Translator: Tsukii
Editor: Kiro
Read at Watashi wa Sugoi Desu!
Chapter 57
On the day of the quiz.
Before Mashima-sensei handed out the printouts, he started to talk.
“I’ll tell you this beforehand. Because the nomination to Class A doesn’t overlap, it is approved without accident. Also, it is decided that the class that will issue questions to this class would be Class A. This nomination also does not overlap.”
The strategy that Arisu-chan came up with the other day had already been explained by Honami.
The students of the class responded favorably and accepted the idea.
Now that we know we managed to nominate each other without problem… It meant the Paper Shuffle for both classes had concluded. What will happen to Class C and Class D? My interest was already there.
“Begin.”
The quiz had started. Since I already knew this wouldn’t be reflected in the grade, I… decided to only write my name and spent the rest of the quiz time sleeping. I have felt sleepy since the morning, so I didn’t feel like doing unnecessary tasks.
Well then, good night.
“Stop.”
I woke up with the signal of the quiz’s end. While waiting for the answer sheet to be collected, I looked at Arisu-chan next to me.
I caught a glimpse of a sheet of paper filled with writing. It seemed she solved all the questions. In other words, it would be a perfect score or something close to that.
She should have known the result didn’t reflect in the grades. What was the purpose of her action?
I also spent the quiz time on other subjects by sleeping or thinking, and in the end, I ended up not solving a single question.
Unlike me, Arisu-chan was serious until the end.
After the quiz was concluded, I decided to ask her why out of curiosity.
“Arisu-chan, did you do the quiz seriously?”
“Yes. After looking at Haruto-kun’s attitude, I decided to do so.”
My attitude?
“I definitely scored 0 since I don’t write anything other than my name, but does that have anything to do with it?”
“Fufu, if you only look at the result, I think you’ll understand right away. Actually, my action itself doesn’t have much meaning… it’s just a little ‘obsession’ of mine.”
Arisu-chan, who smiled mischievously, was very cute.
Really, unlike the sports festival, she seemed to be having a lot of fun. No, rather than enjoying the special exam… perhaps she was happy that she didn’t have to be separated from me. Did I think too highly of myself for having such a thought?
By accepting Class A’s strategy, the students’ feelings were completely relaxed.
They were chatting about the usual stuff, such as where they would play at the weekend.
It might have given sensei a headache, but for an unmotivated person like me, it was a comfortable environment. Compared to the tense environment when I first enrolled in the school, it felt overwhelmingly easier to live in.
After school, Arisu-chan and I visited the library.
Would we be able to continue our reading time with Hiyori? That was what I thought, but when I asked for confirmation through a message, she said ‘I’m going.’ Apparently, this had higher priority than the Paper Shuffle for her.
Hiyori was already seated at the table we usually sat on. As soon as she saw our face, she suddenly looked apologetic.
“I’m sorry, both of you should be busy, aren’t you? You don’t have to force yourself for me, you know?”
“No, we aren’t busy at all, so it’s okay.”
For some reason, she seemed to think we canceled our study group in favor of meeting her. That was definitely not the case, but I guess that was how it seemed to an outsider.
“…The time spent reading together like this became the only thing I could enjoy in this school. It has already become a routine I can’t live without. I couldn’t be happier about the fact you still prioritize it despite the approaching exam. Thank you very much.”
She lowered her head as she said that. I didn’t think she was so grateful that it made me feel humbled.
“Please raise your head. Thanks to Hiyori, I’ve been able to feel the joy of reading a book. Arisu-chan seemed to be having fun as well. I never think of it as a burden, and I’m sure I never will.”
“Haruto-kun…”
“It’s several times more fulfilling than a mere special exam. Personally, I’d like this time to continue until graduation.”
Hiyori stood up and weakly grabbed my hand. It seemed she was mentally exhausted. I avoided asking it on purpose, but maybe various things occurred in her class. 1
After all, the class points of her class had become 0. It was easy to imagine how bad the atmosphere became. Even though Morofuji’s suspension would be over soon, Hiyori’s weak position in the class would likely continue for the time being. It would be best if the hate could turn that way… but it was unclear what would happen.
From the beginning to the end, Arisu-chan was silently listening to our conversation.
Perhaps she got some good ideas?
After we read books for two hours for the day, it was dismissed.
After promising to return next week, we parted with Hiyori.
“Haruto-kun, there’s a place I want you to follow me to.”
“What is it?”
Arisu-chan said so and grabbed the sleeve of my clothes. This habit hasn’t changed since she was little.
Whenever there was a place she wanted to go, she knew she couldn’t go alone, so she pulled my sleeve to appeal for that. She made the same movement as when she was still in elementary school, so I couldn’t help but react.
“Kuku… ahaha, Arisu-chan sure is cute.”
“Eh?”
It seemed that she couldn’t understand what I was laughing at, which made Arisu-chan perplexed.
No good, I like her too much. As I couldn’t hold back anymore, I embraced Arisu-chan without minding the eyes around me. I enveloped her delicate body carefully so as to not break it…
“Sorry to do this, I suddenly wanted to stick close to you.”
“I’m really happy with that. If you are okay with me, you could do it anytime you like…”
I just wanted to do this without any particular meaning. However, not only did Arisu-chan not feel troubled about it, but she instead gave me a gentle smile. We embraced each other for a while until we left the library.
…I noticed there were a lot of people using the library today and quite a few people were watching.
I calmed down and felt embarrassed of what I did, so we quickly left the place.
The place Arisu-chan brought me was the Japanese restaurant that we talked about with Honami the other day.
When I opened the door of the private room, the people waiting there were…
“Eeh, why are you here?”
“…Tch, you’re the one who called me here.”
It was unexpectedly Ryuuen. I was seriously surprised since I really didn’t expect that.
“Ah, it’s the idol killer.”
The one who sat next to him was… who was it again? I felt like I met her somewhere before, but I couldn’t remember her name.
“Who are you? Isn’t it too rude to refer to me like that all of a sudden?”
“Haah? We were in the same group back in the special exam for the cruise ship, don’t you remember?”
“…Aah, I just remembered. So it’s Ibuki.”
Ibuki Mio. Because the Manabe group that made noises back then stood out too much, Ibuki wasn’t conspicuous.
It couldn’t be helped that I couldn’t remember her. After all, maybe I only heard her voice when she introduced herself back then.
“See, I told you he will react like that. Why did you bring me here?”
“You’re being noisy as usual.”
It seemed that Arisu-chan was the one who called them here. Come to think of it, Arisu-chan did fiddle with her terminal several times in the library. Perhaps that was when she contacted Ryuuen?
I sat down without knowing why we were gathered. I opened the menu and looked at it.
…We might be paying for the food ourselves today, but I had no intention of ordering something cheap.
Without hesitation, I ordered a wagyu sukiyaki meal set that was worth 2,500 points.
“Uwah, he chose ones that really look tasty. Is that your way to insinuate to us whose points became 0?”
“There’s no way that’s the case. I just ordered it because it looks good.”
But it was true that I had quite a lot of points. There were still points I got from Ryuuen back in the contract of the deserted island, and Honami also gave me 200,000 points monthly.
That said, I had no obligation to treat them to a meal, I didn’t but…
“Uuh~… I’m really hungry.”
Ibuki looked at the menu with sad eyes. Maybe she really had no leisure.
But this woman was a stranger after all, someone who would refer to me with weird nicknames all of a sudden.
“As I thought, the sukiyaki looked delicious. But…”
Ibuki sighed while glancing at me. It really made me unable to enjoy my meal.
“…Ah~ geez, okay. I’ll treat your meal, so you can just order the same thing.”
“Seriously?”
“Just order it already before I change my mind.”
Hearing those words, Ibuki hurriedly called the clerk.
“T-thank you. You are pretty kind, aren’t you?”
After ordering the sukiyaki set just like me, she thanked me.
Judging from her attitude, she didn’t seem to be a bad person. Perhaps it wouldn’t be bad treating someone to a meal like this. I put a sidelong glance at the exasperated Arisu-chan and waited for the dish to come.2
I cracked an egg and poured it into a small plate. I stirred it with chopsticks and put the beef there. After eating it with rice, it made me feel great.
“Wow, this is really delicious after all.”
Thank you, Honami. This store was a really good one.
Ibuki ate timidly at first, but she eventually lost her appetite and munched it down.
“…So, why did you call me here? Don’t tell me you just wanted to eat a meal with us, do you?”
Stopping his chopstick, Ryuuen asked Arisu-chan.
I forgot about it since the sukiyaki was too delicious, but this wasn’t just a dinner party.
“What I want to ask is about Hiyori-san.”
“Ah, so that’s what you want to ask. Unfortunately, I don’t know anything about it. This isn’t a lie but an undeniable fact. The girls of our class isolated her on their own.”
“Even so, you didn’t stop it from happening, right?”
“Don’t ask for something stupid, there’s no benefit of stopping it right? Not that I couldn’t but… no, I am rather curious why you sided with Hiyori in the first place. I couldn’t understand that.”
From Ryuuen’s perspective, it seemed it was something unexpected that he couldn’t understand.
Every time we met like this, it made me think Arisu-chan was actually quite fond of Ryuuen. But it was just one-sided as Ryuuen was bad at dealing with her. Because this girl had a unique way of leading the conversation, she might be a troublesome opponent for Ryuuen, who always wanted to take the initiative.
“I have no intention of favoring Hiyori-san. However, are you really okay leaving things as it is?”
“…What do you mean?”
“Then let me put it this way. If you don’t do anything, she will fall for him, you know?”
Arisu-chan said that while glaring at Ryuuen as if to test him.
Ryuuen looked startled for a moment, but after thinking for a while, he started laughing.
“Kuku, so that’s what you mean… well, that’s certainly something troublesome.”
“When we met earlier, her attitude already started to change.”
“Even though she boasted she understood, it seemed it was no good after all.”
“Even if you understand that as a fact, it isn’t something you can resist when you actually get involved.”
While their conversation progressed, I was enjoying anmitsu as dessert and tea.3
Ibuki finished her meal ahead of me and looked satisfied.
“Oi Ibuki, you remember the girls who bullied Hiyori, right? Call them all after school tomorrow. I will settle this dull topic in one swoop.”
“…Okay.”
Ryuuen gave his order. It seemed he decided to crush the culprits.
I had no idea whether this would settle the problem. However, I found it surprising that Arisu-chan took the initiative to help Hiyori. She didn’t seem to like Hiyori that much, but did she have another intention?4
On our way home, Arisu-chan walked closer to me than usual.
Her arms were intertwined with mine, or rather, she was practically leaning on me.
“What’s wrong?”
“You don’t like it?”
“No, I don’t hate it at all.”
I interpreted her action as her desire to be spoiled and accepted it.
Well, there were times when we wanted to stick to each other like this. It was just like what I did back in the library.
“…I love you very much.”
“Thank you. I love you too.”
While confirming each other’s feelings, we walked forward.
As we walked to the elevator of the dormitory, Arisu-chan started talking as if she recalled something.
“Do you know what the ‘obsession’ I talked about back in the quiz is?”
It was about a quiz today. I still couldn’t understand why Arisu-chan decided to go all out in the end. The “obsession” she said was the big hint. But… What was that?
“Sorry, this stupid me doesn’t understand.”
I apologized while feeling ashamed of myself for being unable to understand. I was worried that she would think of me as a boring person.
She didn’t respond to my words and stayed silent for a long while. When we got off the elevator and arrived in front of our room, Arisu-chan let go of her hand. She remained silent as if pleading with upturned eyes.
…I realized she was asking for a kiss. I bent over a little and Arisu-chan happily put her lips on mine. It was deeper and longer than usual.
After continuing until it became hard to breathe, we looked at each other at close range.
“Even if it’s just for formality’s sake, I have no intention to be paired with anyone other than you.”
“Eh?”
At the answer she gave, I couldn’t understand what it meant for a moment and was left confused.
What did she mean by pair? I was pretty sure it was explained in the rules of Paper Shuffle…
…Aah, so that was how it was.
At the same time, I understood that, but I couldn’t help but feel my heart tighten at her lovely “obsession”.
“Now that I actually speak of it, I find it very embarrassing. I didn’t expect this.”
Arisu-chan buried her head in my chest to hide her flushed expression.
While stroking her silky silver hair, I continued to embrace her without moving for a while.
From now on, she will be my only “pair.”
Author Note:
Arisu-chan knew firsthand what would happen if Hiyori didn’t get help.
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