Why Is the Prettiest Girl in School Trying to Talk to a Loner Like Me during Lunch Break? - Chapter 57 - Shall We Dance?

Chapter 57 – Shall We Dance?

“H-hey… Andou-kun, really and truly! Y-you really can’t see the ghost?”

“Yeah, so I really can’t see it.” ← Lie

“B-but…”

“Ahhhhhhhh—” hop hop hop

“It’s following right behind us so closelyyyy?!”

“Even if you tell me that…?”

(I mean, Momoi-san just walked past us normally and then started following from behind…)

“Ahhhhhhhh—” hop hop hop

(That walking style isn’t a ghost—it’s a jiangshi!)

“Uuu, the ghost… the ghost is following us from behiiiind…” trembling

“…………”

(Asakura-san should notice too? That ghost is clearly Japanese-style, right? Japanese ghosts don’t hop around in little bounces like that, do they?)

“A-Andou-kun…”

“What?”

“I-I know this might seem late to say… but, um, me clinging to your arm like this… i-it’s not because I’m scared of ghosts or anything!”

“Oh, is that so.”

“Ah! Wait, that tone means you don’t believe me! D-don’t misunderstand! I’m not clinging because I’m scared… th-that’s right! You can’t see it so you wouldn’t know, but that ghost is targeting Andou-kun! So, I’d be lonely if the ghost took Andou-kun away, which is why I’m clinging to you so you won’t be taken away!”

“What?! I’m being targeted by that ghost?!”

“That’s right! S-so, you absolutely can’t leave my side, Andou-kun!” trembling

(Asakura-san. Even though I’m not exactly reliable, she’s trembling this much because she’s that afraid of ghosts. Hmm, I really feel bad for her and want to reassure her somehow… but if I tell her now that the ghost is fake and I’ve been pretending not to see it, gremlin-mode Asakura-san might actually murder me…)

“Asakura-san. Could you let go of my arm for just a bit?”

“Eh… A-Andou-kun!”

(What… he suddenly grabbed my hand)

“It must be hard to walk while hugging my arm the whole time, right? So let’s hold hands. Since I can’t see the ghost, hold my hand tight so I won’t be taken away by it.”

“Andou-kun…”

(Andou-kun’s hand is so warm…)

(At this rate, with Asakura-san clinging to me… she smells nice, and every time she gets scared and hugs tighter, there’s something soft… or maybe not…? This subtle teasing play is going to drive my reason crazy, so hopefully this will help Asakura-san calm down a bit.)

“E-ehehe… somehow, walking hand in hand like this reminds me of our date.”

“—! A-Asakura-san!”

“Hyaa! A-Andou-kun?!”

(Wh-what?! Andou-kun suddenly hugged me… a-at this rate I! I! I don’t have the mental preparatiooooon?!)

(This is bad… that smile from Asakura-san just now blew my reason away… Class Rep and Momoi-san are watching here. If I make a move on Asakura-san in a place like this, my life at school will be——)

“A-Andou-kun…”

“Hah! Asakura-san, sorry! I’ll let go right—”

“Um… please be gentle… okay?”

“………………” snap ← Sound of something breaking in his heart

(I’ll burn my life away!)

“Asakura-san!”

“H-hyai!”

“Ahhhhhh—?”

(……Hm?) (Andou and Momoi)

“Ahhhhhh—?”

“Wh-what, iyaaaaaaaaaaaaa! A-Andou-kun! The ghost is somehow right next to Andou-kun glaring at you!”

(Whoa! That scared me… Momoi-san, what are you doing?!)

(That’s my line, you know? I mean, you two were getting into such a good mood, so I thought as the ghost I had to ruin the atmosphere, right? I mean, when someone’s working hard playing a ghost and you start flirting right in front of them, it makes you want to interfere, right?)

They’re reading the air and conversing.

(No, I get how you feel… and yeah, I was definitely in danger there. But wasn’t that the whole point of this test of courage?)

(Tehehe, that’s right! I totally forgot! Tehepero☆)

(Don’t do ‘tehepero☆’ as a ghost…)

They’re reading the air and conversing.

(Anyway, let’s somehow fool Asakura-san here.)

(Right!)

They’re reading the air and conversing.

“Asakura-san, are you okay? Seems like another ghost appeared?”

“It didn’t just appear—it’s been there the whole time! Right now too, next to Andou-kun!”

“Eh, next to me?”

“Ahh—?”

“There there! Just now you both turned around with that ‘eh?’ expression at the same time!”

“Where? Where?”

“Ah—? Ah—?”

“Iyaaaaa! You’re both doing ‘Where? Where?’ at the same tiiiime!”

“Oh, there really is one.”

“Ah—, ahhhhhh—”

” …… ” ← Ghost #2

“Eh, where are you looking when you say… wh-gyaaaaaaaa! There’s a ghost in the distant bushes toooo!”

(Same outfit as Momoi-san, and from this distance it’s hard to tell the chest size… but at that size, from the remaining members it must be Class Rep. I mean, she’s wearing glasses.)

“Hop♪ Step♪”

“Ahh—♪ Ahh—♪”

“Upyaaaa! They’re doing ‘Hop♪ Step♪’ togetherrr!”

“Shall we?”

“Ah—u?”

“Pinyaaaaaaaa! They’re dancing togetherrr!”

(After this, my dance with Momoi-san continued for several minutes until Asakura-san noticed something was off and realized the true identity of the ghost who had become my dance partner.)

【Bonus SS】”Cohabitation”

“Hey, Asakura-san.”

“What is it, Andou-kun?”

“Lately… aren’t there a lot of ‘cohabitation’ rom-coms?”

“…………I really get that!”

“Right?!”

(Ah~ I knew Asakura-san would understand this topic!)

“Is it a trend, I wonder…? Cohabitation rom-coms only started appearing recently, right?”

“Yeah. What’s the deal? Before, light novel rom-coms were mostly set in schools, but recently there are more ‘cohabitation’ stories—not school-based but focused on the protagonist and heroine’s daily life living together.”

“But realistically it’s pretty forced, right? I mean, students living together?”

“True. Students actually cohabiting… that’s normally impossible. Maybe that’s exactly why there’s demand to read about it in fiction.”

“Ah, that might be it.”

“Actually, have you been reading cohabitation light novels lately, Andou-kun?”

“Yeah. Since they’re increasing and seem trendy, I tried a few. Yeah, they were definitely interesting. But some have really forced reasons for the cohabitation, you know?”

“Well, it’s fiction so it can’t be helped, right? Rather, what kind of setting would make student cohabitation feel realistic?”

“Hmm, let’s see… first, at minimum those two would need to be dating or it’d be unnatural?”

“Well, that’s true. If they’re in a cohabiting relationship, it’s more understandable if they’re dating.”

“And also… parents’ approval?”

“True, just having parental approval would greatly increase understanding.”

“Plus… they’ve already pledged their future together!”

“Ah! You mean cohabitation with marriage as the premise! But for students, that’s a bit too unrealistic, isn’t it?”

“What if they’re college students?”

“Hmm, if they’re college students… possible?”

“But could something like ‘college students with parental approval who’ve pledged their future and are living together as a super lovey-dovey couple’ actually exist?”

“………..” silence

“………..” silence

“”No no no no!””

“Ahaha! As expected, student cohabitation is tough in reality.”

“Ufufu, right. It really is something we can enjoy because it’s light novels.”

(Student cohabitation could never happen in real life… especially for me, absolutely not.) (Andou and Asakura)

Translation Notes:

• Jiangshi (キョンシー) – Chinese hopping vampire/zombie
• “Tehepero☆” – Cute expression with tongue out