Chapter 1 – You’re Coming to See Me

“You totally did that on purpose! You rotten, braided four-eyes!”

Lunch break, inside the reading space in the library. There, I, Amatsuyu Kisaragi, a.k.a Joro, was standing up while shouting as hard as I could to the girl in front of me.

“Hm? I was just imitating the way you’re being mean to me, but why are you calling me out like this?”

The girl, Sanshokuin Sumireko a.k.a Pansy, didn’t seem to be bothered by it as she plopped down in the chair next to me.

“The hell are you talking about?! The thing that you’ve done was way worse than what I did to you!”

…Okay, look, in this situation, it might seem like I was the asshole for yelling at a girl, but believe me, I had my reasons.

While it was true that I wasn’t the most reputable guy around.

But even someone as low as I was had standards. I wouldn’t stoop that low.

That was why, hear me out for a bit.

The reason why I did this was because this girl tried to make me lick her worn-out shoes¹Would..

I told her to try to please me, but that was what she did, of course I’d get angry!

Let’s use common sense for a second. I was a healthy high schooler with a love for breasts. This girl completely disregarded that and tried to make me lick her shoes with a shy face. Of course I wouldn’t do that, I wasn’t into that kind of thing. Hell no!

“Fuck this, I can’t stand this anymore!”

Now, the anger that I had been storing since volume 1’s prologue had exploded. Prepare yourself, you bitch!

“…Sorry.”

“In the first place, you— Huh? What?”

Oi. I didn’t expect this development at all.

This girl had never shown any kind of remorse no matter how many times I yelled at her, but this time she actually apologized?!

“You’re freaking me out…why are you apologizing all of a sudden?”

The Pansy that I knew was stubborn, selfish and would quickly get all sulky if things didn’t go the way she wanted. The sulkier she got, the bigger the scale of the harassment she’d give me. All in all, she was the worst girl in existence.

And that kind of girl was apologizing to me… I guess the sky was going to fall tomorrow, huh?

“It’s my fault, so shouldn’t I be apologizing? I know what you wanted, but I purposely did something completely different from that and harassed you instead…”

What I wanted, she said. I didn’t want anything big, I just wanted to see her true appearance.

Usually, she styled her hair in braids, wore dumb looking glasses and her chest looked as flat as a board. She was an old-fashioned girl with those three disappointing traits. But, in truth, she had another appearance.

An appearance that would please me whenever I saw it.

“I’m the worst, aren’t I? I knew that there’s only one way that I could please you, and yet, I…”

It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that my opinion of hers took a 180 degree turn whenever I saw her untying her braids, taking her glasses off and releasing the sash she tied around her chest.

Her silky long hair, calm-looking eyes, well-defined nose and small, yet alluring lips.

All those traits complemented each other perfectly.

To me, she was the prettiest girl in the world (her personality was not taken into account).

…Though, I would never say that out loud to her even if my mouth was torn open.

Meanwhile, I was the King of Idiots who was deceived by her beauty and promised to come by the library every day a week ago.

Ever since then, I haven’t missed a single day yet. Hence why I wanted her to give me a reward.

Anyway, that was the end of the explanation.

“U-Um…”

I was taken aback by Pansy’s unexpected action to the point that I involuntarily sat back down in my chair.

“But, there’s something you need to hear first.”

The way she looked at me with an excited gaze made me think that she was about to inject some poison into my veins.

Except it wasn’t poison that I got, but a really, reaally bad premonition.

“…W-What is it?”

“I love you. I mean it.”

Those of you who were exceptionally perceptive might have realized it. She…loved me and she was proud to admit it.

“What are you planning this time?”

By the way, I hated her. (Not her appearance though.)

Why did I hate such a beautiful girl, you ask? Two words. Her personality.

“Nothing. It’s just the way you look at me is like a pig asking for food, Joro-kun. Not that I mind, your face looks like a pig originally, anyway.”

This girl was the most toxic person I had ever known. Just look at her, spitting venom at me in a matter-of-fact manner like that.

She should be the only girl in this world who treated the guy that she loved like a pig.

“Anyway, it isn’t like I don’t want to let you see my true appearance, I just don’t want anyone else to see me. We’re still inside the library, a place where someone might barge into without any warning. That’s why, what about we do this somewhere else?”

“And where would that be?”

At that moment, her eyes glinted. It was as if she had expected me to ask that question.

“Let’s see… A place where we can be together and no one else can disturb us… One particular place came to my mind…”

“Where?”

“Your room.”

“…Seriously? My expectations for you were low, but holy shit, you are way more perverted than I thought… Ow!”

A moment later, she rammed a book into my face.

Even with tears in my eyes, I could still discern the title of the book, ‘Fabre’s Book of Insect.’

“You’re the perverted one here, Joro, that’s why I gave you Fabre so that you can clean yourself a little. I just want to go visit your place and have some fun. Why can’t you use common sense a little?”

That was the wrong Fabre! The joke was you were supposed to give me Febreze²‘Febreze/ファブる’ and ‘Fabre/ファーブル’ sounds similar.! Not slapping me with Fabre’s Book of Insects! Why can’t you use common sense a little?!

“I’m looking forward to see what your room looks like.”

She gripped her hands in front of her chest nonchalantly, completely disregarding my suffering!

Positive thinking was good and all, but not everything could be dismissed just by thinking about it positively!

“Oww ow… I’ll never let you get inside my room…”

“But why? I brought another pair of socks, a white one, in contrast to the black one I’m wearing. To appeal to your parents that I’m fashionable and I pay a great deal of attention to hygiene.”

There were so many wrong things in that series of sentences.

“I’ll say it again. Don’t come to my room.”

“Hm? Is the length of my skirt the problem? Alright, I’ll make it 2 cm shorter.”

“I’ll say it again. Don’t you ever come to my room.”

“…Meanie.”

Tch. Did she think acting all sulky would make me concede on this? No way in hell.

I could only see trouble if I were to let her into my room.

There were various things that I didn’t want people to see. She would definitely make fun of me if she were to find those… Ugh, I shouldn’t think about that possibility, it’d just make me even more afraid.

“C’mon~”

“No means no.”

She sighed in resignation and leaned her body toward me.

A unique fragrance tickled my nose, but I would never be tempted by it!

“If you’re nice to me, I might just give you a nice reward, you know?”

Oh really? I could see Akutagawa Ryunosuke’s ‘The Spider’s Thread’ fluttering in front of me cutely.

In other words, my life was hanging by a thread… I could see the way to heaven appear in front of me…

“No, rather, it’s the way to hell, isn’t it?”

“Don’t worry, I’ll follow you to hell if I have to.”

In what world would a high school boy be assured if you were to tell him that you’d follow him to hell?

“Is that so? You don’t need to follow me, really. Just go home.”

“…Please? Can you let me enter your room? Just this once?”

She grabbed the hem of my uniform and started pulling on it. So annoying…

“Stop it! You’re being annoying, just give up!”

“…I see. Fine.”

Pansy looked even more disappointed than before as she let my uniform go. But I wouldn’t be fooled by that appearance.

“Fine, I’ll give up on going to the pig’s pen.”

Alright, if things went like this, then I’d be the winner of this exchange.

I didn’t know how or why, but she never lied to me.

She was a girl shrouded in mysteries, but I could trust her on that.

“Good, just give up. I might like your appearance, but keep in mind that I hate your very being itself.”

“Yes, I give up. I might hate your appearance, but keep in mind that I love your very being itself.”

Her words only made me doubt if she actually loved me or not.

Anyway, I managed to escape from hell’s door, so yes, good job, me!

“Alright, if that’s all, I’ll be off.”

Since it wasn’t like I would be seeing her real appearance today, I decided to get the hell away from here.

If I were to linger around, the chances of me being dragged into hell again would increase quickly.

“See you. Thank you for talking with me again today. I had fun.”

As I got up from my chair and was about to head for the exit, I could hear Pansy’s satisfied voice.

Oh so you were satisfied? Good, I was frustrated over here and definitely didn’t have any kind of fun whatsoever.

* * *

“Haa…”

On my way to the classroom, I let out an involuntary sigh.

The cause of my sigh wasn’t Pansy this time, but my class.

Up until now, I had been hiding my true personality, pretending to be a pure boy so that I could be popular with everyone. But unfortunately, my plan fell apart and my facade was exposed in a rather spectacular way. Well, up to this point, I could accept it no problem, I mean I was careless, so that was that. Losing my position in class because they accused me of deceiving the two most popular girls in school…also wasn’t the cause of my sigh.

That case was already done, I’ve cleared the suspicions of mostly everyone in my class save for a few people…and the people in other grades and years…

“Ah, Joro, can I talk with you for a second?”

See what I told you? My classmates still talked to me like normal.

If they still hated me, they wouldn’t approach me like this.

“What’s up, Asunaro?”

This girl who was talking to me with a bright smile was Hanetachi Hina a.k.a Asunaro.

If you combine both kanjis in her surname (羽立), you’d get the kanji ‘Asuka’ (翌). Combine that with the ‘Hi’ (桧) in ‘Hina’ (桧菜), you’d get ‘Asunaro’ (翌桧). She had a wide forehead and she styled her hair in a ponytail which length reached her shoulders. Her eyes were round and charming, giving out a cute impression. This girl was secretly popular among the boys.

“You see, I’m doing a survey all around the school for an article! Can you answer me some questions? So, how confident are you about the midterm exam?”

Asunaro was a member of the newspaper club, it was normal to see her going around the school asking people questions like this. The way she tilted her head and smiled as she used the red pen in her hand like a microphone looked really cute.

Apart from that, there was something particularly interesting about her.

“Of course. I’ll take the top spot, that’s pretty much decided already.”

“Eh? Yer’ gonna take the top, Joro³She’s talking in Tsugaru dialect, it’s an unknown dialect for me, so yay.?!”

Whenever she was surprised or becoming unusually emotional, she’d start talking in Tsugaru accent.

She was born in Aomori and lived there until middle school. Apparently, there was a park with deer and monkeys near her school back there. Anyway, she usually talked in polite speech to hide her accent.

“Just kidding.”

“Oh jeez! You surprised me! So, what’s your real answer?”

Her face turned red as she averted her gaze from me. It seemed like she was embarrassed because of her accent. Alright, I should stop teasing her, I don’t want her to get angry at me.

“I’m sure I can pass everything.”

“I see. That means there’s only one person in our class that isn’t confident about the midterms!”

Satisfied with my answer, she scribbled it down with her pen.

It seemed like I was the last person that she interviewed.

“Huh, only one?”

“Yes! You already know who it is, don’t you?”

“Well, yeah…it’s her, isn’t it?”

While answering that question, I sneakily casted a glance to a certain direction, followed by Asunaro.

At the end of our gazes, a certain female student was staring at her notebook with tears in her eyes.

“Uu… I don’t get it!”

The girl who looked troubled while holding her head was Aoi Hinata a.k.a Himawari.

She still looked as cute as ever, but her expression was filled with deep sadness.

“Correct! She’s the only person in our class who answered that she isn’t confident about the midterm!”

“Too easy.”

Himawari wasn’t exactly the brightest student among our classmates.

If I had to name someone who would be having trouble with the midterm, she was the one that came to mind.

…Though, treating her problem like someone else’s problem felt a little weird to me.

“Haa… What should I do?… If this keeps up, I’m going to have to attend make-up classes!”

Normally, I would be the one who helped her prepare for the midterm exam. We had been doing it like that since back when we were in middle school. But, due to a certain incident, our relationship became strained…

Well, if she were to ask me to teach her, I guess I could try to think about it…

“Should I ask someone to teach me?…”

As she said those words, she turned her gaze around the classroom. At one point, her body stiffened. Our eyes met.

Then, without averting her gaze, she made baby-doll eyes.

…Could I treat this as her trying to send me some kind of sign? If that was the case, then…

“Hima–”

“I can help you study, Himawari!”

Woah! Asunaro approached her first before I could do anything.

“Umm… Are you sure, Asunaro-chan?”

If I was a second earlier, I would be the one she could count on!

“After seeing you like that, I just can’t leave you alone! So, what are you having trouble with?”

“Ah… U-Um… Thank you! Umm… I don’t understand this part over here…and this one…”

“Got it! I’ll teach you everything! So, for this part—”

Damn! With how my current relationship with Himawari was, it would be hard for me to barge in.

Well, whatever, it wasn’t like it had to be me who helped her study… Hmph…

“Ah, right! Himawari, wait here for a second.”

“O-Okay…”

While I was watching them idly, Asunaro came to my side and whispered something in my ears. I could smell the scent of apples through my nostrils. Honestly, it made me a little excited…

“Joro. You see, Himawari said that she isn’t confident about her midterm exam, but do you know that there’s another person who actually isn’t confident, but that person lied and told me otherwise? If you’re free, why don’t you try teaching them? It could be a good conversation starter between you two.”

“Huh?”

“That’s all from me! Sorry to keep you waiting, Himawari!”

With a wink, Asunaro turned her back on me and returned to Himawari’s side.

I see… There was another person who wasn’t confident, huh?…

“Damn! This one is as hard as a bases loaded no-outs⁴A baseball term. It’s the situation when the bases are fully occupied and the pitcher fails to out a batter. It’s like the worst possible situation for a pitcher like him.!”

As if in tune with my thoughts, I could hear a boy’s voice coming from the other side of the room.

In response to that voice, I turned my head to see a boy studying on his desk all by himself.

I guess that was the guy Asunaro was talking about.

He was a guy who hated to lose, so much so that he told her that lie despite how much he was currently struggling.

Like Himawari, I had been teaching him stuff for exams since middle school.

Okay, Asunaro had given me this chance, so time to make use of it!

“Oi, Sun—”

“Sun-chan, if you’re having trouble with the exam, I can lend you a hand. Let’s do our best together!”

What the hell, you mobs! Why the hell did you call him out before I did?!

Thanks to them I lost the timing to call him out! Since I was a mob like them, I couldn’t just barge in!

“Heh, what are you guys talking about? I’m a man, I can do this by myself!”

The guy who refused his classmates’ offer for help with a hot-blooded smile was Taiyo Oga a.k.a Sun-chan.

He was the ace of the baseball team, a hot-blooded guy with a sporty haircut that completely matched his personality.

We had been best friends since back when we were in middle school…at least until the recent incident happened.

You see, ever since that incident, we stopped getting along.

The incident that took place in mid to late April.

Well, actually, even if that incident didn’t happen, our friendship would collapse eventually.

He had been holding a grudge on me for a long time after all.

The cause of that grudge was the fact that his crush fell in love with me back when we were still in middle school.

At first, he didn’t get discouraged by this and he did his best to appeal to the girl, but the world was harsh on him, she didn’t reciprocate his feelings. So, he had been secretly trying to stab me in the back ever since.

And so, he laid a trap on me this April, the incident I had been talking about.

Being the pure boy I was, I fell right into his trap. As a result, my true nature was exposed for the whole school to see and my position plummeted into the bottom of the school caste.

That was the summary of the incident that broke our friendship.

But, in the end, it was him who saved me from that predicament.

After many twists and turns, he eventually revealed everything he had done in class. He even got onto his knees and apologized to the whole class with the intention to clear my name.

But, the thing was, he apologized to everyone except for me.

He was trying to make things right, not to make up with me.

Thanks to that apology, he didn’t lose his position at school.

Like me, he was forgiven by everyone and other classmates were still hanging around him.

And so, the incident had settled to a point, but the after-effect of it was still there.

Anyway, sorry for the long-winded explanation. This whole thing was the reason why I sighed earlier.

Since that incident, my relationship with Sun-chan and everyone else who was involved in it had turned for the worst. One of the people who was involved in it was Himawari.

Even though we were classmates, we avoided each other and never made any efforts to talk with each other anymore.

That was why I always felt uncomfortable in the classroom. Whenever lunch break came, I immediately went to the library to escape.

Well, I didn’t have to go there. If I didn’t make that promise to Pansy, I would be going somewhere else.

“Thank you, Asunaro-chan! Your explanation is really easy to understand!”

“Alright! I’m still in the game!”

Haah… I guess I couldn’t talk to them again today, huh?….

* * *

As soon as homeroom was over, I grabbed my bag and dragged my feet home.

Normally, I’d go to the library to keep my promise to Pansy, but not today.

She texted me earlier, saying ‘I have something to do after school today.’

That girl was always in the library during the lunch break, but after school, she wasn’t always there.

I still couldn’t wrap myself around the idea that she had any kind of business outside the library. I wonder what she was up to?

…Actually, whatever. What she was up to was none of my business.

“I’m home.”

I opened the door to my house, said my greetings and…no one answered me. Huh? Where did my mom go?

Normally, she’d be sitting in front of the TV, watching her favorite idol’s DVD…

Ah, could it be that she went out to meet that new friend she was talking about? Whatever, let’s just go to my room. I took off my shoes and walked upstairs.

When I entered my room, I placed my bag on the floor and dived into my bed…while still wearing my uniform.

“Aaaaahhh! Seriously! What do I do now?!”

Burying my head in the pillow while flopping my legs around, I screamed pathetically.

The cause of this wasn’t Pansy, but those guys I had an awkward relationship with at school…

No matter how many times I made an excuse to do otherwise, I couldn’t lie to myself. I wanted to make up with them.

When the incident was still ongoing, I hated them to the core, you know? I despised every moment when I had to see their faces.

But, for what it’s worth, it was those people who saved my ass at the most important time.

That was why I was thankful to them and I wanted to say my thanks properly. And to do that, I wanted to make up with them, dammit!

I especially wanted to make up with Sun-chan. We had been best friends since middle school. For four whole years, he was my precious friend, of course I’d want to make up with him.

But, there wasn’t a good timing to— No, I should stop making excuses…

It was my own fault that I got cold feet and hesitated whenever an opportunity arose.

Even today, I had plenty of room to enter their conversations.

I couldn’t bring myself to do it because I was a coward. I kept thinking that if I were to come forward and enter their conversations, they’d feel uncomfortable and that made me stop in my tracks. Because of that, I ended up spending my days doing nothing to improve the situation.

“Haah… I’m so fucking lame…”

If another opportunity come, I swear I will—

“Amatsuyu!~ I’m home!”

Suddenly, I heard my mom’s voice coming from the first floor. She was home, it seemed.

“Yes, welcome home!”

I should drag my feet to the front door quickly. Why, you asked? Because that was the Kisaragi Household’s rule.

‘When someone comes home, whoever is at home must greet them at the entrance.’

This rule that my dad made for the sake of the family’s bond had never been broken.

“I’m home! You’re home early today, perfect!”

When I went down the stairs, I saw a woman with perm hair that looked exactly like Maruko-chan’s mom⁵Chibi Maruko-chan reference. Maruko-chan is the MC and her mom has a perm, it’s as literal as a reference could get..

She had thick makeup on her face. The woman’s name was Kisaragi Keiki and she was my mom.

Her age was forever twenty nine. That meant, she gave birth to me at the age of thirteen, amazing, wasn’t she⁶To any of you who love to take things literally, no she is not actually 29 and she didn’t give birth to him at 13.?

“Yeah, I came back early today…wait, perfect? What do you mean?”

“C’mon, don’t be shy, don’t be shy! We can watch the DVD together!”

Huh? Did she bring her friend over? Well, guess I’ll say hello first before returning to my room…

“Um… Sorry to bother you…”

“…Huh?”

Eh? The person who entered our house with hesitation looked familiar somehow. She resembled a certain braided four-eyed girl. I rubbed my eyes to see if my eyes were deceiving me aaaand…she was still there.

Ah, I guess it was that thing, wasn’t it? I finally lost my mind.

Either way, I should go back upstairs, turn in early and take my schizo pills.

“Jeez, you don’t need to be so reserved, Sumireko-chan! Ah, Amatsuyu, Sumireko-chan is going to the same school as you! I believe her nickname was Pansy, right?”

Wow, not only that I started seeing things, I also started hearing things. This auditory hallucination sounded exactly like my mom too, amazing.

I thought I wasn’t a mother-con, but it seemed like deep down, I craved for a motherly affection.

Anyway, I really need to take those schizo pills! Let’s go back to my room!

“Amatsuyu! Where are you going without saying hello to our guest?”

Hallucination-san, you were taking it too far. How dare you imitate not only my mom’s voice, but also her waving gesture?

“Hello, Joro-san.”

The braided four-eyed hallucination smiled shyly before bowing to me.

I could see her white socks as she carefully took off her leather shoes. It seemed like this one hallucination paid attention to its hygiene.

“What are you doing?! Why is it Sumireko-chan who greets you first? Hurry up, come over here and greet her!”

“O-Ow!”

I was standing in the middle of the stairs when my mom pulled me by the arm.

Seriously, Hallucination-san really went too far this time— No, I should stop trying to escape reality.

Regrettably, everything was true.

“…Yo, Pansy.”

And now, the Frozen Hell, Cocytus had descended upon my home.

“I’m here ♡”

Oi, even if you looked up at me while sticking your tongue out like that, I still wouldn’t find you cute.

“M-Mom… Do you know each other?”

“Huh, didn’t I tell you? Me and Sumireko-chan hang out a lot! Once every three days!”

No way. Whenever Pansy wasn’t in the library after school, could it be that she?

“Correct.”

Thank you for using your psychic ability on me. Now, could you please leave and go home?

“Ah, no! It’s rude of me to keep you around the entrance for too long, isn’t it? Let’s go to the living room, Sumireko-chan! Amatsuyu, help me get things ready for her!”

Wait, mom, this was the demon lord herself that you were trying to invite to our house! We should escort her back to her own lair!

“B-But, I-I…”

“What are you mumbling about? Come quickly!”

“…Yes, Mom…”

This was the power of a mother… It was pathetic of me, but it wasn’t like I could go against it… Haa…

…But first, I should vent my frustration to the demon lord behind me.

“I thought you told me that you won’t be coming here ever?”

“No. I gave up trying to go to your room, I’ve never said anything about giving up on going to your house.”

“Don’t mess with me, you–”

“Amatsuyu! Get your ass over here!”

DAMMMIIIITTTT!

“Ah, Sumireko-chan, feel free to sit wherever you like. Amatsuyu, come with me!”

Right, if I went with her, I wouldn’t need to see Pansy’s face, at least for a little while.

“I’ll help you, Kisaragi Keiki-san. I can make the maidelenes for you today.”

Did she not understand that her ‘help’ was unnecessary?

“Thank you, Sumireko-chan! Also, just because you’re visiting my house doesn’t mean you have to act all distant with me! Just call me ‘Laurier’ like usual!”

“I understand, Laurier-san.”

Wait a minute. I didn’t want to interrupt their friendly conversation, but…

“Um, mom? What is this ‘Laurier’ thing all about?”

“Huh? What do you mean? There’s a ‘Laurier⁷Kisaragi Keiko/如月桂樹, take off the first kanji and you’ll get Laurier/月桂樹’ in my name, isn’t it?”

This pattern of creating a nickname based on flowers by using your real name…

Was my mom trying to enter the war as a new heroine of the story?!

Seriously, look in the mirror first. With that perm and heavy make-up, everyone could only see you as a housewife!

“A girl as sweet as a cake, Laurier! Prepare yourself, I’m going to blow your bitterness away⁸Cake and Keiki sound similar, it’s a pun. Also, the second half of the sentence roughly translated to ‘I’m going to make a get-well visit’, it just doesn’t sound good, so I came up with something else on my own.!”

She even had a catchphrase of her own! This auntie meant business!

“Hehehe, I’m looking forward to your madeleines, Sumireko-chan! Speaking of which, our Amatsuyu over here ate your macarons before. He said that he’ll be marrying whoever made those macarons! He loved it that much!”

WHAAAAT?! I SAID THAT?!

“Oh my. You flatter me.”

Oi, wipe that smile off your face. I should go back to the past and fix this.

“Amatsuyu, what are you doing with that plate in your hand?”

“Ah… Well, I figured I’d try to do the ritual Akemi did before she time leaped⁹Madoka Magica reference. Actually a huge ass spoiler lmao. It refers to Homura Akemi, one of the main characters in the series..”

“In terms of appearance, wouldn’t I be more suited to do it?”

Shut up! Don’t you dare compare Homura-tan with yourself! You were more suited to be QB¹⁰QB as in Kyubei, the white thing fucker in Madoka.!

Just for the record, I won’t be making any contracts with you¹¹A reference to what Kyubei did in the series, persuading girls to sign a contract with him and turn them into magical girls.! Ah, wait, I already did when I agreed to go to the library every day.

…Wait, this wasn’t the time for this!

“Uh… Mom?”

I didn’t want to say this if I could help it, but I had no other choice. If I didn’t, my mom would keep on divulging more unnecessary information about me. Well, she already did, but still…

“What is it, Amatsuyu?~”

“Um… C-Can I bring Pansy to my room?”

“…Oh my.”

Stop acting all shy like that! You were creeping me out!

“Ehh! Nooo waaay! I’m claiming Sumireko-chan!~ She’s here to watch the DVD with me!~ Wink~ ☆”

Mind your age! That wink~ ☆ didn’t suit your age at all!

“What, do you really want to be with her that badly? Oh, does that mean that you two are dating?! Oh my~ Laurier’s heart is racing now!”

She started talking in third person… Oh no… My despair was now over 53000…

“No, we aren’t dating!”

“Yes. We merely promised each other’s future.”

“Oh, really?~”

“I didn’t make any promises!”

“You did. To meet me in the library tomorrow.”

“Okay, technically, tomorrow is the future, but that’s too close of a future!”

No good. The longer I stayed here, the worse the situation would get.

I had to force Pansy into my room somehow…or at least get her away from my mom…

“Now that I think about it, if Amatsuyu’s relationship with Sumireko-chan is getting better, there’s a chance that she’ll be my daughter-in-law in the future…”

There was no way in hell that would happen… But this was the opening that I needed! I’d be a fool if I were to miss it!

“Y-You got it right. T-That’s why, can I take her to my room, Mom?”

Letting them cut the flesh while I break their bones¹²Letting them cut the flesh while I break their bones, an expression in Japanese that meant giving up something to gain a bigger benefit.. I never thought that I’d be doing this in real life.

Woah, my mom was grinning so widely. She definitely misunderstood my intentions, didn’t she?

“It can’t be helped then~ Mama will give up for today~”

Thank you for the understanding, Mom. Seeing her winking while snapping her finger made my tears dry up.

“Sorry, Sumireko-chan, can you do me the favor of accompanying Amatsuyu for the day?”

“I understand. Since that’s the case, I’ll be watching DVDs with you another time, Laurier-san.”

Oi, don’t you dare make up an excuse to come here again!

“It can’t be helped, Joro-kun. I’ll give you the opportunity to invite me to your room. This is a special occasion, so cherish it, okay?

What was she acting all high and mighty for?

“…Alright, follow me, Pansy.”

“Can you hold my hand? I might get lost along the way, you know?”

“Don’t get carried away!”

* * *

It had been fifteen minutes since my originally peaceful house had turned into the Frozen Hell Cocytus.

With the feeling of disgust that rose from the bottom of my heart, I invited Pansy to my room. Seriously, why did this happen?

“Sorry to bother you.”

As soon as she entered the room, her eyes scurried around. She clearly looked interested.

That was a quick reaction out of her in contrast to her usually calm demeanor.

Meanwhile, I slammed the door shut.

This was my attempt to prevent the sound from my room from leaking outside. I didn’t do this because I was about to do something illegal.

“You… I never expected that you’d use my mom like that…”

After I sat down on my bed, I let out my complaints against her.

I swear I’d punish this stalker who took advantage of a kind housewife’s feelings for her own benefit.

“You got it all wrong. Laurier-san was the one who invited me here today. I didn’t do anything.”

“Yeah, sure she did. You know it’s useless to lie to me, right?”

“You have zero trust in me, huh? Fine, let’s do it this way. I’ll show you the text she sent me earlier today.”

It was the first time I’ve ever seen a smartphone case with a tatami pattern on it. Oops, that wasn’t important, the mail was the important thing here.

[Sumireko-nyaan!~ If you have the time, do you mind coming to Laurier’s house, nyaan?~]

N-No way?! N-Nyan?!

“I really gave up on trying to come here, you know?”

Why did you look so smug as you said that, nyan?

“Anyway, how did you become friends with my mom?”

“I was reading a book inside a bookstore and she approached me out of nowhere. ‘Okada-kun¹³Okada-kun here is Okada Junichi, a member of the boyband group V6 and a well-known movie actor. played in that movie, didn’t he?’ she said. The book I was reading had a live-action adaptation and one of her favorite idols was in it. This happened a long time ago, I didn’t plan anything.”

“Was it the one where the main character is a kamikaze pilot? I believe the title is…”

“‘The Eternal Jaro¹⁴Reference to The Eternal Zero, a movie where the previously mentioned Okada Junichi starred as the main character of..’”

That name sounded awfully similar to a certain ad review organization that we all knew and loved¹⁵JARO as in the Japanese Ad Review Organization. That name is self-explanatory enough..

“From then on, we occasionally met and talked about various novels that had been adapted into live action movies like ‘Botchan’ that has Ninomiya-kun¹⁶Botchan is a novel by Natsume Soseki, it has a live action movie starring Ninomiya Kazunari, the Ninomiya-kun mentioned here. in it. Or ‘No Longer Human’ that has Touma-kun¹⁷No Longer Human is a novel by Dazai Osamu, it has multiple movie adaptations, TV series adaptations and even anime adaptations, but the one Pansy mentioned here here is the 2010 movie adaptation by Arato Genjiro with the localized name of ‘The Fallen Angel.’ That’s the only adaptation with Toma Ikuta in it. in it. Honestly, I had no idea that she’s your mother. Nevertheless, it’s a pleasant surprise to me.”

The miraculous coincidence brought the bookworm and the idol fan together and as a price, I had to suffer a cruel fate.

“Are you convinced now?”

“…Yes, even though I hate to admit it.”

“Great. Now, let’s get into the main topic…”

After our conversation died down, Pansy scooted over to peek at what was hidden under my bed.

“Oi, what the hell are you doing?”

“Just a little treasure hunt.”

“Stop it.”

You demon king! But shame on you if you thought you’d be able to find my treasures there.

I had kept it in a secure place, which was…

Wait, she could read my mind, I shouldn’t disclose it!

“I don’t see anything here, then you might have hid it in the bookshelf? Probably replaced the real cover with something else?”

Too bad for her, that was another miss. But there was no reason for me to let her do whatever she wanted.

So, as she headed toward the bookshelf, I grabbed her arm.

“Oi, stop wandering around.”

“Let me go or else you’ll regret it, you know?”

“Don’t mess with me, I’ll regret nothing.”

“No, I’m being serious here. The time limit is approaching.”

“Stop speaking nonsense, I’m the one being serious here.”

“No, Joro-kun, you need to release me now… There’s no time…”

“Oh, shut up, stop complaining and do what I say—”

“Amatsuyu! Sumireko-chan! The madeleines and the tea are here!”

LIMIT BREAAAK! I did as she said and let her go.

“…Hm? Oh my, oh my…”

Oh no, she made that face. The face that a mom made when he witnessed his son trying to do something bad to a girl who clearly resisted him.

What should I do now?

“Did Mama intrude on something? Sorry, sorry, hehehe~”

“It’s fine, we haven’t started doing anything yet.”

“Mom, next time, can you knock before you enter the room?

“Fine~ I’ll leave the madeleines and the tea here, okay?~”

My mom entered the room and placed the plates and the tea on my desk.

After she was done with that, she took a glance at Pansy and said,

“Sumireko-chan, if you want to look for his naughty DVDs, it’s in the bottom of his desk’s drawer, just lift it with a ballpoint pen refill~”

“Mom, stop! Go back to the living room, don’t disturb us anymore!”

“Amatsuyu, scary~ Anyway, I’ll leave him in your care, Sumireko-chan~”

“Yes, thank you very much.”

Then, she left my room while waving her hand before closing the door.

She was my mom, right? She was supposed to be on my side, but why…

“Alright, let’s see…”

But, I didn’t have the leniency to care about my mom’s antics.

Pansy, who stood in front of me, had a ballpoint pen refill in her hand.

“Pansy, wait.”

“Yes?”

She turned toward me with a happy looking face.

Why the hell she had the most lively emotion whenever she was set to make my life a living hell?

“Sit here.”

“Okay.”

I patted on the spot right next to me and told her to take a seat there. She followed my instructions without making any noise. Hell, she looked happy as she did it. I wonder what kind of misunderstanding she had in her mind?

“Phew… All this excitement made me tired…”

She tried to put her head on my shoulder like it was the most natural thing to do, but I managed to dodge it as I stood up from my bed.

“Don’t you dare move from that spot. The moment you do, I swear I won’t show you any mercy.”

I looked down on her, who was sitting on my bed.

If she were to make any unnecessary moves, I’ll— wait…

Would he come out if I were to harm her here?

Her one and only friend. The giraffe stag beetle…

“Is Stinger-kun inside your bag right now?…”

“He should be latching on his favorite oak tree right now, ‘Spiritus’, to lick some of its sap.”

Safe! All cool! I heard that an oak tree sap had a high alcohol concentration, so that would keep him occupied for a while.

“Joro-kun. I’ve dressed myself up quite a bit today, did you notice?”

Pansy tried to show her appeal to me, but I didn’t care.

“Your socks are white.”

“I’ll give you half a point for that, try to get another half.”

“Your skirt is two centimeters shorter than usual.”

“Haah… Wrong. I made it two and a half centimeters shorter than usual. As usual, your eyesight is as rotten as a rotten egg.”

“Then, make sure that my rotten egg sight could see the difference next time.”

Half a centimeter difference was pretty much negligible.

“Does that imply you want me to dress myself up more for you?”

“You know exactly what I want. Take those glasses off, untie your braids and take off the binding on your chest.”

“…You really want to see it that badly?”

She sounded so lonely for some reason.

“Of course. I kept my promise to go to the library every day for this. I deserve this.”

Honestly, my frustration level had been rising up high to the point that I didn’t think that it was worth going to the library every day anymore. No matter how much I asked for it, she always greeted me in her braided four-eyes appearance.

On top of that, she always spouted venom on me every single day. I swear, every single day I spent with her were the worst days of my life.

“I have my own circumstances.”

Huh? Her tone was heavier than usual.

“Circumstances?”

“A demon is going after me. The reason why I’m in this form is because I’m hiding from it. I really need someone to protect me.”

Now, that was interesting. This was still the second volume of the series, we shouldn’t have entered the ‘Otherworldly Battle Arc’ yet, we should have waited until the story was developed further.

The editor in charge of this series also hadn’t told me anything about this.

“Stop talking nonsense.”

“You should make the effort to understand me, Joro-kun.”

“Sure, but I need an advance payment for that effort. We’re in my room now and didn’t you tell me that you’ll show me your true appearance here?”

“Fine.”

“I knew it, you have no intention of keeping your words— Wait, what did you just say?”

“I said, ‘fine.’ You want to see it that badly, huh?”

Eh? Really? Was she really going to do it for me? Wait, calm down, me!

Pansy wouldn’t lie to me, but that wouldn’t stop her from manipulating and deceiving me with her glib tongue.

“So, you’ll take off your glasses, untie your braids and take off your chest binding for me?”

“Yes. I’m a woman of my word, I always keep my promise. So, will you turn around while I change? It’s…embarrassing…”

“O-Okay…”

I turned around in a panic as I went to the corner of the room in excitement.

Then, from behind me, I heard the sound of rustling clothes.

Ohhh! She was changing for real this time! Finally, the time for— Wait!

Calm down, think of what happened just now.

Just a moment ago, when I grabbed Pansy’s hand, a certain fake heroine came barging into the room.

And now, I was standing in front of the same door she entered from.

In other words, this was the kind of pattern where I’d get too excited and my mom suddenly barged in to enter the room. She’d use an excessive amount of force to open the door, creating a huge momentum that’d push me toward Pansy and then a misunderstanding would ensue!

I knew it, I could hear her footsteps coming!

But, everything would be okay since I saw this coming.

You see, my room was protected with a certain safety measure, a piece of wonder that modern technology gave birth to. A lock.

“Close! Sesame!”

Phew… I’m safe now… clack!

“Amatsuyu? Do you have any laundry?”

The sound came from the balcony! My window was unlocked!

I immediately turned my body around to prevent her from misunderstanding the situation.

“Wait a minute, mom! Let me explain the situation first… nya…”

“Why did you turn around? I told you not to do it, didn’t I?”

…Right. She was in the middle of changing.

Of course I’d end up seeing her when I turned my body around. But, can I say something in this situation?

Why was she taking off her chest binding first before her glasses and her braid?

No matter how big her breasts were, her braided four-eyed appearance would just negate their charm.

“You, what did you make Sumireko-chan do?!”

Oh no, this wasn’t the time to be stunned by the big chested braided four-eyes.

My mom rushed to my side at supersonic speed.

“W-Wait, I didn’t do anything!”

“Were you expecting to get a lucky sukebe moment, Joro-kun?’

It was more of an unlucky sukebe moment for me.

You covered your important parts with your uniform, great, but could you please, not come at me like that? …Or else, something bad would happen…

“Amatsuyu! I told you to only do something like this after you’re turning 18!”

“You didn’t keep your word, so you’ll have to be punished, Joro-kun.”

“S-Sorry! I apologize! Please forgive me!”

But my apologies fell onto deaf ears. The permed housewife stood in front of me menacingly while the big chested four eyes held a book in her hand and…

“Ow! It hurts!!”

My right cheek was punched, meanwhile my left cheek was hit by Fabre’s Book of Insect.

It was a novel experience, as stated in the Gospel of Joro, Chapter 5, Verse 39.

As I was writhing on the floor while thinking about that, my mom grabbed me by the collar.

“Put on your clothes, Sumireko-chan. Amatsuyu, you come with me!”

Then, she dragged me out of my room… Wait, that meant Pansy would be alone in my room! Mom, wait! She had a ballpoint pen refill in her hand! No! STOOOOP!

“Mom, let me go, please! If you don’t, my room will be—”

“No.”

NOOOOOOOO!

* * *

After that, I spent the next hour explaining everything to my mom.

However, that didn’t get me out of the situation, instead, it made everything worse.

While I was busy trying to convince my mom that I had done nothing wrong, Pansy ransacked my room and found out everything about my preferences and shit. Not only that, my mom did an unnecessary thing and invited her to dinner. And thus, the wind of Showa had blown into our dining table.

“Huh, so you go to school by train, Sumireko-chan?”

“Yes. The school is a little far from my house.”

On our dining table, our dinner, which seemed to be more lavish than usual, was prettily arranged. The seating order of the table was hellish if anything: Mom was right in front of me while Pansy sat right next to her.

I couldn’t even tell the taste of the food because of the anxiety of the possibility of a bombshell coming out of either of them overwhelmed me.

I couldn’t count on my dad to come home and get me out of this situation because he was busy at work.

Earlier, he texted me and mom that he would be coming back late tonight.

“Didn’t you think about going to a nearby high school?”

“No, I never thought about it even once.”

“Didn’t you feel lonely about being separated from your middle school friends?”

“No. I didn’t have many friends back in middle school to begin with.”

She seemed to be getting along well with my mom, but I couldn’t be sure. That girl looked emotionless, it was hard to tell what was going on in her mind. It was only natural that she was practically isolated at school.

“Eh? How so? You’re such a good girl, though, Sumireko-chan! Do you know something about this, Amatsuyu?”

“…I don’t.”

Mom, please don’t talk to me. I didn’t want to be a part of this conversation.

“Amatsuyu, you’ve been acting rudely since a while ago.”

I didn’t care about her glare. Just being in this hell had made me feel miserable enough.

“Joro-kun, Laurier-san’s food tastes amazing.”

“Good for you. Eat quickly and go home.”

How dare she say something like that after ransacking my room and eating in front of me without a care in the world. There was something wrong with her brain, for sure.

“Seriously, Amatsuyu, what’s wrong with you? If it’s about the previous incident, I understand that everything was a misunderstanding.”

“That isn’t it, Mom. I hate her, that’s all.”

As soon as I said those words in a frustrated tone, my mom stopped moving.

“…What did you just say? Sumireko-chan is still a girl, you know? Be more tactful.”

A second after she stopped moving, she said that with a really low voice.

Oh no… She was angry. Really, really angry.

“No matter how calm she might seem, there’s no girl that would like it if you were to say that you hate her right in front of her face. I don’t remember ever raising my kid to become such a horrible person.”

“Ugh…”

Dammit! Yeah, that one was my fault, but in the first place, the source of all the problems was…

“Amatsuyu. Apologize.”

No. I shouldn’t anger her anymore. Let’s stop being so confrontational about this.

“…Sorry.”

“It’s okay, I don’t mind.”

When I said my apology, Pansy didn’t even look at me as she casually said those words.

“Sorry for this foul mouthed kid’s words, Sumireko-chan!”

My mom switched to a brighter tone of voice as she smiled at Pansy.

For now, her anger was quelled, but I knew that she’d be giving me a lecture later… In other words, I was screwed either way.

“It’s okay. I know Joro-kun has a foul mouth, but I also know that deep down he is a kind person.”

“Oh my, really?”

Oi, while I appreciate that you tried to lighten her mood, the topic you chose couldn’t be worse than that!

“Pansy, stop saying—”

“You shut your mouth.”

I smelled a bombshell coming, but before I could dodge it, I received a stern restraining order.

“Sumireko-chan, can you tell me about how Amatsuyu was at school? He never told me anything about his school life.”

Under my mom’s excited gaze, Pansy looked at me with indifferent eyes.

“…Do you mind?”

“…As long as you keep it moderate.”

I wanted to stop her, but if I were to do that, who knows what my mom would do to me.

Considering that, it would be wise to let Pansy do whatever she wanted now.

“Alright, then…”

Please don’t say anything unnecessary, I beg you…

“Thanks to him, I always have so much fun at school. We talk in the library every day and sometimes, he helps me with my work.”

“Eh~ Then, then?”

“Whenever there’s a book that is considerably heavy for me to pick up, he always comes forward and stores it away for me. Despite his foul mouth, he never complained whenever he helped me. That kind of casual kindness from him always made me happy. He is the kind of person who is able to sacrifice himself for the sake of making other people happy. Compared to me…I’ll never be able to do something like that. That’s the thing that made him a wonderful person. And I…respect him for that…”

BOOOOM! Fire in the hole! Say something like that when I wasn’t around please!

It was embarrassing to be told something like that right in front of your face!

“Not bad, Amatsuyu!”

“Stop it, Mom! Please, I beg you!”

Stop patting my head! Pansy was still here!

“This kid is genuinely a nice kid. There was a time when we went on a family trip and I lost the necklace his father gifted me! Then, at one point, he suddenly disappeared and amidst the chaos, he came back with the necklace in his hand!”

Mom, please! Don’t tell her that ancient history either, please!

“Hehehe, that’s why, Sumireko-chan, please continue to be friends with him!”

“No, it should be me who says that to Joro-kun. Please continue to be friends with me.”

“…Sure.”

I had already felt overwhelmed with embarrassment that I could only utter that single word in a half-dead tone.

* * *

Eight at night was the time when we were done with our dinner and the conversation that followed it.

I almost burst into tears on the spot at the thought that the conversation could go on for much longer.

“Thank you for everything today. I enjoyed my time here.”

“Don’t mind it~ I had a lot of fun too! Come back here next time, okay?”

Mom smiled and waved at Pansy as she bowed politely in front of the door.

“Ngh!”

Meanwhile, my expression was the opposite as she held my hand down and forced me to bow my head to Pansy.

“Alright, it’s time for me to go home.”

“Good! See you later!”

A door slam heralded the peace that once again came to our home.

“Alright, I’m going out for a bit, Mom.”

“Hehehe, as expected of my son, I didn’t need to tell you what to do! Good boy!”

“…Mom, please.”

Feeling fed up with my mom’s smirk, I put on my shoes and went outside.

* * *

Outside, I walked at a quick pace and soon, I discovered a familiar braided hair.

She seemed to have noticed me as she turned around before I could say anything to her.

“Oh my, are you going to escort me to the station?”

“No, I’m going to the convenience store, it just happened to be in the same direction as the station.”

While rubbing together my thumb and index finger, I replied.

“I see. Let’s take a walk there together, then.”

Pansy walked next to me, almost as if she was skipping her steps. It seemed that she was in a good mood.

“Joro-kun.”

As I walked while maintaining my silence, Pansy called out to me in a serious tone.

“What is it?”

“How long are you going to make an excuse to yourself to not make up with those guys?”

“…That’s none of your business.”

Of all the topics she could bring up, she brought up that one. Fuck me.

“You could at least try to talk to them. You might have stopped being friends with them, but who made the rule that you can’t talk to them?”

“What made you think that I’d answer your question?”

“Of course. Jeez, I guess you won’t be reconciling with them anytime soon, huh?”

“I don’t remember saying anything like that.”

“You don’t need to, your previous words were enough to tell me about your situation. The fact that you didn’t want to answer means that you aren’t even close to reconciling with them.”

Tch. She said that with a serious tone, not with her usual teasing tone.

“You just need to approach them and talk to them. There’s no need to do anything fancy.”

“No way it’s that simple. I doubt that they’d want anything to do with me anymore.”

“That’s just not true.”

She denied my words without any hesitation.

“What the hell do you know about them? I’ve known them way longer than you did.”

“I’ll answer that statement with a question. Do you think they’re stubborn enough to not reconcile with you just because they found out about your true nature? Think about it, maybe they’re just like you, poor souls who want a reconciliation but are unsure on how to do it.”

“…Who knows. Let’s move on.”

I didn’t want to continue this conversation anymore, so I urged her to walk quicker so we’d arrive at our destination faster.

While doing that, I tried to gain a little distance from her.

“Wait.”

Pansy, who caught up to me after a short dash, held my hand to stop me from walking.

“Shut it. Get away from me. You know I hate you.”

“That’s it.”

“Huh?”

Pansy, who had been looking indifferent, suddenly made a small smile.

“Just treat them how you treat me, Joro-kun. Be yourself, tell them what you’re thinking and what do you want from them. If you can do that, I’m sure everything will be resolved.”

“…”

“You don’t need to apologize to them if you don’t want to. If you’re angry at them, then just be angry at them. There’s nothing to lose anymore, isn’t it? Your relationship with them is already broken, even if you fail, your relationship will stay the same. On the contrary, if you succeed, things will get better. Do you understand what I’m trying to say?”

“…I don’t need you to point that out to me.”

She probably understood my struggle and tried to help me in her own way.

Basically, she was trying to tell me to make up my mind and take action… Ugh, this was why I hated her…

“The more friends you have, the more good memories you can make.”

“…Are you speaking from your experience?”

“Feel free to think of it that way.”

“Hmm… I’ll take that answer as a yes.”

“Sure.”

If that was the case, then she should make an effort to make some friends herself.

This girl was literally always staying in the library without talking to anyone but me.

“That aside, get your hand off of me. It’s annoying.”

“Oh my. I would love to walk while holding hands with you, though.”

I shook off her hand and walked away.

* * *

After that, we walked in silence. None of us made any sound until a familiar building entered our sights.

“I guess this is where we part ways.”

“Yeah.”

Finally… Freedom. What a great feeling.

“Joro-kun, do you mind hanging out with me for a little bit longer?”

“Haah? Why the hell would I— Oi, where are you going?”

Before I even finished replying to her, Pansy had already walked away from me.

I hurriedly followed her to a space under a tree where there were very few people nearby.

“Can you wait here for me?”

“…Got it…huh?”

What was she up to? She suddenly went behind the tree.

“Sorry to keep you waiting.”

“You need to stop doing something so suddenly like— Huh?”

“I’m doing this right now because I couldn’t do it back in your room. Pardon with my chest, I can’t exactly unbind it here.”

T-That surprised me… She suddenly came out from behind the tree, not in her usual braided four eyed appearance, but with her braids untied and glasses removed.

She was exactly my type. It was hard to restrain myself from hugging her right here and then.

“Hehehe, that’s a cute reaction…”

With a bewitching smile on her face, Pansy slowly approached me.

Just like that, she placed her hand on my head, which stood still as if it was paralyzed.

“You’re a kind person, Joro-kun. I’m sure everything will go well for you. And even if it doesn’t, I’ll still be there for you. I’ll take responsibility and cheer on you every day if you want me to.”

Pansy said in a calm voice as she patted my head.

Our faces were so close to each other that I could feel her breath on my face.

“…Can I get the ‘cheer on you’ part in advance?”

“What a greedy person. But, fine, I can give you that. First, do you mind closing your eyes for a bit?”

“…Y-Yes!”

A strange atmosphere ensued between us. I could smell her soft scent and a tingling sensation on my right hand.

No good… If things were to go on like this, I would be— Wait, wasn’t that last part sounded…strange?

“Oh my, welcome back, Stinger-kun.”

“WOOOAAH!”

Before I knew it, Stinger-kun had attached itself onto my right hand.

Without paying any attention to me, who was panicking, it majestically floated to Pansy’s shoulder like a king.

“Could it be…”

“Yes. This is Stinger-kun’s favorite oak tree, ‘Spiritus.’”

That was just evil! She could at least give me a heads up!

“Sorry about that, it wasn’t my intention. Anyway, are you satisfied with this?”

Huh? I thought the whole cheering on me thing had pretty much gone down the drain after that happened.

Why did she have both her hands behind her ears? Was she initiating a bunny?

“Master~ What kind of book do you want to read today, pyon?~”

“P-Pyo—”

T-That was from one of my collections! ‘Mufufu Book Club with Maid Usa-chan!’ She didn’t only ransack them, but also checked their contents?!

“How was it? I don’t think it was good enough, but I did my best.”

I was stunned. I didn’t even expect that she would do that for me.

“Jeez, you could at least tell me if I did it right or not… Anyway, let’s move on.”

“…Y-Yeah, let’s do that.”

I genuinely didn’t expect that she actually did that for me.

It didn’t get risky, which was great, but I had to pay the price for it and it was pretty high.

“Thank you for today, Joro-kun.”

Pansy, who was walking beside me dejectedly, thanked me in an indifferent tone.

“Huh? For what?”

“For allowing me to enter your room, for having a nice talk with me and most importantly…”

She trailed off.

I could see her cheeks reddened, but she didn’t avert her gaze from me.

“For escorting me here.”

With that as her final remark, she put her glasses back on and walked into the building in front of us, the station. After making sure that she was out of my sight, I turned my body around and returned to the direction where I came from.

“I guess I’ll stop by the convenience store first before going home.”

Haah… She was so cute…