The Beautiful Girl I Accidentally Helped Who Has Somehow Become Attached To Me. - Chapter 16: A Chance Meeting.

A Chance Meeting.

After school, I waited for Mikami Hina at what was once my best spot, now our best spot.

Since I hadn’t been held up in the classroom today, I got there first… but the person I was waiting for hadn’t shown up.

“Maybe… I’m just waiting here on my own?”

Come to think of it, we’d only arranged for her to come over to my house after school, not to walk home together. Unlike last time, there hadn’t been any message from Mikami-san, and we hadn’t discussed meeting here.

In other words, I was waiting here all on my own… and, realizing that, I felt a little embarrassed. I’d assumed I’d be walking home with her, and now that I’d noticed, I felt an indescribable awkwardness.

“Guess I’ll just head home…”

Can’t be sitting around here.

I had a vivid mental image of Mikami-san getting there before me, frantically pressing the intercom until it was almost comical, her eyes getting teary from frustration when no one came to open the door.

I admit, part of me wanted to see that… but the sight of a high school girl crying in front of my house could look bad from an outsider’s perspective.

I got up from the bench and began walking a bit faster.

Maybe because I was in a hurry, I turned a corner without the usual caution, barely glancing to check if anyone was coming.

After all, I thought, who else would come here?

And so, I ended up colliding with someone at that corner.

“Whoa!”

“Kyaa!”

A startled voice snapped me back to reality. Before I could even think, my body reacted on instinct.

I reached out, grabbed her hand, and wrapped an arm around her waist to steady her.

Somehow, I managed to catch her.

Soft warmth, a gentle scent passing by my nose. I’d pulled her a bit too close, so we ended up pressing together, her warmth radiating into me.

“Um…”

“Ah, s-sorry!”

Realizing the borderline compromising situation, I hastily pulled away from her—Mikami Hina.

“S-sorry, I didn’t do it on purpose! I’ll do anything, just please don’t be mad!”

“Fufuu~, I know. If anything, I should thank you for catching me, so please, don’t apologize so much.”

It seemed Mikami-san wasn’t upset about being held, and she was generous enough to forgive me.

“I’m the one who wasn’t careful because I was in a hurry. You’re not hurt, are you, Kirishima-san?”

“Oh, no, I’m fine. What about you, Mikami-san?”

“I’m perfectly fine. You caught me with such… passion, after all.”

Hey, don’t blush like that.

Here I am, genuinely panicking…

“However… where were you headed, Kirishima-san? You weren’t planning to leave me behind, were you?”

“Uh, well… I’m not sure about that.”

Yeah, that makes sense. If I was moving away from our best spot and Mikami-san was headed toward it, then we wouldn’t have collided like that unless our destinations were different.

“How could you even think of leaving me behind? I’d cry and scream without any shame!”

“Stop! I’d socially die!”

Imagine it—a gorgeous girl crying and screaming with just a guy in a secluded spot. I’d slightly messed up her uniform when I caught her, so there was no way to spin that as anything but a potential incident.

Especially in a place with no one around.

There’s a huge power dynamic between us, too. If the popular Mikami-san says something, it carries weight… and today’s events had shown me just how much influence she had.

“I wasn’t trying to leave you behind. It’s just that we hadn’t agreed to meet here, so I thought maybe I was waiting alone…”

“…Oh, was that the case?”

“Yeah, now that I think about it, we never really talked about it.”

“But look at us, we ended up here anyway. I wasn’t consciously thinking about it, but I was also thinking we needed to hurry.”

I see.

So she thought we’d be gathering at our best spot as well, just like I did.

What a coincidence… no, this really is just pure coincidence.

“Then let’s just say our feelings connected somehow.”

“Yeah, let’s do that.”

Two people who independently decided to meet up, drawn here by some strange coincidence.

“Still, you took longer than I expected.”

“I apologize for that. I got a little held up.”

“Held up…? Did someone hit on you?”

“Yes, as you warned me, it seems I should refrain from any reckless behavior.”

“Sounds rough. But hey, you brought this on yourself, so good luck with that.”

“Are you just going to treat it like it’s none of your business?”

“Well, it is none of my business.”

As we naturally fell into step on our way home, I asked Mikami-san why she had been delayed.

She furrowed her brows and gave a slightly dissatisfied response.

It seems the commotion caused by her antics had far-reaching consequences.

While I thought to myself, “See, I told you so,” I sent her a silent cheer. She shot me an adorably annoyed glare, but it wasn’t my fault she was so popular.

“By the way… did you say earlier that you’d do anything to be forgiven?”

“…I didn’t say that.”

“You definitely did.”

“Well…”

“I’m looking forward to hearing what you’ll ask me to do.”

Damn, did I jump the gun here?

Still, being reported by Mikami-san and forced to drop out of school would be worse… but I was terrified of what she might ask me to do.

But I figured she wouldn’t ask for anything too outrageous.

“Oh, by the way. Let’s go on a date this weekend. You said you’d do whatever I ask, right?”

“Huh?”

“Then it’s settled. I look forward to it!”

With the brightest smile of the day and a perfectly executed wink, Mikami-san dropped the bombshell on me.

My mind went blank, unable to process the information, and I couldn’t remember anything until I got home.