Chapter 11
Plain. Dowdy.
Those are more or less the impressions people around me give.
I never felt particularly frustrated or upset about it.
If anything, I even thought maybe that was fine.
I was now a second-year high school student.
Before starting high school, I thought maybe I’d get a boyfriend too... but that fantasy was quickly shattered.
My high school is co-ed, and there are a fair number of boys.
There are only six boys in the whole class, split into two groups of about three.
And there are roughly two groups of girls who can chat comfortably with each group.
In other words, only girls in the so-called popular cliques get that opportunity.
Or rather, it feels like those popular girls have the boys all to themselves. That’s just how it is. That’s the reality of co-ed schools.
Nothing gets passed down to a dowdy girl like me.
(W-well... honestly, I don’t really need it anyway.)
Looking around, I think...
The boys in my class are either a little handsome but bossy and arrogant, or else lacking in basic hygiene or excessively overweight. None of them appeal to me as the opposite sex.
Even so, girls approach them to some extent, so those guys just smirk.
(If that's the case, I don't need a boyfriend.)
That wasn’t bravado or anything.
I genuinely felt that way.
Besides...
(I have... this, after all...)
I secretly take a paperback out of my desk.
With its cover on, no one can tell what book it is.
It’s what you’d call a book for women.
I’ve loved fantasy for as long as I can remember.
The characters in stories all have beautiful, pure hearts.
The heroes are all handsome... and the heroines have reasons to be loved, too.
The people in those stories are truly beautiful.
After sighing and letting my thoughts drift to the characters in the story, I look again at the groups chatting in the classroom.
(Sigh... reality really is crap...)
This is all I need.
While the classroom buzzes around me, I sit alone in a corner, blissfully absorbed in my story.
"I'm home~"
I’m a club member in name only, so I usually come straight home as soon as school ends.
"Welcome home, Shiori."
I just call out that I’m home to Mom, then head to my room.
Besides reading, I want to play some games today, too~. The kind they call visual novels. I’m happy when I’m surrounded by handsome characters.
"Hold on, Shiori. Wait."
"...What?"
Mom stops me.
I want to play games already...
"Have you made any friends or gotten a boyfriend?"
"What? Out of nowhere. No, I haven’t."
"You have to experience romance while you’re still a student. At the very least, try to socialize with boys."
Here we go again.
The whole thing about how there are fewer men now...
I’m tired of hearing it, honestly.
"Yeah, yeah. I’ll try."
"Honestly... Oh, right. You said you wanted to go to that national university, didn’t you?"
"...? Yeah, I did."
College entrance exams.
I’m only in my second year, so I haven’t made up my mind beyond a vague idea, but there is a university I’m aiming for.
It has great facilities... and a huge library.
Its entrance requirements are high since it’s a national university, but it’s not out of reach if I work hard.
"A friend of mine knows someone who goes there, so I’m thinking of asking him to tutor you!"
"Ehh... I don’t need that..."
A private tutor? No thanks.
I can study just fine on my own... And though it’s kind of sad to say it myself, I have plenty of free time since I don’t have many friends or do any club activities.
I also find communicating with people a hassle...
"Don’t worry about it! Just meet him once! I’ll invite him over on Saturday, so make sure you’re home!"
"Ehh... I don’t want to... I’ll just turn him down, okay?"
"Well, if you don’t like him, you can say no."
"Why are you grinning? It’s creepy..."
Well, if I could turn him down.
Without giving it any more thought, I shut myself away in my room.
Saturday.
As usual, I was reading a book in my room.
A romance novel with some pretty steamy scenes. Ngh! This hero is just too good...!
He’s handsome, smart, strong, and incredibly kind. A god.
Well, that’s only natural since he’s fictional.
If only there were men like that...
When someone says “man,” the only ones who come to mind are the boys in my class or the bubbly celebrities on TV.
I know more than enough about reality already.
"Shiori! I brought the tutor over! Can we come in?"
"...Sure."
Honestly... I felt bad for the tutor, but I was going to send him home as soon as possible.
I shoved the paperback I’d been reading into the bookshelf.
I had school this morning, so I was still in my uniform. Oh well.
I’d left my games and clothes lying around a little, but I hoped he’d forgive that much.
It wasn’t like the place was so bad I couldn’t let anyone see it.
The door opened with a click.
I sighed, looked toward the door...
—and my eyes widened.
"Oh, hello, Shiori-san."
My thoughts froze.
A handsome guy was standing there.
"Huh?"
The smartphone in my hand slipped and fell.
Huh? What?
Why is there a man here?
Huh?
"This is Katari Masato-kun. He’s the one I asked to tutor you. He’s so handsome, right? Come on, say hello, Shiori."
...
It took my brain a few seconds to understand.
Then I understood what I had to do.
"Wai—"
"Wai?"
"Could you please wait just a moment? Aaaaaah!"
I shoved Mom into the hallway and made the tutor behind her leave the room too.
Wait, wait, wait, wait!!!!
I didn’t hear about this, I didn’t hear about this, I didn’t hear about this, I didn’t hear about this!!!!
The tutor was a man?!?!
"What are you doing, Shiori?"
"Mom...! I am seriously not going to forgive you for this later...!"
I could tell she was grinning.
That nasty woman had kept it quiet on purpose...! I’ll tell Dad you’ve been going to that boys’ bar all the time...!
First, I covered the bookshelf with a white bath towel to hide it.
There were way too many books I couldn’t let him see!!!
I hid my games, too.
My clothes and laundry, too.
I finished cleaning up at lightning speed, then stood in front of the mirror.
Before I knew it, I was out of breath, and my heart was pounding so loudly.
More than anything, that guy just now...
(Was he not insanely handsome????)
I remembered his gentle smile.
He was probably around 175 centimeters tall. His loosely permed black hair was really lovely.
It was just like...
(A hero from a story...!)
My face was hot.
I hadn’t been told about this.
I quickly fixed myself up and took a deep breath.
"Sorry to keep you waiting..."
After a little while, I opened the door.
Sure enough, there was a man there. My heart gave a jolt.
"Oh, sorry. It seems the message didn’t get through properly..."
"No, no, no, no! My mother is the one at fault..."
I showed him into my room.
What should I do, what should I do?
A handsome guy was in my room.
"P-please, come in."
For now, I offered him the chair that went with the desk where I usually studied.
I sat down on the bed.
"Sorry. Thanks."
"No..."
Calm down, me.
He was certainly handsome, but I couldn’t let that fool me.
Mom was the one who brought him here.
He could easily be overbearing or two-faced.
I’m not going to be fooled. I’m a woman who knows the difference between reality and fiction.
"Um, I haven’t quite grasped the situation either, but basically, we’ll talk a little today, and then you can decide whether to hire me as your tutor... Is that right?"
"Ah, I think so."
Even I could tell my voice was as faint as a mosquito’s.
There was no way I could speak in my normal voice.
"Honestly, this was pretty sudden, so please feel free to turn me down. And, well, I imagine it might be hard to tell me directly, so you can quietly tell your mom after I leave. That’d be easier for you too, right, Shiori-san?"
"..."
...What???
He’s way too kind???
If this were one of those popular boys in my class, it wouldn’t be strange if he’d said something like, “You should be grateful.”
No, not yet, Shiori. Don’t let yourself be fooled.
Maybe he’s only being nice today because he wants me to hire him.
Wait, but didn’t he just say I could turn him down...? I don’t know anymore.
"Shiori-san, why do you want to go to my university?"
"U-um, because the facilities look nice... and the library is big..."
"Oh, Shiori-san, you like books!"
Don’t! Don’t smile at me like that!
What is this guy, handsome level one hundred?!
Even the smallest gesture made my heart flutter.
"Well, just a little..."
"Oh, I see. Our library is definitely huge... What kind of books do you read?"
"..."
This is bad. What should I do?
I hadn’t thought of an answer. If I said I liked fantasy and romance, he’d be put off by 180 percent.
Something safe... what’s a safe answer...?
"Literary fiction, for example."
"Oh! That’s impressive. I have a hard time with dense prose... I read some of the famous ones, but I never quite get around to literary fiction!"
I’m sorry, that’s a lie. I don’t read any at all.
This is bad, this is bad. He’ll see through me if we keep going like this! There must be something that will expose his true colors...
That’s it! If I say something rude to a dowdy girl like me, even he is sure to show his true nature...!
I feel a little bad, but this is for the future! For the future...
I steeled myself and decided to say something unpleasant on purpose.
"...Katari-san, you can turn down the tutoring job too, you know."
"...? Why?"
"You don’t want to teach some dowdy girl like me, do you? You’d rather have a cuter student, right? Someone like you must have plenty of people asking you."
...I really am an awful woman.
But!! This is for the future...!
I watched his reaction, guilt weighing on my heart.
And then...
Without losing his smile, Katari-san shook his head.
"No. That has nothing to do with it. Shiori-san is working hard to get into my university. There’s not the slightest difference in value there. Whoever you are, if you’ve decided to do this, I’ll help you with everything I’ve got. Besides—"
"Shiori-san, you’re really wonderful. When I first met you just now, I thought you were a beautiful girl."
...Um.
It seems the hero from my favorite story crossed dimensions to come meet me.
To put it simply: I really like him.