We didn’t leave the karaoke place until evening.
It was a lot of fun, except for the part where Miku made me cross-dress in the middle of it.
"It’s been so long since I really got to have fun."
When was the last time I’d hung out with other people like this?
Feeling satisfied just from spending time with everyone again after so long, I looked around—and realized Maria wasn’t anywhere in sight.
"Maria?"
When I turned around, Maria was standing a little ways away from the others, staring blankly into space.
She was probably thinking about something.
I waved and walked over to her.
"Maria, what are you doing here? Let’s head back soon."
Only after I got close did Maria react.
"How was today? Did you discover anything new?"
"Yes. It was a valuable experience. ...Based on these results, I’ll be able to gather new data."
"Maria, don’t tell me..."
I sensed a possibility in Maria’s words.
The possibility that Maria might come to understand love.
"I feel like I’m just a little bit away from understanding it."
"I see. So that’s how it is."
And the possibility I’d felt wasn’t wrong.
If the person herself was saying that, then she really might understand love soon.
And if that happened, I’d be able to go back to reality.
At that point, you could almost call it a celebration.
"So, please show me more."
"Huh? Oh, yes. Of course."
As I answered Maria’s incomprehensible words, my consciousness drifted away.
Ah. Another event, huh.
As my awareness faded and my eyes were just about to close, the expression on Maria’s face was definitely a smile.
Lunch break at Raizen High School.
I was walking down the hallway alone when a massive headache hit me.
"Ghk...!"
I almost collapsed right there in the hall, but I quickly braced myself against the wall and kept from falling over.
"What is this...?"
I had no idea what I was doing here, and no idea why I’d suddenly gotten a headache. The whole situation was so incomprehensible it made my head spin.
"Haa... For now, I should go back to class."
Staying here wouldn’t solve anything, so I decided to return to the classroom and sort out my thoughts.
On the way back, I saw someone from behind.
A girl with long, pale blue-violet hair.
Her name was Izayoi Miku.
I didn’t know why Miku was standing in front of our classroom, but since we knew each other, I walked up and greeted her.
"Hey, Miku."
"Ah! Darling!"
The moment Miku saw me, she rushed over and clung to me.
Holding her as she ran into me, I wondered why she was suddenly acting like this.
"Miku? Why were you standing in front of Class 4?"
"Well, of course I was waiting for my darling~ You didn’t forget the promise from earlier, did you?"
"Promise...?"
The moment I heard the word, the memory slowly came back to me.
Before lunch, during the break between third period and lunch, Miku had said she wanted to walk back with me.
I hadn’t minded, so I’d agreed.
"What, did you forget?"
"No. No way. Of course I remember."
Luckily, I remembered in time, so I escaped Miku’s suspicious glare.
"Then I’ll come get you from class later~"
"Y-yeah. See you later."
I waved to Miku as she turned to leave, then started to head into the classroom myself—only for her to suddenly grab my wrist.
Confused by her behavior, I turned back.
"Hm? Miku? What is it?"
Then Miku leaned in close and said,
"Please give me a farewell kiss."
"No, what are you even talking about...? A farewell kiss, in broad daylight? And more importantly, that’s something you do with someone you’re dating."
What kind of nonsense was that?
When I refused Miku’s request, she puffed out her cheeks and grumbled.
"Honestly, darling, you’re such a meanie~!"
"What do you mean, meanie? Come on, hurry up and go. Class is starting soon."
"Fine~ I’ll save it for next time then~"
"There is no next time, you brat."
After somehow sending off Miku, who was trying to make a next time happen no matter what, I stepped into the classroom—and was greeted by a certain trio.
"Wow~ Is he really that clueless?"
"How can he not get it when she’s going that far?"
"That’s so disappointing~"
It was Ai, Mai, and Mii.
Apparently they’d overheard my conversation with Miku, because they were looking at me with disapproval.
"What exactly am I clueless about...?"
"You’re seriously asking that?"
"At this point, it’s not even clueless. It’s like he doesn’t have any sense at all."
"That’s so disappointing~"
I ignored their nonsense and sat down at my desk.
Then Tonomachi-kun came up to me and whispered,
"Hieta, you know what?"
"What is it?"
"I curse you."
"?"
After leaving behind those incomprehensible words, Tonomachi-kun walked away, and for some reason his back looked a little lonely.
Seriously, what was wrong with him?
While wondering about his behavior, I reached into my desk drawer and felt something snag on my hand.
"Hm? What’s this?"
A pure white envelope, with a heart-shaped sticker stuck in the center.
Anyone could tell this was a love letter.
"A love letter?"
The moment I muttered that, a boy nearby shouted,
"It’s a big scoop! Hieta got a love letter!!!"
"What!? Who is it!? Which girl sent it!?"
"You bastard, Hieta!!! And you’ve got a third-year Miku senpai too—how could you even...!!!"
"I curse you! I curse you, Hieta!"
"Mom! When I grow up, I want to be Hieta! Mom! When I grow up, I want to be Hieta!"
The classroom had become so noisy it was basically a den of madness.
The boys were running wild at the fact that I’d received a love letter, glaring at me like they wanted to kill me, while the girls were trying to figure out who had sent it by studying the handwriting.
And hey, whoever said Miku was here, get out here.
What kind of crap are you spouting?
"Everyone, calm down. It might just be a prank, right?"
"True. That could be it."
Only after I suggested it might be a prank did the classroom quiet down a little.
But even then, there was some strange tension mixed into the air.
"Hieta, hurry up and open it."
"I’ll bet 300 yen and my wrist that it’s real."
"Then I’ll bet 300 yen and my wrist that it’s fake."
"Okay. Open it, Hieta."
I was the one who got it, so why were they acting like this?
With a little pity for the two boys, I looked back down at the envelope.
Since the top right corner said To. Hieta, it didn’t seem like they’d mistaken the recipient.
Honestly, this was the first time I’d ever received something like this, so I was nervous too as I peeled off the sticker and opened Pandora’s envelope.
"Oh..."
I froze when I saw the letter inside.
Then one of the boys snatched it from my hand and read it aloud.
"Tra-la-la~ tra-la-la tra-la-la, boom-chak-chak~ boom-chak-chak~ where...
-To Higakieta Hae.
I fell for the way you helped me when I was in trouble, and for how kind you are to everyone.
Please come to the back of the school after class today.
...It’s real?"
"What, it’s real?"
"Hey! What are you doing? Hurry up and bring that broom over here!"
"No way! There’s no way Hieta would get a love letter!"
"Hey, don’t bet unless you’re sure, got it?"
The whole class exploded, except for the two idiots who were busy calling each other out.
Especially the boys, who looked like they wanted to kill me, while the girls stared at the unsigned letter, checked the handwriting, and started investigating who could have written it.
Man, what am I supposed to do with this chaos?
"Hieta. You going?"
"I guess I have to, right?"
Whether I rejected her or accepted, it only meant something if I faced her properly.
If I just didn’t show up to reject her, that would hurt the girl too.
I’d promised to go with Miku after school today, but I’d have to ask her to forgive me.
After school, I asked Miku for permission and came to the meeting place.
A number of eyes followed me from behind, but this wasn’t something I could do anything about, so all I could do was feel sorry for the girl who’d written the love letter.
After a little while, a girl appeared.
"Daa~rling~"
"Miku?"
The girl was Miku.
Looking around, Miku said,
"Shall we talk~?"
"Huh? Oh. Yeah."
"For now, let’s go somewhere no one else is around~"
For some reason, Miku’s eyes looked a little scary when she said that.
Or maybe not scary—just empty. Like there was no light in them.
"Everyone, could you please clear out~?"
"O-okay!"
At Miku’s single line, every last spectator disappeared.
I could understand why. Some strange killing intent had started spilling out of Miku.
"Darling, this might sting for a bit, okay?"
"Huh? What are yo..."
I couldn’t finish my sentence before I lost consciousness.
When I came to, I was trapped in a dark place.
My hands and feet were tied to a chair, so I couldn’t move at all.
What kind of disaster had I gotten into just from trying to talk to Miku?
While I was still trying to understand the situation, a click sounded and the lights came on, revealing Miku.
"M-Miku?"
Miku walked up to me, slowly stroked my cheek, and whispered,
"Darling is mine alone, so how dare you try to get together with someone else?"
"What? What are you talking about!?"
"I saw it, you know? The girl who put that letter in your desk, acting like she had any right to do that."
After saying that, Miku stepped away from me and took something out of her bag.
"A knife!?"
What she pulled out was a kitchen knife.
Running her finger along the side of the blade, where the light reflected off it, Miku continued.
"So~ that girl was trying to flirt with my darling, right?"
"What nonsense are you talking about!"
"Nonsense...? Darling, do you like that girl?"
I was thrown into a panic by Miku’s words.
No, how could I possibly like some girl I didn’t even know—didn’t know her name, her face, or anything about her?
"Then I guess I’ll just have to deal with her~"
"Calm down a little!"
"The fact that you’re trying to stop me means you’ve already been seduced."
Miku muttered while staring straight at the gleaming kitchen knife.
"She approached my darling, tried to take my darling from me, that girl, even though my darling is mine, that girl—ah, she must have been grinning and grinning. I hate her, hate her, hate her, I need to kill her right now..."
"Miku! Listen to me!!!"
"Don’t worry~ I’ll save you from that pest right away."
"Calm down! I was going to reject her!"
If this kept going, that girl I didn’t even know by name or face was really going to die, so I shouted my true feelings.
From the start, it had been a confession I was planning to reject, so there was no reason for Miku to react like this.
"I like Miku more than anyone else in the world!"
"...Darling, what did you just say~?"
"I said I like you the most! There’s no way I’d be interested in another girl when I’ve got you!"
Only after I poured out everything I felt did Miku finally come to her senses and untie me.
"Where on earth is this...?"
"Fufufu. This is my house, you know?"
"Why is there a room like this in your house...?"
I had no idea why Miku’s house had a room that felt basically like a torture chamber.
What was this even made for?
"Now then, daa~rling~ show me proof."
"Hm? Proof of what?"
"Proof that you like me the most in the world~"
As she said that, Miku puckered her lips toward me.
So this was probably that, huh.
Anyone could tell what she meant by that gesture.
Kidnapping, confinement, a confession in that situation, and then a kiss.
If a novel were written like this, people would tear it apart.
"Haa."
Still, I do like Miku.
Just as I was about to press my lips to the ones she’d offered me, I lost consciousness.
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