Chapter 66: I Got To Know My Fiancee

TL: lime
ED: Spynine01

I have someone I like at home.

I have not been that strongly aware of it until right now.

ーーI’d be lying if I said I was.

She’s such a pretty, beautiful girl, it’s not that I wasn’t conscious of her. I was just trying not to be conscious of her… I tried not to think about it too much.

Once I realized it, I’m a man too, and I don’t know what to do anymoreーー.

However, when I began to become aware of her and realise my own feelings for her, I’m quite confused by the situation I find myself in.

“I… how did I talk to her until this morning so casually…”

I sat down deeply on the couch, looked up at the ceiling and muttered quietly.

After my almost mournful mutterings, I saw a light steam in my vision and turned around quickly.

I see Shiori wearing a jersey instead of a nightgown after her bath.

The feeling that comes up, even though it should be a familiar sightーー.

“She’s just too cute…”

I couldn’t help but say those words out quietly.

However, she was wearing her headphones and does not seem to be able to hear me whether the song is playing or not.

As it usually was, she sat down next to me and started reading a book she had with her.

This is also… if you think about it… a dangerous situation…

The person you love is sitting next to you as a matter of course.

This is something… this is… egregious… Ahー this is bad… She’s so precious. Shiori is so precious…

In the midst of my broken language skills, I seem to have been unconsciously staring at her, and Shiori put her headphones around her neck and tilted her head towards me.

“What’s wrong?”

Hearing her somewhat gentle voice, I was flustered and said, “No.. it’s…..”.

I can’t tell her that I was busy admiring her, but if I exercise my right to remain silent, I’ll just look suspicious instead.

“I was wondering what song you were listening to.”

What came out in bitterness was the thinly veiled content of a question I’ve wanted to ask since freshman year.

I want to pat myself on the back for being able to ask Shiori that without any discomfort.

“Ehー… It’s a secret…”

She said so, touching the speaker part of her headphones tenderly.

The exact same answer every time.

I felt a little disappointed――or rather sulky, about it.

“――I’m just like any other boy out there…”

“――Eh?”

Shiori sounded surprised, so I sounded surprised too.

“Could it be… did I say that out loud…?”

“Yeah. Clearly.”

“Ah―…”

It’s not a good day for me today… What I thought about Shiori accidently came out of my mouth.

“What do you mean, just like any boys out there?”

I answered the obvious question without hiding it.

“No… I heard about it from Touma, but… a classmate asked Shiori what kind of music she likes today, and then he told me… that you didn’t seem to tell him about it… Well… I was treated the same. When I think about it, it’s a bit――.”

“Fuu~n――. Fufu…”

“Why are you laughing?”

“No, I just thought Kojiro was cute…”

“Cute…”

It is a very subtle feeling to be called cute by a girl you like.

Shiori muttered, “Oh dear, I guess it can’t be helped,” and took the phone on the dining room table and pulled out a wired earphone from the school bag on the wall.

She comes back to the sofa while attaching the earphones to the phone and hands one of them to me.

“Don’t laugh at me.”

“A-Ah…”

I put the earphone in my left ear, and Shiori also puts the earphone in her right ear and operates the phone.

“――There’s no way Kojiro is the same as most boys out there.”

“Eh? What do you mean――.”

What do you mean by that?

Before I could ask her that, I was startled by the song playing in my left ear.

“T-This is…”

It’s the famous opening song of a long-running anime about a witch child.

It’s so famous that it’s ranked in the top karaoke anime rankings for a very long time.

I stared at Shiori’s face. And then――.

“Kukuku…” laughter welled up inside of my thoughts and, “Ahaha!” and I burst out laughing.

“I-I told you not to laugh…”

“I-I’m sorry… No, it’s so different… I’m not trying to make a fool of you.”

I thought she would be listening to some sort of classical music, so I felt very… relieved.

“Kojiro’s a liar…”

As Shiori puffed out her cheeks and looked adorably angry, my arm naturally reached out and patted her on the head.

“No, no. Really… kuku… ahaha!”

“I won’t forgive you even if you stroke my head.”

“Don’t say that.”

When I caress her strongly, she says, “I just took a bath, so don’t do that,” but she still accepts me patting her head.

“――You know…. Is it possible that the book you’ve been reading all this time is――?”

I asked, and Shiori sat gymnastically and answered in a slightly sulky tone.

“It’s the sequel to this light novel.”

“Light novel…”

“――Hey…! Why are you patting my head right now?”

“Just let me pet your head.”

“Uuu… I’m being made fun of by someone as stupid as Kojiro…”

“I’m not making fun of you.”

“Then what are you doing?”

It’s because I love you!

I wish I could say something like that out loud, but there was no way I could say such an embarrassing line so suddenly, so I just kept stroking her head with a grin on my face.

“Why are you stroking my head while making a sickening face?”

“You like having your head stroked by a creepy guy like me, don’t you?”

“W-Well…”

“Then shut up and let me pet you.”

“Uuu… What’s wrong with Kojiro today?

“It’s strange―. Ahaha―.”

Shiori groaned “Uuu……” and accepted being petted obediently.

It seems that today I got to know her a little more and it spurred my one-sided love further and further.