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Memory 7: Senpai"s home and the Test and I I never expected this day to ever come.
Being on stand-by in the hallway of my home, I opened the door at lightning speed when I heard the chime ringing.
"Hyaa?! —S-Senpai? T-That sure surprised me…You opened it so quickly…"
I was greeted by Koori, her reaction fl.u.s.tered. She stood in front of the entrance. In front of the Watase family"s house—
"Haaa…I thought that your mom might greet me, so I put a lot of effort in my clothes…and it all feels wasted now, aaaaah~"
Koori showed a troubled grin, yet again confirming my a.s.sumption that the person in front of me really is her, and n.o.body else. But, the reality in front of me was still too surreal for me to just accept it.
"…Um, can I come in?"
"—Of course.."
"Then, I"ll take you up on that…Sorry for intruding~" The smiling Koori followed me through the entrance, and took off her shoes.
Watching this unbelievable sight in front of me, I started reminiscing how this situation came into existence in the first place—
At this place called school, short exams are held rather frequently. I was reminded about that right after I started attending cla.s.ses again, but I didn"t give it much thought at the time. However—
"Um, Senpai, how are your studies coming along?"
One day, Koori came over to ask me.
"Ahh, I"m mostly used to it by now."
"Ohh, very nice~ But…the thing is, I was asked by our math teacher…how did the test go?"
"Test?"
"Yes. The ones we do every time before cla.s.s. As a revision of last cla.s.s, so to speak."
"I"m taking part in that."
"…Yes, very good indeed. How were the results though?"
"Results…"
"I was wondering if you managed to solve some problems~"
"Solve?"
"Huh?! You turned that into a question?! Ahahah, that"s great!"
"……? I thought I succeeded in writing my name on it?"
"You sure did, you sure did~ But, the formulae after that…Ahh, well, I sort of understand now what Sensei told me~"
Those words I couldn"t ignore.
"He told you something about me, Koori?"
"—Ah, Senpai, wait a second! Don"t start some raid on the staff"s office! He"s just worried about you!!!"
…I don"t quite get it, but it seems like I have troubled Koori in some way.
"Apologies…what should I do?"
What can I do so that I can carry my own weight? That is all I need to know, and I will do my all.
"Let"s see…Hmm…" Koori crossed her arms and started thinking for a second, before she continued. "Alright, I"ve decided. Senpai, you"ll be studying together with me~"
—After that, we decided how to best approach this, realizing that I probably need to catch up with some stuff from middle school as well, in need of a fitting environment that we could use so that we wouldn"t be interrupted by someone else.
"Then, how about my place?" I said.
Koori gave me an immediate "Yes". Yet again, I"m in her debt.
It"s probably needless to mention, but my home is the place most safe to me, the one location I don"t have to worry about my gap of knowledge of the current world I"m in. That being said—
"…Hey, Senpai? Are you okay?" Koori took a peek at my face, waving her hand in front of my eyes.
Her normally glossy, wavy hair is now bound together with a scrunchie, revealing her slender, beautiful neck even more than usual. Even just a small change like that left me unable to calm down.
"Y-Yeah…well, I was just wondering because you have a different look from usual…like your hairstyle…"
"Eh. Ah, well…I thought that, if I ran into your parents here, I maybe shouldn"t be looking too flashy…something like that…"
"…Is that so."
Though I don"t quite get it, my parents aren"t supposed to come home today anyway. Hence, that worry was needless, but also no need to tell her about that. Or so I thought.
"By the way…about your parents…"
I hesitated for a second, but I didn"t want to lie to Koori.
"They shouldn"t be coming home today.
"…! …"zat so."
"…? Is there a problem with that?"
"Eh?! P-Problem?! Why?!"
"I mean, your face suddenly went red, so I wondered…"
"No no no, that"s not the case! C-Come on, Senpai~ Saying your parents ain"t coming home today, you made me get my hopes up—Ah."
The face of her realizing she messed up, together with her blushing cheeks, was unbearably cute I could watch it forever. But, that would defeat the reason for today.
"…For now, should we go to my room?"
"——Y-Yes."
…? Something really is off? I feels like she"s gotten all nervous. That being said, seeing the other party like that helped me in calming down a bit. And this asymmetry helps in various situations. Having realized this in a different world, I could only appreciate it. If you yourself are able to think through any threatening battle calmly, you put pressure on the enemy. By using this, I managed to survive until now—
"Um…"
Hearing Koori"s reserved voice, I was called back to reality yet again. Koori was tracing her surroundings thoroughly, as she continued.
"It might be a bit late for that…but Senpai"s house…sure is big…"
"You think so?"
I never really gave it that much thought to be honest. But, I feel like people had been saying that in the past.
"Yes…I"ve never seen such a long hallway like this. And there"s so many rooms…and yet the entrance is pretty close to the street…are you not worried about burglars and such?"
That"s quite the interesting point of view Koori has.
"No problem. According to my father, that"s on purpose. It might not look like it, but the security is quite heavy here. He even said he"s waiting for someone to try and break in to test all the preparations."
"Ehhh…? Wanting someone to break in…your father seems pretty interesting as well~"
I wonder about that. At the very least, Koori feels like much more of an interesting individual to me.
"I"m sure my father would be happy if he heard you say that."
"Ehh? Why~"
Seeing Koori"s smile, I was relieved. Just that alone is able to make me forget about any other worry in the world. Feeling that my cheeks relaxed a bit, I arrived at a room, and opened the door.
"This is my room."
"Oohhh~~~"
Equally nervous to when I was ringing the doorbell, I entered Senpai"s room.
Right after stepping inside, I immediately understood that it was his room. It looked a bit chaotic, but not filled to the brim. Ah, but, him having three bookshelves, I didn"t expect that…and it"s all properly filled in. I wonder if he"s reading manga?
—The most important part of the room was something else however.
"Your bed sure is big…"
It was in the deepest part of the room, right in front of the windows which lead to a terrace, immediately sticking out when you entered.
"Apparently, they just bought it recently."
"Eh?"
R-Recently, you mean for—I thought, but there was something else that bugged me.
"…Apparently?"
"It wasn"t there when I went to the different worlds. During my hospitalization, they were planning on eventually transporting me here, so they bought it."
"Ah…"
I…see…So his parents actually properly thought about him. I was relieved to hear that.
"You really are loved, Senpai."
"Loved? By my parents? I don"t think so."
"Eh?! No no no, it totally looks like that they"re probably thinking about you!"
"They do think about me yeah. No mistaking that."
"……Hmmm??"
Isn"t that the same as being loved then?
"Hm?"
Question marks appeared above both our heads, when Senpai let out a faint Ah…, seemingly having realized something.
"I think that the way we use "being loved" is different between the two of us…A discrepancy, so to speak. From what I can see, the emotion I receive from my parents isn"t love at all. If I had to give it a name…it would probably be parental affection?"
"Huh…"
I mean, isn"t that the same as love? I don"t really get it…
Senpai must have seen that I was unable to grasp what he was getting at, so he tried to reword it.
"Basically, pure love is an emotion that I only feel towards Koori, with any other expression not fitting. That"s why, what I feel towards my parents, and what they feel towards me is completely different."
"…………Eh?"
Eh. Eh. Just now, didn"t Senpai…say something crazy unbelievable? For Senpai, love is an exceptional emotion that he only feels towards me…?
"Ah, well…that"s why…you know…"
Senpai must have realized that he just blurted out something incredible.
"I…I"ll go get something to drink, so you can sit anywhere you want."
And with that, Senpai stormed out of the room.
"………Phew…"
Ahhh, this is bad…the studying session didn"t even start yet…And it"s already getting though…
"No no no, I can"t."
We have an actual goal today, namely to study together in order to raise Senpai"s grades. Like seriously, it might end up bad for Senpai.
"…Koori, do you have a moment? I heard that you and Watase were pretty close, so—"
I was really worried when Sensei called out to me like that, and from the looks of it, before even the midterms, he might fail in the subject all together. He"s already a returnee, so instead of forcing him to repeat another year, he"ll be forced to drop out. And that—would be very problematic.
I mean, although my heart wouldn"t take it as of right now, I eventually want to be lovey-dovey at school! Just joking…well no, I actually really want that. I think we"re pretty much always together outside school, but I want to stay with him in school as well, and there"s lots of school events I wanna partic.i.p.ate in…together with Senpai that is, because I know it"ll be 200% more fun with him.
—And of course, Senpai himself would be better off if he graduated from high school.
"That"s why, we have to work hard!"
I hyped myself up, and sat down next to the seriously expensive-looking table. Following that, his bed entered by sight. The bed…Senpai is always sleeping in…
…………Senpai isn"t coming back yet, is he?
I turned around to look at the door, and after checking that it was properly closed, I slowly made my way to the bed—Wait wait wait. I can"t be doing that. I"d turn into a total pervert.
No matter how much I like Senpai—Ahh, he always smells really nice…he probably puts on perfume…and it"s always so soothing, yet constantly makes my heart beat faster, so I always wanted to get a deep whiff now…Huh? Wouldn"t I be able to do that now?…Isn"t this my big chance now?!—My mind turned into a mess, but I can"t just jump onto—
"No, I"m totally doing it already?!"
While I was still trying to keep myself in check, my body just naturally jumped onto the bed! Am I going to be okay?! Ah…uuuu…it feels like I"m being embraced by Senpai?! Ehhh, this is bad this is bad this is bad! This is so nice…! Ahh, my heart is about to explode…! Woah woah woah, at this rate, I"ll—
"………Koori?"
My heart literally stopped for a second. I jolted up from the sheets, frantically looking over at Senpai—Ahhhh?!
"U-Um…t-this is…! W-Well…?!"
T-This isn"t a proper excuse, me?! What should I do—
"Did you…fall over?"
"…Eh?"
"I mean, I heard a voice coming from my room, so I rushed back…"
Ah, he heard that self-retort just now—Not like it matters right now!
"E-Exactly! That"s it! Senpai, you"re a genius! A real genius! I tripped and fell over on the bed! I really did!"
"Y-Yeah…I get it, so you don"t have to be so frantic…"
"No no no! I"m glad you came back to see if I was okay!"
"…Okay? Anyway, I only have oolong tea to drink…if you want anything else, I can quickly go and buy it."
"N-No, I love oolong tea. Thank you very much."
Phew…that was really bad…Seriously, what was I thinking…
"…I"m really sorry."
"Hm? No, that should be my phrase. I forgot to buy some snacks, so I only have these sweets my mother bought a while ago…"
"…I mean, aren"t they from a really expensive and famous brand?"
Looking over at the box, I saw the name of the brand, and was sure of it. I saw them being super popular all over the social networks I use, some fancy-looking macarons.
"Wahhhh, this is the first time I"ve seen them in real like this! And I really wanted to try them out at least once~ But going to the city for just that felt a bit odd, so I didn"t, ehe~"
"Is that so…"
"Ah, can I take a picture~?"
"Sure."
"Yay! …Woah, they"re so detailed…So cute! A cafe nearby has them as well, I heard!"
"…Should we check it out some time?"
"Eh?"
"If…if you"re okay with it, that is…"
"Is that really okay?!"
I thought Senpai didn"t really like sweets, so I didn"t want to bother him…But he might actually be all up for it?
"Also, if we"re going to the city, then there"s other things I wanna see as well! Can I put up a plan for it, Senpai?"
"Yeah…please do."
Uwah…Senpai"s happy face…so good…I"m using my phone right now to take a picture anyway, so if I moved it a little bit, I could probably save this moment, but I"m too afraid to ruin the scene, so my hand didn"t move at all.
Ahhh…how do I say it…I really…like him…Just spending time with him is pure bliss for me……
"Wait, this is wrong!"
I mean, not in that sense! I don"t have the time to plan our next date right now!
"Senpai, we were supposed to study today! We have to start now!"
"That was my plan?"
"…………I"m sorry."
I was the only one who hindered the start of our studying.
…Alright, time to get serious!
Sitting across Senpai at the table, I sounded like the type of person to finish their summer homework on the last day.
"Let"s start by revisioning maths first!"
"Um, Senpai…aren"t you perfectly doing it…"
Senpai was totally doing fine. There was no need for me to get serious. Though it might not look like it, I"m actually the diligent JK-type, so I wanted to show him my good side by helping with his studies…If I had to say, he was probably better at maths than me. The only problem was—
"Should I just…normally write the answer here as well?"
"Senpai…there is no test where you"re not allowed to write the answer."
"But…"
"It"s fine~ Unlike the worlds you"ve seen, the answer sheet won"t start burning just because you messed up the procedure."
I"m not joking, that really seemed to have been the problem. It"s some concept he was forced to adjust to in some world he was in…If you were to just normally write the words, the person writing it down would call forth the phenomenon they wrote…I don"t really get it, but that seemed to have been the reason.
As a result of that, it became a habit of his to always carefully think what he was going to write.
"Also, writing numbers should be perfectly fine either way, right…?"
Shouldn"t you be able to pa.s.s the tests easily?
"I thought there was no need to write them, so I left them blank."
"No need?! They"re tests, so you clearly have to!"
"About that…why are we being tested on some miniscule knowledge by that teacher…who do they think they are?"
"…I mean…you"re asking me that…?"
Oh G.o.d, this is too funny.
Anyway, as a result of this study session, it turned more into a common sense check, and Senpai should now be able to properly take the tests. Though it was a bit of an anticlimax, I"m honestly just glad. I even brought workbooks and my own notes back from middle school with me just to make sure…but I guess that wasn"t needed.
Right after we made it quite a way—
"…Then, maybe we should take a quick break."
"……"
"Senpai?"
"…Sorry…let me finish this while I"m at it."
"Ah, okay…"
I see, he"s working through the workbook. I was just going to check how he solved the first few questions, but I guess this fine…Seems like Senpai"s diligent side hasn"t vanished at all…How do I say it, knowing that is really rea.s.suring, and seeing the Senpai I know makes me happy as well. The only thing that"s different is me being able to see Senpai up close like this.
…His handwriting sure is beautiful. It"s so like him; thorough, and kind. The fingers he"s holding the pen with look really cool as well~ The more I see, the more I—
"Alright, that should do it."
"……"
Senpai suddenly lifted his head, catching me off guard.
"Koori?"
"Ah, n-nothing…Good work."
"Yeah, you too…Want some more tea?"
Senpai took the cups with him, and stepped out of the room. I just kept seated at the table, letting out a sigh. My gaze wandered over to the bookshelf, and I spotted some familiar-looking workbooks.
"Woah, he"s still got those from grade school back then."
Guess Senpai isn"t reading any manga, looking at all the novels and workbooks in here…I wonder what his impressions would be now, after being to a different world…Ahh, I wanna hear. Maybe I should recommend some to him?
"Hmm?"
It wasn"t just me…seeing things, right?
I got up to approach the bookshelf, and pulled out something stuck between the books—Yeah, I thought so.
"These are…fake cat ears?"
…Why? Party goods? No, Senpai isn"t the type to buy that. They look really well made…Don"t tell me, Senpai actually put them on himself?!
"Sorry for waiting—Hm? What"s wrong?"
"Senpai, what is this?!"
"…Good question."
"Eh? But, I found this in your bookshelves, so…"
"…I don"t remember that."
"Ehhhh…? Then, how did it…ah, maybe your parents?"
"I doubt it."
"Figures…"
Well, his parents are still a mystery to me though. But, that turned into a hint for Senpai instead.
"Ah, it might have been my cousin."
"Ohh, your cousin!"
Didn"t know Senpai had one. And since said cousin had something of his in Senpai"s room—
"You must have been pretty close?"
"I wonder…They"re two years younger than me, yet able to do some insane things."
"Ahaha, that"s what I"d expect from your cousin~!"
Two years younger than Senpai means that they"re my age, right? I wonder what kind of person they are.
"Since they live pretty close…Ah wait, they went off to Australia as study abroad."
"Ehhh! Study abroad, that"s so cool!"
"…Studying abroad is cool, huh."
"Eh. Senpai, you better not be thinking of doing it as well, okay?"
"…How did you know?"
"Pfft, so you really thought about out…s-so funny…Well, it must be some souvenir of your cousin, maybe?"
I thought they belonged to Senpai, imagining him wearing them—Ah, wait. They might actually fit him?
The second I thought so, I waved at Senpai.
"Senpai Senpai, come here for a second."
"…I"m not wearing them, okay?"
"Eh?! How did you know?!"
"I could tell from looking at your face, Koori."
"For real~"
Well, that in itself makes me a bit…no, pretty happy.
"Now now, don"t be like that~ At certain theme parks, putting them on is a standard, you know? Ah, visiting one of them might be a great idea, let"s go there sometime!"
"I don"t mind…but this isn"t a theme park here."
"That"s true, but still! Just for a bit, please!"
Ah, I"m starting to enjoy this even more. I"m normally not the type to annoy Senpai like that…
"Look, look, you just put them on lightly like this—See? How is it? Does it fit me?"
The second I put on the cat ears, Senpai reacted. With movement like he was warping, he stood in front of me in a flash.
"Eh…eh? W-What—"
He gripped my arm as I was about to take off the cat ears again, staring at me.
"—!"
Being pushed by Senpai, my back b.u.mped against the bookshelf… with Senpai giving me quite the pa.s.sionate glare.
Eh. Eh. What? Why"s he looking all serious…and super cool. Is this…? The atmosphere for…you know…? A kiss? …And what comes after?
Once I grew aware of that, I couldn"t stop thinking about it.
"U-Um~ Is this…w-what I think it is…?"
Ah, my voice was shaking! This is the worst! B-But, I can"t help it, my heart is beating like crazy…
I was panicking like a maiden in love, when Senpai closed his eyes for a second, taking a step away from me. He cast his face downward, and hid his mouth with his right hand.
"…Sorry…You were so cute…that my body moved on it"s own…"
"——"
What does that even mean? Were the cat ears that effective? No wait. What about the atmosphere from before?!
"I"m really…sorry…"
Eh, eh? I mean, even if you apologize like that…
Having my expectations betrayed like that, my mouth spoke before I could think.
"U-Um, Senpai, it"s fine!"
What is? I thought to myself, but I couldn"t stop myself from my next words.
"I"ve put on my extra cute underwear for today!"
"——"
Senpai… Made a face I"ve never seen before. I realized way too late what I blurted out, so I couldn"t talk my way out of it.
"………No……Just forget about that…"
No, just make me disappear. From this world. Right now.
—Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh?! But but but!!! That"s what you"d think would happen, right?! You totally would, right?! It was that kind of flow, so I…! How can I get out of this—
"……Pfft."
"—?!"
Did Senpai just laugh?! Even though I"m about to die from embarra.s.sment, that alone is enough to blow away it all…
I stared at Senpai. This laughter…well, not too much of a laughter, but still, I wanted to burn it into my eyes. And while I was doing that, Senpai showed me a super beautiful smile.
"I really love you, Koori. From the bottom of my heart."
"——"
"That"s why…well…I want to…treasure this sort of thing…" The last part turned more into a mumble, so I couldn"t properly pick it up.
…No no. No no no no. You can"t do that Senpai. I"m happy that you"re treasuring me and everything like that. I really am, but—
"Just as boys hold this desire towards the girl they like, girls also want to do this sort of thing with they boy they have feelings for, you know?!"
—Never could I ever say that right now! Never ever never ever!
Even if I could…I feel like saying it now isn"t the right time. I"m pretty sure Senpai understands this sort of thing. But, knowing him…he"s probably…crazy pure! That"s why, saying Let"s do it already! or Time to go ham! would probably makes things worse…Well, not like I could be that a.s.sertive anyway. It"d be my first time as well, you know.
"That"s why, for now…"
Eh. Senpai suddenly brought his face closer to mine.
"……Eh?"
He—kissed me. Just for a fragment of a second. It was over way too quick for me to enjoy it. But more importantly.
"Why…on my forehead?"
It wasn"t even on my cheek. I mean, on my cheek would have been pretty bad as well.
"…O…On the mouth is…"
"What kind of reasoning is that?! At least do it on my cheek!"
"…Chee—I-I see…sorry…"
But you won"t do it still? You won"t do it still?! Huh…? Huuuuh~?
Well, that alone was totally enough for me, and your cute face makes me feel satisfied already, so I forgive you though?! Also, seeing him react like that towards the cat ears is…not bad.
"Really…Senpai, a wuss of man isn"t too popular nowadays, you know~?"
Well, I do quite like that sort of thing though! Especially someone like Senpai, who"s always the calm and cool type, suddenly becoming all clumsy and weak like that!
"—Alright. I"ll try my best to become stronger."
"Pfft."
Hey…don"t…I"ll start laughing…
"I was joking, Senpai…Also, getting even stronger…aren"t you plenty strong already? Coming back from all these different worlds?"
"No, it"s still not enough. I"ve become aware of that today. Even now, I can"t hope to win against Koori. The different worlds were nothing compared to this."
"…Pfft…haha, so I"m stronger than any of the worlds you visited…"
"I"ll definitely become stronger…so wait for me."
"—Eh. Wait, the way you phrased it made it sound like you"d go training in another world again…you better stay here, you hear me?!"
Seriously! You better not!
Senpai looked a bit perplexed at me suddenly getting so serious, and let out a sigh.
"Of course. I wouldn"t be the one to handle being separated from you anymore, Koori."
"…Mm…that"s…I"m happy, but…"
It"s pretty embarra.s.sing to hear that face-to-face…I won"t be able to lift my head…
"That"s why…you know…please treat me well from now on."
Hearing Senpai"s anxious, yet also grateful words, I realized that we were both feeling the same way. Hence, I returned with the best smile I could manage.
"…Can"t help it~ If you"re that adamant, then I"ll go along with your wish."
This is the daily life of Senpai and I. These days will continue from now on as well—
Oh right, there"s the upcoming city date with Senpai! Oh man, where should we do~? Ahh, I can hardly wait!