Chapter 16: Ahh, That’s What a Bookworm Means…

It was decided the day after the entrance ceremony that I would be on the library committee.

My work is set to start this week.

The job is to lend out books during lunchtime.

There is one library committee member from each of the eight classes in the first year, and we work in pairs.

Naturally, this means working with students from other classes, so I waited with half expectation and half worry about what kind of person would come.

「Ah, excuse me. Am I late?」

「I just arrived.」

Without thinking, I made a statement like on a date.

It seems my outing with Yuna is still on my mind.

But it’s no wonder I’m stunned.

The appearance of the student who entered the library, slightly flustered, was that shocking.

Not because she’s a beautiful girl.

She might be a beautiful girl, but she’s not.

How should I put it, um, it’s hard to express.

After crossing my arms and looking at her for a while, considering the library and her appearance together, one idiom came to mind.

Book.

A face clearly marked by compound eyes.

In other words, a bookworm.

Ahh, that’s what a bookworm means…

「W-What is it?」

「I just made an amazing discovery.」

「Haa…」

The meaning is definitely different, but there’s a bookworm standing right in front of me.

A life-sized insect elegantly wearing a school uniform.

Her waist is abnormally thin and sways in the wind. Long antennae grow from what would be a human forehead, swaying as if exploring the surroundings.

Judging from these characteristics, she is probably a mud dauber wasp.

Why?

「Wasn’t here the librarian?」

「He was when I arrived, but he basically step out.」

Why do these monster types always have such nice voices?

If I closed my eyes, she’d sound like a calm literature girl.

But standing before me is an insect that might attack at any moment. Mud daubers have a predatory lifestyle where they lay eggs in their prey, like something out of an alien movie, so my heart can’t calm down and is racing.

Indeed, there’s the term “sugaru maiden”—meaning a girl with a thin, wasp-like waist—but I never thought a literal mud dauber girl would appear.

I couldn’t see it coming, even with my eyes.

I don’t think anyone could predict this.

「Shall we introduce ourselves for now?」

「Ah, right. We’ll be working together for a week after all.」

「I’m Adashino You.」

「I’m Sakasegawa Miho.」

Focusing on the fact that mud dauber larvae grow by devouring the flesh of the prey they’re laid in, how about I change my name to “Meat-Devouring Warrior” right now?

It might surprise the people we meet from now on. Pre-explanation is important.

Let’s aim to be a girl whose name reflects her body.

「Um, is Sakasegawa-san okay?」

「Yes.」

「Sakasegawa-san, do you prefer receiving books or entering data for lent books?」

「…Let’s see. I’m not very good at talking with others, so I’d prefer entering data.」

「Got it.」

Well, there’s no point in fussing over the fact that my colleague is a mud dauber, so let’s switch gears and get to work.

I might be killed if I’m careless though.

They say beautiful flowers have poison, but in her case, it’s visible, so it’s conscientious.

A conscience that’s almost threatening.

The library was a bit quiet because not many people came.

Wondering if there was anything to do, I looked at Sakasegawa-san and saw her with a paperback on her lap, her eyes lowered. A pose befitting a literature girl.

It would look great if she weren’t a mud dauber.

「Um.」

「Nn.」

「It’s embarrassing if you stare at me so much.」

「Ah, sorry.」

I seem to have observed too much because a bipedal insect is a rare sight.

Sakasegawa-san looks down, her cheeks red.

It’s strange that her cheeks can turn red even though insect blood contains almost no hemoglobin.

Having been pointed out, I turn my face back. As expected, there aren’t many people in the library. Even though we have everyone’s favorite light novels.

Maybe they don’t know because they don’t come.

To increase users, we need to make this known.

Perhaps I got used to the lump of meat and the zombie, but even with a mud dauber sitting right next to me, I didn’t feel like running away.

My sense of danger is quietly fading. I might end up fleeing in the night, leaving all my belongings behind.

Twenty minutes left until the end of lunch break. No work done so far.

Unable to bear the boredom any longer, I decided to read a book.

I usually read a variety of things, but for some reason, I craved Kafka’s works. Like “The Metamorphosis”.

I pull a book from the tightly packed shelves, check that no one is approaching the counter, and return to my seat leisurely.

As I sat down, Sakasegawa-san looked at me,

「Do you like reading?」

「Well, enough to become a library committee member.」

「That makes sense.」

Becoming a library committee member without liking reading would only lead to misery.

For book lovers, the library is a hotspot where they can spend infinite time, but for someone who feels like their brain will explode if they see printed words, it might look like a place of hellish torture.

In the end, no one borrowed any books that day.

A few people were sitting, but they were just reading, so there was no work.

Only the sound of pages turning quietly echoed between me and Sakasegawa-san.