The Beautiful Girl I Accidentally Helped Who Has Somehow Become Attached To Me. - Chapter 22: Threatened Daily Life.

Threatened Daily Life.

Since then, I… no, we have been living an ordinary daily life.

In the morning, the doorbell rings, and Mikami-san appears in her school uniform. She calls me “master” while urging me to make coffee, and I chat with her as we walk to school together, both of us trying to avoid drawing too much attention.

Thanks to her coming over in the morning, I’ve managed to avoid oversleeping. Just the other day, I accidentally went to bed without setting my alarm, and I woke up startled by Mikami-san’s ringing doorbell.

She laughed at me, teasingly suggesting that she might give me a morning call… I’m seriously considering it.

School life remains the same.

During lunch break, we eat in our usual spot and chat about trivial things. That’s all perfectly normal, but my favorite place is the bench behind the school building. Mikami-san and I sit side by side, and sometimes, just like when we sat next to each other on the train, we find ourselves lost in our thoughts without a care in the world.

I’m reminded once again that “without a care” is a convenient phrase for asserting one’s own perspective.

It’s a bit troubling how it unconsciously attacks my rationality, but when I gently try to bring it up, her response is just to brush it off, so I guess I’ll have to accept it.

After school, we often detour on the way home or Mikami-san stops by my house, and we spend most of our time together.

Reflecting on the past few days, I’ve realized that I’m no longer alone; Mikami-san has been encroaching on my solitary life, and she simply won’t leave me by myself.

***

“Midterms, huh…”

“We had an explanation from each of our teachers, didn’t we?”

After returning home and organizing my bag, I glance over the printouts related to the midterm tests. Realizing that the first hurdle of high school is approaching makes my voice tone drop a little.

Even though we’re in different classes, the test period is the same. Mikami-san, who likely received the same explanation, is lounging comfortably on the sofa. Hey, stop flapping your legs; you’re wearing a skirt!

“I thought I was getting used to high school life, but now we have tests already. Time flies, doesn’t it?”

“Yeah, but it’s the first term’s midterms, so the scope of the questions isn’t too broad. If you’ve been attending classes properly, you should be able to get through it without any issues.”

“Kirishima-san, you’re quite serious.”

“It’s not that… it’s just normal for a student to attend classes properly.”

“Being able to do the obvious things is actually quite impressive, you know?”

The essence of being a student is studying.

Of course, that’s not all there is to high school life, but it remains the main focus.

While I think that engaging in that is completely normal, Mikami-san’s relaxed smile makes it feel like she’s praising that normalcy.

It’s not really something to be praised, though. But then again, if I consider whether all the students in my class attend every lesson earnestly, the answer would be no.

By May, the initial excitement of being newly enrolled should have worn off, yet there are still a fair number of students who haven’t completely shaken it off. Well, someone like me, who’s a loner, doesn’t possess the lofty spirit to lead the class, so I don’t care much about who’s being loud and have no intention of scolding them…

“What about your class?”

“Most students are serious. There are a few who chat quietly during lessons of teachers who don’t get angry too often, though…”

“It’s about time you started to grasp the teachers’ personalities. So I guess there are those kinds of students too.”

As lessons continue, our understanding of the teachers deepens.

Some teachers are strict about private conversations, while others are lenient. Some are gentle, while others get angry over trivial matters.

I suppose there are students who gauge those characteristics and start slacking off when they think they won’t get scolded…

“I can’t imagine you doing anything but taking classes seriously, Mikami-san.”

“Thank you! You’re the same as me, Kirishima-san.”

“But even if you attend class, it’s not enough to avoid failing… If you’re going to do it, you want to aim for a high score, right?”

It’s fine if I just avoid failing, but that seems a bit lacking in ambition.

After all, it’s a midterm test with a narrow scope of questions, so if I just do what’s normal, I won’t fail.

Since I’m not part of any clubs, I have plenty of free time after school. I might as well put some effort into studying for the test.

“What about you, Mikami-san? Are you going to stop playing around and study for the test?”

“That’s obvious. Let’s study together!”

“Oh, is that so?”

She responded immediately.

I thought maybe there would be a desire to study alone at least until the test, but it seems there isn’t.

Well, both Mikami-san and I are able to switch gears, so even if we study together, we can maintain a balance… I suppose that’s fine.

“That’s right. Since we’re at it, how about we compete based on our test scores?”

“Huh? No way.”

“Thank you! So, how about we agree that the loser has to do one thing the winner says?”

“Um… Were you listening?”

“I heard you, but I didn’t catch that.”

“Hey.”

Though it was proposed as a suggestion, Mikami-san clearly wasn’t interested in hearing my response.

I had a bad feeling about competing against Mikami-san and wanted to firmly decline, but somehow my will was ignored, and the competition was set in motion.

“But it’s surprising. I didn’t think you’d be into that sort of thing, Mikami-san.”

“I could just study normally, but boosting motivation with something like this helps me be more productive.”

“Is that how it works?”

“When I think about what kind of request to make from you when I win, it makes me want to work hard on studying for the test, Kirishima-san.”

The cheerful smile on Mikami-san’s face suddenly appeared quite eerie.

What could it be? I’m starting to feel scared about what kind of demands she might make if I end up losing.

“Let’s do our best on the test together, okay?”

“…Yeah, I’ll do my best.”

As I endure Mikami-san’s unintentional assault on my reason, I find myself plunged into a battle I can’t afford to lose.

…It’s only the first midterm, and it already feels like I’m on hard mode.