Although She's a Beautiful Student Council President Who Maintains Her Coolness Towards Everyone, She Wants to Act Spoiled and Lovesick Around Him, Who is Misunderstood by Everyone as a Delinquent - Chapter 5: Closing The Distance ①

The fortune-telling book that Shizuku was reading fell to the floor as if following gravity,…… and in the process, their gazes were intertwined with each other.

What Riku saw in his vision was Shizuku’s face with her cheeks dyed vermillion. It had been a long time since he had seen such an expression on her face.

“D-did you just call my name…? And it seemed like you made a pretty weird voice while doing so…”

On Riku’s right hand, as he uttered these words, was a new history book he was trying to borrow.

Tomorrow and the day after tomorrow, the school was closed. Riku took advantage of the empty after-school hours to visit the library to borrow books for the holiday and to carefully select books.

“I didn’t make any funny noise. It’s all just…..Riku-kun’s imagination”

“You’re still using that name, huh ……?

“……!?”

Shizuku somehow managed to keep her composure, but it was only on the surface. She was so flustered that she mistakenly called him by the wrong name.

“Isn’t your face red, Kujo-senpai?”

“Th-that’s… my autonomic nervous system has been disturbed by the recent stress. I’m not embarrassed by any means.”

“Are you sure you’re okay….? I can escort you to the infirmary if you want?”

“T-thank you. I appreciate your concern, but please don’t worry about it.”

The only reason why Shizuku blushed was because Riku had found out about the way she called him. Before that, the only two reasons why Shizuku blushed were either because she had a fever or because of Riku.

“Also, you can call me by that name, okay? It’s not that I don’t like that name, and I think it’s easier for Kujo-senpai to call me that.”

“H-How unfair… You know, if you say words like that, I can’t possibly refuse…”

“I know you will hesitate to say this, Kujo-senpai, if I don’t say it this way. ….I never thought you would call me like you used to.”

Shizuku had called him “Riku-kun” since elementary school, but that was a long time ago. After entering high school, she changed his name to “you.” No wonder Riku was surprised that Shizuku was still using that name even after two long years and the distance between them.

(T/N: She calls him “貴方”= Anta)

“I-I’ll tell you one thing, …… in this case it wouldn’t be fair for me to be the only one to call you that”

“What do you mean?”

“Ri, Riku-kun….please use the name that you used to..”

“No, no, that’s impossible!”

Riku showed his denial desperately while waving one hand in the air. This was not because he did not want to call her by her old name, but because he was hesitant to change it because of his position as her junior.

“Well, it might have been okay in middle school, but now we’re in high school, aren’t we? There’s no way I can just call Kujo-senpai by your name without any honorifics… If I were to call you by your name without any honorifics, it would sound strange and inappropriate…”

“Even if there’s an age gap, close friends sometimes speak more casually with each other, don’t they? In the end, as long as that person gives permission, there’s no problem at all. In short, I don’t need honorifics from you.”

“E-Even if you say so…”

“Ahem ……. I give you permission.”

Shizuku placed her hand over her mouth and cleared her throat. With a gaze that looked up at Riku due to their height difference, She continued her words to deal the final blow.

“We have been calling each other by our first names and talking to each other for a long time. There is nothing wrong with that. …… or have you really become a Bully? Like the delinquent you are now rumored to be.”

Riku probably didn’t know that Shizuku was choosing her words carefully to fulfill her own request.

“That’s not true, but ……”

“If that’s the case, then you should be able to say it. There’s no reason why you shouldn’t be able to say it.”

“………… Haaa I give up.”

Riku was defeated by the pressure and raised his hands in surrender.

“You’re finally ready to say it.”

“I give up already…”

Riku said, intentionally shrugging his shoulders in a manner that seemed forced, as he said it for the first time in two years.

“Then, just like that time……I will call you Shizuku.”

“…….”

“Eh, erm……May I call you Shizuku?”

“……Pow.”

The only person who heard that fawning voice was the one who uttered it. Riku could not hear it.

However, it was certain that Shizuku, with her entire body stiffened, was visible in Riku’s field of vision without showing any reaction.

“U-um… Can you please give me some response?….. D-did I offend you in any way?”

“I-I-I-I’m sorry. I was just lost in thought… It was a little rude of me…”

Revealing her agitation, Shizuku shook her hair and turned her back to Riku so as not to expose her flustered face. There … Shizuku covered her small face with her hands and writhed in agony.

(Ugh ……. The destructive power is so bad, I can’t …… take it anymore. I shouldn’t have said anything….)

No one would look at Shizuku right now and call her ‘cool’. She was reacting like a damsel in distress despite what she said herself. ……

After all, he just called her name and this is her reaction. …… This ubiquity was a fact that no one knew

“Well, if that’s the case then it’s fine… But calling you ‘Shizuku’ is only allowed when we’re alone together. I would be troubled if you don’t accept that.”

“W-Well… if that’s the case, then instead of just calling me by my first name, could you also stop using honorifics?”

Somehow suppressing her beating heart, Shizuku only patched up the surface and faced Riku once again.

“Stop using honorifics!?”

“That’s right. If you could also speak to me in the same way you used to, without honorifics, then I’ll accept that condition. As Riku-kun also mentioned before, ‘if I stop using honorifics, it would sound weird if I continued to use polite language’.”

Shizuku remembered the past… and felt it more than ever before. The comfort of being called by her beloved without honorifics.

Even though she knows she will be embarrassed, she still wants more than what she has now.

Not only that. This was a chance to get closer to the person she has feelings for than ever before.

“Aren’t you pushing me a bit too hard, ….?”

“The only answer is ‘Hai’ or ‘YES’. Give up.”

(T/N: the capital one is actually written in english in raw)

“……”

But it didn’t work out so well from here. It takes quite some courage to address someone like Shizuku in an informal manner or…. use casual language, even if the person herself says it’s okay.

To Riku who was showing such hesitation, Shizuku lowered her gaze and showed her true self. She was… no, she let it out naturally.

“M-Mou~….Can’t you understand my feeling? I am getting desperate…..”

“U-Understood….”

“I-I….. want you to talk to me the way you used to. I want to go back to the same kind of relationship we had then. Understand that much ….”

Shizuku averted her face and managed to hide her embarrassment, but… her snow-white cheeks were dyed red.

“Heh, if the answer is YES… use informal words.”

“Um ……”

“Muuuu……”

Seeing Riku’s expression of hesitation, Shizuku instantaneously glared at him. ……This action made Riku stop contemplating

“…I-I understand, Shizuku. Is this fine?”

“……yes”

Shizuku felt it. What was gained by letting her true self out.

[The most important thing for you is to show your true self. It’s okay to do it just in front of that person. It can be a shortcut to getting closer to that person, and it can also be a chance to catch their attention.]

The result as per that love horoscope….

“I keep telling you, this tone and stuff only happens when I’m alone with you, Shizuku, okay?”

“Don’t worry, I know.”

“That’s fine then. ……”

“Hey, this feeling… don’t you feel nostalgic?”

“I’m more embarrassed than nostalgic.”

“What are you talking about? Fufufu”

An uncontrollable smile overflowed from happiness.

But …… such a good mood came to an end in an instant.

“… Hmm, yes this. The one that you just dropped.”

After a break in the conversation, Riku picked up the magazine that had fallen to the floor from Shizuku’s hand and dusted it off before returning it.

ーーThe cover of the magazine was exposed by this action.

“Birth date love horoscope……?”

“……!!?

There is no way to escape this. The magazine with such a headline….