I Started a Lover-for-Hire Service, And For Some Reason, Only Beautiful Girls Are Requesting Me - Chapter 16: Aira's Day After and Ryoma's Scarf

The following Friday. The temperature was 8°C, a cold that chilled her entire body.

Students heading to high school tried to warm up by blowing air into their hands or rubbing their shoulders with both hands.

Among them, Aira was different.

She walked to school so happily that she forgot all about the cold.

The reason for her happiness—around Aira’s neck was something wrapped around it.

It was the Burberry scarf that Ryoma had forgotten yesterday.

(I like this. This is really nice…)

She covered the lower half of her face with the scarf and slightly grinned. It was warm, and it still smelled nice. Just having this made her feel like all of the loneliness had disappeared.

Even when she arrived at school, Aira entered the classroom still wearing the scarf.

“Good morning!”

“Good morning!”

Aira’s school arrival time was 30 minutes before the morning extracurriculars. The classroom seats were still mostly empty. A few classmates, the usual ones, were there. Everyone returned her greeting.

“Oh, Aira.”

“Wait, what’s up with your voice… It’s super raspy. Hilarious.”

The voice that called out while Aira put her things into her individual locker came from one of the popular group members, Ikki.

The rest of the group, Shoji and Saburo, hadn’t arrived yet… In fact, Ikki had a thing for Aira.

To have a chance to talk to her, he set his phone’s alarm early every day to arrive at school before anyone else.

“You went to karaoke yesterday, right? You must’ve sung too much.”

“You’re an idiot… You should’ve bought throat lozenges, you know? Your voice sounds pretty bad. If you don’t have money, I can buy them for you.” 

She raised her finely shaped eyebrows, slightly furrowed, with a worried expression.

Despite her gyaru appearance, she wasn’t much different from anyone else on the inside. In fact, because she had often been in a lonely position, she had an extraordinary amount of thoughtfulness.

“But, hey, if you sang a lot, you must’ve felt better, right?”

“Ah, yeah…”

“That’s good, isn’t it? It must have been worth ruining your throat for.”

“…”

Aira was popular.

There was a shadow of a boyfriend in Aira’s life.

Aira had turned down karaoke.

Ikki was still feeling a bit of heartbreak.

Aira, of course, had no idea that Ikki had sung his heart out for all these reasons, and she smiled without a care.

“By the way, I’ve been thinking this for a while… Aira, since when were you wearing that scarf?”

Ikki pointed at the scarf around Aira’s neck.

“Oh, you noticed? Isn’t it nice? It’s super warm.” 

“Where did you get that from…?” A shadow passed over his face.

The thought of a relationship… Ikki, who had a bad feeling about it, naturally lowered his tone, though his raspy voice didn’t make it sound strange.

“Did you buy it yourself… or something?” 

“No, no. It’s just that I’m borrowing it… But I’m definitely going to ask for it next time. It’s kind of inconvenient without it. It’s like a good luck charm.” 

She tightly held the scarf with both hands, giving it a gentle look in her eyes. The gesture felt like saying, “I’m not going to give it to anyone else.”

“…”

Ikki, who was looking at Aira, was stunned.

(Huh? She looks so happy… What’s with that expression? I’ve never seen that before… Who could she have borrowed the scarf from to look like that? A girl? No, it can’t be a girl… Right? Then, a guy…? A guy!?)

The moment he realized, all his strength drained from his body. He barely managed to control his body, which felt like it was about to collapse.

“H-Huh…”

That was all he could manage to say. Well, her reaction didn’t confirm it was a guy, after all.

“I’m thinking of not taking this off during class. I might get in trouble though.”

“…You really don’t want to take it off that badly?” 

“I’m saying something really girly, but you don’t want to separate from something that belongs to someone you love, right?”

“—Guh!”

Suddenly, Ikki clutched his chest and let out a sound like a frog being squashed.

‘Something that belongs to someone important’—those words hit Ikki’s heart like a knife.

“Huh?” 

“…N-No… It’s nothing.” 

“Oh, if I just keep it on my lap, the teacher won’t say anything, right? I can just say it’s a lap blanket.” 

“T-That sounds like a good plan…” 

He tried to act normal, but sweat was trickling down his face. That single statement had been enough to deal him serious mental damage.

“Oh, right! Wanna smell this scarf? It smells really nice!” 

“N-No, I’m good…” 

If it had been Aira’s scarf, he wouldn’t have hesitated. But this was the belonging of someone important to Aira. His emotions were complicated—he couldn’t bring himself to do it.

“You’re missing out~ Mmm…”

Aira let out a sweet sigh as she deeply inhaled the scent, her expression completely relaxed, as if she were basking in the presence of someone she adored.

No one had ever seen her like this before. It was painfully obvious how much she had grown attached to the scarf.

“H-Hey, Aira… Y-You turned down karaoke with us yesterday, right? W-What exactly was that plan you had?”

Even with his face twisted in anxiety, Ikki wasn’t ready to give up just yet.

He still clung to the possibility that the someone important Aira mentioned was just another girl.

If that were the case, he might still have a chance.

“Are you really that curious?” 

“W-Well… I just… I really wanted to go to karaoke with you…” Ikki admitted, averting his gaze.

“Hmm? Ikki, do you like me or something?”

“W-Wh-Wh-What?! Of course not! Just as a friend!” 

“You don’t have to get that worked up, you know. But, honestly, that’s on you. You were totally giving off that vibe.”

Aira had been confessed to before. She had been hit on before. She knew how to read people. She wasn’t the type to be oblivious.

“T-That’s just your misunderstanding.”

“Oh no, did I make you feel self-conscious? My bad, my bad.” 

“I-It’s fine, I don’t really mind… But, uh, what was that thing you had to do yesterday…?”

“Hmm… To put it simply, I went to see a hero who protects me, and we made a little promise.”

Aira, quick-witted as ever, kept her words vague. Technically, it wasn’t a lie.

That hero was someone she had paid to play the role of her big brother.

She wasn’t breaking any laws, but she knew better than anyone that this wasn’t something to go around telling people.

This kind of relationship was unusual. She couldn’t afford to let any outsiders stir up trouble. If anything went wrong, the agreement could be canceled.

Because she was looking ahead carefully, Aira chose to keep it a secret.

“A h-hero…?” 

“Yep. Someone who understands me better than anyone else, someone who spoils me no matter what… Honestly, I guess it’d be more accurate to just say I love him (as my big brother, of course). Ugh, this is embarrassing…” Aira laughed, her cheeks tinged with color.

“I see… So that’s how it is…”

Ikki bit his lip, his expression darkening.

The faint hope that Aira’s important person might be a girl had completely vanished. In that moment, he was certain—it was a guy.

“…Thanks, Ikki. It really means a lot.”

“Huh?”

Without warning, she closed the distance between them and placed a hand on his shoulder.

“You know, I’m actually super sharp,” she smirked before continuing, her tone playful. “Ikki, your feelings? Totally obvious. You idiot.”

“Wha—?! Wh-WHAAAT?!”

Ikki’s scream shook the entire classroom.

But really, who could blame him? His feelings—his so-called crush—had been completely exposed.