I’m a Telepath, but It’s Tough Because the Cool Beautiful Girl Next to Me Is Having Pink Thoughts - Chapter 19

They say time flies, and a week has already passed since then. The test was now right around the corner.

Everyone had their own feelings about it, but as expected, most of the people who had organized that study session were now panicking at the last minute.

Well, these kinds of people usually just go, “Finally done! lol” after the test and head off to karaoke. Then they repeat the same cycle of panic for the next test.

Truly, they were the type to forget the heat once it’s past their throat. I didn’t honestly care what became of them.

Come to think of it, that study session between me and Tatsuki seemed like it might stir up some jealousy among the guys, but nothing surprisingly really came of it.

My friendship with Tatsuki remained intact, so jealousy persisted, but I rarely heard anything about us studying together.

When I casually asked Tatsuki, she said, “I haven’t told anyone about you yet.”

Of course, I had no intention of spreading it, so it stayed a secret. Thanks to that, the harsh looks from others gradually eased up.

…Though, there were apparently some downsides too.

“I’m sorry for making you wait…”

“Ah, no, it’s fine.”

As I studied at the same desk in the library as before, someone appeared next to me───No, I already sensed them through telepathy.

“How’s it going?”

“Hmm, not bad, I guess. And you… Maybe a little rough?”

Anyone who’d come looking for me was either Chihiro or Tatsuki.

My study sessions with her ran every day of the week except Sunday. I had suspected it wouldn’t just be a one-time thing, and I was right.

But the studying went well, and none of the guys gave me a hard time, as I said, so it wasn’t bad for me overall.

“…Yes, it’s hard to get people to leave.”

“Yeah~… I guess so.”

She looked frustrated as she said it, and I nodded along even though there wasn’t really any situation that made me want to chase people away.

“Still, I’m not used to dealing with guys… It’s the result of not having much contact in fifteen years…”

“I think it’s the guys’ fault for crowding around so much.”

“But I understand why they want to be friends, and I want to build a good relationship too…”

Over the past week, Tatsuki had been getting a lot of attention from the guys.

Unfortunately, it seemed that seeing her get along with someone like me, a plain and not-so-cool guy, made them think, “Maybe I can do better! Maybe I’m better for her!?”

And so, one by one, the boys in class started showing off to her.

Having gone to all-girls schools for both elementary and middle school, dealing with all this attention from guys seemed to be really wearing her out. She started looking more and more drained.

…Well, her usual poker face had just gotten a little sharper, but the guys didn’t notice and kept hitting on her anyway.

“I’m a little tired… but the test starts tomorrow, so I can’t complain.”

“…I see.”

Thinking that I might be part of the reason made me feel a little guilty.

But there was no way I could tell her to stop; it probably would have triggered even more jealousy. And I wasn’t exactly the type to sacrifice myself for others.

“Let’s not push ourselves too hard. If you’re tired, it’s no good to overdo it. Especially with a test tomorrow, we shouldn’t stress ourselves out too much.”

“…You’re right.”

As she pulled out her study materials, Tatsuki gave a little nervous smile.

“I’m glad he’s being considerate…”

I could clearly hear her thoughts.

“…I don’t feel nervous at all with Itsumi-san. Actually, it’s really comfortable…this feeling───”

At that point, I stopped focusing on her.

The next words were probably ones that would have been awkward or even inconvenient for both of us.

—

Shaking off our fatigue, we continued studying while taking turns teaching each other.

By the time we finally took a break, the clock showed six o’clock again.

We would normally take a short rest and keep going for another hour or so. But as I’d mentioned to her earlier, tomorrow was the test.

Studying too long now might do more harm than good.

“Let’s call it for today.”

“…Right. Tomorrow’s the real thing, so we should get some proper rest.”

She agreed after glancing at the clock.

She wrapped up the problem we’d been working on and began packing up to leave. I did the same, stashing my notebooks and pens into my bag.

“Shall we go?”

“Yes, let’s.”

“I wish we could’ve talked a little more today…”

I felt her thoughts, but the bag on her back seemed to gently stop the rest. We headed together toward the library exit.

“You think you’ll be okay for tomorrow?”

“Hmm, I guess. I should manage English and classical literature. Biology’s a bit tricky, though…”

“You know, I taught you biology, so you’d better get a good score.”

She kept her usual serious poker face, but I guessed she was joking.

Studying together had seemed to loosen her up a bit. She even made small jokes now, which showed we were growing closer.

Whether that closeness was inconvenient for me or a good thing, I wasn’t entirely sure.

“I know… what about Tatsuki-san? Not just for tomorrow, but in general?”

“I’m not worried at all. I used to struggle with math, but Itsumi-san helped me step by step.”

She narrowed her eyes with a smile.

Honestly, she was nearly perfect in everything except math. Even that was just from a lack of practice. If she worked through enough problems, a perfect score wouldn’t have been surprising.

So it was true, Tatsuki really was smart.

That made me wonder, did these study sessions even matter for her at all?

“You know, I think Tatsuki-san could’ve handled math just fine without me.”

“That’s not true. Even if that were the case, I don’t know if I could’ve gotten this far on my own.”

“Really?”

“Really. Besides… I was able to push myself because I was with Itsumi-san.”

I thought, she’s started joking in that weird way again…

“…I see.”

But now that I could hear her thoughts, all I could do was give a vague and automatic reply.

Tatsuki seemed to pick up on that, too. She just stayed quiet for a moment and then said softly, “Yes,” as if confirming my words.

The dim hallway we walked through was filled with an awkward silence.

We eventually reached the school’s front entrance.

We opened our personal shoe lockers and swapped into our indoor shoes.

Because of our seating arrangement, I could feel Tatsuki a few steps behind me as she changed her shoes. It was strangely intense. I stepped ahead and passed through the entrance.

Even though the days were getting longer, the sky was already starting to darken.

“Shall we go?”

Tatsuki switched into her black loafers. “Yeah,” I replied with a small nod.

We stepped out from under the roof of the entrance, into the sky that was darker than twilight.

Then—

“H-huh…?”

A cold sensation ran across the top of my head, spreading slowly over my scalp.

I looked up instinctively, and there it was, as if it had been waiting for us.

How perfectly timed and inconvenient.

Countless droplets of water were falling from the dark sky.