The omiai with Sophia ended without a hitch, and I got into the car to go home.
The car, driven by my old man, starts moving slowly as my mother and I get in.
My old man, who was sitting in the driver’s seat, looked at us through the rearview mirror.
「How was the omiai today?」
「…Well, it wasn’t bad for me.」
「Hoo? So, can I reply that you’ll continue the relationship?!」
My old man raised his voice happily, so I just told him, “Well, sure”.
Sophia and I had agreed to give a positive response while acting as usual so that our respective schemes wouldn’t be exposed.
So, Sophia is probably saying something like, “Well, I guess we can move things forward for now”.
My parents look very happy, but our relationship is just a fake one to avoid future omiais.
My conscience hurts when I see my parents talking so happily, but… we’re doing this to protect our own time… Please forgive me…
◇◇◇◇
Back in my room, the shame I had been holding back until I reached the empty space suddenly overflowed.
…I’m aware that my face is in a state that I can’t show anyone.
I fall back onto the bed and flap my legs.
I touched him…! I called him by his first name…! Ah, I said such bold things…!
The more I recall what I did to Yuuto, the more I writhe in agony.
I didn’t intend to go that far either. But I got carried away in the moment and did a lot of things.
I made a few teasing remarks to Yuuto, but I’ve never dated a guy. In terms of experience, we’re pretty much the same.
Even so, I just pretended to be a mature woman and bluffed my way through it.
Remembering this, I take deep breaths, desperately trying to calm down, but every time I do, memories of my interactions with Yuuto surface, making me feel embarrassed again.
…Calm down, calm down, me.
It’s all just begun.
There’s no point in getting carried away now.
I’m the only one who was happy about our reunion…
I met Yuuto two years ago.
On my way home from cram school, I was being harassed by a drunk man in front of the station when Yuuto saved me.
It was the moment I fell in love for the first time.
…At that time, I was so nervous that I could only ask for his name, and we never met again… I was frustrated.
Eventually, entrance exams started, and when I realized my unrequited love… I met Yuuto at this high school.
He was as kind as ever.
From then on, I subtly steered my parents towards setting up an omiai.
I told them about my ideal man’s features, personality, height, and so on. No matter how many times I told them, they never brought Yuuto up.
So I resorted to my last resort.
I said I wanted a cool last name if I were to get married and gave them a few candidates.
I slipped Doumyouji’s last name into the list, and today, it hit.
Everything went according to plan up to this point, but still… it’s pathetic.
I felt pathetic that I couldn’t create an opportunity to get closer to him without using some kind of scheme.
But… he’s the one I truly love.
Every time I see him in the classroom, I agonize over what to say to him, and the day ends without me doing anything.
At this rate, there’s no way our relationship will progress, so I had no choice but to do this, even if it’s pathetic.
A-Anyway.
I’ve finally reached the starting line.
──Light Novels──
──Read Here──
From here on out, I have to do my best with my own strength.
The thought of it makes me want to give up, but I desperately try to pump myself up.
D-Do my best, me…!
◇◇◇◇
Monday arrived after the omiai with Sophia.
…I was a little nervous because it was my first day at school after the omiai.
As Sophia said, basically nothing has changed between us, so I don’t think I need to be nervous.
When I sat down at my desk, two male students near me were talking about something.
Koganei and Ino, I think.
I greet them, but we’re not particularly close. Or rather, that’s my position in the class.
Lurking in the shadows, living in the shadows… Just kidding. I take out the light novel I brought and start reading.
The book cover is made of thick leather, so it looks like I’m reading a smart book from the outside.
As I read my book, avoiding the pages with illustrations, I heard their voices.
「Hey, Koganei.」
Ino calls out to Koganei.
Koganei seems to have immediately noticed Ino’s unusually serious demeanor and tilted his head.
「What’s up?」
「How do you think… I can get a girlfriend?」
What’s he going to say with such a serious tone?
Koganei slumps at his words, delivered after a dramatic pause.
I felt the same way, but if I acted like that here, I’d be labeled as a creepy eavesdropper.
While pretending to be calm, I continue to read my light novel while listening to their conversation.
「Man, I wanna know too.」
「Now that we’re in high school, shouldn’t we be able to get at least one or two girlfriends? I wanna get close to a cute girl!」
…I hope they both find someone who can forgive them.
「In our class, I guess it’s… Kiryuuin-san?」
「…Yeah. Actually, if I could get close to Kiryuuin-san, I wouldn’t care about anything else.」
「…Right? All the girls in Kiryuuin-san’s group are high-level, I’m so jealous.」
「Yeah, I wanna lick her boobs.」
「I’m into legs.」
…What a stupid conversation.
Still, they passed the entrance exam to this high-achieving school… so they must be smart.
Due to the declining birthrate, it seems especially difficult for schools to attract students these days.
Even though it’s a school, a private school is essentially the same as a company.
If they don’t get the required number of students, their sales will drop… or something like that.
I read something like that on a blog when I was researching schools, and it stuck with me.
The main reason I took the entrance exam was that it was the high school with the highest deviation score in my neighborhood.
「Kiryuuin-san is seriously perfect…」
「I wonder if there’s any chance for us?」
…I admire people who can honestly express their feelings.
However, there are also feelings that shouldn’t be expressed, so it’s not always good to talk innocently like them.
I’m exasperated by their suspicious smiles, but I can’t say that I’m not aware of Sophia as a woman either.
It’s true that I was staring at Sophia’s breasts during the omiai.
So, which is better, staring silently or staring while talking about it? Aren’t both creepy?