Houtarou quickly sent a message to Kikyō asking if he had messed things up.
Honami's advice had been straightforward: gain experience in confessing to girls — if you're not embarrassed, the other person won't be either.
In other words, treat everyone normally, not specially. So when someone added him as a friend, he simply responded as he would to anyone.
But how had this turned into a library date instead of a clear rejection?
Seeking guidance, Houtarou consulted another friend who was skilled at handling these situations.
Ding!
Kikyō's response came swiftly. With her large social circle, she was used to quick message exchanges, and her typing speed matched her social prowess. Her verdict was immediate.
| Kikyō Kushida |
| Player. |
Houtarou: "..."
Ah. Now he understood — he had inadvertently signaled to Maya that they could get along.
This proved that Honami's advice hadn't helped. Then again, since she had never been in love herself, perhaps seeking her guidance had been unwise.
After some deliberation, Houtarou decided to meet with Maya anyway.
After arranging to meet tomorrow after school, he put down his phone and headed home.
⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟
The next day was Friday — just one more day of classes before the weekend.
Houtarou hadn't forgotten about his cat, planning to visit it today. But first, he needed to head to class.
He arrived at the classroom, following his energy-efficient principle of keeping all his study materials there. Since he disliked carrying textbooks home, this system worked perfectly for him.
However, his neighbor Arisu was already there, a book about zodiac compatibility and fortune-telling on her desk.
"Oreki-kun." Arisu said, noticing him, "What's your zodiac sign?"
Zodiac?
"I don't pay attention to zodiac stuff." Houtarou said, having never bothered with fortune-telling of any kind.
"Then when's your birthday?" Arisu asked.
"August 9th." Houtarou said.
Today was August 8th, and tomorrow was his birthday.
"Oreki-kun, you're a Leo, and your fortune today is very good. It seems you have luck in love." Arisu continued.
Houtarou: "..."
He didn't need any luck in love. He had to meet Maya today to fix the wrong signals he'd given her yesterday.
Speaking of which.
"I might need to see Haruki tonight." Houtarou said.
Haruki was his orange cat, a satisfyingly chubby fellow named for being a cute sunny ball — a "spring child". Since Arisu wasn't feeling well and staying in her dorm, Houtarou had lent her the cat for company.
"That's fine." She said, "I won't be going out after school."
Hmm. So the evening's schedule would include visiting her dorm to see the cat.
Ding!
Houtarou's phone vibrated.
"What is it?" Arisu asked, setting down her zodiac book.
"Nothing." Houtarou said.
It was just a blank message from Kei — literally nothing but a space. When she didn't follow up after a minute, he figured she must have pressed the wrong button.
So, Houtarou turned to the textbook he'd taken from his drawer. As a student, class time should be used efficiently for studying.
⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟
3:30 PM.
After the second period ended, Tomonari announced the end of classes.
"That's all for today's lessons. Duty student, please clean the blackboard."
Today's duty student was Houtarou.
Without being called, a tall male student went up to clean the blackboard.
This school had many conveniences — no tuition fees, living expense stipends, and class competitions that could lead to promising futures.
As a student, Houtarou enjoyed these benefits.
The way classmates interacted here differed from the outside world — there was a unique atmosphere of respect and admiration.
Students would eagerly volunteer for routine tasks like daily duties, which meant Houtarou could usually leave as soon as the bell rang.
"Well then…"
As Houtarou departed, Arisu handed her zodiac fortune-telling book to Masumi.
"Kamuro-san, you have tutoring today, right? Please return this book to the library for me."
"Eh."
Masumi found Arisu quite bothersome.
She had joined Class C's Rokusuke's study group on recommendation and found his teaching style surprisingly enlightening.
She had already broken through the 80-point barrier and would likely soon reach Kōhei's level, though she still needed to attend a few more sessions.
Despite no longer needing Arisu's tutoring, she still had to follow her orders.
Wait a minute. Could Arisu be jealous?
Previously, she had maintained control through tutoring. Now that Masumi had another teacher, Arisu seemed to be assigning her even more errands.
Was this a sign of competitiveness?
"Kamuro-san?" Arisu noticed Masumi's distant expression.
"It's nothing." With that, Masumi took the fortune-telling book Arisu had borrowed yesterday and headed to Class 1-C.
Rokusuke held his tutoring sessions in the classroom after regular classes.
Class C's situation remained challenging — only about ten students stayed for Rokusuke's study group, while the rest hoped Yōsuke would start his own. This was mainly because Rokusuke had a habit of treating them like idiots.
⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟
While the tutoring students headed to their sessions, Houtarou made his way to the library.
| Maya Satō |
| Where are you? |
After entering the library, he received Maya's message.
He found a quiet table to sit at, and soon after, Maya hurried over carrying her white schoolbag.
He had selected a four-seat table. Maya placed her bag on one side and sat down to his right.
"Oreki-kun." Maya glanced at the empty table with curiosity, "Didn't you bring anything?"
Her demeanor had changed from the tearful expression she'd worn when her confession was rejected. Today, she seemed to be in good spirits.
"You mean a schoolbag?" Houtarou said, "I don't carry one — I finish all my learning during class. And I rarely mark up textbooks."
"Hmm... that sounds so profound, like you're some kind of genius." Maya moved her chair closer to him.
The gap between their chairs narrowed from 35 centimeters to 20.
She wore jasmine perfume with a sweet fragrance. Unlike the day she confessed, though still dressed like a gyaru, she seemed to have put on makeup that made her look somewhat cuter.
She opened her schoolbag.
"I'm terrible at math…" She took out her workbooks, textbooks, and pencil case.
Clearly, she wanted his help studying.
Houtarou: "..."
His inexperience with relationships was showing. Maybe she genuinely just wanted to study, rather than misinterpreting his signals and pursuing him again.
However...
"I heard Kōenji in your class started a study group. Why not join that?" He asked.
"Ah... about that..." Maya said, "Kōenji is really good at studying, but like Horikita, he makes people feel awful. He'll say things like 'Why don't you understand even simple linear equations, are you stupid?'.
And Kōenji thinks everyone else is ordinary and he's the only genius. He expects that as a genius teaching ordinary people, everyone must follow his way of thinking.
Hmm... I'm not interested in that."
She explained quickly, as if afraid of being misunderstood.
Now he was certain. While studying was part of it, that wasn't the main point. If she weren't interested in him, she wouldn't have bothered explaining all this.
He needed to tell Maya that adding her as a friend yesterday wasn't meant as anything special — he treated all friend requests the same way.
As he considered this, he noticed she had put down her pen and was looking at him curiously.
"Come to think of it, this is my first time coming to the library."
Which suggested she wasn't the type who enjoyed studying.
"So if it weren't for Oreki-kun, I wouldn't have come here."
"What do you mean?" He wondered.
"Um... about that time..." Her face flushed red.
A sense of unease crept over Houtarou.
"About before — did my confession trouble you?" She asked tentatively.
And there it was — back to that awkward topic.
As Houtarou considered how to respond, his phone screen lit up with a notification.
『100,000,000 Points have been credited to your account!』
『Sender - Unknown』
『Note: Though it's early, happy birthday, Oreki-kun.』
"..."
With Maya sitting so close, she couldn't help but notice the message.
"Is this—" Her eyes widened, "That rich senior who's been supporting Oreki-kun that everyone's talking about?"
Her comment revealed that the girls were aware of his arrangement with the senior student.
Houtarou: "..."
He quickly checked the transfer details.
The sender remained anonymous, but the source was likely the same rich senior.
Hadn't their arrangement ended on the 1st? Yet here it was, renewed.
They even knew about his birthday tomorrow — hence the early celebration.
"100 million per month?" Maya asked.
"That's what they've been sending." Houtarou confirmed.
"Oh." Maya stood up abruptly and pulled back her chair.
Then...
⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟⍟
"So. Did Maya just leave like that?"
It was Kei's voice on the phone.
After seeing the 100 million point transfer notification, Maya had departed, claiming she had an urgent matter to attend to.
"Hmm... I can somewhat understand how she feels."
Kei had just finished her tutoring session when she received Houtarou's message and called him.
Since Maya was her friend, he'd decided to ask her about the sudden departure. He avoided consulting Kikyō, knowing she'd just label him a player again — and he still needed her help gaining experience tomorrow night.
"She probably thought you were too expensive to maintain. If she wanted to date you, that rich senior would be a huge pressure." Kei explained, "So considering that, Satō gave up."
'Oh. I see.'
⍟⍟⍟
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