I Started a Lover-for-Hire Service, And For Some Reason, Only Beautiful Girls Are Requesting Me - Chapter 71: Aira and the School Festival ③

“Wait, what? The final boss has a boyfriend!?”

“Wait, they’re dating!? Seriously!?”

“No way!? For real!?”

“H-Hey, hey, hey, hey! The final boss brought a guy!?”

In front of the yakisoba stall run by Aira’s classmates, the atmosphere was buzzing with excitement.

“Stop calling me the final boss! And he’s not my boyfriend yet!”

This whole commotion started just because Aira had brought a guy along.

Given her bright and sociable personality, she had clearly secured her place in the class. The scene was filled with a strong sense of fun and enjoyment.

“‘Yet’…? Don’t start showing off now!”

“Yeah, yeah! We’ll go tell Ikki!”

“H-Hey, why is Ikki’s name even coming up here…? You guys are just numbers two and three on the attendance list, don’t get ahead of yourselves!”

“That has nothing to do with this!!”

Shouji, student number two, and Saburou, student number three, retorted in perfect unison.

This was one of those classic moments when a familiar person met a new face. Ryoma, completely left out, was saved by a girl working at the stall who noticed and spoke to him.

“N-nice to meet you…”

She had a small, quiet voice and wore a mask, but her large, round eyes left an impression.

“Nice to meet you…Thanks.”

His thanks carried the meaning of appreciation for her making sure he didn’t feel left out.

For Ryoma, who was feeling a little awkward, this was a lifeline. He smiled naturally as he met her gaze.

“N-No…! I just thought this was a chance to talk to you…”

“I appreciate you saying that.”

Given the context, it wouldn’t be surprising to take her words as mere politeness, but in reality, she was a member of that ‘Hot Guy Sighting’ LINE group chat. Despite her delicate appearance, she was quite the hunter.

“S-So, what would you like to order?”

“Ah, give me a second.”

Ryoma held up a hand toward the timid-looking girl and called out,

“Aira, how many servings of yakisoba do you want?”

“Look at that, the final boss’s boyfriend is calling for her!”

“Tell him, ‘As many as my love for you!’”

“Quit messing with me already! One is enough, okay!?”

Aira had once said at a buffet:

“I try to match my friends and eat less. Normally, people would find it weird, right? If I were the only one eating this much at school.”

Since Aira hid the fact that she ate a lot, she probably said “just one” out of habit.

“I’ll take four, then.”

“O-Oh… You’re going to eat three packs of yakisoba, big brother?”

“Aira is in my care, after all. Ah, is eating a lot weird…?”

“N-No, not at all!”

“Hear that, Aira?”

“Hey, don’t drag me into this! That makes no sense!”

Aira, desperate to feign innocence about her appetite, put on a blank expression. Ryoma mimicked her with a teasing “Hmm?” as he took out his wallet.

On average, men consumed more energy than women—this had been proven in studies.

Because of that, the impression of a guy eating three packs of yakisoba was different from a girl doing the same.

Still, if this girl’s words—“Eating a lot isn’t weird”—could even slightly change how Aira felt, then that would be nice… That’s what Ryoma thought.

“Uh, one yakisoba is 300 yen, so your total is… 1200 yen.”

“I don’t have a meal ticket. Is cash okay?”

“Yes, that’s fine!”

It seemed that students at this school used meal tickets, but since Ryoma was an invited guest, he only had cash.

He used a 1000-yen bill and some coins to pay exactly 1200 yen, avoiding the need for change.

“Thank you for the exact amount… P-Please wait a moment.”

The girl fidgeted with something behind the stall.

“Please wait a moment.”

That phrase wasn’t referring to waiting for the yakisoba to be prepared.

“Um, big brother… This is my contact information. If you don’t mind, please message me.”

“…Huh?”

She handed Ryoma a neatly folded square piece of paper.

While he stood there frozen, trying to process the situation, Aira—who had been busy fending off her teasing classmates—happened to glance over.

And then, she bolted over.

“Hey, An! No way! That’s mine!”

“Calling me ‘that’ is a bit much. I’m a human, you know.”

“I-I was trying to be sneaky, but she caught me…!”

“Ugh, what is even happening with you two!?”

“A guy.”

“A masked girl.”

“That’s not what I meant!”

The girl called An understood Ryoma’s playful tone and played along. She even threw him a practiced wink. Ryoma responded with a single blink, as if to say “Not bad.” It was the kind of eye contact that didn’t seem like a first meeting.

“Seriously, Ryoma-senpai, get it together… If you don’t turn people down properly, I’ll start getting anxious, you know?”

Aira lowered her gaze, clearly uneasy. Unlike Ryoma, who showed no signs of remorse, her concern was real. Her hand was gripping Ryoma’s belt.

“Yeah, sorry about that… I was just caught off guard.”

“You promised to stay with me. If you don’t keep that promise…”

As if that wasn’t enough, Aira wrapped her other hand around Ryoma’s arm.

Even in heels, she was still shorter than him. The difference in build made her clinginess seem even more pronounced.

No one at this school had ever seen Aira acting this affectionate before.

“Don’t worry so much. As long as I don’t get, like, a stomachache or something, I’ll be fine.”

“At this rate, I’ll probably end up following you into the men’s restroom too…”

“Haha, that might actually be kind of funny.”

“It’s not funny!”

Aira created a bubble just for the two of them, but Ryoma remained fully aware of their surroundings.

“Well, this was bound to happen.”

“Ah…”

Silence had fallen over the area. From start to finish, their classmates had been quietly observing the whole suspiciously youthful scene, committing every moment to memory.

Noticing their gazes, Aira gently let go of Ryoma and took a step back—then another—subtly increasing the distance between them.

“Aira-chan, that’s not fair… You made it a private moment just for you two.”

The girl who had taken their order was the first to speak.

“Hey, Saburou… Even I, the great me, couldn’t step between them.”

“Shouji… I agree.”

“There it is, Saburou’s ‘I agree’…”

Even the guys who had teased Aira about being a final boss—student numbers 2 and 3—were stunned into submission.

“Oh crap… I totally did that, huh?”

“Also, Aira, that girl with the accent who just happened to come back took a photo of you.”

“Hah!? No way, seriously!? Why didn’t you tell me?”

“She made a ‘shh!’ gesture, so I just kinda… rolled with it.”

“I’m done… I can’t… My school life is over…”

Aira knew who that dialect-speaking girl was. She was the founder and most active member of the ‘Hot Guy Sighting’ Report LINE group.

With an air of despair looming over her, Aira would later rage-eat a yakisoba drowned in extra red pickled ginger…

“Hah…?”

At that very moment, someone was staring at the photo of Ryoma and Aira with wide eyes, their hands trembling.

The ‘Hot Guy Sighting’ Report LINE group had exploded with nearly a hundred messages in response to the photo:

『Khaki coat ikemen’s face secured! Aira-cchi is next to him, but honestly, that makes the photo even better! Saving and sharing is strictly forbidden, ya hear!?』

Immediately after, comments flooded in:

『Whoa, Aira-chan’s got such a soft, girly look here.』
『Damn it, Aira is actually adorable…』
『That devil costume with that expression is lethal. How is that guy just standing there unfazed…?』
『Experience. 100% experience.』
『Hey, stop focusing on Aira-cchi! Appreciate the ikemen!』
『But Aira’s a beauty too, so it’s fine.』
『Yeah, but still!!』

And just like that, the chat exploded into nearly a hundred messages in mere moments.

And in the midst of it all—one particular person, clutching their phone tightly, trembled.

This individual had only joined the group to gather intel on men, all in an effort to cure their older sister’s ex-boyfriend obsession.

But now… now, they had just stumbled upon something far bigger than they ever expected.