Volume 1 - CH 5.2

I was kissed by Ayana, and it was strongly etched in my memory.

The next day, I was so nervous that I thought I might not be able to make eye contact with Ayana, but that was not the case at all.

As usual, I met up with Shu and Ayana and headed off to school, but when we met, Ayana put her finger on her lips and made a gesture as if to remind me of yesterday.

“…… I’ve been too busy this week, no matter how you look at it.”

This week, I’ve been aware of being Towa for a little while now, but it wasn’t until this week that I started to think about facing this world in earnest.

Ayana was also getting closer to me, and at the same time I realized that there was something else hidden between me and Ayana.

“……It really is a bad habit to overthink things.”

Shaking my head, I once again put my worries out of my mind and looked at Aisaka, who was turning his face toward me.

Gazing at the clean-cut, perfectly rounded head, one feels strangely relaxed.

“Aisaka.”

“What is it?”

“Your head is a healing therapy.”

“What are you saying so suddenly….”

I just reached out and touched Aisaka’s head with a pompom.

Although the round-cropped hair felt rough, it was quite pleasant, and I patted his head a little roughly, but Aisaka never got angry with me.

I’m a little concerned about the girl sitting over there looking at me with a twinkle in her eye …… Don’t imagine anything weird.

I wondered if that child who liked the combination of B and L, so I asked Aisaka about this.

“Is there any girl you like, Aisaka?”

“Again, out of the blue!”

Well, this kind of love talk is okay once in a while.

I don’t remember Aisaka being in the game, but since we are friends in this world, it wouldn’t hurt to at least ask him about it.

I was convinced that Aisaka was definitely here because his face turned red as soon as he heard my question.

“Well, I won’t pester you. So, who is it?”

“What are you talking about?”

“Don’t worry, I know.”

I smiled at Aisaka, who was giving me the cold shoulder, and ended the conversation by telling him to tell me about it sometime if he felt like it.

I had intended to end it there, but Aisaka said he would at least give me a hint, so I listened.

“…… we’re not classmates.”

“Heh. A junior?”

“…………….”

I see, she is a junior.

Aisaka’s shyness is quite refreshing, and it makes me want to ask for more information, but I’ll stop here.

Whether Aisaka is in love with one of the junior students or not, I don’t know, but I hope that love will come true, at the very least. [TL: HMMMM????]

“I’m going to the bathroom.”

“Aiyo~”

I said to Aisaka and headed for the restroom.

I let out a small breath and finished in the bathroom, but then I saw Iori walking in front of me carrying a large cardboard box.

(Is it a package for the student council? She doesn’t seem to be able to see her feet…)

As usual, Iori’s atmosphere is cold.

Not being Shu, I don’t know what she thinks of me, but I just hope that being an acquaintance of Ayana’s makes a little bit of an impression on her.

“President.”

“? Ara, Yukishiro-kun?”

I guess she knows my name after all.

I was relieved to know that, and pointed my finger at the luggage Iori was carrying.

“I’ll hold that. Where are you going?”

“I don’t mind at all. It’s true that I can’t see my feet, but it’s not that bad–“

As if to retrieve the flag as quickly as possible, Iori tripped over nothing and almost fell down, but I managed to support her and prevented her from falling.

Iori seemed to be embarrassed to have been seen, and her cheeks were blushing.

(As expected of one of the heroines, this person also has a very beautiful face.)

Iori has both a gallant and cold air about her, and in a way, it’s like a charm of Iori that she sometimes shows such a bashful expression.

However, looking at her clear expression, I can imagine her face melting with pleasure like in an association game, and that game is really deep.

“……I’m sorry, but can you do it for me?”

“Roger that”

I took the baggage from Iori and started to walk away.

I was about to say something when Iori spoke up first.

“I’ve heard about you from Shu and Ayana, and I wonder if that’s what they like about you?”

I don’t know what Shu and Ayana have told her, so I just nodded my head.

As for me, this is the first time I’ve talked to Iori, but from the looks of it, it doesn’t sound like the original Towa has talked to Iori either.

“President likes Shu a lot, right?”

“Yeah, I guess so.”

“What is he like in general?”

It was a casual question, but Iori answered.

The cold expression on her face has gone silent, and she is smiling and laughing beautifully, as if she is enjoying herself when she thinks about Shu.

“Right. I have the impression that he is a cute little boy. There are parts of him that are dependable, but there are more parts I don’t think he’s dependable.”

“…… what about it?”

“Fufu, who knows. But I met Shu-kun because of Otonashi-san, and he was a type of boy I had never met before, so it was a fresh experience for me.”

“Heh.”

Ayana was the reason Iori met Shu, which I already knew.

I know that Iori later develops a definite crush on Shu, which makes me think that Shu really does have a tremendous protagonist’s compensation.

“But Otonashi-san, who has been with him for a long time, is very determined. I’m still a long way off, but I think I’ll choose a college nearby and prepare myself for the long haul.”

“……College.”

I wondered how that would help her choose a college, but as I recall, Iori was a nearby college student when the game started.

As can be seen from the fact that Iori is the president, she is very good at guiding people, and her grades are also quite good, so she should be able to aim for a higher university ……, but she went out of her way to choose a nearby university because Shu was by her side, and the result is what it is.

“Why not just pick a college for that?”

I was surprised to hear myself say that.

I didn’t mean to say anything, but I just got caught up in the moment and asked her, staring at her.

I expected to be called a cocky junior and told that it was none of my business, but Iori just laughed.

“That’s true. Even if I really like it, there’s no need to limit my future possibilities… I understand that. Yes, I think I should seriously consider these things.”

“……Yeah.”

I let out a huff when I saw Iori say that.

I am well aware that the world I am living in now is not a game itself, but reality.

Therefore, is it possible for me to change their future by interfering in this way, even if that is the path they should have taken?

I still haven’t found the answer to how to move forward, and there are still many things I don’t know, but just knowing that my voice can reach the girls …… is a big deal.

Of course, it’s possible that Iori doesn’t care about what I say, and it’s not necessarily true that I can’t modify what they say. …… But it was still great to have hope that I could do something about it.

“Thank you, Yukishiro-kun.”

“No problem. I will leave you to it then.”

“Yeah. Thank you so much.”

Afterwards, the baggage was safely delivered to the student council office.

I left Iori and returned to the classroom, where Aisaka called out to me that I was late, and just then the teacher in charge of the next class came in.

It might be rude to call it inertia, but time passed by as I took the class in such a feeling.

“Sasaki, try to solve this problem.”

“…..I can’t”

“I see. Then, Otonashi.”

“Yes.”

Ayana stood in front of the blackboard in place of Shu, who had been assigned by the teacher and was unable to solve the problem.

The teacher nodded in satisfaction as she neatly and smoothly wrote down the answers, which seemed to be correct.

“Great work, Otonashi, you can go back now.”

“Thank you very much.”

The two are really quite contrasting.

I clearly feel that there is such a difference between an undependable hero and a dependable heroine, which is common in the form of manga and novels, but in reality.

“Fuwaa….”

Tired, I want to sleep, but I cannot neglect my studies for the future.

Even if this body is not mine, I still think it is important to take responsibility for it because I am Towa now.