VIII/VS The Woman Called the Devil
It was after school on the day when the agonizing argument with Shiragiku happened.
(Somehow I feel extra tired today…)
Luckily, Izumi didn’t have a part-time job today. He could relax by reading books at the literature club, then rest well at home. Yes, that’s what he’d do.
After homeroom ended, Izumi left the classroom.
“I~zu~mi~kun♡”
“Gyaaaahhhh!!”
Suddenly his back was traced with a finger, and he turned around in a panic.
It was Nanao.
She had her eyes wide open, surprised at Izumi’s reaction.
“Eh? To suddenly scream like that, isn’t that being a bit mean?”
“I don’t want to hear that from someone who just wrote ‘Suki♡’ on my back!”
“Ah, you understood? I’m glad♪”
“I’m the class outcast because you do those kind of things !?”
Nanao blinked her eyes cutely and tilted her head.
“Did I really do such weird things?”
“…Ever since lunch, your faction has been rapidly increasing.”
The “Ah~n?” bomb dropped by White Nanao on the rooftop.
That was accidentally seen by the female classmates, and it immediately spread through the class.
Because of that, he was bombarded enough to grow earmuffs from the three-punch combo of “She’s a good kid”, “You should go out with her”, and “It’s not like you’re popular anyway.”
The guys were merciless too. Izumi had no allies left. Even Amane, the only one who seemed like she might be on his side…for some reason just glared at him resentfully. What was going on…Izumi was at a loss.
To his anguished plea, Nanao laughed cheerfully.
“Ahaha. Then you should just go out with me.”
“I guess I have no choice but to give up…”
Feeling fed up, Izumi headed for the library prep room.
And of course, Nanao followed him.
“Eh? Why are you coming with me?”
“Hmm, I don’t have any particular reason, I just want to play with Izumi-kun.”
“Aren’t you in the archery club? You said you wanted to see the dojo before transferring.”
“There’s no practice today. The third years are using the dojo for self-training, so I was wondering what to do.”
As they had this conversation…….
Suddenly Nanao raised her heels and whispered in his ear.
“Also, I want to be with Izumi-kun for a little while longer, you see?”
“So stop whispering in my ear!”
“Izumi-kun, you have a nice ear shape. I just felt like looking at it up close.”
“What kind of logic is that?!”
She giggled.
He knew she was teasing him…but what surprised him was how flustered he felt himself becoming.
If it was Amane or Shiragiku, he could probably stay pretty calm. Izumi had that level of composure.
But just being told “I like you”…
Just those simple words made each of Nanao’s words and actions seem to carry some special meaning.
(This is bad…)
Izumi was dumbfounded by his own simplicity.
That said, continuing at this pace wouldn’t be good either. They were approaching the library room.
Regaining his composure, he said to Nanao,
“Well, I’m going to stop by the club.”
“Eh? You’re not going home together with me? “
“Don’t say it like it’s obvious…”
The thought of being strung along into going out with her didn’t seem implausible, and he couldn’t laugh it off. He didn’t think he could handle this girl who had both a white and black side.
Then, as if she had an idea, Nanao said,
“Ah, that’s right. I might be interested in Izumi-kun’s club too.”
“Huh? It’s nothing that special, you know?”
“I want to check it out. Is that not allowed?”
“Well…umm…”
Izumi frowned.
After all, it was just the literature club. They simply read books and chatted. Nothing worth showing others.
However, looking at it the other way, there was no particular reason to refuse her if she wanted to come either.
(If I refuse her here, it’ll seem like I’m being conscious of Nanao, which I don’t like…)
To be honest, he did seem conscious of her, but that was a matter of his adolescent male self-consciousness and pride. He was still safe. Or so he thought!
“It’s not that interesting though…”
“Yay, I get to go!”
She was so innocent.
Resigning himself, Izumi decided to take Nanao with him.
(Come to think of it, this is the first time we’ve brought in other students since becoming just the three of us…)
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It used to happen often before.
The graduated seniors would frequently bring in outside students to chat. So for Izumi, it was a fairly normal culture.
They were right in front of the library room, so it felt a bit late, but just in case, he sent his juniors a LINE about Nanao.
(Suddenly bringing an upperclassman might surprise them…but those two should be fine.)
Domoto Inori, who had the nickname Angel-chan, was polite, and surely Kasuga Haru wouldn’t pounce on a girl she just met.
With that casual thought in mind, Izumi opened the door to the library prep room.
“Senpai, why is there an outsider here?”
—In the freezing cold library prep room, Kasuga’s booming voice pierced through.
Izumi realized his prediction was completely off.
First, the moment he opened the door, that line was delivered.
Standing with her arms crossed in the cramped prep room, her chilling gaze was overflowing with killing intent – you’d believe her if she confessed to being an assassin in another world.
And Angel Inori was just fidgeting nervously.
In front of the suddenly hostile library prep room, Izumi was dumbfounded.
(She’s this opposed to it…)
It was admittedly rude to bring someone without warning. This could even be seen as an abuse of his upperclassman position.
However, he had a hard time understanding why she was this openly hostile.
He didn’t know her usual class conduct, but from what Inori had said, he had the impression Kasuga was a calm girl. Being called a demon was just because she was trying to protect her friend.
Why was she so angry?
Thinking that – Izumi realized.
(Is she that against the room being cramped…?)
He was way off base.
It was like a major league slugger hitting a massive foul ball – Izumi had no idea Kasuga and the others knew about Nanao’s confession to him.
Well, even if he did know, he’d never think “she’s jealous.” Given Kasuga’s usual manner of speech, her rare tsundere side was just showing itself at the wrong time. Though it might never actually come to light…
As for Kasuga and Inori,
It was their first club activity since the rooftop “[I like you♡]” bomb the other day.
Their beloved senpai was confessed to by a cute girl, and he brought that girl to the clubroom? The “Ah~n?” bomb from earlier had actually become a decent topic over the past year too.
Didn’t that completely look like [a new couple trying to make a private space to lovey-dovey at school]?!
Caught completely off-guard by Nanao’s (?) surprise appearance, Kasuga instinctively went on the defensive for this reason.
This literary club…whatever the circumstances, for Kasuga and Inori it was their one and only space to spend time with their senpai Izumi, undisturbed (though she insisted on saying “and the others”).
She had to drive out the enemy and preserve the peace of this club.
(Here, I’ll stop this woman’s invasion!)
With that resolve, Kasuga opened her eyes wide.
“Ah, please, please come in~ Senpai, should I make some tea~?”
“Inori!?”
Thanks to her friend’s betrayal, the fortress crumbled easily.
Inori brought over a folding pipe chair and was politely about to lay out a cushion. Kasuga grabbed her shoulder and dragged her into the corner.
Then in an extremely small voice, Kasuga protested to her friend.
“Inori, what are you doing!?”
“But Haru, you’re being way too rude. Did you want to start a fight or wrestle from the start?”
“B-But, if this keeps up, Senpai will…”
“Haru, you should just give up already. No guy would be upset at being confessed to by someone that cute. You lost fair and square to her.”
“~~~!!”
Izumi watched their suspicious behavior with a puzzled look.
From Izumi’s perspective, he had no idea what was going on. First Kasuga became hostile, then Inori welcomed them.
(After Hakua nee san’s weird behavior at lunch, is today just an unlucky day…?)
It was only then that he had the spare attention to consider Nanao’s situation.
“Sorry about this. Looks like things are a bit hectic…”
“It’s totally fine. I did surprise them by coming out of nowhere.”
Despite being snapped at upon arrival, Nanao didn’t seem bothered at all. In fact, she smiled and said,
“They’re cute juniors. Since I just joined the archery club, I’m kind of like a new member too, you know? So I’m not sure what attitude I should take.”
“Ah, I see. Don’t you often eat lunch together and stuff?”
“Yeah, at times like that. I was thinking I should just stay quiet for now, but that might make them feel awkward instead.”
“It’s a tricky issue, yeah. By the way, is our archery club any good? The atmosphere probably differs based on that…”
“Hmm, I heard they were in the top ranks at the regional qualifiers, but Kanto has some tough competition. We’ll have to work hard from here.”
“I see. So what was the club you were in at your previous school?”
“Well about that…”
Then Nanao looked up meaningfully.
“Are you curious about what club I was in before?”
Her devilish attitude made Izumi’s heart skip a beat.
“N-No, I was just making casual conversation…”
“Hmm? Pretending to have a casual conversation, you want to know more about me?”
“Hey, you’re being shady!”
“No, I’m not. I just always want Izumi-kun to think I’m a cute girl.”
Then, she proposed a mysterious condition for exchange.
“I’ll tell you if Izumi-kun goes on a date with me.”
“What do you mean? Were you really such an enigmatic high school girl?”
“It’s not like that but…”
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