand Hajime was

holding out, there was indeed where the smell came from.
"This is a new product from JILL. It's a go-to high end

cosmetic brand. They've got a lot of packaging with cute
designs, so they're popular for presents and stuff."
Putting aside for now as to why Hajime, a guy, was using a

cosmetic for girls, Sandai reacted with a start at the 'popular
for presents and stuff' part.
He remembered the underwear he'd bought to give to

Shino for Christmas. Although already this late, he felt it was
somehow weird about underwear as a present.
"Popular for presents..."
"They are."
"By some chance, could it be popular for presents for, like,

Christmas or birthdays?"
"Yeah."
"...I see. So by the way..."
"What's up?"
"If a girl was given something like underwear as a present,

what would she think? Moreover a pretty lewd one."
"Eh? Ah... right... probably depends on the girl's

personality, but... I think they'd get bewildered normally.
No, I mean thinking normally would you give it as a present?
I think you can understand it if you try thinking about it in
their position, though. For example, what would you think if
you got a weirdly obscene underwear for men as a present
from Yuizaki-san?"
"I think... I... would question what she's thinking."
"Right? It's the same thing."
A gush of unpleasant sweat broke out all over Sandai's

body.
It was an underwear he had bought with the momentum

from having been taken in by Miki, but even without giving
it much thought, Miki got a cheeky personality.
"——It was a lot of fun, and Miki was satisfied, too."
Only now did he understand the reason for Miki to
quickly go home after saying so. Just imagining what would
happen later on was already irresistibly fun.
He was late to notice it.
But he didn't even have the monetary surplus to buy

another present now. The current Sandai could only pray
'Please don't think of me as a "pervert".'
Sandai's steps became heavy with his mood beginning to

darken as well, but Hajime went to cheer Sandai up.
Hajime smacked Sandai on the back, "Come! On!"
"Uwwh... what's with the sudden..."
"I don't really get it, but is it like you screwed up in

choosing the present? It's gonna be fine, I'm sure."
"...On what basis?"
"Girls are unexpectedly more broad-minded than guys,

you know? The fact that you're dating means she must like
you, too. That's why it's gonna be fine. Even if the guy a girl
likes or is interested in is a little weird, she'll forgive him.
She'll think, 'it can't be helped' 'he's also cute like that.'
Because that's just how it is."
It was a mystery that Hajime, a guy, understood even the

deep parts of a woman's heart, but Sandai somewhat got
cheered up nevertheless. His heart quickly felt light.
"Thanks."
Sandai said with a smile, only to get stared fixedly by
Hajime. Those large eyes of his with seemingly dilated pupils
were moist.
It was eyes... that seemed to suck people in.
When Sandai unconsciously stared back, Hajime made a

right about-face with a twirl.
"Don't mention it. Fufu... You're so kyut, Fujiwara-kun.

Then see you."
He said, and left without haste while waving his hand.
Sandai was motionlessly staring at Hajime's back, but he

finally noticed it would be almost time for Shino to be done
with her part-time job.
Today was Sunday. Shino's work would end at six in the

evening. Sandai checked the time on his phone, and it was
5:45.
Sandai ran as it seemed he wouldn't make it if he hadn't,

and he arrived at the cafe five minutes earlier, somehow
worth the effort.
***
"Hn? Shino-chan's BF-kun has arrived at the store."
"Hello."
"Now this way, come."
When he sat at the most inconspicuous seat where he was

led to, he was immediately served black tea of the
boyfriend's privilege. Sandai drank up the slightly steaming
black tea in one go. And then Shino in her plain clothes
came out from the back.
"Yoohoo."
"Nn."
"Then let's go back."
Once they stepped outside the store, a cold wind blew

through the gaps between buildings.
"...The wind just now was so cold."
"You're right."
Sandai stuck to Shino closer than usual and held that

hand of hers.
Shino's hand was slightly chilly, but as he continued to

grasp it, warmth gradually spread out which was comforting.
On their way to his apartment, Sandai casually looked at

Shino's profile.
He'd been cheered up by Hajime, and his heart had gotten

slightly lighter even, but nevertheless, he got not zero
worries—about how she would respond when receiving the
Christmas present.
"What's wrong?"
"No... umm..."
"Ah, right! Just a sec!"
Shino fished through her bag and pulled out a muffler

from inside, and then wrapped half of it around her neck,
and the other half around Sandai's neck.
"Your neck was cold, right? With this it's warm, right?"
"...You're right. It really is warm."
"Right, right."
Sandai smiled. He got taken aback somewhat.
Then he noticed.
Shino was a kind girl who would worry about him in many
ways like this, at the very least he got the confidence that she
was a girlfriend who wouldn't get mad.
As for the present... he would just have to pay attention

next time. That was all what he'd have to do.
"W-What's with that very gentle face?"
"It's nothing."
"Really...? Somehow you're looking like a Buddha statue,

though. Are you saying that's my imagination?"
"You're right, it's your imagination... Hmm?"
Suddenly Sandai's phone rang. He got a message.
"It's a message."
"From who?"
"Who knows. I'll check now."
The sender was his father, and the content was a brief
『How have you been lately?』
"...It's from Dad. Sure is rare."
"Your dad, huh~"
"It says to give a status report here. I can't really ignore

this. I've been allowed to live alone after all."
"Also write about me, okay?"
"I definitely will, or I should say that'll be the main point.

I want to keep it as short as possible, though..."
"You sure are pretty bad with long sentences aren't you,
Sandai. Even now I still remember how you only sent me
your name in your first message, you know? Actually I've got
the message history on me, wanna see? Hmm?"
"N-No, it's fine."
"You sure?"
"I'm sure... That aside, just how I should write it."
"...Instead of weirdly thinking so much, can't you just use

your feelings? Honest words just how you felt it are most
natural and resonates with the heart; either in writing or in
speech. At the very least I'm like that."
"I see..."
Sandai typed the words without giving it much thought,

just as Shino told him. And then it turned out better than
expected.
Getting liked by Shino and them dating, afterwards

completely getting hooked on romance—Sandai promptly
sent the message that looked like it could fully convey such a
current situation of his.
『The gyaruぎゃる sitting behind me liked me. Might be no

hope for me anymore.』
"Ng..."
After sending it Sandai realized; that he had forgotten to

convert gyaru ぎゃる to gyaru ギャル and sent the message with
it still in hiragana.
"...What's wrong?"
"Forgot to convert. The gyaruギャル is still in hiragana."
"That's fine, isn't it? Hiragana is rounder and it's cuter."

said Shino
"I guess that's true."
Sandai agreed and put his phone away.
Epilogue
With December approaching, it was entering the period

where the season would enter winter in full swing.
As days were going by hecticly, this was one of those

unimportant, trivial incidents amidst such passing.
While spending their time chilling around in the

apartment, Shino noticed a half-opened closet.
"Hey, this closet isn't closed properly, so can I close it?

Were you trying to do something or stuff like that?"
"Eh? Aah, I just forgot to close that."
"Geez, you better properly close it... Hmm?"
"What's wrong?"
"There's something with pretty wrapping... I wonder what

this is..."
Sandai perked up at that thing Shino curiously picked up.

That wrapped object was the Christmas present for Shino.
He couldn't just go, 'I will give it anyway, so it doesn't

really matter if it's now.' This kind of thing got meaning
because it would be given on the day in question.
Sandai snatched the Christmas present from Shino in a

panic and immediately hid it behind his back.
"Not his one!"
"Hey..."
"No means no!"
"...Is it something you've gotta hide that desperately? As

far as the wrapping goes, it's not even anything that weird,
right?"
"Not now. Not for now..."
Sandai said while looking down, only for Shino to put her
index finger on her chin and tilt her head.
With a rather keen intuition at times like this, Shino

delightfully smiled, seemingly to have arrived at the correct
conclusion rather quickly.
"For now... is it. Hmmm."
"You might be curious, but just forget this. No matter

what you say or what you do to me, this is the only one thing
I won't hand over right now."
"Sure."
"Heh...?" Sandai let out a freak-ish voice at the suddenly

sensible Shino.
In response, "I don't know what's inside, but I will look

forward to it till Christmas."
His extremely cute gyaru girlfriend winked with the tip of

her tongue out.
Afterword
In the story, Sandai-kun and Shino-chan met each other

by coincidence, and there was also no special circumstances
or reasons leading up to them dating either.
The two people who had no contact with each other came
in contact through a minor thing, became a boyfriend and
girlfriend from carried away by momentum and mood
typical of high school students, Each and every word, each
and every action little action rocked their hearts, but it was a
serious and whole-hearted realistic youth and romance—this
is work born out of a wish to write, as freely as possible,
about such 'things happening at the period where one is
neither an adult nor a child' while also taking into account
the fun, development, setting, and characters typical of light
novels.
I wonder if everyone of the readers will be able to accept

it, given the unique atmosphere of the entire work including
various characters... Anxiously, I would love to visit
bookstores and specialty stores sometime around the release
date to thank, in person, those who have picked up the book,
but I'm a shy one, so I don't think I will be able to do such a
bold move.
That is why I would like to take this opportunity to

express my deepest thanks.
Thank you to each and every one of you who picked it up!
It would be my pleasure if you feel that the work is well
worth the price.
By the way.
This work is also a work that has been published into a
book after winning a prize at Kakuyomu, but there were
changes and additions to the writing and development when
it was being published, and I endeavored to be able to satisfy
those who have been reading the work since it was on the
web as well.
The work started right after the start to get the book
published in earnest, and while I wanted to make it as
complete as possible, I also had a deadline to meet...
Nevertheless, there is no way I could spend more than a
decade structuring, writing, and revising it the way Hugo did
when he wrote Les Misérables.
I was able to do the best I could in the time available to

me.
As for the continuation of the book, the light novel

industry seems to be even more challenging these days, and
I don't know if it can be published, but... assuming positively
that it can get published, I'm also starting to write the
second volume of the book (jumping the gun on my own).
In the case continuing publication is possible, it will be

mostly completely new written work from the next one.
Lastly, I would like to thank everyone involved.
Thank you very much Hizuki Higure-sama for the

wonderful illustration. I shuddered when I saw the character
designs, the cover sketch and so on, it was too amazing.
Thank you to everyone involved in proofreading, revising,

designing, and printing! Without everyone, this work would
not have taken shape and been released to the world.
And Take-chan, who became my editor... Thank you for
helping move the work forward together while I have been
taking on a position and getting busier with more things to
do.
Credits
Source/Translator:
icantreadjapanese.wordpress.com
PDF+ePUB:
fb.com/JNovelCodex

(LN) The Gal Is Sitting Behind Me, and Loves Me - Volume 01 (JNCodex)

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Prologue

"...C'mon, don't look here."

"I-I didn't do it because I wanted to! Aaah geez, this is the

"Part-time? From when?"

"...It starts at 5."

"Huh? It takes me an hour to get home by train each way,

"I see, that's certainly unreasonable... Let's see... wanna

"What do you say?"

"...I'll borrow your shower. Thanks."

At the high school Sandai was attending, there was a

Shino was seated right behind Sandai, and the physical

From the point of view of Sandai who was someone

This wasn't the outcome of a conscious decision, rather an

However, it was for this reason that Sandai had got

However, there is a word called 'coincidence' in this

Thinking that it would be harsh for her to go to her part-

"That felt great~"

"Hmm? Paper bag?"

"What great hospitality~"

"You think so? —Alright, now get out."

Sandai pointed at the entrance.

"...Aren't you kinda cold? Ah, I get it! You must be

Perhaps trying to fool around and tease him, Shino

"That teasing won't work on me."

Sandai shrugged his shoulders and claimed its

Shino instantly got sullen and pouted. However, she

"...That's so awesome living alone. But then, you know,

Like guys his age, Sandai certainly possessed that kind of

However, it wasn't like he got zero physical goods hidden

—Sandai's composed attitude underwent a one-eighty,

"You idiot! Stop!"

"What's with the panicking? Don't tell me..."

"Aww c'mon, don't get so uptight like that."

"What do you mean 'aww.' Trying to be cute or

"I can try, you know? Rawr~ rawr~"

"Shut it! C'mon get moving! Shoo shoo!"

Having kicked Shino outside while pushing the paper bag

"...Normally you don't just go fishing through someone's

Sandai talked to himself about a kind of societal order or

Even if an irregular event occurs in the world, it will not

Though, there are exceptions to everything.

Next morning, Sandai was taking out his naughty books

The reason was yesterday's Shino's failed attempt at

Although Sandai thought that the chance of encountering

He'd love to sell it for money if possible, but his status as a

As he watched the garbage pickup place through the

Although it was certainly Sandai's own volition to give up

The naughty images and books stored in his PC remained

Well in any case, now Sandai would be back again to lead

Sandai himself was completely not expecting this, and he

Before the start of the first period, Shino suddenly went to

"Here's the clothes I borrowed when I got to your home

The relationship with the opposite sex of Shino, a leading

The instantly sparked rumors didn't stay in the classroom,

He would be watched wherever he went, and whispers

It was only after school ended, and Sandai rushed home

While frowning at the surging exhaustion, Sandai first

But then a small cherry-blossom colored memo fluttered

『It's my contact info! I'm especially giving it to you!』

A message app ID and phone number were written on the

Forgetting all that for now, he started studying to kill time

There was a way of killing time with manga or light