Vol 1 Chapter 24 – Décolletage

“Segawa-san, you have such a polite way of doing things. It really comes through in this card game.”

The fan convention was over, and we were trying to decide what to play together.

For the time being, President Takahashi had lent me some cards, suggested we all play a card game, and now here we were, in the middle of a match.

Strictly speaking, we didn’t have the right number of people, so the president alone was acting as the judge.

According to said president, you can tell a person’s character by how they play.

Well, as for me, Segawa, I have absolutely no idea what Kajiwara-kun meant by that.

“Why do you think so?”

I don’t feel like I’ve done anything worthy of praise.

Kajiwara-kun smiled and gestured toward the cards I had on the field.

“You have all your cards facing my side. That’s an unusual way to play; most people don’t do it.”

“Oh, isn’t this how you’re supposed to do it? It’s easier for your opponent to read the text this way, isn’t it?”

It’s a matter of kindness, or perhaps politeness.

Isn’t this just how it’s done?

Rather than explaining a card’s effect every single time, it’s better to make it easy for your opponent to read it themselves.

“I understand my cards’ text and abilities, but my opponent doesn’t. Shouldn’t I make it easy for them to read, too?”

“The fact that you even think of that means that everything you do is polite, wouldn’t you say?”

Is that so?

Thinking that it might be, I felt a little embarrassed.

Receiving high praise from Kajiwara-kun is something I’m grateful for.

“Segawa-chan has a very thoughtful personality,”

A supporting shot flew in from President Takahashi behind me.

She was watching over my plays since I’m a beginner.

A normal girl might feel a sliver of jealousy seeing me playing with Kajiwara-kun.

But for some reason, President Takahashi was just smiling happily, gently backing me up.

I wonder if something really good happened to her.

“You know, this reminds me of when I volunteered to be the advertising manager back in my first year.”

“I’d be interested to hear that story.”

It’s my turn.

I untap my cards.

President Takahashi’s story piqued my interest, and my heart began to pound a little.

This is without a doubt a sales pitch about me.

I can safely assume that.

But why is President Takahashi trying to sell me to Kajiwara-kun?

“The first book we ever put out, we printed 50 copies and only sold four. We were all crying, saying we couldn’t even look at them anymore, and we were about to burn them when Segawa-chan spoke up. She said, ‘I’ll take charge of advertising.’”

“Oh?”

I think.

I think… and I remember the president saying she was going to meet and talk with Kajiwara-kun’s mother.

I figured she’d get told off a little.

But what if, far from that, everything went perfectly, and she was even encouraged to make a move on him?

Wait, could it be that since her own sales pitch was a success, she’s now trying to promote the other club members?

“‘A book with no promotion was never going to sell,’ she said. ‘So I’ll promote it. Please, let me do it.’ So we left everything to her. As a result, we were able to distribute 300 copies. Segawa-chan’s contribution to this club is immense.”

“I see, I see. As expected of Segawa-san.”

Kajiwara-kun sounded genuinely impressed.

It’s in moments like these, when he doesn’t say something like “So what if you sold a bunch of self-published books?”, that I truly feel Kajiwara-kun is a fellow otaku.

And more than that, I feel an attraction to him as a member of the opposite sex.

He was grinning broadly, looking at me with admiration.

Faced with his innocent eyes, I found myself wondering if this would raise my appeal to him.

How sordid of me.

I feel so sordid.

“Ah, what other stories are there about Segawa-chan… You know she has a collarbone fetish, right?”

“Well, I’m aware, but what’s so good about collarbones? I don’t mean to make fun of it, I’m asking out of pure curiosity.”

A fetish, huh?

If we get on that topic, this could take a while.

“To be precise, it’s the décolletage.”

Décolletage.

A word referring to the area from the nape of the neck, around the shoulders, to the upper chest.

The décolletage revealed around the collarbones, even when a person is fully clothed, is simply irresistible to me.

Of course, it’s also fine if it’s just the outline, visible through fabric.

But if I were to give this long explanation to Kajiwara-kun—

Huh, he actually looks like he’d listen.

Kajiwara-kun is a kind person.

“What do you think of my décolletage?”

“It’s quite excellent.”

It’s beyond wonderful.

Through his white dress shirt, his thick collarbones are clearly defined.

Such sexy, thick collarbones, I want to reach out and trace them with my index finger.

Gently, I want my fingertips to trail down to his chest.

I seriously think that.

I won’t say it, because it would be sexual harassment if I said it out loud, but that’s what I want to do.

“I believe it is the finest décolletage I have seen in my entire life.”

I said it honestly.

“—Can I take a moment to think?”

I looked at the card I drew and asked.

It wasn’t the card I needed to think about.

It was Kajiwara-kun.

“Please, go ahead.”

I looked at him as he said it with a smile.

I placed my hand on the table once and exhaled.

Now, I wonder, is there any chance he would ever turn his attention to me?

I have my doubts.

I have black hair in two braids, the very picture of a nerd, and while my hair is well-combed, that’s about it.

There’s not a shred of style in my appearance.

My only defining feature is probably that my chest is bigger than President Takahashi’s.

I just can’t see myself as someone worthy of Kajiwara-kun.

“President, could we do a Sealed or Draft game sometime?”

“Good idea. Most of us don’t have many cards, after all. We should build up our card resources.”

His interest shifted to President Takahashi.

I thought while they talked.

The president is supporting me.

In essence, she hasn’t deviated from her initial declaration and plan to have us all get along.

But I feel like there’s been a subtle change.

It’s a woman’s intuition.

“I’ll provide the Land cards. We can use the club budget to buy more cards. Let’s have everyone get used to it bit by bit.”

President Takahashi has the eyes of a woman in love.

To be more precise, the eyes of a woman who has been permitted to love.

Could it be that she was given direct permission from Kajiwara-kun’s mother to pursue him?

I’m curious.

But I can’t very well ask in front of him.

“Yes. Ahem. Kajiwara-kun, you really do love card games, don’t you?”

“You can read people’s sensibilities from them.”

Kajiwara-kun smiled brightly.

He boasted that from the way people cut their deck, to their playstyle, to their tactics, you can understand a little bit about their nature.

It’s probably true.

But there are surely things he can’t see through.

“I’ll proceed with my turn.”

Namely, the fact that I, Segawa, have completely fallen for you.

I can’t take it anymore.

I like collarbones, but more than that, I loved your voice.

Deep and strong.

“Segawa-san.”

Just being called by my name like that makes my heart skip a beat.

Just hearing him say my name is enough to make me happy.

I’ve realized that now.

Love is always a hurricane, isn’t it?

I felt a line from some manga resonate with me more strongly than ever.

“You’ll be at a disadvantage if you play that creature now, are you sure? You can only have one of them on the field. You can play it, but the creature you played first will die.”

“Oh, dear. My apologies, I’ll take that back.”

A play mistake.

I looked into Kajiwara-kun’s eyes as he gently pointed it out to me.

I, Segawa, am in love with him.

Hopelessly, unbearably in love.

Pat, pat. The president gently patted my shoulder.

“Take your time, Segawa-chan.”

Let’s pursue him slowly.

Let’s take our time with this.

As I felt the president’s hand on my shoulder, as if she were whispering just that, my face flushed red.

Ah, I understand now.

This is love.