Why Is the Prettiest Girl in School Trying to Talk to a Loner Like Me during Lunch Break? - Chapter 37 - Breasts

Chapter 37: Breasts

“So… would you care to explain?”

“Yes.”

(Andou-kun… h-h-how dare you touch my chest and then… t-to think you’d also try to touch Class Rep’s chest, you’ve got some nerve. If there’s no satisfactory explanation—)

(Eeeeeek! Why am I sitting in seiza in the library facing Asakura-san!? Damn it… the culprit Class Rep—

‘Andou-kun, I’ll leave this to you and go on ahead! Don’t worry. Don’t mind me… I won’t mind you either!’

—said that and disappeared… That damn woman!)

“So, what exactly were you doing? To me, it looked like you were about to touch Class Rep’s chest—”

“I-it’s not what you think!”

“What… isn’t?”

“I was just confirming something!”

“Confirming? What exactly?”

“That’s—”

(Damn it! What should I say? I can’t just tell her I was checking if I like her… I know!)

“I was just—confirming whether ‘Class Rep’s bigger breasts would make my heart pound more’!”

“HUH!?”

“Eeeek! I-I’m sorry!”

(What the hell? Why is Asakura-san super pissed even though I told the truth!?)

(Wh-wh-what! So Andou-kun really does prefer girls with big chests after all! E-even though he touched my chest! Is he saying my chest is so small it didn’t make his heart pound!?)

“Ohhhh, I see… Andou-kun really loves big breasts, doesn’t he? Yes, of course my breasts are small… You know since you touched them, right? You must have been so disappointed compared to Class Rep’s?”

“…Huh?”

(Oh nooooo! That’s right! What I just said sounded like ‘Ha ha, flat chest!’ to Asakura-san! This is bad! Rather than have her misunderstand, it would be a hundred times better to honestly say I was checking if I like her!)

“A-Asakura-san, that’s not it! Th-that was—”

“What? Still making excuses… It’s not like I, with my small chest, care about breast size—”

(Say it! Say it now, me! Tell her about those feelings you realized when you tried to touch Class Rep’s chest! When I tried to touch Class Rep’s chest, my heart did pound, but it was clearly different from what I felt with Asakura-san. The reason my heart pounded so much when I touched Asakura-san’s chest wasn’t just because I touched breasts… It was because by touching Asakura-san, I realized that this beautiful girl was right there within reach, close enough to touch!

That’s why I—)

“I absolutely love Asakura-san’s breasts more!”

“Fweh!? A-Andou-kun?”

(Wh-what did he just—Andou-kun said… he l-l-loves my breasts!? B-breasts mean chest… right? And the chest is part of the body, right? And that body is part of me. So, breasts = me, me = breasts, and applying this equation, what Andou-kun just said was ‘I love Asakura-san (breasts)!’—which means!)

“—Uh, um… no! That came out wrong, I mean…”

“D-do you really prefer… my breasts over big ones?”

“Uh, ah… yeah.”

“Really! More than Class Rep’s breasts?”

“Yeah, yeah.”

“Th-then! Between Class Rep’s bigger breasts and mine… you still p-prefer my breasts?”

“Yes!”

“Haah~…”

“A-Asakura-san?”

(Andou-kun… loves me! He said he ‘loves’ me!)

“Hmm, ahem!”

“?”

“I suppose it can’t be helped. I-I’ll forgive you this time.”

“R-really!”

“Yes, but there’s one condition!”

“Condition… I’ll do it! I’ll do anything!”

(If Asakura-san will forgive me, I’ll accept any number of conditions!)

“Then, the condition… is…”

“Yeah!”

“The condition is… w-well—’From now on, Andou-kun is forbidden from touching any other girl’s breasts!'”

“…Huh?”

(Wh-what did she say?)

“Wh-what? Don’t tell me you… don’t want to?”

“No… I just don’t understand why you’d make that condition…”

“Y-you don’t understand! Andou-kun, you touched my breasts!”

“Y-yes!”

“So this is your responsibility!”

“Responsibility?”

“Right! I’m not the kind of girl who lets just anyone touch my body—especially my breasts! So if you, who touched my breasts, go around touching other girls’ chests at school, it would lower the ‘value’ of my breasts!”

(Sh-she’s right!) Lightning strike

“So as your responsibility for touching my breasts, you need to protect their ‘value’ by not casually touching other girls’ breasts!”

“S-so that’s what this is about!”

“Besides… y-you said you like my breasts the best, right? Then since you touched your favorite breasts, you don’t need any other breasts!”

“You are absolutely correct!”

(Asakura-san! That’s wrong! There are no unnecessary breasts in this world! B-but I need to agree to calm her anger… Besides, even without this promise, as a loner, no other girl would let me touch their breasts anyway! Hahaha, saying it myself makes me sad!)

“Good! R-remember, it’s a promise!”

“Yes…”

“You can’t even look at other girls’ breasts!”

“Yes…”

“…”

(I’ve been listening to their conversation from outside the library since I ran away…

Why aren’t Andou-kun and Asakura-san dating yet?)

[Bonus Story] “Preferences”

“Good morning, Andou-kun. What light novel are you reading today?”

“Morning, Asakura-san. I’m reading the new volume of ‘Did You Think My Real Wife Wasn’t a Trap?’ that came out yesterday.”

“That’s the one where… the high school protagonist becomes engaged to a classmate heroine due to family arrangements, but the heroine is actually physically male but mentally female—a trap heroine romantic comedy, right? It looks like a gimmicky romcom at first glance, but it actually deals with the heavy theme of gender identity disorder. It even got an anime adaptation for a while.”

“Yeah, as the story progresses, the protagonist becomes attracted to the trap heroine, but at a certain point he becomes aroused by her, and questions whether it’s normal or abnormal to be aroused by a heroine with a male body. And does he like the heroine because he sees her as a ‘woman’? Can he say he ‘loves’ her including her body? It raises various questions to readers as they read.”

“But it’s rare to see you reading a physical light novel, Andou-kun. Lately you’ve been reading on your phone through Narou or e-books, right? That series is from a major publisher, so if you wait until next month, it’ll be available as an e-book, won’t it?”

“Yeah, that’s true. Actually, I was planning to buy the e-book version next month. But when I saw it at the bookstore, I couldn’t wait until next month and bought it.”

“Oh, do you like that series that much, Andou-kun?”

“Yeah, apparently I do. I was surprised to realize I liked this series too much to wait a month. It’s strange. This series isn’t a huge seller, and the anime wasn’t a massive hit, but thinking about it, I’ve always read each volume immediately after buying it, and I remember being really satisfied with each one. The new SAO… ‘Sword Art Offline’ volume that came out the same day, I can totally wait for the e-book version.”

“Well, just because SAO sells more and had a hit anime doesn’t mean this series is less interesting than SAO. Maybe people don’t easily realize what they truly ‘like’?”

“Maybe… you’re right.”

(Indeed, not just with light novels, but talking with Asakura-san like this is also surprisingly…)

“Hm? Andou-kun, is there something on my face?”

“No, it’s nothing. Asakura-san.”

Translation Notes:

1. • “Did You Think My Real Wife Wasn’t a Trap?” – parody combining gender identity themes with light novel romance

• • “Sword Art Offline” – SAO parody