I Was Unreasonably Dumped By My Girlfriend And Had My Heart Broken. When I Rescued A Beautiful Girl Who Was My Former Classmate And Idol In My Class From A Group Of Yarisa, My Gray College Life Started To Shine - Chapter 64

Episode 64: We’re Dating

“Hey, it’s been a while since the day before yesterday, my best friend Nogami~”

“…I don’t remember ever becoming your best friend.”

“Oh, come on! After such an intense bowling match, we’re practically buddies, right? Haven’t you ever read high school baseball manga? Rivals become friends after the game.”

“I’ve seen those, but bowling doesn’t really pack the same punch.”

It was Sunday, and I was meeting Hayashi again.

The reason was not revenge for losing due to his borderline cheating and having to treat him to a half-size portion of ramen set with various toppings like chashu (sliced pork) and nori (seaweed).

Instead, it was for our club activity meeting.

Today’s activity was volunteering to provide educational support for high school and middle school students.

The meeting time was set for 2 PM for everyone.

However, for some reason, only the first-year students were called in at 1 PM, so we were gathering in front of the station to head to the community center together.

Even in university, boys and girls tended to naturally segregate into separate groups.

Boys walked in front, while girls followed behind.

Suddenly, I felt a tap on my left shoulder from one of the girls. I turned around to see one of the flashy, blonde, pierced girls.

Despite her flashy appearance, she was from a rural part of Nagoya, with a house surrounded by forests—a city gal through and through.

Her name was Yuzu Sanda. It’s “Sanda,” not “Mita.” A familiar name for Kansai folks.

She was grinning mischievously, peering into my face as she walked beside me.

…She looked like one of those street solicitors.

The type that aggressively tries to pull you into an izakaya illegally.

I wanted to escape, saying I already had a reservation somewhere.

“…What is it?”

“There’s no particular reason, so don’t worry about it.”

But I had a pretty good idea of the reason.

I glanced back.

There, surrounded by girls, blushing and looking shy, was Hikari.

Our eyes met for a moment.

Her face flushed, and she tightly shut her eyes, making it all too obvious.

We had agreed not to spread the news of our relationship too recklessly…

But seeing her flustered like that, she probably spilled the beans right away.

Well, it was bound to be known eventually anyway.

“…Yeah, we’re dating.”

I told Sanda.

Then, from behind, I heard excited voices, “I knew it!”, “See, I told you!”, “Mission accomplished!”

…They had clearly set me up.

It seemed Hikari hadn’t given anything away.

“Nice job, Sanda. You nailed it.”

“Well, it’s a piece of cake for me.”

While Sanda chatted with Hayashi across from me, I felt a poke from behind.

I turned around to see Hikari glaring sharply.

“Why did you say that?”

With her slightly puffed cheeks, she looked more cute than scary.

I slowed my pace to walk beside her.

“They already knew. Besides, you’re too obvious.”

I tried to soothe her.

“…Well, it’s my first time having a boyfriend. I didn’t know how to handle it and couldn’t hide it well.”

“Yeah, I’m not blaming you. I was the one who said it anyway.”

“Hmph, you’re acting all calm. It’s annoying. Just because I’m your second girlfriend, you’re acting like a senior!”

“I’m not acting like that. Just…”

I glanced around.

As soon as I did, several people averted their gaze.

I walked a bit more, then looked around again, and once again, eyes turned away.

We were completely the center of attention.

This made even simple conversations difficult.

Even though I thought I had outgrown this in high school, my mentality was still that of a former loner. I couldn’t handle being the focus of so many eyes.

I clammed up, and Hikari seemed equally shy, fidgeting.

And this only made us more of a spectacle for everyone.

This staring contest continued until we arrived at our destination, the community center.

We entered and headed to the room reserved for our club, ‘Tiana.’

From outside, the lights were already on.

We nodded to each other, then.

“Excuse us!”

Led by Hayashi, we entered the room and were met with a surprise.

There were booklets, pens, and answer sheets placed on each seat.

At the back, our senior members, Nagano, the president, and Shizuoka, the vice-president, sat.

“Welcome, first-years! Take a seat!”

President Nagano, arms crossed and eyes closed, said in his usual overly passionate and somewhat hard-to-understand manner.

So, our eyes turned to the petite senior beside him, Vice-President Shizuoka.

“…Today, we’re doing a test to assess how well you can tutor high and middle school students. Based on the results, we’ll decide the assignments.”

So, that’s why only the first-years were called in early.

“By the way, the test is divided into humanities and sciences. The questions are based on past university exams and the common test. It’s a masterpiece of my effort!”

“…Please don’t tell me it’s a wasted effort.”

Ignoring the comedic duo, the first-years started murmuring.

“I didn’t hear about any test,” grumbled Hayashi, while Sanda seemed slightly excited, saying, “A test, huh? It’s been a while.”

And as for Hikari—

“Mmmm, Leviathan, Absolute Monarchy, Rousseau……”

She was muttering to herself, looking serious.

Those are some oddly specific bits of knowledge.
“You’re wrong, slightly. It’s not Rousseau, it’s Hobbes.”
I corrected her without thinking and then realized.

Rousseau, social contract theory… is it because she’s in the department of sociology?

No, that’s a stretch. She’s probably just flustered by the sudden test announcement.

“Oh, right, that’s it… It always gets so messy.”

“I remember it as ‘Hop Step Leviathan’, now that I think about it.”

I casually muttered as I looked for a nearby seat.

But then I felt the atmosphere freeze and turned around.

Hikari was giggling, almost bursting out laughing.

“Stop it, Keito! What kind of mnemonic is that!”

“…Eh, what? Is that weird?”

When I asked, everyone, including the other members, nodded.

…Sure, it was my unique way of remembering it. But I didn’t expect it to be this funny.