During this time, more books were returned than borrowed, and since the library was open only for a short time, it was a little busier than the work during the lunch break.
At the library after school, Yuki Toyama was engaged in library committee work while enduring the sleepiness after lunch.
Two girls were looking at Toyama, who seemed to be busy dealing with students who came to return books one after another, sitting facing each other at a table in the library.
One of them was Yumi Takai, a pretty girl with a short bob and an expressionless and mysterious aura, who looked like a model student.
Marika Uehara, a beautiful girl with a beautiful aura with a pretty style, that makes two big bulges in her uniform she is wearing, and has a beautiful aura with her long hair lightly curled on one side and one end.
Uehara is popular in class because of her beauty and personality, and many male students like her. Ever since Takai changed her hair from a long bob to a short one, took off her glasses, and dressed up, Takai quietly became popular among the boys in her class.
Two beautiful girls who were popular in such a class sat facing each other, but there was no conversation there. There was also an atmosphere of mutual restraint.
Uehara, who hadn't missed the fact that the students lined up at the reception desk in the library had disappeared and the books had finished being returned, rushed to the counter where Toyama was.
「Hey Toyama, are you free after school today？」
It seemed that Uehara was sitting at the counter and waiting for the right time to call Toyama after the students had disappeared.
「Eh? After school today？」
「Yes, there's something I want to buy, so I want you to go with me」
Uehara didn't have anything he wanted to buy, he just needed an excuse to ask Toyama to go with him.
「Um... After school-─」
「Uehara-san, I'm sorry that Yuki has something to do with me from now on.」
Toyama's reply was interrupted by a familiar voice, and Uehara turned around in surprise.
「Eh, Takai-san!?」
There was Takai, who rejected Uehara's invitation on Toyama's behalf.
Silence flowed between the three of them, and Uehara began to speak again.
「Toyama, did you make an appointment with Takai-san？」
Uehara looked at Toyama as if she suspected something.
「That's right! I made an appointment with Takai today... I'm sorry that you took the trouble to invite me. Maybe next time」
「......Yes, I understand. If you already have a previous appointment, what else can you do, don't worry about it」
As Uehara left the library, Toyama looked a little sad.
「Takai... what has happened to you? How can you suddenly say something like that without discussing it with me first?」
「Does Yuki want to fuck Uehara-san？」
「No...that's not what she meant...."
「Alright...then I'll wait there until your librarian work is done.」
Takai returned to the library table and started reading again. From his expressionless facial expression, Toyama couldn't see his emotions, but from his actions, Toyama felt that Takai was burning with a sense of competition with Uehara.
Toyama, who was able to finish her work earlier than usual with Takai's help returning books, locked the library and walked side by side down the corridor to the staff room to return the library key.
「Sorry, since I asked for your help」
「It's okay, I like putting books away. Because I can see the back covers of various books when I put them back on the bookshelf」
As a resident of the library, Takai who loves books seems happy just by looking at the covers. Takai would be incomprehensible to those who are not interested in books. Toyama, a librarian and book lover, understood this feeling.
「I understand. You have to look at it all the time, but every time you put the book back on the shelf, do you find something like that? Is there a book like this on the shelf?"
「I should look at the shelves in the library almost every day, but every time I come, I can find something. that's why I like paper books」
「This is definitely not a paper book. I don't feel that way with e-books."
「Yes, I like the smell of paper, so I feel calm when I'm in the library」
Toyama, who sympathized with Takai's feelings, silently nodded.
By the time she headed to the staff room and talked to Takai about the book, time had already passed, and Toyama was enjoying it immensely.
「Permission」
Toyama opened the staff room door and led Takai to Professor Miyamoto's desk.
「Miyamoto-sensei, I'm done with the library work, so I'm here to return the key.」
「Thank you for your hard work, Toyama-kun... Oh? Takai-san is with you today？」
Miyamoto-sensei looked a little surprised when he saw Takai, who was behind Toyama's back. Probably because Takai rarely interacts with someone.
「Yes, I got his help for the final cleaning」
「Yes, thank you Takai-san」
「No... I was only in the library until the end, so it seemed like it would be difficult to return it to the shelves alone...."
「That really helped me. It's hard for me to handle that amount of books by myself.」
「I wonder why there's only one librarian」
Toyama asked Miyamoto-sensei what she was always thinking about.
「There are various things about that... But I'm considering increasing the number of librarians to two in each class, so at that time, I hope Takai-san will run for office.」
「yes thank you......」
Recently, Takai has been talking to people little by little, but he seems to be at a loss because he doesn't know how to respond when he is suddenly spoken to.
「Ufufu, Takai-san seems suitable as a librarian.」
Takai went to the library almost every day, but Toyama wondered if Takai would enjoy working as a librarian. For Takai, it meant less time spent reading.
「We're going home then, so please take care of us later」
「I'm going to check the library, so I hope you'll be careful on your way home.」
「Yes, excuse me」
Toyama and Takai handed the library key to Professor Miyamoto and left the staff room.
◇
「Naki, let's go」
「Oh, Onii-chan wait~ Are you going to leave your cute little sister behind～？」
「Why does Naki wake up earlier than me, but you're always like this at the last minute?」
Mornings in the Toyama family always started with this exchange. Although Naki wakes up earlier than Toyama every morning, the carefree Naki is always left behind by her older brother.
「The women take a lot of time to get ready. I wonder if Onii-chan can't be popular because he doesn't understand the psychology of such women...? No, but there is an alien-like beauty with breasts...."
Naki muttered something as if she was remembering someone.
「I'll go first！」
When Toyama didn't care about her, she left Naki and left the front door to go to school.
「Oh! Wait for me, Onii-chan！」
Naki, carrying her bag, hurriedly followed Toyama out the door.
「Hahahaha!」 Oh, I think you should be a little nicer to your little sister！」
Naki seemed to be chasing after me, and she complained incoherently while panting.
「Do you think I'm nice enough to Naki? No, am I a little too spoiled...? I mean, Naki still has no stamina」
「A place like that! Not good! Onii-chan please reconsider！」
Saying that, Naki leaned forward and started crossing her arms in front of Toyama.
「yes yes......」
Perhaps because of this kind of exchange every day, I've gotten used to the attention of other students on the way to school, and it doesn't bother me too much.
「Good morning Toyama！」
And another girl who attracted attention called Toyama.
「Good morning too, Uehara-san」
Recently, Toyama met Uehara more often on her way to school.
「Oh! Onii-chan──」
Toyama, who sensed that Naki would say that Uehara-san was an alien with big breasts, let out a glare.
「Good morning Uehara-senpai......」
「Good morning, Naki-chan. Today too, I'm flattered by your Onii-chan」
「Uehara-senpai is still stalking Onii-chan today, right?」
「Well, it wasn't an ambush...well...I was just waiting for Toyama and Naki-chan to come to school soon...」
「That kind of thing can also be called stalking.」
「Ughh......」
Uehara was silent when Naki pointed out that it was her stalking.
「I'm going to be late, so you two, I'll go first」
Since this kind of exchange was a common occurrence, Toyama left the two of them and headed straight to the school.
「Ah, wait for me Toyama」
「Onii-chan, wait for me too～」
The three of them passed through the school gate while making a lot of noise. This had already become a common occurrence.
「so this is where we'll part ways」
Arriving at the spot, Naki separated to head towards the middle school building, this time Uehara started holding hands with Toyama.
「Eh, Uehara-san? Hey, it sticks out a bit so I won't stop folding my hands？」
「Oh! Uehara-senpai, what are you doing with an opportunity in a tight spot!?」
「I'll be responsible for bringing Toyama to class, so don't worry, Naki-chan.」
「I won't feel safe to Onii-chan！」
「See you later Naki-chan」
Ignoring the two of them, Uehara disappeared into the middle school building, dragging Toyama along.
In the end, Toyama was brought near the classroom, hand in hand with Uehara.
「Uehara-san, it's about time you let go of my arm, isn't it？」
After parting with Naki, Toyama continued to be stared at with sharp eyes by the other students while walking hand in hand with Uehara near the classroom.Uehara is a beautiful girl who is famous among the students at school, and when she walks down the hall hand in hand with a guy, she will naturally stand out. Even more so if that person was a boring boy.
「I'm going to enter the classroom like this？」
「e? If you do that, you'll be misunderstood？」
「Does Toyama hate being misunderstood with me？」
「That, that's...."
「Or does it matter if Takai-san sees it?」
「......」
「Sorry...I've said mean things...」
When Toyama remained silent without saying anything, the surprised Uehara felt that she had slipped her tongue and turned her gaze away from Toyama embarrassingly.
「No, it's okay. Uehara-san didn't say anything mean」
「Sorry!......」
Uehara, thinking that he had offended Touyama, Uehara bowed his head in sorrow and lost his energy.
「 Uehara-sana, let's go to class together.」
「Ehhh！」
Originally, it was a mistake that Toyama sowed. At least to make amends for Uehara being depressed earlier, Toyama decided to enter the classroom hand in hand.
Toyama hesitated and got nervous in front of the class. If we enter the classroom like this, we'll be the center of attention. We might be seen by Takai as well. Such thoughts crossed my mind, but on the other hand, Uehara hugged Toyama and looked happy.
── Eeeeeeeeeeeee!
Toyama made up her mind and entered the classroom hand in hand with Uehara.
Tsu! When Toyama and Uehara emerged from the door, all the attention of the students in the classroom was focused on the two of them. The noisy classroom before the start of the lesson became quiet for a moment, and they both heard whispering voices.
『The two of them came hand in hand......』
『Are the two of them still dating?』
『No. I'm sure Uehara-san is making fun of Toyama.』
『But have you ever seen Uehara-san do that to another boy?』
『What should I say? ......』
『Is that true？』
The words that entered my ears were ones that made me doubt the relationship between the two.
「Toyama! Are you getting bold already? By the way, when did you two start dating?」？
It was Shota Okuyama, a classmate, who called out to Toyama while patting her on the back. With his greeting, the atmosphere in the classroom, which had been a quiet one, changed completely.
「Oh, Okuyama-kun!? We're not dating. ......」
「Even if you're not a couple, you don't usually walk to class with your hands together, right？」
「That, that......」
What Okuyama said made sense, and Toyama couldn't deny it.
『I was wondering if you two were dating... I thought it was suspicious』
『That's right... Uehara-san's physical contact with Toyama is very close.』
『Jealousy......』
With Okuyama's words, the perception of the students in the class began to change with the belief that Touyama and Uehara were dating.
「Marika, are you two really dating? I heard from Shota, but I'm surprised about this」
Rie Kojima, Okuyama's girlfriend, added another punch question.
「Kojima-san! I-It's just an extension of my sister and Uehara-san's joke, right?？」
Toyama, who wanted to pretend she was just joking, asked Uehara for confirmation with eye contact.
「Uh, yeah... that's right! I was just playing around with Naki-chan making fun of Toyama, so it's not like we're dating."
「Hmm... Well, if that's what you guys want to do, that's fine too. n/a」
Kojima concluded with a statement that seemed to have implications.
『 Uehara-sana said she wasn't on a date.』
『That's good......』
『But... I still envy Touyama for being able to get close to Uehara-san.』
『Of course......』
『It's like a couple about to start dating......』
『That's right』
Even though Uehara already denied it, the perception in the classroom about us doesn't seem to have changed much.
「Well, do your best, Toyama」
「Okuyama-kun, is that support? ......？」
「Well, you don't have to say it, I understand Ta, Takai-san!」
Okuyama felt the presence of someone behind him, interrupted the conversation, and looked back to find an unhappy Takai standing there...
「Ta, Takai-san... you look scary but are you angry for some reason？」
Okuyama timidly called out to Takai, who seemed to be in a bad mood.
「I'm not angry. I always look like this」
Takai was usually expressionless, but even Okuyama, who didn't have a close relationship with him, could see that his face showed emotion...
「Yes, that's fine. So are you going to give that to someone？」
Takai silently nodded at Okuyama's question and handed Toyama a book.
「I borrowed this book. thank you, it was fun」
「Aaah, ......」
When Toyama accepted the book, Takai returned to his seat without saying anything.
「Good morning? My God... something's going to be a big problem, isn't it, Marika? I feel like your rival has appeared？」
Sensing something from Takai's behavior, Kojima teased Uehara.
「Well, it's not like that, Rie」
「Is it just my imagination that I feel that Takai-san has an uncharacteristic mood?」
「It's nothing」
「It would be better if Marika said so. But... Takai-san is cute and you should try to take Touyama first before Takai-san takes him」
Uehara didn't respond to Kojima's words.
「So Toyama, which one do you prefer?」
Okuyama, who had noticed what was going on, joined Toyama's shoulder and spoke in a low voice that the others couldn't hear...
「Oh, Okuyama-kun... you two are just like that...」
Due to the current relationship between the three of them, Toyama was in a situation where she couldn't tell the truth, so her words were off topic...
「I know you want to hide it, but if you look at Uehara-san's actions and Takai-san's state, I think we'll find out eventually..」
As Okuyama said, the way Uehara treats Toyama is excessive physical contact towards friends of the opposite sex. Moreover, it seems that Takai can no longer be indifferent towards Toyama and Uehara.
「......I can't say anything right now. I apologize for Okuyama-kun for worrying about me."
「So... well... if you want to talk to me, I will always be ready to listen to you consult me.」
「Yes thank you. let me do that」
Having said that, given her relationship with Takai, Toyama knew very well that it was not something that could be discussed lightly with others.
「Oh, that's always good Well... the teacher will be here soon, so we should go back to our seats」
In this way, the students in the class gradually began to doubt the relationship between Toyama, Uehara, and Takai.