Nanao pleaded with both hands covering her mouth in a coy pose.
“No? It’s my first time in the city, so I want someone to be my bodyguard.”
“……..”
That kind of phrasing was extremely sly.
For the kind Izumi, it was hard to refuse such a request. This girl he had only known for about a week already seemed to have seen through that.
“…Alright.”
“Yay! How about this Saturday?”
“Well, I get off work in the afternoon, so after that is fine…”
And so, they coordinated their weekend plans.
Before they knew it, a dense atmosphere hung in the literature club room.
Turning around in surprise, the group that had seemed to be holding a strategy meeting was now staring intently.
Then, in an extremely ill-humored voice, one of them plainly spoke to Izumi.
“Senpai. If you’re going to flirt, please do it elsewhere. This clubroom is not a space for you to bring girls, is it? You may be the president of this literary club, but that’s merely a result of seniority, not an assessment of your character or achievements…”
“Ah, right. Sorry…”
Although it was an outburst, it was an extremely valid point, so Izumi apologized obediently. He knew the scolding would continue endlessly if he didn’t.
Then, Haru took a deep…a very deep breath.
“So, um, it seems you’ve casually made a date…”
Pausing for a moment…she asked in a voice resonating from the depths:
“Are…are you dating her?”
Considering Haru current mindset, that was a rather calm statement.
The problem, however, was that her expression looked like she was on the verge of tears. Her emotions were leaking out so badly that it was impressive she normally maintained such a venomous persona.
Meanwhile, her best friend was secretly taking pictures of that expression on her smartphone, thinking “How amusing.”
As for Izumi, though wondering “How did you know I was asked out?”, he had already convinced himself that it had become quite a commotion.
“No way, I can’t date a girl I just met…”
“…?!”
At those words, Haru reacted with a jolt.
The deep furrows usually etched between her brows momentarily softened into a look of elation.
“I don’t really have a girl I like right now. I’m not looking to date anyone at the moment.”
“~?!”
A devastating counterattack!
It was an unexpected two-staged psychological attack. And he did it so naturally, making it even more vicious. The real demon was on this side.
“……..?!”
As Haru writhed from her unexpected fatal wound, Inori finally felt compelled to intervene out of duty.
She tried to calm the situation while offering a chair to sit on.
“A-Anyway! Since you came all this way, let’s all get along.”
If this continued, Haru would end up in a troublesome situation.
And that wouldn’t lead to a good outcome for Inori. This was an act of discretion – she had been Haru’s best friend since middle school after all.
However, Haru was dissatisfied. Ideally, she wanted to kick Nanao out.
“Inori…”
“Hush, Haru! Now that we know senpai isn’t dating, we can’t give a bad impression!”
“Uu…?!”
Scolded more harshly than expected, Haru reluctantly obeyed.
Watching his underclassmen’s new sides, Izumi was perplexed.
(……I really don’t understand what those girls are thinking.)
The world of girls…was too deep for a virgin like him to comprehend.
And so, after settling down, the regular club activities resumed.
…Or so it should have.
“……..”
“……..”
“Ah, Izumi-kun, don’t turn the page yet.”
“…Got it.”
“……..”
“……..”
“Thank you, you can turn it now.”
“…Got it.”
“~~?!”
The literary club –
to reiterate, it’s just a place to read books and chat.
During reading times, silence tends to flow.
…Today should have been no different.
“Interesting, huh?”
“Y-Yeah…”
“Say, I wonder what will happen to these two characters?”
“Well, it’s still early. Plus, this is a death game story, so I doubt they’ll end up happy…”
Ever since then, Izumi and Nanao have been whispering an ongoing conversation.
They were trying to keep their voices down for Haru and Inori’s sake, but that was only making it more distracting. Especially since these two were…
(Why are we reading the same book…?)
READ THE ORIGINAL TRANSLATION AT LOCALIZERMEERKAT.PAGES.DEV
That’s right.
Nanao has been peeking over at the book Izumi brought, their shoulders pressed right up against each other. The clubroom is cramped to begin with…but still, there’s no need to be this close. Though she seems to think it’s perfectly natural to keep up this position.
They were flirting.
Extremely flirting.
Well, the two of them…or at least Izumi himself didn’t intend to flirt, but from an outsider’s perspective it could only be seen as flirting. In alphabetical terms, they were [FLIRTING].
If their classmate Satou was here, he might shatter the window and rush out to the grounds while shrieking. That’s how much they looked like flirting – far beyond the personal space expected of a new male-female acquaintance of only about a week.
But there was no Satou here to worry about that.
Instead, Haru was puffing out her cheeks with an extremely annoyed aura.
She had been glancing at her smartphone, perhaps feigning nonchalance, but her fingers trembled as she tapped away at her game, making constant mistakes indicated by bone-cracking sounds.
And her best friend Inori…was violently shaking her shoulders. To be honest, she was barely holding it together at the same mental level as Haru. But she couldn’t burst out laughing here, or it would be a problem.
Such a volatile atmosphere.
It didn’t take long for the breaking point to arrive.
After Haru’s resolved expression, a cold voice rang out:
“Why don’t you read your own book?”
Izumi and the others looked up in surprise.
“S-Sorry, were we being loud?”
“Yes. Since this literary club’s activities are grounded in reading, we should devote this reading time seriously without disturbing others.”
She had a huge boomerang stuck in her, yet she remained utterly serious.
It seemed unbelievable that someone who normally just plays smartphone games, even spoiling others with plot details – a huge violation of the rules – could make such a statement.
Izumi smiled awkwardly and said to Nanao beside him,
“Well, you’re here to observe our activities. Don’t you have a book or anything? There was reading time this morning, right?”
“Hmm, I didn’t prepare a book yet.”
“That’s definitely a lie…”
As he wondered what to do, Nanao, as if having a “good idea”, said something unnecessary again.
“Then let’s decide on a signal for when it’s okay to turn the page.”
“Seriously? You’re going to keep going down that path?”
Ideally, he wished she would just get her own book.
Or rather, there was no need to insist on reading. Haru was always just playing mobile games anyway, so he could probably do the same without issue…
Though he was starting to realize Nanao likely wouldn’t listen to that suggestion.
“Okay Izumi-kun, let’s continue reading.”
“If it’ll be quietly, then fine…”
They restarted reading.
Then, suddenly, Nanao placed her hand on Izumi’s thigh.
(……?!?!)
The unexpected action almost made his heart leap out. He barely managed to stifle his voice. If he made a sound here, Haru would probably scold him like he was a pest again.
(Eh? Nanao? What’s going on?)
Ignoring Izumi’s confusion, Nanao stared intently at the book.
Her gaze made it clear she was reading, but…wait, hold on. This position isn’t good. Or rather, did that “signal” from before mean…
–Her hand stroked his thigh slowly.
“…….?!?!?!?!”
This time he barely managed to stop his heart from leaping out.
He may normally get teased by his classmates as “just a pretty face”, but he’s a man of action when it counts. Wait, does he really just have a pretty face…?
As he pondered that, Nanao’s hand continued gently stroking his thigh.
Tracing little circles…yes, that’s it. He recognized that motion. When Izumi was young, his grandparents held a mochi pounding event at their house. While his grandfather worked the mallet, his grandmother kneaded the mochi just like this with deft fingerwork. Was this what they called a feathery touch?
Each time Nanao stroked his thigh, a thrilling tingle travelled to his brain. Is this what that mochi felt back then? It was delicious, especially freshly pounded with homemade anko wrapped around it…no, now wasn’t the time for escapism.
(“Nanao, what are you intending to do…?”)
But of course, there was no answer. She just kept her gaze fixed on the book, continuing to caress Izumi’s thighs.
(“K-K…this is too ticklish…isn’t this going too far? It’s a bit too embarrassing…”)
Once he became aware of it, the sensation became even more sensitive. Whenever Nanao’s shoulder brushed against him, he could feel her body heat. Every time she exhaled, it seemed like he could smell a sweet fragrance.
In this cramped library prep room.
At some point, the air had become humid and muggy.
No matter how quick-witted he was, Izumi was still a healthy high school boy. If a cute girl suddenly made such an intimate advance on him, most of his thoughts would be stolen away. He was in no state to read a book.
And that wave of desire was like a prayer that could not be stopped.
Until then, his face had been blushing red as he stared intently at Nanao’s actions, going “Hawawa…!” The intimate approach from Nanao was extremely adult-like for the fresh middle school graduates. It felt like those American movies right before the man and woman tumble into bed together.
(“Inori! What is this all about!?”)
(“I dunno! Is this normal for high schoolers!?”)
And Nanao, the focus of their attention…
She suddenly looked up and furrowed her brow at Izumi.
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