Chapter 63: I Can See My Fiancee

TL: lime
ED: Spynine01

Fifth period was Japanese class.

The teacher in charge of the class was Minami-sensei, the same person who has been my homeroom teacher for two years in a row.

Her lessons are not particularly boring. Nor is it very difficult to understand. In fact, it’s probably one of the easiest subjects to understand.

And yet, a third of the class were keeping their heads down, not out of any ill will however.

Minami-sensei’s classroom voice is very gentle and enveloping, it’s as if she were a celestial maiden playing a harp and singing a peaceful lullaby.

Combined with such a voice, and the double punch of the afternoon class being right after lunch, it was inevitable that I too would feel sleepy.

I, too, was paddling the boat between the two realms, listening to the teacher’s voice while the yakitori-don from earlier was running through my body.

However, I don’t want to sleep as much as possible because I like Minami-sensei as a teacher.

“――because it goes like this, the subject matter here is――”

I could see feathers cover sensei’s body as she read the textbook out aloud.

“Isshiki-kun.”

“Woah.”

When I let out a strange voice, Minami-sensei glared at me.

“Were you sleeping?”

“What? I wasn’t sleeping.”

“Then what’s the subject here?”

“Uh… it’s Gonzaburonosuke.”

“Correct…!”

Hey, hey. Don’t look so frustrated right after I told you the correct answer.

But, well, I managed to endure it.

When Sensei hit me with a question, I woke up a little, so I looked out the window and saw that the girls’ PE was being held on the outdoor field.

I tend to pay attention to girls’ P.E. Why? It’s because I’m a boy.

As I looked at the girls’ P.E. with such perverted eyes, it seemed that today’s activity was about soccer.

The girls were running all over the field.

However, the level of the girls in our school is really high. While the boys are not as good. I don’t mean to be rude but that’s just the case…

It’s a sight for sore eyes to see so many cute girls playing soccer in their gym uniforms. It’s a feast for the eyes.

The girl with the ponytail who shines the brightest among them was absolutely beautiful even from this distance.

She is super adorable. You can tell just from her backside, she’s an absolute cutie.

――Is… is that…Shiori?

The atmosphere that she gave out was somehow just like Shiori’s, so I looked closely at the girl with the ponytail.

The moment she turned her body toward the school building, I knew without a doubt that it was Shiori.

What… that’s Shiori… No wonder she seems so cute. I was a little scared, thinking that someone better than Shiori had suddenly appeared at the school.

But… If anyone could surpass her looks――.

I glanced at the very back of the hallway side of the classroom.

For some reason, the owner of that seat was sleeping with a very good posture.

――I’m sure she’ll get a red mark if she does that again… ――I mean, isn’t it simply too painful? Sleeping with that posture…?

I return my gaze to the girl’s PE class.

Fumu… But still, Shiori with a ponytail also looks very good… I’m not a fan of ponytails in general, but I do like the way Shiori wears her ponytail.

Come to think of it… Shiori’s hair hangs down even at home. She doesn’t tie it up when she cooks either, which is probably a pretty rare sight. Would she do her hair differently if I asked?

Just like her hair, her ponytail swished like a horse’s tail wagging when she ran, and even Captain Tsubame¹It’s a Captain Tsubame reference, a football/soccer manga would be amazed at her dribbling.

The ball is more than a friend, the ball was snugly attached to her legs like a stalker, dodging the defense beautifully.

And then, just like Tsubame-kun’s rival Hinata’s special shot, The Tiger Shot, she shot a powerful shot and was pulled by the surrounding girls in a splendid fashion.

No, that’s just normal. You’re playing soccer better than the actual soccer team.

As I was leaning on my elbow and making a bitter face, Shiori stopped and gazed at the school building.

Like a professional soccer player appealing to the supporters when they score a goal. No wait, she’s staring in my direction.

――Is it possible that she’s aware of my presence…?

No, no, no way.

It’s easy to look at a person on the field from the classroom, but finding a specific person in the classroom from the ground? Now that’s impossible.

Besides, she said that her eyesight has been getting worse lately, and she’s even been using a Landolt ring for practive. Someone like that can’t find――.

――It’s… those eyes… that don’t match? No way… right?

I’m going to try waving my hand a bit…

I waved my hand in a small gesture, and Shiori also waved her hand in a small gesture.

Ahaha… It’s just a coincidence right…?

The next step is to change the direction, and if you make the hand swing irregularly, then Shiori will also make the same hand swing.

Seriously, can she actually see me?! Is that guy an ostrich or something? She’s lying about her eyesight, isn’t she?

I’m stunned by her eyesight, and my voice leaked out, “Ah…”

I gesture for her to look forward, and she does the same.

Ya! Wrong! That’s not what I―.

Bang!

The ball flies straight into Shiori’s face, and she catches it with her whole face.

The ball went right into the net for Shiori’s second goal.

One more goal and it would be a hat trick, but I could see people gathering around, probably to have a player change.

I don’t know if Shiori is protecting her character or not, but she gives a shout to her classmates around her and leaves the field coolly. ――with a nosebleed.

I almost laughed a little at that sight, but I held it in. Because I could notice Shiori glaring at me――.

♢

It’s break right after Japanese class. I quickly leave the classroom.

If I were to go somewhere during this delicate break, it would be to the restroom or the vending machine.

But right now, it was neither of the two.

My destination was the infirmary on the first floor of the classroom building.

“Excuse me.”

I opened the door of the infirmary for the first time since entering high school.

I wondered what kind of teacher the infirmary teacher was, whether she was an old lady or a young woman…

I opened the door thinking about that, and there she was.

“Pfft.”

It was a cool-headed and peerless angel with a tissue in her nostrils.

That appearance is so mismatched that I can’t help but blow out a little bit of steam from my nose.

“Kojiro…”

Her voice sounded somewhat cold and gruff, so I deliberately cleared my throat and approached her.

“Are you okay?”

I asked her in a concerned tone, and she looked at me with a stern look.

“You’re not worried, are you?”

“No, no. If I weren’t worried, I wouldn’t be here.”

“No way. You were laughing at me.”

“No, I wasn’t laughing.”

“Really?”

“Ah, really…”

“Then why did you look away just now?”

The reason is because I would have laughed if I had seen Shiori’s face again.

Of course, I didn’t say anything about that, but I thought of an excuse instead, “That’s…”

“That’s it. A man should never stare a girl right in the face.”

“There’s no way Kojiro has that kind of chivalry.”

Seeing through Shiori’s exasperated voice, I scurry around the room.

“Areh. Where’s the health teacher?”

“She went away. She said she’ll be back after school, so if you want to rest on the bed, go ahead.”

“I don’t think that’s right…”

I suddenly look at Shiori’s face, thinking that the health teacher here also has a messy personality.

“Pfft.”

I was caught off guard for a second. I looked at her normally for just a second and I blew the air out of my mouth like a fart.

“You laughed…”

“T-That’s not it. It’s…”

Even if I tried to make an excuse, it was too late because I had been seen laughing at her already.

Shiori holds her chest, “Uh…” she groaned.

“My fragile heart was hurt by Kojiro.”

“Hey, hey. Such an overreaction…”

“This is… that…”

“Which one?”

“The one… yeah. In front of the station. You have to go with me to the station.”

“What kind of place are we going to? I mean, why in front of the station?”

“The optician. My eyes are at their limit.”

“Liar!”

I instantly made a remark at her words.

“You could clearly see me in the classroom earlier! And you’re saying that you have bad eyesight?

“What you’re saying I could see is actually Kojiro’s aura.”

“What do you mean by that!”

“Anyone would have noticed if you had such an aura around you.”

“You’re an esper! How can you tell someone from their aura?”

“I know. Kojiro’s aura is the color of a rusty iron barn door.”

“What color is it? I can’t even imagine!”

“Anyway.”

Shiori stood up and looked at me.

“I’m going to ask you to go with me after school.”

“You’re seriously going to one?”

“This is punishment. And as atonement. Kojiro will buy the glasses for me.”

“Isn’t that too heavy? Isn’t that too much of a price to pay for laughing at your face?”

“It’s a heavy price to pay for hurting a maiden’s innocence.”

“Where’s the maiden around here?”

When I scurry around and say that agitatedly, Shiori ignored me and tried to leave the infirmary.

I wondered if she was angry at me. I was worried, but Shiori turned around.

She looked back at me and her face was not an angry one, but one smiling at me.

“You came because you were worried about me… Thank you.”

I was caught off guard by the pure gratitude I felt in her words.

Shiori left the infirmary right after saying that.

“That’s not fair of you to do that out of the blue…”