In This World That Favors Men, I... ~Starting a Sweet School Life in a World With a 1:8 Gender Ratio~ - 131

Chapter 131: Letter

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“I-I like you! Please read my feelings!”

“This… This is for me?”

A letter was suddenly handed to me in the morning when I was at the ticket gate. The girl kept her face down the whole time, and she walked away almost immediately, so I didn’t get a good look at her when I received it. But when I turned back, our eyes met for just a moment. 

I was certain I didn’t imagine that. Our eyes really met for a moment. I’m pretty sure I didn’t imagine that. She was really pretty, but I felt like I had seen her somewhere before. Where could it have been?

“Onii-chan, maybe you should put the letter away?”

“Ah! You’re right.”

Still puzzled, I put the letter into my bag and headed to school with Yui and Sanae-chan.

“We’ve seen that girl at the station a few times before, haven’t we?”

“Eh, really?”

“Yeah. I figured you hadn’t noticed, Onii-chan. But you know, the white uniform from St. Catherine’s really stands out. So I don’t think I’m mistaken.”

“I feel like I might’ve seen her a few times too.”

What was St. Catherine’s uniform looked like again? I could only vaguely remember it being white. But if both Yui and Sanae-chan said so, then it must be true. In that case, maybe I saw her at the exchange event?

“I should’ve seen it at the March exchange event, but I don’t remember the St. Catherine’s uniform at all.”

Well, it was half a year ago and I was never good at remembering girls’ clothes or hairstyles.

“That girl from this morning… Since there were a bunch of witnesses, I think the rumor will spread all over school really fast. It might not be my place to say this, but I think you should at least give the upperclassmen a heads-up.”

“Yeah. I’ll do what I can.”

That was what I said, but… I had no idea how to handle it. A letter. From a girl. Hmm. How was I supposed to explain this? I was already struggling to reply to the letter I got at school a while ago.

Well, I’ll think about the one I got this morning after I read it, but now that it’s come to this, maybe I should recheck the older letter too. 

Back then I had just transferred and wasn’t even sure who gave it to me. But now, I should be able to figure it out one way or another.

＊

I could really feel the stares around me—especially from the three girls I was dating. But I still couldn’t say anything.

Am I a coward?

I was certain Yui was going to call me a coward once we were home.

But what am I even supposed to say? “A girl from another school told me she likes me and gave me a love letter…” How am I supposed to say that with a straight face?

Besides, leaving the older letter unopened all this time was a problem in itself. I really shouldn’t report anything until I had checked the other letters.  Using the excuse that I only had morning classes today, I headed straight home. Now, I was searching my room. It wasn’t in the closet. I definitely didn’t throw it away. 

That means…

“Found it. This must be it!”

I dragged out a suspicious-looking paper bag from under my bed. Bingo.

“Still, there’s a lot.”

I tipped the paper bag over and letters poured out in a heap. All in cute envelopes—pink and light blue. First, I should sort them into people I knew and people I didn’t.

“Found it! Yuuko Kobayakawa—Yuu’s letter.”

Before I finished checking everything, I also found letters from Coco and Shizu. All three of them had written me letters. A few were from other girls in Class A, too. Good thing I checked. I needed to read those three’s letters and write proper replies first.

I started with Yuu’s.

《To Takeda-kun,

Are you surprised by this sudden letter? But I just couldn’t help writing it. The moment I saw you, I felt something like fate blossoming between us…》

Fate, huh. To be honest, I didn’t feel anything like that. However, I thought it was cute how she tried so hard to talk to me and how she looked genuinely happy when she talked about baking. That sort of easygoing comfort I felt around her made me imagine Yuu standing in a kitchen after we were married. That image just came to me naturally. That was what made the decision for me.

Next was Coco’s.

《To Takeda-kun,

I want to get to know you! That’s why I wrote this letter. I don’t know why, but I have this feeling. Like our wavelengths match. I feel like we could be in sync. So I’m going to talk to you a lot from now on! This is the first step…》

This letter was very Coco-like. Coco was really easy to talk to. She could get close to you like it was the most natural thing in the world, even when you had just met her. That said, her amazing figure was kind of overwhelming. I always ended up getting flustered whenever I found myself distracted by her figure. This gap was also part of Coco’s charm. I had a feeling when we became old and gray, she’d still stick close to me without getting too clingy and she’d just laugh it off when I zone out. I believed this was what drew me to her. 

Now Shizu’s.

《To Takeda-kun,

Nice to meet you. I’m Shizu Takahashi. My friends call me Shizu, so I’d be happy if you did too. Ah, but… Maybe you can only do that after we get to know each other better? I hope we can become friends, even if it’s just a little bit. I don’t stand out much, so I probably have to be more proactive than usual for you to notice me…》

I was surprised to find a letter from Shizu. I believed the first time I became aware of her was during last summer, when she fed me during that “say ahh” moment at Imagawa-kun’s villa.

Until then, I just thought, “She seems like a serious girl.”

But she was really endearing, especially the way she earnestly chased her goals.  I was always drawn to girls who were always trying their best. Even though she had written that she didn’t stand out much, she was the kind of person who made bold moves when it counted—like with the “say ahh” moment or the “kabedon.” That little bit of oddness had been part of her charm too.

I’m really lucky.

Of course, I intended to write a proper reply for all three of them. I wanted to put everything I just thought into words.  As for everyone else… Maybe just a message card?

There were over 200 letters when I counted. They were more than a year old, so maybe I didn’t even need to reply at this point… 

I’m not sure… I guess I’ll ask Yui what she thinks.

Now then. I’d finished reading all the letters I got at school. The only one left was the one I got this morning. I took the letter that had been handed to me directly from my bag.  It was in a fairly formal envelope: white with a light blue border.

“I like you! Please read my feelings!”

The scene from earlier came back to me.

That girl had the same desperate energy I saw in the three girls on Valentine’s Day. Her hand holding the letter looked like it was trembling a little. It must’ve taken a lot of courage to confess like that in front of everyone. It was probably like jumping off a cliff for someone from a refined school like St. Catherine’s.

…Let’s read it.

《To Yuusei Takeda-sama,

I’m sure this sudden confession and letter surprised you. I first met you during the exchange event. I was part of the student council at the time, and in the waiting room before the event…》

So we did meet at the exchange event. And she was on the student council. There were a lot of people in that room back then, and I was so focused on giving my introduction as the representative that I didn’t have any room to pay attention to anyone else.

《……I love you. Not because of any reason or logic—just as a person, and even more so as someone of the opposite sex, I found myself drawn to you in a way that even I found strange. But I figured I wasn’t even on your radar, just someone you barely brushed past—and so, I tried to be content just watching your smile from afar. But I finally realized I was only fooling myself.》

It looked like what Yui and the others had said about spotting her at the station had been correct.

《I want to tell you how I feel. No matter what the outcome, I want to throw this feeling—this first emotion I’ve ever been truly aware of—straight at the one I love: you. I want to be near you, even if it’s only for a little bit. I want to exchange words with you, if I can. That’s why I’m going to do my best to get into the same university as you. If I succeed, it’ll be a fresh start from zero, but I want you to get to know me. So… Is it okay if I call out to you?》

…Yeah. Receiving such a sincere letter—I couldn’t just ignore it. But… What should I write in response? I didn’t even know who she was, and that made things a bit tricky. Also, how was I supposed to give her my reply?

I turned over the envelope and the stationery looking for clues, but all that was written was a name: Maya Yamagata-san.

This was a problem… There was no address. I couldn’t mail it. Ugh. The tone of the letter made her seem like a really put-together girl, but was she actually a little klutz too? Or maybe she had forgotten to attach her address?

If I went to the university, I might be able to meet her, but I had to find some way to get my response to her before that.

…Wait, hold on. She doesn’t even know which university I’m aiming for, right? So how exactly is she going to enroll into the same university as me…?

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