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

Chapter 66 – The Oblivious Romeo

“Ah, Romeo, look! Thunderbolt Bunko’s new releases are already out!”

“Really? Oh right, since the next release date is Sunday, they moved it up to today.”

“What should I do… ‘The Inferior Species of Demon King High School’ has a new volume out and I want to buy it… but Momo’s here today too.”

(Oh right. Asakura-san is hiding her light novel otaku side from Momoi-san too. Honestly, it’s a miracle that this clumsy-kura-san has managed to keep it secret from Momoi-san all this time… After the movie ended, Momoi-san said ‘I want to sort out my thoughts about the movie we just watched, so I’ll be at the cafeteria on the first floor’ and went downstairs. And Asakura-san took that chance to charge into the light novel corner of the bookstore on the third floor…)

“Juliet, I think it’ll be fine if you buy it. This is a general bookstore that happens to carry light novels, so once you buy it, it’ll be in a bag. If she asks what you bought, you can just say it’s a novel.”

“Y-you’re right! Then while I’m at it, maybe I should buy some other new releases too!”

(Fufu~♪ What a wonderful day! I get to watch the SAO movie with Andou-kun, and browse light novels at the bookstore! Thunderbolt Bunko always has so many new titles… Since I’m here, maybe I should buy some new series?)

“Hmm, which one should I get? Something with my favorite overpowered cheat protagonist…”

(Asakura-san’s starting to seriously evaluate the new light novels. Ah, this is going to take a while… It’s strange, but this is already at least the third time I’ve come to a bookstore with Asakura-san, and I’ve experienced her shopping outside of bookstores too, so I know… When Asakura-san gets like this, her shopping takes forever!)

“Sorry, Juliet. I’m going to check on Momoi-san on the first floor. I’ll head down first, okay?”

“……Uh-huh.”

(Ah, this one’s no good. It has ‘Another World’ and ‘Elf’ in the title, but it reeks of being template-y… Works that just cram template elements together tend to be landmines.)

(Yeah, she didn’t hear me… Well, she’ll probably notice after thirty minutes or so. I’ll just have Momoi-san send her a message later.)

“How about this another world zombie panic one…?”

First Floor – Cafeteria Space

“Ugh, I can’t believe I looked down on it just because it was anime…”

“Momoi-san.”

“Eh, Andou-kun! W-why are you here… Where’s Sakura?”

“Well, you seemed a bit off, so I came to check on you…”

“Eh, wait… Geez, Andou-kun, that’s not nice~ Is the main character Romeo cheating on his heroine Juliet with another girl~? I’m just a side character, less than a narrator, you know~?”

“Ehh! N-no, it’s not like that! I just—”

“…?”

(That’s right, if I carelessly say ‘Asakura-san’ here, it’ll trigger the punishment game, right? Well, it’s embarrassing, but I’ll properly use ‘Juliet’ here too…)

“I was more concerned about you than Juliet, so I came here.”

“……Fuehe!?”

(Waaaaahhh! What are you suddenly saying, Andou-kun!? Th-th-that sounds like Andou-kun cares more about me than Sakura—… N-no way, that can’t be right! B-b-because Andou-kun likes Sakura, and besides… compared to Sakura, I’m taller, more talkative… and I’m putting on an act—)

“G-geez! What are you saying, Andou-kun? That sounds like you’re really hitting on me♪”

“Weh!? I didn’t mean it like that… It’s just that Juliet’s absorbed in her shopping right now…”

“Ah—When Sakura gets like that, her shopping takes forever~”

“Oh, so you’ve experienced it too, Momoi-san?”

“Well, we are best friends after all~”

(See… of course it was just my misunderstanding.)

“But Andou-kun, don’t you think it’s mean to use me as an excuse to escape from Sakura’s shopping~? That’s what Momoi-san thinks?”

“Eh, what are you saying? It’s true that I was concerned about you and came here.”

“Honyo!? Fue, heh… Is that so~”

(Uwaaah, that surprised me… Andou-kun, seriously, geez… I almost fell for you there. Well, Andou-kun’s words don’t affect me at all since I’m not Sakura, not one tiny bit~)

“……?”

(Momoi-san’s face is a little red… Is she really not feeling well?)

Meanwhile, Asakura-san…

“Ah! Treasure Novel has new releases too! Kyaa! The new volume of ‘Monster Hunter in Another World’ is out too!” excited

【Bonus Story】”Sneezes”

“Good morning, Andou-kun.”

“Good morning, Asakura-san.”

“Uu… hekupii!” ← sneeze

“What’s wrong? Asakura-san, do you have a cold?”

“Uu… I’m sorry, Andou-kun. It’s not really a cold, but you know how it’s been pretty chilly since this morning? So I’m just a little cold…”

“Ah, I get it. Yesterday was warm but today the temperature suddenly dropped.”

“Exactly. And apparently it’s going to rain later today?”

“Weh! Seriously? Ugh, I didn’t bring an umbrella.”

“It’s true. Ametatsu said so on TV before I left.”

“Come on, this pattern’s been happening too much lately. You think it’s cold one day and suddenly it’s hot the next, then you think it’s hot and suddenly it’s cold and rainy… Seriously, what kind of attack pattern is that!”

“Attack pattern… Well, the weather tends to be unstable this time of year so it can’t be helped, but it’s true that with the temperature changing so quickly, I feel like I might really catch a cold.”

“I know, right… he-he—hemyo!” ← sneeze

“Oh my, have you caught a cold too, Andou-kun?”

“Uu… talking about it made me feel cold too.”

“Maybe mine spread to you? Ufufu~”

“……”

(As Class Rep, I was curious and listened to their conversation from the side… but those two have weird sneezes…)

“He-he—myuu!” ← sneeze

(Uu… Me, the Class Rep, sneezing… Could their sneezes have spread to me too?)

Translation Notes: