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Chapter 6 : She’s Starting to Babysit – Part 1
During recess, Shoichi stared at his unfolded notebook and twisted his head.
He wasn’t reviewing for class. Or rather, this was not his notebook.
As he was grunting with a difficult expression, one of his classmates suddenly called out to him.
“Yo, Kashima. Are you studying?”
“What is it, Yajima? What do you want?”
“As I said, Yagi! Yagi Kensuke! Well, the ‘Ya’ was correct, so that’s a step forward.” Nodding his head, Yagi suddenly looked down at his notebook and made a satisfied face. “Ah, Yuzuki’s? So you’re thinking about her studies?”
“Something like that.”
“Sounds like a lot of work. It seems difficult to teach her to study.”
Perhaps hearing Yagi’s voice, some of the students in the class looked at him, nodding yes with a sympathetic look in their eyes.
After the date, Shoichi was questioned by the boys, and after discussing with Amiru, he decided to explain to them that they were childhood friends and that he was teaching her how to study, rather than letting them misunderstand him.
“But keep it a secret that you cook for me every day, clean my house, do my laundry, and take care of my daily needs. It would cause unnecessary misunderstandings.”
“I also wanted to say that, because it would be embarrassing if my friends found out, but I wonder if it would be an unnecessary misunderstanding.”
“Of course it would… They’re gonna think we’re parent and child. That’s embarrassing.”
“Ahaha, you’re thinking too much, Sho-chan. But if Sho-chan is my child, that could be good too.”
“That’s no good!”
Shoichi was actually going to use ‘lovers’ or ‘husband and wife’ instead of ‘parent and child’ as a metaphor for their relationship. However, he came back to his senses in the middle of the sentence, thinking that it would be more embarrassing.
I’ve really been out of my mind lately, haven’t I…
Apparently, he would often lose his composure in front of Amiru, just like the gift he gave on their date. When she first asked him to teach her to study, he thought she was just a pain in the a*s.
In any case, this explanation was enough to convince most of his classmates. They were able to easily swallow the fact that Shoichi had the best grades and Amiru had the worst grades.
Some of the students were still skeptical, but when he brought the homeroom teacher in to explain the situation to them, they reluctantly agreed. Well, this should be good enough.
It’s great now that I can think about Amiru’s studies in my free time in the classroom.
As Shoichi was thinking about this, Yagi poked him on the shoulder with his elbow.
“By the way, how do you usually teach Yuzuki her studies?”
“How, you ask? Normally. I make up questions and let her solve them, and then I try to figure out the patterns of what she doesn’t understand so that I can come up with countermeasures.”
“That’s not what I meant. Look, there are a lot of things going on, right? For example, when you two picked up an eraser, her hand hit yours and it made you excited, or when you saw Yuzuki nape while she was thinking, it made you nervous.”
“What are you talking about?”
Shoichi was taken aback and thought that Yagi must have been influenced by some weird manga or anime.
He wondered what kind of delusions such a person would have if he had told him that he was being taken care of every day. This secret must definitely be taken to the grave.
Besides, there’s no way I’d be nervous with Amiru.
The other day, when she cried with joy, he was surprised, but that was all. He was just surprised, not that he felt anything new. And he was sure he would continue to feel that way.
Shoichi ignored Yagi, who was still wriggling in his imagination, and looked at the notebook to think about how to teach today’s lesson.
○ ○ ○ ○ ○
While Shoichi was struggling with the notebook. Amiru Yuzuki was chatting with her friends.
Sitting on Amiru’s desk, one of her friends, a girl with gaudy makeup all over, opened her mouth.
“So, about the upcoming concert… Will you go with me, Amiru?”
“Ah, sorry, sorry. I’ll pass.”
“What? Could that be because of your study? It seems that Amiru has become quite the honor student, hasn’t she~?”
It was another girl with a cute pout. With colorful bracelets and scrunchies wrapped around her arms, she sat next to Amiru, in a chair that was originally meant for a different student.
Amiru looked at her and gave a wry smile. “Ahaha, that’s one thing. I also don’t have much money.”
“Well, if that’s the case, then there’s no other way. I’ll just put up with this one for now.”
“Wait! What ‘no other way’ and ‘put up,’ that’s rude! Say it better!”
Then, the two of them laughed together. Amiru joined in, laughing happily as well.
At that moment, the black-haired girl standing beside them, who had been silent until now, moved. It was a girl who was wearing her school uniform in a fancy way. She turned her slightly upturned eyes to Amiru and moved her glossy lips.
“So, Amiru. The reason you were asking me about dating before was so you could date that Kashima?”
“Ah, Mea-chan. Yes, that’s right.”
“Eh, no way! Amiru went on a date with that thing?”
“Uwaa, that skinny guy who studies so much. If I were you, I would refuse even if he paid me.”
The two friends talked behind his back as they pleased, taking advantage of the fact that Shoichi himself could not hear them.
“He seems kind of hard-headed. The fact that he goes to the trouble of studying at school is also very lame, isn’t it? Those are the kind of people who assume that women are supposed to do the housework and are always bossy.”
“I get that~. If you say something lame like that, we’ll just get bored.”
“Well, what’s even more lame is the ones who take such things to heart and do housework at home. It seems that there are women who do that kind of thing just to flirt with men.”
“Really? Is there really such a person? If you can’t even do what you want, you’re missing out on more than half of your life!”
“Aauuu~” Amiru growled secretly. This was the general view of her friends. They didn’t see the value in a woman who stays at home quietly.
I like housework and cooking, though. I guess that kind of thing is lame.
She let out a sigh inwardly as she thought about this.
At that moment, she felt she had to follow up on Shoichi, so she said excusingly.
“It’s fine. Sho-chan is not that strange. I mean, there are some oddities. He’s a little sloppy in his personal life. He’s also very strict in studying, so he yells at me a lot.”
“No, no, no, that’s already a minefield! To be frank, it’s a bad investment!”
“Ah, no good. He’s totally not my type. I don’t know if I’d want to go on a date with him even if he gave me land, let alone money.”
“But he’s got a good side, too! And he’s smart!”
When Amiru intensified her tone, her friends stared at her with puzzled faces.
“What, what? Amiru, that skinny kid, do you like him?”
“Eh? Ah, yeah. I love him.”
“Oh, no. She probably doesn’t know what that means.”
“She’s still a child. But that’s what’s so cute about her! Amiru, stay pure~.”
Then they held Amiru in their arms and began to stroke her head. “My hair is ruined~,” screamed Amiru.
Mea shrugged her shoulders at that, but eventually crouched down, looked at Amiru, and said.
“Well, you’re a good judge of character, so I’m sure you’ll be fine. But if you’re being taught one-on-one, you might want to be careful.”
“? Be careful?”
“Here, take this. It’s a security buzzer. Push it if anything dangerous happens.”
“Hmm? I don’t really get it, but thanks.”
Amiru took the buzzer and smiled at Mea. Mea stared at her, but eventually, her eyes squinted.
“And it’s about time, isn’t it? The ‘result.'”
“……!”
“How about it? Have you made up your mind to listen?”
“Um… Well, not yet.” Amiru’s expression sank, as if the smile she had been wearing was a lie.
The two remaining friends looked at each other, unsure of what was going on.
Mea shrugged her shoulders.
“Well, maybe you don’t have to go. I wouldn’t want to go either if I were in your position.”
“Yeah…”
“Either way, there’s still time. You can think it over.”
After saying that, she returned to her seat. The two girls also looked at the clock and then hurried off.
The chime for the start of class sounded shortly after.
○ ○ ○ ○ ○
After school, Shoichi and Amiru left the school together.
On their way, she said she wanted to buy something. She wanted to replenish the food supplies at Shoichi’s house, as they were about to run out.
“No, wait a minute. What if someone in the class sees us shopping together? This time, ‘for studying’ won’t work.”
“Don’t worry, Sho-chan is smart enough to cover up anything.”
“…So you have no plan and are leaving it to me?”
However, in the end, Amiru dragged him along and Shoichi was forced to go shopping with her.
Fortunately, there was no sign of the other students until they reached their destination supermarket, and the purchase was completed without any problems.
On the way home, as they walked through the empty residential area leading to the Kashima house, Amiru said in a good mood, “We’ve got some good sashimi today. I’ll make Chikuzenni with it.”
“You don’t have to make such an elaborate dish every time. If anything, just sashimi is fine.”
“No, your nutrition is unbalanced. Mou, really, Sho-chan, you should be a little more conscious of how skinny you are. You barely have any muscles.”
“S-Shut up… Hey, don’t poke me on the side so easily.”
Shoichi balked as she poked and prodded his side to show him how little flesh there was.
Despite the expression on his face, he didn’t really mind. As the thin white fingers touched his body, he felt warm somehow. In his mind, he recalled Yagi’s face and voice from this morning.
No, I’m not really excited about this… But still…
The other day, he even went on a date with Amiru. Perhaps Amiru had some special feelings for him, even if he didn’t feel that way about her.
If that’s the case… No, that’s impossible. That’s just impossible.
He desperately suppressed his thoughts, which tended to be delusional. Apparently, today was not a good day for him.
“What’s wrong, Sho-chan? You don’t look well.”
“No, it’s nothing. It’s nothing, so just keep looking forward.”
Somehow Shoichi couldn’t look at her properly anymore, and he gave her those instructions, and at that moment–
A little boy came running out from around the corner.
“Kyaa!?”
“Whoa!?”
Amiru and the child bumped into each other with a thud, and both of them fell on their buttocks.
“O-Oi, are you okay?”
“Ye-Yeah. I’m fine… Eh? Ko-chan?”
“Eh? Ah, it’s Amiru!”
Pointing at Amiru, the boy called Ko-chan shouted. He sounded somewhat happy.
But Amiru, as if she was stunned, put her hands on her hips and looked into Ko-chan’s face.
“What’s the matter, Kochan? What are you doing here all alone? Did you sneak out of the nursery again?”
“No, I was just out for a walk today…”
“Wait, Ko-kun. It’s not safe to run out… Ara, Amiru-chan.”
“Hello, it’s been a long time, Shirokawa-sensei!”
A woman about thirty years old rushed up behind the boy. She was leading a group of children about Ko-chan’s age behind her. They were all wearing smocks, and Shoichi noticed that Ko-chan was also wearing one.
I’m guessing she’s a nursery school teacher… But how come she and Amiru seem to know each other?
As he wondered, Shirokawa suddenly looked at him and her eyes widened. “Ara, Amiru-chan, who is it over there?”
“Ah, this is Sho-chan. Sho-chan, this is Shirokawa-sensei. She’s a nursery school teacher.”
“Nice to meet you, I’m Shoichi Kashima.”
“Yes, nice to meet you.”
After exchanging bows with Shoichi, she suddenly asked him mischievously, “…You’re rather handsome, aren’t you? Are you Amiru-chan’s boyfriend?”
“What!?”
She seemed to like gossip and her eyes were shining, but Shoichi hurriedly tried to deny it. The thoughts from earlier came back to him. If Amiru were to say something that would cause a misunderstanding, it would be bad.
But Amiru was quick to open her mouth.
“Oh no, that’s not true, Sensei.”
“Eh?”
“Sho-chan is simply a childhood friend of mine. He can’t be my boyfriend or anything!”
“Ara, really…? Is that so?”
“…Yeah, that’s right.”
Shoichi nodded, but had mixed feelings.
What was I thinking when I was worrying about my heart pounding just moments ago? I don’t think Amiru has any such intentions. Thinking about this, a feeling of relief and inexplicability washed over him.
After all, this girl and I are just childhood friends. I guess skinship is like a brother-sister thing. There’s nothing wrong with that… Nothing wrong really, but when she denies it so clearly, it doesn’t feel that great.
Shoichi sighed at the thought. He didn’t know why he was feeling so gloomy.
He looked at Amiru for some reason. Their eyes met by chance and she smiled at him. Feeling even more bewildered, Shoichi turned away.
And then, Ko-chan approached Amiru and tugged on her uniform skirt.
“Hey, Amiru. Come and play with us.”
“Eh, now?”
“Me too, I want to play with Amiru Onee-chan too.”
“Me too!”
The children flocked to Amiru. She was very popular. Amiru laughed “haha” as if troubled, but eventually she looked at Shoichi and said, “Sorry, Sho-chan. I’d like to make a quick stop.”
“Ah, yeah…”
Somehow he knew where this was going, and Shoichi couldn’t help but nod.