The Most Beautiful Girl in School Has Become a Mother - Chapter 49

“Imiya, try solving this problem.”

“Yes.”

The girl sitting next to me, Miori, was called on by the teacher, and she answered.

She walks up straight, runs the chalk across the blackboard, and writes the answers smoothly.

I glanced sideways at the classroom and saw many male students gazing at her back with admiration.

I completely understand that feeling. Until just a little while ago, I was the same as them.

I was in the same class as Miori last year, but I hardly ever talked to her. I just watched her from a distance like this, and I think I was satisfied with just that.

At that time, I was in a state of falling in love with the idea of love itself, and to satisfy that desire, the existence of the “most beautiful girl in school” was just perfect. By being thrilled and healed by her every move, which I couldn’t even get close to, I felt like I was in love.

Perhaps many people who fall in love with idols or actresses──maybe even Vtubers fall into this category──feel the same way. The most beautiful girl in school is simply more present in our lives than idols or actresses.

However, the situation of truly falling in love is completely different from the situation of being in love with the idea of love.

Right now, I have started talking to that “most beautiful girl in school” on a daily basis. And not just as a friend, but as “mom.”

Her back view was now more often seen at home than in the classroom.

And she has her hair tied back and is wearing an apron. It feels like a development that goes beyond mere fantasy.

──If I told last month’s me, he probably wouldn’t have believed it.

I gaze at that figure from behind and suddenly think.

Given that even I can’t believe this current situation, it can’t be helped.

After writing down the correct answer, Miori placed the chalk down and returned to her seat. At that moment, our eyes met briefly.

“Don’t look at me too much, it’s embarrassing.”

Before she sits down, she quietly says to me.

“…I haven’t.”

“But we just made eye contact a moment ago, right?”

After saying that, Miori laughed amusingly. It was indeed true, and there was no excuse.

However, I wasn’t the only one watching her. Most of the boys in this class were probably watching her, too.

──So, why do our eyes meet only with each other?

I end up thinking about things I shouldn’t even have to think about.

Once I start thinking about it, the warmth of the hands we held in that park makes me unable to stop smiling.

“Alright, next up is Sanada, next to you. Try solving question five.”

“Ugh.”

As soon as I was called out, the girl next to me, Miori, chuckled softly.

What was question five again? I hurriedly looked at my notes, and Miori from next to me said, “It’s the one we solved yesterday.”

When I think about where yesterday was, I flip through the new pages of my notebook.

──Ah, this is it. It’s really the one we did yesterday. And isn’t it the one Miori taught me?

I quietly said “Thank you” and headed to the blackboard with my notebook in hand. It was the moment when the study session after dinner with her proved useful.

While copying the equations from the notebook to the blackboard, my gaze was suddenly drawn to a drawing in the corner of the notebook.

──What is this?

When I looked over there, I saw an illustration resembling Shuri waving a cheer flag saying, “Go, Daddy!” For some reason, that illustration was oddly cute, and I couldn’t help but burst out laughing.

It seems that while I wasn’t paying attention, Miori had been doodling.

“…What’s wrong?”

While I was in the middle of writing my answer, I suddenly burst out laughing, which made the teacher look puzzled.

“No, it’s nothing…”

I cleared my throat and answered like that, then changed the angle so the illustration in my notebook wouldn’t be visible to the people behind me, and wrote the remaining answers on the blackboard.

On my way back to my seat after finishing the answers, I made eye contact with Miori, who seemed somewhat pleased. Seeing my reaction, she probably remembered that it was the page where she had doodled.

“…Hey, don’t doodle in other people’s notebooks.”

Before I sat down, I said that one thing.

“Wasn’t it cute?”

“Well… it was cute, but…”

I sighed and then turned my gaze out the window.

Three birds are flying in the blue sky, seemingly enjoying the pleasant spring. Are those three birds a family? Are they friends?

While thinking about such trivial matters, I shifted my gaze from the sky back to the classroom. In the classroom, the teacher was explaining the problem I had solved.

The explanation was something I already understood completely. Since there’s nothing to gain from listening seriously at this point, I casually lowered my gaze to my notebook.

There, an illustration of Shuri drawn by her was cheering me on.

Naturally, I felt an urge to stroke the illustration with my fingers. It was that endearing. And I was also aware of the reason why it felt so endearing to me.

──It’s not just the illustrations that are cute. It’s also that she is secretly drawing these doodles.

When I looked at Miori’s profile as she listened seriously to the class, as if she noticed my gaze, she glanced at me. Then, as if to ask, “What is it?” she tilted her head.

When I shook my head slightly as if to say “It’s nothing,” I shifted my gaze back to the window.