That Girl I’m

Interested In

Kinoshita-san is always alone.

This was not due to the fact that it was the first day of her second year.

Kinoshita-san’s test scores have always been at the top of the class since the first year, and her athletic ability was unrivaled in the entire school.

She’s tall and fashionable. The girls were always envious of her, and the boys always looked up to her as the ‘ideal girl’.

There was a reason as to why such a gifted and beautiful young lady was always alone.

Kinoshita-san has been keeping people away from her on her own volition.

Her interaction with her classmates was extremely minimal, and she refused to make eye contact with anyone. She never smiled or showed any emotion whatsoever. She would frequently ignore the people who would speak to her. She may appear to be a cool beauty, but she’s actually just a shy, unsociable person.

Rumors say that she was ‘Too beautiful and scary,’ they said that ‘You’ll get rejected just by approaching her,’ they also said that she was

‘A girl with an unbreakable ice wall,’ and so on, this all continued until she was said to have an aura of someone who said ‘Don’t approach me,’ and nobody approached her after that began sprouting around.

Even now, while everyone else in the class is trying to make friends with each other, Kinoshita-san is the only one who’s sitting silently in her seat, reading a book as if it were second nature. She appears to be attempting to conceal herself by being alone, but her glamorous and lonely figure is as divine as a William Adolphe Bouguereau painting, and so I was glued to her back portrait.

“We should go to the gym soon, Satsuki.”

“Uh-huh, I’ll be right there.”

I get up from my seat when a classmate calls out to me.

I was worried about Kinoshita-san for a reason.

I had only spoken to her once, that was when I was a freshman.

At the time, that one word she said made me unable to stop thinking about her.

It’s because of Kinoshita-san’s secret, which only I know about…

It was half a year ago, at the “Otomachi Festival” of our Otomachi High School. It was my first festival as a high school student.

Otomachi High School has a school culture of hosting really fun events, and it is a tradition to always go all out at the festival, with the involvement of many alumni and faculty members.

I had been in the gymnasium where the clubs were presenting their talks in the morning, but in the afternoon I slipped out on my own and wandered about, looking at the exhibits in each classroom.

From the standard haunted house and fashion show, some classes were even having beach houses.

A plastic pool had been brought into the classroom, and men and women in swimsuits were having fun with water guns in their hands.

I wanted to get into a bathing suit and mingle with them, but I was not that excited enough to do so and just passed by quietly.

I was looking for a place where I could relax, and I found myself at the Piloti. There, food and drink stalls were lined up in a row, symbolic of a cultural festival. (TLN: Wiki article on what a Piloti is)

The aroma of burnt sauce wafted from an okonomiyaki shop, and a crepe shop with staff dressed as maids seemed to be thriving, with a long line of customers waiting in line to enter. [EDN: Okonomiyaki is a Japanese savory pancake dish consisting of wheat flour batter and other ingredients cooked on a teppan]

“Welcome, welcome!”

“It’s delicious!”

It was just about lunchtime and the crowds were heating up when I spotted a food stall tucked away at the end of the street.

It appeared to be a cafe, but there were no customers there at all. There was only one girl sitting in the back of the stall with her back faced towards us.

The smell of coffee had lured me in, and I wandered over to the stall to see if I could find a place to relax for a bit.

“One coffee, please.”

“……”

When I ordered something, the girl who was tending to the store slammed the book she was reading shut.

Then she silently began to grind some coffee beans with a hand mill.

I was impressed by the authenticity of the store, but she never looked at me or said a single word of appreciation for entering the store.

Although I wanted to be alone, I felt uneasy and wanted to talk to her when she was blatantly ignoring me like this.

“It’s really authentic.”

“……”

“Where’s the coffee from?”

“……”

“Have you been tending the bar this morning all by yourself?”

“…Yes, something like that.”

I covered my mouth to say nothing more in response.

It was a silent wait while the coffee was being hand-brewed, and the saltiness of the place was evident. I could understand why there were no customers coming here.

Soon the fragrant aroma of the coffee began to emerge, and the girl turned around with a cup in her hand.

She looked back at me with a cup in her hand

“……!”

The sight of her made me take a second look.

There she was, Yayoi Kinoshita.

She had straight, semi-long black hair with big, dark eyes that seemed to draw me in.

Standing up, she was tall and slender, with long, graceful arms and legs that made her look like a model. Her apron tied around her waist emphasized the waistline of her body, further accentuating her good looks.

“…A hu-hundred yen please.”

Kinoshita-san did not even glance at me, her customer, while she kept the paper cup on the table with an icy expression on her face.

“Uh…”

I, too, was unexpectedly choked for words by the dignified presence of Yayoi Kinoshita, whom I had met for the first time.

Even though we were in different classes, I had heard a lot of rumors about her, because even though we were both first-year students, she was already famous enough that she was the first name that came to mind when people talked about beautiful women.

However, I recall that there were as many bad rumors present about her as there were good ones.

Kinoshita-san’s cold voice and icy demeanor.

This brusque and salty attitude was the most spoken about bad rumor.

They even told me that she has a “Stay away from me” aura around her, and I understand that it’s no wonder she ignored me when I spoke to her earlier.

Yayoi Kinoshita, whom I met for the first time, is just as the rumors say, for better or worse, and I get a strange feeling that I don’t know whether I’ve gained or lost something.

I’m sure there’s a lot to be said for beautiful women around the world. It’s a world I don’t understand anything about.

“Oh, right!”

As I was about to quickly pay and walk away, Kinoshita-san, who had been keeping her eyes down for a long time, looked up at me.

The first time our eyes met, Kinoshita-san’s eyes were drawn to my face. She just stared at me without saying a single word in response.

What is it? Is there something on my face? We’ve never met before, right?

Suddenly I felt uneasy and tried to take the money out of my wallet, but I must have been too nervous to do so. In my haste, I dropped the money onto the table.

“Ah!”

I follow the trajectory of the hundred-yen coin that fell with a clink and speak out at the same time.

As I put out my hand to catch the coin rolling on the table, my left-hand covers Kinoshita-san’s hand that caught the 100-yen coin a split second earlier. (TLN: Ah yes, the classic)

It was when I touched the back of her hand, which was cool as ice, that–

“Satsuki-kun, you’re so cool.”

“Ehhh?”

I thought my world had been turned upside down by the shock of the words I had just heard.

As if a ta-da! and Beethoven’s grand symphony had begun playing out loud, my whole body went numb and I couldn’t move an inch.

…Me, cool?

It had to be Kinoshita-san’s voice.

It was not the emotionless, barbed voice from a moment ago, but was instead a voice filled with solid emotion.

I looked up slowly, with our hands still on top of each other, and to my disbelief, Kinoshita-san’s cheeks were flushed red.

“Ah! I’m sorry!”

I reflexively apologize and withdraw my hand that was touching Kinoshita-san

The next moment, she glared at me with a grimace.

“Thank you for the co-coffee!”

I was so freaked out by Ms. Kinoshita’s glare that I accepted the coffee and left the place as if I were running away.

What was that? What was that?!

I went through the crowded stalls and ran down the hallway, not caring about the students I had passed by.

I arrived at the side of the school gate, which was completely empty. I try to calm down, but my heart is still beating at an alarming rate.

“That Yayoi Kinoshita… was she talking about me?”

I stare at my left hand and utter the cause of my excitement.

The words I heard the moment I touched Kinoshita-san. Those words were not the ones she uttered out loud.

That was the voice of Kinoshita-san’s mind that I heard directly in my head.

Psychometry.

It is the ability to read the residual thoughts that remain in an object.

When I, Satsuki Fukase, touch someone with my left hand, I can read what that person is thinking about.

People tend to think it’s a useful ability to understand people’s feelings, but most of the voices in my mind are just bad words or negative ones. There is nothing good in revealing other people’s secrets one way or the other.

I was usually careful to avoid using this kind of ability as much as possible…

The most important thing to remember is that you can’t just take a chance on a person and expect to be able to get away with it.

‘Satsuki-kun, you’re so cool.’

The voice of Kinoshita’s heart, which I read from her cold hand that I had touched, repeated endlessly in my head like a broken record.

How does she know about me?

What does she mean by “cool”?

Maybe she likes me?

I don’t know how to suppress my fantasies, which leaped at an accelerated rate. This is the first time I’ve heard positive feelings about myself using psychometry, and I was elated.

And the person I was talking to was the most beautiful girl in school, Yayoi Kinoshita……

Half a year has passed since that shocking encounter with Kinoshita-san

We are now in the second year, and today was the opening ceremony of the first semester.

Otomachi High School is a public high school in the Hiroshima Prefecture, and it’s one of the best preparatory schools in the prefecture, boasting some rather excellent results in higher education.

It’s located in the center of Hiroshima City and has excellent accessibility. Hiroshima Castle is right next to the school, and there’s also a river nearby, so there’s a lot of nature around. It is said that a soccer stadium will be built nearby in a couple of years.

The four-story school building is a novel design, with classrooms lined up in a “B” shape, the center of which has an atrium from the ground floor to the roof, and an escalator, which is unusual for a public high school. I like the sense of openness of the school building, where the light floods in through the glass roof and you can always feel the color of the sky and the wind as you walk around.

At the opening ceremony held in the gymnasium, the vice principal was just about to speak.

The new second-year students are aware of their status as upperclassmen, and each of them are working toward their own goals…..

Pretending to be listening to the vice principal’s appreciative talk, I was absentmindedly watching a girl a little ahead of me in the line.

She was as tall as a model, and even though we were lined up in order by our attendance number, her head stuck out one notch from the others, and her beautiful black hair was shimmering with angel rings surrounding her appearance.

She is Yayoi Kinoshita, who is in the same class as us from today onwards.

She stands out in this gymnasium of several hundred people, and as I stare at her, I think back to last year’s school festival.

“Satsuki-kun, you’re so cool.”

That day, I accidentally heard her voice in my mind through psychometry, and I have not been able to get those words out of my head ever since.

I think Yayoi Kinoshita might like me.

There were nights when I couldn’t sleep thinking about why she would like me, and I was quite delusional during those times.

I thought that I wanted to get close to her, but that was impossible. In the first year, we were in different classes, and Kinoshita-san had an air that no one could even try to get close to.

But in the second year, here we are in the same class together, and I would be lying if I said I had no expectations.

Even now, I’m listening to what the vice principal has to say and fantasizing about my new sweet life in high school.

I wonder if she’s going to make me lunch without telling me a thing. Maybe there’d be a letter in my shoe box? I was called to the back of the gym, and then.

“Satsuki-kun, I…”

“Yayoi-san, I too….”

We call each other’s names, look at each other, and hold each other’s hands… (TLN: Tf?)

I was so healthily and sickeningly buoyant that I pursed my lips when I had this poor fantasy in my head during the opening ceremony.

“Hey, Satsuki.”

Suddenly, a tap on the back shakes my shoulders.

“What the hell…?”

I make a straight face and turn my head in a small circle so as not to let anyone know that I have been having delusions of being an asshole ever since this morning.

There was Mayama, who had been in the same class as me since the first year. Since my attendance number was also back and forth, he was behind me just like last year, so the reality was not fresh, dreamy, or sweet.

“The vice principal’s story is a long one, isn’t it?”

Mayama wrinkles his brow and looks reluctant.

It is always the case that the vice principal’s stories are long. And it is always about the same thing over and over again.

“Just listen to it quietly.”

I kept my own delusions on the shelf and warned Mayama behind me that he was being paranoid without even listening.

Mayama has the social skills to get along with anyone, and he’s a manly man when he’s quiet, but he’s also really annoying.

“Are you the one with the attitude to listen to people?”

Mayama, bored with the vice principal’s story, pokes me in my left hand, which is still in my pocket.

“It’s a habit.”

I stick my hand in my pocket so I don’t touch someone and accidentally trigger psychometry. Psychometry can be triggered regardless of one’s intention, which is especially dangerous in a crowded place like a school assembly like this.

“You should act cool sometimes”

Mayama suddenly tickled my side.

“Hyah!”

I let out a yelp and jumped up.

My voice echoed through the gym much more than I had expected, and the eyes of the entire school were on me.

Needless to say, I was alarmed by all the sudden attention.

“Fukase!”

My homeroom teacher’s voice came from behind me, and I pulled my hands out of my pockets and stood upright, facing straight ahead. With cold sweat pouring down my back, Mayama behind me is trying hard to not laugh at my plight.

It was the worst.

However, I felt a little bit saved when I saw Kinoshita-san’s face looking back at me with her eyes fixed on mine. I really am such a simple creature.

The opening ceremony was over and I was lightly scolded by the homeroom teacher, but I was soon let go.

“Why am I the only one who was scolded? It was your fault, not mine!”

“It’s both our fault.”

“It’s a hundred percent all your fault!”

On the way back to the classroom from the gymnasium, I was staggering along and having an exchange with Mayama.

The homeroom teacher has been on my radar ever since the first day of the second year. I feel terrible for that.

Mayama, who’s acting like a complete stranger to the subject, happily dismisses the topic and indicates the end of the hallway with his chin.

“Don’t worry about it. You’re in the same class as Yayoi Kinoshita, so it’ll be fine.”

At the mention of that name, my shoulders react with a jerk.

A little ahead of us, Kinoshita-san was walking with good posture whilst not making a single sound

“…Hmm”

I keep my face pouty and deliberately pretend to be uninterested in her.

Even without being told that, I had always known Kinoshita-san was there. I had been looking for her all morning, even during the opening ceremony after all. Needless to say, I was still glancing at her while talking with Mayama on the side.

“Shall I talk to her for a minute?”

Mayama suddenly cut in, raising a fine, well-shaped eyebrow and smirking at me.

“Don’t do it. She’ll just ignore you”.

The unexpected suggestion stopped Mayama calmly as he was about to run up to her. It stopped Mayama calmly only because Kinoshita-san’s backside was still emitting a strong “don’t come near me” aura.

“Satsuki was interested in her too, right? I’ve been glancing at you for a while now, so I can see what you’re doing.”

“I ain’t looking at anything!”

I forced myself to let my gaze out the window away from Kinoshita-san, who had been glancing at me earlier.

“The first time is the crucial time,”

“I don’t know.”

I’m reluctant to be aggressive with Mayama because I know how Kinoshita-san feels about him.

On the contrary, he is disturbed by the feeling of what if he offends her and she hates him.

He is such a pathetic man, expecting something to happen but unable to make a move on his own.

While moping, I was thinking about how to stop Mayama’s antics when…

“……!”

Suddenly, I felt a huge shock on my back.

By the time I thought I had been hit from behind, it was too late.

I had my hands in my pockets, and I fell to the ground helplessly.

“Oh, I’m sorry, I’m sorry!”

The boy who had hit me left a brief apology and ran off.

“Hey, be careful!”

Mayama shouted loudly on my behalf after I was suddenly hit.

“Are you all right, Satsuki?”

Looking down at me, Mayama, as expected, looks concerned at my well-being.

“Yeah, maybe…”

It was a good thing I was injured, because this made the matter of talking to Kinoshita-san moot, but it looked like I had slightly twisted my right wrist when I put my hand on it.

As I was getting up to cover my hand, someone quickly approached me.

“Are you all right?”

A small voice called out to me, which only I could hear.

Then, a thin, white left hand was extended in front of me.

“Oh, it’s okay…”

I shook the outstretched hand without thinking too much about it.

It felt pretty cold, or so I thought.

“I’m glad to be in the same class as you, Satsuki-kun.”

“Ehhhh?”

You’re happy to be in the same class as me…?

Unable to believe the unexpected psychometric voice I just heard, I slowly looked up.

There she was, Kinoshita-sam, who should have been walking a little ahead of me just a moment ago. She was holding my hand tightly and blinking her eyes rapidly.

Why is Kinoshita-san…?

“Ki-ki no….”

With confusion, I swallowed my words as I tried to call out her name.

“Sa….”

Kinoshita-san in front of me also opened her mouth to say something, but she seemed unable to get any further than ‘Sa’.

Our joined hands were still unraveling together, and we were staring at each other from eye to eye, frozen together as if they were bound together by magic.

Like déjà vu from that day, Kinoshita-san’s cheeks and ears turn bright red.

The sound of her mind and the cool touch of her hand remind me of what happened half a year ago.

─ ─ Do you still like me after all, Kinoshita-san?

Just as my head was about to boil over sweetly as my expectations and fantasies were about to become reality, Kinoshita-san’s mental voice played in my head again.

Her left hand, still in my grip, once again triggered the psychometry.

‘It’s you, Satsuki-kun! I just saved you, but I have to go quickly because I have an agent’s job to do…’

“How long are you going to hold on to me!”

Kinoshita-san’s words of reality drowned out the voices of her heart that flowed through my head.

She shakes my hand violently, and I stumble backwards and fall on my buttocks as I try to get up.

“Ehhh? Kinoshita-san?”

When I looked up at Kinoshita-san’s face again, her expression had changed drastically from what it was before.

Her eyebrows were lifted, her chin was jutting out, and she was glaring at me with a murderous glare. It was the same as when I had first met her six months ago.

“Could you please not call my name so casually?

“What, eh…?”

The stares didn’t end there, this time she completely snapped.

“I just wanted to move you out of the way, I don’t know who you are, but don’t get me wrong.”

Kinoshita-san left behind a stream of curses that did not seem to indicate that she had saved the person who had just fallen, and she turned around, flipped up her skirt, and left suddenly.

“A misunderstanding? Who? What ……?”

You know me, right…? Didn’t you say Satsuki-kun in your mind just now?

It’s like eating sweet vanilla ice cream and then having very hot Tabasco stuck up your nose with wasabi smeared in your eyes. In other words, complete chaos.

“As expected of Yayoi Kinoshita. She saved him and now that’s what he gets?”

“She’s not just cool, but really scary.”

“Two years later, and she still hasn’t changed one bit.”

Such voices were raised by the students who were watching this extremely absurd sequence of events. Listening to Kinoshita-san’s words alone, it would have been exactly what the bad rumors said about Yayoi Kinoshita.

But only I know that what she said earlier was not her real intention.

The proof of this was that Kinoshita-san’s ears were bright red as she walked away from me.

I was surprised to see her ears were red once again as she walked away. I’m glad I didn’t talk to her so casually.

Mayama, who had witnessed Kinoshita-san’s aura-like power, looked relieved to see her walking off.

You… Where did all your aggressiveness go just now?

“Hey, what was that about…?”

I still hadn’t gotten over my confusion.

Instead of talking to her and getting ignored, I had a bigger problem than that.

The voice I heard on that second psychometric sentence.

─ ─ The work of an agent?

What’s an agent? Is it like spies, assassins, that sort of thing…?

That Kinoshita-san is an agent…?

I was expecting something to happen when we were together in the same class, but my high school life took a big turn with an overly oblique turn of events.

I just found out a new secret about Yayoi Kinoshita…

Tl: “”

ED: Spynine01