「And that’s what happened……」

I told Hinami about everything that had taken place between me and Kikuchi-san, omitting only the fact that she was writing a book.

「Huh, I can’t believe it. It’s almost stupid how much of a chance you have with her. I guess there’s only one more week left until you fulfil your medium sized goal.」

Hinami spoke disinterestedly. No, no, no.

「Wait just a minute. There’s no way I can take advantage of this to go out with her. I mean, doing something like this is the same thing as deceiving her. I mean firstly, even if we did have the same favorite author, it still wouldn’t be a reason to go out with me, right? Besides, it’s not as if I, you know, like Kikuchi-san or anything.」

「Ara, deceiving a woman and leading her on, that’s an awful way to put it.」

「Wait. The way you’ve phrased that invites misunderstandings.」

「There really aren’t any misunderstandings. There’s always been a boy in the library whom she’s been observing. For some reason, she was very conscious of him. One day, when she finally decides to speak to him, she is surprised to find that the conversation is lively and keeps her interested. Moreover, at the end of it, she is even able to exchange a secret greeting which appeared in her favourite author’s work. ……Well, a.s.suming she’s inexperienced with romance, it wouldn’t be unheard of if she fell in love.」

「Wait, don’t just cherry-pick that moment! You do remember that one embarra.s.sing moment when I borrowed the tissue and she saw me blow my nose, right?」

「“A secret between just the two of you”?」

「Stop making fun

of me.」

「……Well, what I said just now was meant as a joke, but here’s the truth. It would be an exaggeration to say she’s fallen for you, but, there’s a high chance she harbors some light affection. Though it is still at the stage where we don’t know for sure.」

Hinami’s eyes were serious.

「That’s why using self-deprecation to think ‘There’s no way she’ll fall for me’and escape from reality is the epitome of cowardice.」

……To be honest, the part of me thinking ‘Something like that is impossible’ is stronger. I mean, it feels too surreal to be true. However, if what Hinami said is true, then choosing to run away would certainly be awful. I mean there’s even the matter of the novel, which Hinami isn’t aware of. Wouldn’t taking that into consideration mean that she might actually like me? And even if she really does like me, what should I do? What should I think?

「For now, a.s.suming that it’s true……I suppose I’d be in the wrong here.」

「Ha? What do you mean『wrong』?」

「What do I mean? I should have told her right there that I don’t read those books!」

「……Exactly which part of it is wrong? You didn’t intend to deceive her, right?」

「Well I didn’t intend to, but it still ended up being a lie……」

「That doesn’t matter anymore. There’s no use in worrying about things which you can’t fix. You’re far too feminine. Instead you should focus on the things which must be done from here on out.」

「……That’s true. I guess I really should tell her the truth then…」

「Go on a date with her.」

「Ha?」

「Well, I think it would be good if you could set up

up a date with Kikuchi-san.」

「No. As one might expect, that’s a horrible thing to do.」

「Exactly what about it is so horrible? Don’t you get it?『Having the same favourite author』is simply a trigger. It’s not like you’d fall in love just because of that. Human emotions aren’t that simple. What’s important is how well your conversations go, how well you understand each other and what kind of memories you’ll make together. Even if there was a slight misunderstanding when it all started, that’s not wherein the importance lies. What if you try going on a date and, regardless of having the same favourite author, the both of you enjoy yourselves. Wouldn’t that be the essence of your relations.h.i.+p?」

「Th- that’s……probably true.」

「Opportunities to understand someone in-depth don’t appear very often. Since it looks like that’s that’s the case here, even supposing that it’s something born from a lie, shouldn’t you dive straight into such a blessed opportunity?」

「I understand the reasoning but…you know…it’s not very sincere.」

「Ugh, such a virgin-like statement to make. If you’ve understood the reasoning, you should know that it’s the right thing to do.」

「Shut up. I am a virgin.」

Regardless of my understanding, I still found myself questioning the sincerity of the the method.

「……Well, whatever. I mean, I can understand the sentiment by which one might say, ‘Instead of using the strongest sword in existence, I would rather use the sword forged personally for me by the blacksmith’. The plan you come up with after carefully considering everything isn’t necessarily the best one. I’m only a strategy guide. In the end, the one who makes the decision is you. So? What

So? What would you like to do?」

……I…….

Since I wasn’t able to come up with a reply, we decided to head home for the day. After parting with Hinami, as I was heading alone towards the shoe racks, I caught sight of someone walking unsteadily. On closer inspection I realized it was Izumi Yuzu, walking away from what was clearly not our cla.s.sroom. Umm, what to do in this situation. Today’s quota of two times had already been reached, so there really wasn’t any particular reason to talk to her. ……But, in a game, doing only the mandated minimum was not very admirable. As a gamer who considers himself to be j.a.pan’s number one, that was something I found extremely irritating. Doing only as Hinami willed was something I couldn’t accept.

With that being the case. Shall I try it? Independent『Levelling Up』.

All the while paying attention to my posture, facial expression and tone of voice, I spoke as naturally as possible.

「Izumi-san?」

With a start Izumi Yuzu turned her face towards me, her body shaking all the while.

「……Tomozaki……?」

She said in dejected, yet slightly relieved tone of voice. …… The atmosphere around her felt different than usual. It was as if every part of her had stopped caring. Come to think of it, she doesn’t usually refer to me without a honorific, either. [1]

……Or rather, this is bad. Umm, I should have plenty of topics memorized but there aren’t any topics in there specifically geared towards starting a chat with someone after school. Ahー this is bad. My head, it’s starting to go blank again. Bad. This is bad.

This is bad. I’m trying to remember. I’ve gone through all sorts of training up till now, which means there should be some kind of way out. Either amongst the strategies I’ve learned from Hinami, or in the efforts I’ve made in the past.

──『Talk about your conversation partner’s facial expression or hairstyle. If it’s basically anything「about the other person」, it’ll probably work out somehow.』

A flashback. That’s it. During this week’s first evaluation session, Hinami had said it. When you have nothing to talk about, do that. I didn’t have any topics, but with this, things might work out somehow. Let’s see, the other person’s facial expression……

「……Izumi-san, you seem down.」

Really?! What is it with that way of speaking? Had it been an ikemen here, smooth lines like『What’s wrong?』or『At the very least, I’ll hear you out.』 might have been spoken. However, too bad, it was me! No chance of that happening.

「Haaa!? I’m not particularly down or anything! Do you have a problem with that??」

「Ah, never mind, my bad.」I got told off pretty badly.

「……Why are you looking at me?」

「Uh… well…」

「……」

「……」

Ahhー. I’ve gone and done it again. I give up. Let’s stop taking things into my own hands. There’s never been a time when that turned out well. That’s right. I’m still not good enough to even reach the beginner stage.

「……Hey.」

「Hm?」

「……Tomozaki, you’re pretty good at ATAFAMI, right?」

「Eh?」

Why something like that at this timing?

「………………lease」

With her head down, she was quietly whispering something.

「……Eh? What?」

「…………mi, please」

「Sorry, what?」

「AHHHH! I said!」

I noticed tears under her harsh glare, blossoming to the surface of her eyes as her voice grew louder. Haaa!?

「I said, teach me ATAFAMI, please!」

I don’t get it!

Translator Notes:

[1] She usually refers to him as Tomozaki-kun rather than just Tomozaki.