Gamers

Hos.h.i.+nomori Chiaki and Proximity Connection

Translator: Skythewood

Editors: Deus Ex-machina, Perditor

“Uwah… Amazing.”

I couldn’t help praising it as I fiddled with the control pad connected to my computer.

The game on the screen… Wasn’t the latest cutting edge AAA grade games.

By using existing art work and traditional RPG structure, the game was presented in nostalgic bitmap art, that reminds me of indie games made during the Super Famicon era.

Which was known as free games.

They are games created by hobbyist and distributed free of charge online. I was playing an adventure game made by the most popular RPG maker software.

Although the graphics were constructed using the RPG software, the game didn’t have any battles or character growth elements. It was a pure exploration, puzzle solving and storytelling game from start to finish. Commonly seen amongst free games. That was the reason the quality varies greatly, but if you ask me about the quality of the game I was playing──

“Eh… I need to use this here?”

I controlled the main character, little girl, and chose the ‘key of death’ I just got from the item selection box to enter the new room, ‘room of poison’── And what appeared before me was a wall full of faces, all of them squirming about as they groaned in an unknown language.

“... Woah, the creator is sick in the head as usual…”

I gulped. By the way, ‘sick in the head’ is my way of complimenting him.

Actually, this game… Or rather, this creator always made games that were hard to understand. After playing midway, the storyline was normal, there were no obvious programming errors or typos, and the game was made really carefully… Unfortunately, there were too many ‘super developments’.

The super development wasn’t natural too, it was so bizarre that the player would feel they were playing another game midway. I thought the creator would explain in detail later, but he just tossed all the earlier storyline away, which makes me wonder what the point of all that was.

It was impossible for such a game to be popular; since,the games made by this creator were too niche. However, the second game he made was much more docile, without any strange super developement, and the ending was unexpectedly normal. That’s why it made it into the popularity rankings of free games in no time. I only learned about this creator through that game...

Aside from the second game, without exception, his other works were… putting it nicely, unique; putting it not so nicely──

“I don’t get what the content is saying.”

It could only be described in such a way, as if someone’s nightmare was being visualized.

But such games also had their blind following among the open-minded world of free gaming… How should I put this? I don’t think the works of this person werethat ‘outstanding’.

His style always follows a set route: ‘The story starts out interesting, turns into shambles because of the super development, and proceeds into the ending in a mess.’ There was nothing ‘deep’ about the super development either, so you can’t really talk about it with others.

A work that combined the four elements of no climax, no ending, no meaning, and no taste. (I coined the term ‘4chan’ for this.) This was the style of this creator─ ‘n.o.bE’.

But somehow, I like the games made by ‘n.o.bE’.

I couldn’t really answer properly even if you ask me why. The flaws I mentioned earlier bother me and the super development would make me retort: “Hey hey hey…” I probably agree more with the negative comments.

But even so, I still look forward to new works by ‘n.o.bE’.

As I thought blankly about the creator while I explored the ‘room of poison’, the faces on the wall started speaking.

“The adverts by the mobile service provider do not get to the point though.” “The ice cream looks delicious, but they can do away with the song.” “Why do they want to film a live action version so much?” “I can’t accept a generic comment which includes a discount code as a product review.” “It’s a little too late to release a huge DLC now.” “The trend of jacking up the prices by adding the words ‘limited edition’.” “Physical ability and talent are two different things.” “Oh, so ‘this game enhanced the internet communication functions’ huh?” “No matter how I look at it, it"s your own fault that you are not popular.”

“So the poison in the ‘room of poison’ refers to a venomous tongue!”

I retorted to the screen, and a smile appeared on my face.

That’s right, it was this kind of feeling. I couldn’t explain it clearly, but this was why I always have a smile on my face when I play the games by this creator.

This was different from it being funny because the game sucks too much. If I could appraise it more directly, I feel that the games made by this person… his worldview feels very comfortable to me.

Like his choice of words for the game messages, his taste in picking pictures, way he uses the music, all these trivial things. All these elements suit my taste perfectly.

The occasional glimpse into his personality I get when his developer blog refreshes also resonated with me. It even surprised me that there is someone with such compatible sensibilities as me.

I was definitely drawn to the ‘personality’ part of the creator.

That might be so, I didn’t know his age or gender. This was normal on the internet, but from how vague the creator was on his private life, he must have taken extra care to protect his privacy. The only thing that was clear was his internet handle ‘n.o.bE’.

And of course, I didn’t interact with the creator either. I would leave my comments about his latest release on his blog (basically compliments) or express my agreement with the pa.s.sages posted on the blog. Even so, I had never received any response. But I like the icy att.i.tude of ‘n.o.bE’ too, a true die hard fan.

“Erm, next will be… this way?”

After exploring the entire ‘room of poison’, I made the main character enter the next room, which was the bottom of the sea for some reason… Although I was exploring a mansion and there wasn’t any mention of me entering a tunnel, a room in the bottom of the sea suddenly popped up.

I was stunned, but still explored the surroundings──

── The next moment, a giant jelly fish suddenly appeared and killed the main character by eating her!

“Huh?”

The unreasonable situation made me froze momentarily, but such deadly traps were common in games made by this creator, so there wasn’t any need to panic. I just need to reload an earlier save file. So I waited quietly for the screen prompt to appear… But after waiting for so long, the game over message still didn’t appear, and only the jellyfish that ate the main character remained on the middle of the screen.

"......"

Thinking ‘it can’t be’, I timidly press the left b.u.t.ton on the directional pad, and──

── The giant jellyfish moved one step to the left.

“Can the main character be switched in such a way!?”

Even a die hard fan like me couldn’t help roaring at the screen. Immediately after that, the worried voice of my younger brother came from next door: “B-Bro, what’s the matter?”

I answered: “I-It’s nothing.” and turned my gaze back to the game screen.

To confirm, I pressed up down left right on the directional pad. The Jellyfish moved according to my input commands.

I looked at the screen dumbfoundedly for a moment, but a smile returned to my face quickly, and I continued playing.

As I continued controlling the jellyfish and played the game… I muttered subconsciously:

“Really, just what kind of person… is ‘n.o.bE’...”

And of course, I was aware that many people had different personality or remain anonymous.

But even so, I was still very interested in this person ‘n.o.bE’.

“Hey Amano! That game made by ‘n.o.bE’ is incredibly nonsensical!”

On a certain morning, Uehara-kun who ran into the cla.s.sroom didn’t go to his seat, and headed straight for me. The first thing he did was complain to me loudly.

I tried greeting him with a cool smile, but Uehara-kun didn’t even acknowledged me, and approached with a fierce att.i.tude that made the other cla.s.smates cringe.

“I trusted you because you recommended it! During the starting ‘mystery exploration’ segment, I was looking forward to it when I saw all the puzzles and foreshadowing!”

“Yes, the beginning is interesting.”

“That’s right! Not just that, when the super development happened midway and changed into a ‘fis.h.i.+ng game’, I was shakened, but still played on patiently by telling myself ‘Well, Amano recommended it, so the story will be make sense in the latter half, and lead to a touching ending…’!”

“Woah. Uehara-kun, I think your personality of not giving up immediately is great.”

I tried soothing him with compliments, but it was not effective. Uehara-kun said with a trembling fist: “In the end… In the end…” He then slammed it onto my table with a bang, and roared with tears in his eyes:

“Why is the ending an arrogant bearded old man taking a picture with a huge black ba.s.s!? What the h.e.l.l! What happened to the haunted mansion in the first half of the story!?”

“Ara~~ Isn’t that interesting?”

“What’s interesting about that!? Your taste is too weird! That is just a trash game!”

“Yup, probably.”

I answered honestly, and Uehara-kun grabbed his head and squirmed.

“You actually agreed! Then why recommend it to me!? Out of ill will? You wish ill on me!?”

“How can that be! A tenth of it is out of goodwill!”

“So ill will is nine-tenths!? d.a.m.n it, compensate me! Give me back the time I spent on that lousy game all night at the expense of pa.s.sing on watching ‘Ame Talk’!”

“Ah, their segment on ‘Celebrities that love gaming’ last night was super interesting.”

“So you did watch that!”

Uehara-kun strangled me…Sigh, how blissful. I had resigned myself to a dull campus life, but I actually get to experience such friends-like interaction, this was like a dream… Like a dream… there’s a large patch of flowers around me… Hmm, isn’t that my great grandmother I had only seen on photographs──

“Ughh, you are strangling me too seriously!”

I hurriedly shook away Uehara-kun’s hands. He answered me with a face of rage: “I am really mad!” I-I see. So he really was angry. Oh no, I had completely forgotten about how to gauge the distance between friends.

I apologized to Uehara-kun depressedly.

“I-I am sorry. Erm, there was a 90 percent chance that this game wouldn’t suit you, but I carelessly… hoped that you might like it.”

“Huh?? Ah... In the end, this incident started because I asked you whether ‘you have any games only insiders would recommend’... My bad, I overreacted.”

Uehara-kun scratched his head as he said that, then sat down in the seat in front of me. I placed my phone onto the table and apologized once again: “I am sorry.”

Uehara-kun sighed and said: “It’s fine.” But he immediately followed up with: “But…”

“I don’t get why you find this thing charming at all.”

“Ah~~ … well maybe…”

I didn’t refute. The truth was, aside from the internet, I had never met anyone else who praises the work of ‘n.o.bE’.

I answered with a wry smile:

“Eh, but I do feel that game is really bad.”

“Isn’t that right? Basically, your taste in games isn’t too different from me. In fact, the stuff you recommended earlier were all really interesting, that’s why I trusted your judgement so much.”

“Thank you.”

Hearing someone say that was the most blissful thing for video gamers. However, Uehara-kun put his elbow on my table and rolled his eyes.

“And that’s why I don’t understand why you recommended that. It feels like a prank.”

“Ah~~... you are right…”

“Ugh, hey hey, aren’t you going to deny it?”

Seemed like Uehara-kun wanted to debate me but got blindsided. I scratched my cheeks.

“Ehh~~ … Well, I don’t have any excuse. How should I put this, the charm of that game can’t be explained with words. Putting it more arrogantly, those who don’t understand won’t, it’s just like one’s taste in food.”

“Food huh… If I have to say, this isn’t a matter of like or dislike, it is dubious whether the thing is actually food. It can’t be called a game.”

“Maybe. But I like this.”

“... You like bearded old men fis.h.i.+ng for black ba.s.s?”

“Not that. What I like is the details within the game, or its worldview.”

“I don’t get you…”

After saying that, Uehara-kun leaned onto the chair’s back, rocking the chair on its hind legs as he crossed his arms behind his head…To be honest, I couldn’t explain further. If I had to use a great example I haven’t used before…

With a laugh, I put up a cool front and said:

“That’s right, Uehara-kun, this is something like love, and can’t be explained with reasons.”

"… What the h.e.l.l is a cherry boy like you saying to a guy with a girlfriend?"

“Ugh.”

Amano Keita’s heart suffered a billion points of damage! My face turned red with shame!

“T-That’s not the point! I am talking purely about spiritual connection! M-Maybe you and your girlfriend already have… erm, a more intimate connection.”

“Ahh?”

“Hmm?”

For some reason, my words stunned Uehara-kun… a moment later, the redness of his face could even rival mine. Uehara-kun then averted his gaze… Could it be…

“Erm… Uehara-kun, I remember you had been dating with your girlfriend for almost half a year…”

“Ah, that’s right! Spiritual connection is important! Yes, that is everything!”

"……"

Strange? Could it be, Uehara-kun appeared to be very frivolous, but was unexpectedly──

“E-Enough about me, what about you? You!”

Uehara-kun suddenly accused me to conceal his embarra.s.sment. I tilted my head.

“Me? Well, I told you I didn’t interact with ‘n.o.bE’ at all…”

“Who’s asking you about that! I mean you and Tendo, Tendo!"

He mentioned an unexpected name, which made me tilt my head blankly.

"Tendo-san? Hmm? What about Tendo-san? If you are asking about my interaction with the Gamers Club, I will greet Misumi-san when I meet him on the corridor by chance, or chat with him a little...”

I didn’t meet the uppercla.s.smen since then, much less Tendo-san who was from a completely different realm…

"Tendo-san and I don’t have anything in common to the point of being depressing."

I replied in a tone insinuating: ‘What’s the point of asking this now?’ Uehara-kun showed a stupefied expression for some reason.

“Are you… serious?”

“Hmm? I am serious… Or do you want me to confess and get dumped?”

“Eh, I don’t mean that… After that time, you didn’t see Tendo around much?”

“? Yes, that’s right. There are times when I saw her one sidedly, but the thing is, we interacted in the past, so I got better at noticing her from the corner of my eye. Sigh~~... Am I really sissy for acting this way?”

I realized how disgusting I was, and felt a little depressed. Maybe I still had lingering feelings for Tendo-san, or held on to some hope. People with chunnibyou were really troublesome.

When I smiled with a hint of guilt, Uehara-kun looked even more stupefied.

“You… You aren’t dense, but your self esteem is too low, and a bit off in your taste.”

“? Off? Ehh… Ah, you mean my views on the games made by ‘n.o.bE’?”

“No, not that, I mean Tendo… Forget it. It’s funny that way too. But you have to be careful about drifting too far apart, and losing the hook.”

“? Drifting too far apart? Ah, it’s fine, you might not know since you laid off gaming for a while. The effect distance for proximity connection for the 3DS is further than expected.”

“... Is that so.”

Uehara-kun answered disinterestedly… What’s going on? I felt our dialogue was out of sync. Was this the gulf between nerd game players and normies?

── At this moment, I suddenly noticed a request for aid from my mobile phone. After notifying Uehara-kun, I checked and found a message from ‘MONO’. I wanted to clear the quest while chatting with Uehara-kun, but found him peering at the phone screen.

"Ah, Uehara-kun, are you interested? I can send an invite──"

"Well, not really. I’m interested about the person on the other end… What’s the name again? One of the reason you rejected Tendo’s invitation…"

“Hmm? Ah, you mean ‘MONO’?”

“Yes. Connecting spiritually with someone you don’t know the face or background of, don’t it have the feeling of destiny about it?”

I didn’t imagine Uehara-kun to be have such romantic ideology.

“It would be great if the other party is a beautiful young girl. Sigh, but I won’t mind even if ‘MONO’ is a old man.”

“Huh… Could it be your preference is…”

Uehara-kun backed away as if that was true. I hurriedly explained:

“N-No, that’s wrong! I just think that if we can chat about games happily, then the gender of the other party wouldn’t matter… Or rather, I have less reservation when talking with guys.”

“Oh… I see… You really think of gaming as your everything…”

“Not at all. I often think: ‘will a pretty girl fall from the sky’?”

“Your taste lean too much towards gaming.”

“That might be so, but I don’t have the determination to grind the stats like in gal games though! I will just hope for blessings falling from the sky, and that the other party will like me unconditionally!”

“That’s too depraved!”

Uehara-kun sighed with a stupefied expression, then stared blankly at my phone screen. After I finished the help quest, then asked:

“... Oh right, why did you pick your internet handle to be ‘Tsucchi’? Since your family name is Amano, I thought you will pick something like ‘Rain’.”

After hearing his question, I answered while thinking that it is rather embarra.s.sing for someone to watch me play social games:

“To be honest, I will name the hero Rain or Keita when I play RPGs. But I prefer distancing myself for internet handles…”

“Ah~~ I feel you.”

“And so, I used my mother’s family name ‘Tsuchiyama’ and chose the handle ‘Tsucchi’. On the other hand, my internet alias is ‘Yama-san’.”

“Oh~~... It is hard to make conversation if you use such a reason. Boring.”

“Who cares!”

Uehara-kun sighed in resignation again. And then…

“Looks like you need rehabilitation before I can use your love comedy as entertainment.”

“What are you saying? Love comedy? Rehabilitation?”

What’s the link? I blinked blankly, and Uehara-kun looked at me with serious eyes.

“Think carefully about it, Tendo is too high a bar even for me. Under such a situation, the current you… Even if Tendo is willing to take the initiative, it will end in no time with such a huge imbalance. You are… too weak.”

“Yes, I don’t know what you are talking about, but it’s clear you want a fight. Uehara-kun, let’s take it outside for a round of Mario Party!”

“Your way of picking a fight is too gentle! Sigh, Amano, calm down, you are mistaken. I just want to tell you… Compared to Tendo, you are lower than a lice.”

“Yup, that’s no different from what I thought you are trying to do! Let’s Mario P──"

“Huh? Or you think you are compatible with Tendo?”

“Ah, sorry. Compared with Tendo, I am worse than lice.”

I was devastated that the first friend I made put such a cruel fact before me. Only now did Uehara-kun start to ease the atmosphere.

“Eh, I am not trying to make you depressed. Like I said, I want to help you rehabilitate… In other words, salvage you from the situation of being a loner.”

“Huh!? So you are going to finally introduce your girlfriend and friends to me──"

"……"

I could see that Uehara-kun awkwardly averted his gaze…

He cleared his throat and continued:

“N-Not really, that bar is still too high for you right now.”

“Eh, you have a point.”

I was actually half joking. I couldn’t imagine myself chatting happily inside Uehara-kun’s circle of friends. I think that interpersonal relations require effort from both parties, but feeling strained and exhausted from being friends felt wrong too.

But in that case, what does Uehara-kun want me to do?

I couldn’t figure it out… Uehara-kun smiled at me deviously, and nonchalantly stated his idea.

"Amano, try chatting up a game enthusiast and quiet── ‘girl’!"

"……"

The ideas from normies were too horrifying, which made me s.h.i.+ver with a headache.

“Alright Amano, the target is Cla.s.s A’s ‘Hos.h.i.+nomori Chiaki’. She seems to be the same type as you, a loner nerd girl who likes video games.”

After school. When cla.s.s was over, Uehara-kun who got information about girls through his network came to my seat.

I glared at him with an obvious show of displeasure.

“Like I said this morning, I don’t want that, this is like picking up girls…”

But Uehara-kun didn’t back down and glared back at me with a straight face.

“Hey hey hey, what are you saying? Anyone who wants to make friends has to start by talking to complete strangers. It’s a given it will be somewhat like picking up girls.”

“T-That might be so… b-but even then, why must it be a girl!”

“Huh? The final objective is obviously for you and Tendo──"

Uehara-kun seemed to realize something and scratched his head at this point.

"Ah～～… No, I remember now. For guys, you already know the gamer Misumi right? And you have no problem talking with me.”

“That… That is true.”

But to be honest, I was still quite distanced from Misumi-san to call him a ‘friend’. We only chat when we meet occasionally, and wasn’t that close to make the effort to keep in touch.

But Uehara-kun didn’t know about that awkward gap, and started persuading me:

“Think about it, if you keep grinding the same type of enemy in a RPG, the experience points will dip right? It’s the same for this. Amano, you need to challenge a new enemy so you can grow rapidly.”

“Somehow, I feel your arrogant face is trying to say: ‘good good, I made a perfect example by using the concept of RPG for Amano who loves gaming.’ It feels irritating.”

“Why are you so acute when it is about your inferiority complex!? That is a worse characteristic than main characters who act like blockheads!”

“I’m just a background character anyway. Not a main character like you, how nice.”

“Annoying! Loner twisted nerdy virgins are annoying! Please, if you go on like this, Tendo will──"

"? Tendo-san will what?"

Why did he mention Tendo-san here? I couldn’t help tilting my head.

The words ‘oh s.h.i.+t’ might as well be written on Uehara-kun as he averted his eyes…

“... T-Tendo will keep calling you a ‘giant slug’!”

“Tendo-san calls me that behind my back!?”

What a surprise! Especially the fact that she didn’t choose the weakest minion, the cute ‘slime’. She went out of her way to call me a ‘giant slug’, that shows her malevolence clearly!

I might be shocked, but I still replied Uehara-kun:

“T-That’s really depressing… I wish she could upgrade me to the level of ‘giant rat’...”

Y-Yeah, that’s right. I don’t get your standards for doing that though… Eh, it’s a lie anyway…”

“Huh? What did you say?”

“No, it’s nothing.”

“I heard you say it’s a lie.”

“At times like this, you need to act like a main character that is hard of hearing! Why did you hear that! The love comedy can’t proceed like this! Are you consciously pulling out the flags!? You really have no right to be a main character! Even though you have the quality of a main character in attracting events!”

“W-Why am I being lectured?”

Did I mishear? That should be it, Uehara-kun had no reason to tell me a lie like that. Also, unless his conscience was biting at him… there was no reason for him to mumble about telling lies. Yes, I should reflect on this. Pulling myself together, I looked into Uehara-kun’s eyes again.

“I-I understand, Uehara-kun. Being branded a ‘giant slug’ is too miserable, so I will believe you and try rehabilitating! I will go to that… Erm, Hos.h.i.+nomori-san and chat with her!"

“G-Great! Amano, I’m glad you understand where I’m coming from. No point in wasting time──"

“Erm! Uehara-kun, please introduce that girl to……"

"── Go and find that Hos.h.i.+nomori, and talk to her now, Amano!"

"… Huh?"

For some reason, Uehara-kun slinged his backpack onto his shoulders, then waved at me… Strange? Wasn’t this the usual way he bid farewell…?

"I will be playing with Aguri at the arcade, I will pray for your success! Bye!"

"……Huh?"

Uehara-kun left the dazed me behind, and followed a girl with a light tan that was waiting outside the room before I realized it… She seemed to be his girlfriend named Aguri (I don"t know why she always glares at me from afar before walking off). He left with this cute schoolmate hurriedly.

… Which means… I will be going to this female schoolmate I didn’t know, and talk to her. And purely for the sake of building a better relations.h.i.+p… Yup, this simply means…

I clutched my bag as I sat alone in my seat, and muttered:

“Hmm? Isn’t this just picking up girls…?”

……

This idea from a normie was too horrifying, which made me s.h.i.+ver with a headache.

── On top of nausea and a headache, I was also inflicted with petrification.

Oh no, my stomach is starting to act up.

I walked towards Cla.s.s A on the corridor, and couldn’t help nursing my lower abdomen. There was a dull pain, as if someone filled it with lead. However, this pain probably wouldn’t subside with stomach medicine.

Why do I have to go so far as to challenge picking up girls…?

Even I myself didn’t understand why my legs didn’t led me to the shoe racks, but towards Cla.s.s A. I wasn’t that determined about this and felt repulsed by this idea, but my legs showed no signs of stopping.

Despite that, I thought about it as I walked and came up with a few possible reasons.

First, Uehara-kun’s idea played a big factor. He isn’t just a friend that I finally made, he even used his own methods to come up with this proposal. And also… he just happened to play a game made by ‘n.o.bE’ that didn’t fit his taste, which made me feel bad…

He will ask me about the result the first thing next morning. If I answered ‘I didn’t even give it a try’, that would be too disappointing as a friend. At least, I hope to answer: ‘I went to her cla.s.s to look, but I missed her as she already went home.’”

On top of that… that thing with Tendo-san bothers me too...

That was the second factor.

I still feel guilty about wasting her effort and goodwill. Since I had another chance to build an interpersonal relations.h.i.+p through games once again, I felt that I couldn’t avoid this. Also, I didn’t take everything Uehara-kun said wholesale, but if I want to meet Tendo-san again and apologize, it would be impossible if our relations.h.i.+p was so bad that she calls me a ‘giant slug’. I need to at least be a bit more decent.

And the last factor, which was trivial when compared to the previous two…

Just wanting to talk to a girl who likes games.

After getting to know Uehara-kun, I realized once again how happy it was to chat about games with others. There wasn’t any grinding of skills or exchange of high value information… Just idly chatting about what games we liked, and which games were interesting. These carefree chats about games were really blissful.

When I realized it, my stomach didn’t hurt that much now… Yup, it should work now. Go go, Amano Keita. I am not committing any nefarious acts, I should learn from Uehara-kun who made it into the high school social circle, and talk to that person confidently! I straightened up my posture and made my way outside Cla.s.s A, then gulped.

The door to the cla.s.srooms were open since school was out, and the students inside the room would be able to see me if I took another step inside… I just remembered, this was basically the first time I was visiting another cla.s.s… my legs started s.h.i.+vering.

I-It’s fine! School is out, so there shouldn’t be that many students around. Someone like me is different from Tendo-san, no one will notice even if I entered the cla.s.sroom! Yes! Let’s get it over with quickly

Making up my mind, I took a step forth and peered into the cla.s.sroom from the entrance. As I expected, there were not many students around, and no one paid me any mind.

I patted my chest in relief and surveyed the room. And then──

“Ah.” “Ah.”

── I locked eyes with an absolutely gorgeous blonde girl. Only now did I remember… Tendo-san was in Cla.s.s 2A too.

The school idol was seated in the middle of the cla.s.s, surrounded by her cla.s.smates. When they saw her surprised face, their gazes slowly focused onto me… Oh no.

That incident between me and Tendo-san reached this cla.s.s too, and the cla.s.sroom turned a little rowdier. I couldn’t help backing away and hiding half my body.

And so, even Tendo-san who always looks composed showed a wavering expression. After s.h.i.+fting her gaze away from me, she immediately did a simple touch up to her hair for some reason. She then cleared her throat, and appeared even more at ease than usual.

? Eh… What is with her reaction?

Could it be like Uehara-kun said, her reaction by treating me like a ‘giant slug’? I took another look, and even though Tendo-san was blatantly making an expression of ‘I am not bothered by Amano-san at all~~’ while chatting with others, she would peek towards me from the corner of her eyes every now and then.

W-What is this? How should I interpret her att.i.tude?

A-Anyway, the only thing I knew was that it felt very awkward. Leaving Tendo-san herself aside, the ones who grew tense from her unusual reaction were her cla.s.smates instead… Recently, I had been making too many enemies.

Feeling depressed, I still thought about my next course of action.

Well, my objective today is different anyway… Yup, I won’t earn any ire if I don’t bother the school idol.

After my quick conclusion, I stepped into the cla.s.sroom once again, looking around the room in search of Hos.h.i.+nomori-san. And of course, just the information ‘quiet girl who likes games’ wasn’t enough for me to find that girl.

I was a bit hesitant, but I still steeled myself and chatted to the two girls closest to me.

“M-May I ask…”

“H-How can I help…?”

The reply was a bit too tense, which made me depressed. I told myself it wasn’t because I was disgusting, but because I was the center of attention, so I muster my courage and looked at the other party’s eyes.

── However, the other girl asked before I state my question.

“A-Are you looking for Tendo-san?"

“Huh?”

Her question made a few girls in the cla.s.sroom squeal a little. I peeked at Tendo-san, who was still cool and composed…But her eyes glanced my way more frequently, and her gaze seemed to be looking forward to something.

I couldn’t guess what Tendo-san’s intention was… I still waved hurriedly with a bitter smile. In order to not trouble Tendo-san, I refuted her with a heavier tone.

“Ah, no no. I am not interested in Tendo-san at all, and don’t have any business with her!”

That moment, a loud ‘c.o.c.k’ sound came from the room. I was wondering what happened, and saw Tendo-san had banged her forehead onto the table, what the h.e.l.l!

Not just me, the entire cla.s.sroom was shakened by this. Tendo-san lifted her head slowly, and showed her typical graceful smile as if nothing had happened… That was scary. W-What’s with her? Was she not feeling well?

But the atmosphere lightened because Tendo-san lifted her head.

Seeing this chance, the girl talking with me asked as if she just remembered something:

“Eh, s-so you are not looking for Tendo-san? I heard the rumours and thought…”

I nodded to affirm her suspicion, and did my best to answer with a smile:

“Yup, I am here to look for another girl, not Tendo-san.”

“c.o.c.k!”

The knocking sound sounded even louder than earlier! Tendo-san’s forehead had sunk into the table a little, and steam like smoke was wisping out! T-Tendo-san?

Everyone held their breath. As for Tendo-san, she slowly raised her twisted smiling face that looked like a mask… said to her cla.s.smates “excuse me for a moment”, then left her seat… She then walked towards me with a smile on her face!

Uwah! W-Why!? Why is Tendo-san walking to me !? It got so awkward the previous time! I still haven’t shaken off my t.i.tle of ‘giant slug’ yet!

The situation was completely unexpected── like grinding near a save point and suddenly entering a final boss fight, which threw me into extreme confusion.

Under the watchful gaze of the students from Cla.s.s A, Tendo-san came before me, and spoke after widening her smile even further:

“It’s been awhile, Amano-kun.”

"L-Long time no see, Tendo-san…"

I was so nervous that my entire body turned stiff, and I broke out in cold sweat. Compared to the first time I met Tendo-san, my fear had grown stronger. My smug feeling from back then was completely gone, and only the negative and darkness remains. I was scared.

I stood up straight as if I was being lectured by a teacher for violating school rules.

Tendo-san was composed and smiling… But at the same time, she seemed a little nervous as she asked me:

“So, what brings you to Cla.s.s A? I-I heard just now that you are looking for a girl…”

“Ah, yes. I am looking for a girl in Cla.s.s A…”

“... I-Is that so?”

"? Yes."

Tendo-san who was standing appeared a little giddy for an instant… So she really was unwell?

But the next moment, she seemed to have figured something out and turned cheerful. She then asked me excitedly, as if she was clearing up something:

“Oh right, I know! Amano-kun is so serious, so you must be looking for a girl from my cla.s.s for committee work or some other duties──"

“Erm, no, it’s not like that.”

I panicked because I seemed to have been misunderstood, so I spilled the beans without a second thought.

“I came to cla.s.s A in order to build a better relations.h.i.+p with that girl! It has nothing to do with Tendo-san!”

……faints

"T-Tendo-san?"

Tendo-san still had a smile on her face, but she was falling backwards for some reason. I rushed forth to support Tendo-san’s back and held her steadily, and squeals erupted from her cla.s.s. No no no, now is not the time for that kind of reaction! No matter how I looked at it, Tendo-san had obviously fallen ill! And her face was red as she looked at me from such a close distance! Not just that, her mouth was opening and shutting, like a goldfish gasping for air…

"!～～! Ugh～～! P-Pla..."

"Pla?"

Tendo-san wanted to say something, so I turned my head and perked my ears. And so, she…

She suddenly wailed with tears in her eyes!

"You big playboy～～～～～～!!"

"Huhhhh!?"

Tendo-san pushed me away, and ran out of the cla.s.sroom… Weird, what happened? This felt familiar though, what was with this situation?