I, Who Am Somehow Only Liked by Yanderes, Tried Transferring into a Class Full of Yandere Girls - Chapter 4: The Girl of the Library Committee

After school, I decided to make a detour before heading home.

I arrived at the library located on the fourth floor of the school building.

Amid the bustling noise of students engaged in club activities and chatting in the courtyard, the library maintained a tranquility akin to a separate world.

I was the only one present in this space filled with the scent of books.

Even during the relatively busy lunch break, I’ve never seen all the seats filled. It’s a world farthest from human presence.

I headed to the reception desk to return a book I had borrowed.

There, a petite and slender female student was seated. Bent over, she was deeply engrossed in a thick hardcover book, almost hiding her face.

“Usuki-san.”

“Ahii!?”

Perhaps because she was so focused on her book world.

When I called out to her, she jolted in surprise. The hardcover book fell from her hands, stabbing the spine onto the top of her indoor shoes.

“Uhyaaa!?”

“Are you okay!?”

The girl is writhing on the wooden floor like a caterpillar.

Her ink-like black hair covered her eyes, and her small, frail body seemed so delicate that it might break if touched too firmly.

She — Sayoko Usuki — was my classmate and a library committee member.

“Ah, Aiji-kun…”

“Sorry. I didn’t mean to startle you.”

“No, don’t worry about it… It’s my fault for reading a book during work hours…” Usuki-san argued, blaming herself.

She looked a bit teary-eyed.

“I came to return a book I borrowed.”

I took a paperback novel from my school bag and placed it on the reception desk.

Usuki-san picked it up, and with a timid upward glance, she asked.

“How was it…?”

“It was really interesting. I meant to take my time with it, but once I started, I couldn’t stop and finished it in a day.”

“……..!”

“That’s Usuki-san’s recommendation for you. Never a miss.”

“F-fuhi.”

Usuki-san gave a stiff smile.

“I’m glad you enjoyed it.”

In one corner of the library, there was a recommended books section.

The library committee members had selected recommended books, each displayed with a comment.

Not all members of the library committee were avid readers. Some joined because it seemed easy, never having read a single book.

Therefore, Usuki-san, with her overwhelming amount of reading, was solely responsible for selecting the books.

“I only read light novels before high school, but thanks to Usuki-san, I’ve discovered many other interesting books.”

“That’s too kind of you to say…”

“Your recommendation comments are always intriguing and spot on. You could win a ‘Bibliobattle’ or something, right?”

“I don’t think I could do that.”

“Don’t you think so?”

“I can write well, but I can’t speak in front of others…”

She’s shy around people.

I remember she didn’t talk much in class either.

“Do you know what book you’d like to borrow next?”

“Not yet.”

“Well, if it’s okay, how about this one?”

Usuki-san hesitantly pulled out a book.

“This is a book I’ve recently read and found very interesting. It’s about a boy who plays chess. Since you mentioned you liked ‘The Queen’s Gambit’ before, you might enjoy it.

I looked at the cover, which depicted an elephant standing on a chess piece and a boy perched on a circular ring.

“But when did I tell you I watched ‘The Queen’s Gambit’?”

“Eek!?”

Usuki-san looked flustered.

“I happened to overhear you talking about it with a friend…”

“Oh, I see.”

That makes sense.

“Isn’t this a personal book, not a library one?”

“It’s okay. I bought it to spread the word. I haven’t touched it at all. It’s perfectly clean.”

“I’m not worried about that.”

“I bought it especially for you.”

“For me?”

“Uhee!?”

It seemed Usuki-san regretted speaking too much and hurriedly tried to explain.

“That was just a figure of speech… As a fellow book lover, I wanted you to read it. It’s not like I have ulterior motives…!”

“It’s okay, I understand.”

Usuki-san was frantically gesturing to explain, and I responded with a laugh.

“Then I’ll gladly borrow it.”

I put the book she handed me into my school bag.

“I’ll tell you what I think after I’ve read it.”

“I’ll be waiting.”

As I was about to leave the library, I saw the librarian teacher in the hallway.

“Hello,” I greeted.

“I’ve been watching for a while now, and it’s the first time I’ve seen the shy Usuki-san open up to someone like that.”

“Well, we are classmates.”

A classmate of the library committee—Usuki-san, is a fellow student I interact with, and she’s also a quiet, considerate, and wonderful girl. I don’t see any signs of her being troubled.