After I Started Living Alone, My Place Turned Into a Hangout Spot for Beautiful Girls

Chapter 27: Chieri Sato (Part 4)

It was after I had studied diligently until 9 p.m.

I had come to the convenience store to buy dinner.

“Teruaki-kun, you live alone, but do you always get your meals from the convenience store?”

When I said I was going to the convenience store, Chieri Sato came along with me.

There, in the snack aisle, she asked me that.

“No, I actually go to the supermarket pretty often too. It’s not that far away, distance-wise.”

“How often do you cook for yourself?”

“About once or twice a week, I guess.”

“You seem like you get a decent allowance, so it’s surprising that you cook at all.”

“Well, home-cooked meals just taste better, you know? Plus, if I kept eating nothing but convenience store food that doesn’t seem great for my health, my parents would start worrying about me, right?”

“I see.”

I felt like Chieri and I were getting along better, so I suddenly asked her something that had been on my mind.

“You mentioned you’re aiming for a spot through the designated school recommendation, but you’re smart enough to go for general admission to even tougher schools—don’t you ever think about that?”

“I did consider it, but those famous prep schools are shockingly expensive, aren’t they?”

“Ah, yeah, I started looking into prep schools too, and they’re pretty pricey…”

“So, after thinking it all over, I decided to go for the designated school recommendation. Our family isn’t in a situation where we absolutely can’t afford tuition unless it’s a national university, at least.”

Chieri was so serious.

Then, in a hushed, quiet voice, she leaned in and asked me.

“Is Sakuya aiming for a designated school recommendation or anything?”

“Well, you’re friends who eat lunch together, so you could just ask her.”

“I don’t want things to get awkward, so I can’t.”

“Ah, got it. She probably isn’t aiming for it.”

“That’s a relief. The fewer rivals, the better.”

“By the way, have you told Sakuya that you come over to my place to study?”

Sakuya and Chieri were in the same group.

I often saw them hanging out together during lunch breaks or school events.

“I haven’t told her yet. Besides, we keep the fact that we’re relatives under wraps at school, right? I can’t say something like ‘I went over to Teruaki-kun’s house’ in front of the other girls.”

“Yeah, she’d probably be surprised to find out one of her friends has gotten close to me.”

“…No, actually, I could see her just brushing it off with a calm face, like ‘Oh, I see.'”

“Ah, that pattern’s possible too.”

Chieri and I chatted away while shopping in the convenience store.

That said, we’d wandered around the store long enough by now.

“Alright, time to check out.”

With that, I snatched the gummy candies from Chieri’s hand.

“I’ll buy them myself, you know?”

“You fed me some snacks earlier, right? So this is my way of saying thanks.”

“…You didn’t have to worry about that.”

“You lent me your English notes too. They really helped me get a lot of studying done.”

“In that case, maybe I will let you treat me.”

Chieri said that to me with a smile.

※

It was after we’d bought dinner at the convenience store.

Since it was on the way, I offered to walk Chieri home, and she said sure, that would be great.

So now I was seeing her all the way to her place…

“Even though we’re getting close, how long are you going to keep calling me Sato-san?”

She’d said something a little tricky there.

I had never called a girl other than Sakuya by her first name, so I answered with a wry smile.

“Maybe once we get a bit closer.”

“But I call you Teruaki-kun, so isn’t that fine?”

I thought she was really pushing it, but I hesitantly said the first name of this prim Chieri, whose stylish square glasses suited her short haircut so well.

“Ch-Chieri…”

Oh no. This is seriously embarrassing…

As I felt frustrated from doing something so unfamiliar, Chieri let out a soft chuckle.

“You’re way too nervous. Could it be you’re getting all weirdly aware of me?”

Getting all weirdly aware of me?

Wasn’t it unfair of her to say something like that, which just made me even more aware?

“…Well, I’m a guy, after all.”

“True. By the way, I’m a girl too, so when you called me Chieri, it made my heart skip a beat, fair and square.”

“Come on, the way you say stuff like that—aren’t you after me or something?”

Chieri had deliberately said things to catch my attention.

When I pointed that out lightly, she told me straight-faced.

“I’m not aiming for you yet. Not yet, anyway.”

It was almost like she was saying she might aim for me from here on out.

I couldn’t help asking her.

“When the cultural festival committee almost roped you in and I helped you out—was that really such a big deal that it boosted your opinion of me that much?”

“It’s not the only reason I unexpectedly started liking you, Teruaki-kun. During the sports festival, the way you subtly looked out for me after I sprained my ankle made my heart flutter too. And at the cultural festival, seeing you having fun with your classmates building that haunted house maze—it was so boyish, and kind of cute.”

“…You’ve been watching me a lot, huh.”

It seemed Chieri had been paying close attention to me, which was a little embarrassing.

Then, as if to deliver the finishing blow, she said.

“It’s true that I’ve been watching you enough to think, ‘Maybe I do like Teruaki-kun.'”

This had to be it.

Wasn’t Chieri actually pretty into me?