CH 1.2

“Akihito, you traitor.”

Right after the short homeroom, a disgruntled Akira came to me to complain.

In the end, Akira was summoned to the staff room for a sermon.

I’m not blamed for any of this, so I guess that’s why he’s complaining to me like this.

“No, well, just don’t mind it.”

I didn’t know what to say, since I was the only one who escaped the lecture, so I decided to say something comforting.

However, if I leave him alone like this, he might complain endlessly until the next class starts, so I’m going to bring up another topic, even if it seems a bit cowardly of me.

“But still, Charlotte-san is amazing. I can’t believe she can speak Japanese so fluently at her age.”

I looked at Charlotte-san, surrounded by our classmates chatting and laughing, and complimented her on her fluency in Japanese.

Akira tilted his head curiously.

“Hey, what do you mean by ‘fluent’?”

“…It means that you can speak the language smoothly and without slurring.”

I thought that if I mentioned Charlotte-san, he would take the bait, but I couldn’t help but chuckle when I got a different answer.

Akira didn’t understand this and just nodded his head as if he understood what I just said even though he didn’t.

“I see, that’s great. But Akihito can also speak English just as fluently, right?”

“No, it’s one thing for me to speak English as a Japanese, and quite another for a British girl to speak Japanese.”

“Hmm~”

When Akira heard my words, he simply brushed them off with a casual attitude.

I guess he didn’t understand what I meant and didn’t care about it.

I wish he would be more interested in something other than soccer and girls.

“This is not the time to be doing this! If I’m not careful, the other guys will take Charlotte-san away from me!”

And then Akira, oblivious to my gaze as I thought about it, started to panic now.

As usual, he gets restless when it comes to the girl he’s interested in.

“Don’t go too hard on her oka―aaand he’s not listening to me at all…”

Akira is good-looking and athletic, but his problem is that he’s too aggressive, and that’s what draws people away from him.

That’s why I tried to warn him, but Akira was already running towards the circle surrounding Charlotte-san.

He really is as straight as a boar.

But that’s one of the good things about Akira.

I looked at the direction Akira was heading― or rather, at Charlotte-san.

Charlotte-san seemed to be having a great time talking with her fellow classmates.

She has a lovely smile that attracts both men and women, and she is polite and attentive to her classmates who are always asking her questions.

I can understand why everyone is drawn to her when they see her gentle smile and hear her almost hauntingly beautiful voice.

Her presence alone makes the classroom seem like a different place than it was yesterday.

―I can’t be optimistic enough to expect anything just because I’m in the same class as a beautiful foreign student.

The only thing I have going for me is my studies, so it suits me to watch her from afar like this.

Satisfied with the sight of Charlotte-san, I took out a book from my bag and indulged in reading until my next class started.