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Chapter 2: A Request from the Beautiful Transfer Student
“How was it, were you surprised?”
Miyu-sensei, who had just called me, was the one who said so happily.
After parting with Charlotte-san, I changed into my loungewear and started reviewing what I had learned today, until my phone rang about three hours into my studying session.
I wondered if she wanted to know my reaction to finding out that Charlotte-san and I lived next to each other, or if she was actually worried about me― probably 50/50… ….
“I was more than a little surprised. What the heck is up with that?”
“Hey, what are you so wary of? I’m telling you, I had nothing to do with Charlotte’s move, okay? I only realized she was living next to you after I got her address.”
I was a little suspicious that Miyu-sensei might have been working behind the scenes, because the turn of events was too convenient to be a coincidence, but it seemed that it really was a coincidence.
Well, if I thought about it normally, there is no way that Miyu-sensei could have had a hand in it…
“Haa~… I don’t know what kind of face I should go to school with tomorrow…”
“Hm? Why don’t you just go with a normal face? What do you need to be wary of? …Are you in love with Charlotte by any chance?”
“―Huh!?”
Miyu-sensei, who overheard my soliloquy over the phone, asked me this quizzically.
“N-No, of course not!”
“Really~?”
“W-What’s with that reaction…?”
“Hey Aoyagi, isn’t Charlotte cute?”
“Well, well, generally speaking, I’d say so, I guess…?”
“She’s a nice, friendly, honest fellow, isn’t she?”
“I think she’s a good person, which is rare these days…”
“―It’s confirmed.”
“What’s confirmed!?”
Miyu-sensei’s voice sounded as if she had understood what I was saying which made me raise my voice.
What is this person assuming just because I answered a few questions?
Well, I would be lying if I said I didn’t have such feelings.
But I’m sure I didn’t show any signs that I’m in love with Charlotte-san.
………………Yeah, maybe.
As I think back on my day, I’m becoming less and less sure.
But I want to believe that she hasn’t found out yet.
I’m sure this teacher just has good intuition, but I’m not so sure.
“Because you’ve never called a girl cute before, have you?”
“I told you before that it’s just in general.”
“Hey Aoyagi, give it up already. You’ve been getting embarrassed every time I’ve talked about Charlotte since a while ago. The fact that a typically calm guy like you is embarrassed to the point where I could tell even over the phone is pretty much a given at this point, right?”
“That’s…”
I can’t think of anything to say back.
If I say something stupid, I might be caught dead in the act, and even if I just lie, Miyu-sensei will know.
On the other hand, it would also be bad to remain silent―.
As I was thinking this, the intercom rang.
“Oh, it looks like someone’s here! Miyu-sensei, we’ll talk about it another time!”
“Oh, hey! Don’t run away―”
I could still hear Miyu-sensei’s voice on my phone, but I snapped the call off as it was urgent.
This is not a good thing to do to a person who’s older, but Miyu-sensei and I know each other very well, so I think she’ll tolerate it.
Miyu-sensei was just trying to make fun of me, so she would not blame me for being like this.
―With that thought in mind, I opened the door to find a small child wearing a hoodie with animal ears standing at the door.
And that child looked up at me with a cute smile on her face.
“Onii-chan…!”
It was Emma-chan in a good mood, wearing a hoodie with animal ears, who called out to me.
“What’s up, Emma-chan?”
I asked the unexpected visitor, bending over.
Then an apologetic Charlotte-san came out of a blind spot in the doorway.
It seemed that she went in front of my room with her.
Charlotte-san is dressed in her casual clothes, perhaps for home, and I am struck by her somewhat unprotected appearance.
Moreover, Charlotte-san looked so beautiful against the moonlight that it would not be an exaggeration to say that she was somewhat magical.
The beauty of Charlotte-san against the moonlight was so beautiful that I couldn’t help but admire it.
―But then, someone tugged at the sleeve of my clothes and brought me back to reality.
Or rather, there is only one person in this situation that would do that.
I looked at Emma-chan, who had been in a good mood until a few minutes ago, with her cheeks puffed up.
“Ah, sorry, Emma-chan, what’s the matter?”
I apologized to Emma-chan who was sulking and asked her again.
Then, her cheeks immediately shrunk and she opened her mouth happily.
“Well, Emma wants to play with Onii-chan!”
Emma-chan said so with a cute smile on her face.
Her eyes were shining and she was eager to be played with.
It seems that Emma-chan is even more attached to me than I thought she would be, coming all the way here just to play with me.
“I’m sorry, Aoyagi-kun, but Emma insists on playing with you… I don’t want her to escape again, so I was wondering if you could talk to her for a while.”
Then Charlotte-san, who was standing behind Emma-chan, gave a follow-up on Emma-chan’s words.
But I couldn’t help but tsukkomi her words in my mind.
Wait, escaping…
It’s true that she left the house on her own, so it could be called escaping, but that’s quite an unusual expression, isn’t it, this girl?
“It’s fine, but I think she was already trying to go to sleep in that outfit, right?”
Charlotte-san’s rough outfit may even look like she’s about to go to bed also.
Emma-chan was wearing pajamas with an animal-ear hood and seemed to be getting ready for bed.
So I wondered if it was okay to play with her since she was about to go to bed.
“I’m sorry… I was trying to put her to bed after she got out of the bath as Aoyagi-kun imagined, but she suddenly started pestering me to play with Aoyagi-kun.”
After taking a bath―.
So that’s why Charlotte-san’s cheeks are red.
I guess she still has a lot of warmth in her body.
I felt very fortunate because Charlotte-san looks even more attractive because of the reddish cheeks.
Well, that’s all for now because―.
“I see…”
When I heard from Charlotte-san that Emma-chan wants to play with me, I turned my attention back to Emma-chan.
Emma-chan was staring at me again with a sullen and bored expression on her face, probably because Charlotte-san and I had been talking without her.
But when our eyes met, she looked very happy and her eyes lit up.
Maybe she was expecting me to pay attention to her.
I couldn’t let her feel lonely with that kind of expression on her face, so I decided to play along with Emma-chan.
However, even though it was just starting to transition out of summer, talking to Emma-chan outside like this would make the two of us feel like we were in hot water.
However, going somewhere outside is not an option.
It was already late at night, and I knew that she would definitely avoid taking the young Emma-chan outside.
So the place would have to be either mine or Charlotte-san’s room, but both of us currently have a high hurdle that we’re facing.
I would not feel comfortable inviting Charlotte-san to my room, and if I were to go to Charlotte-san’s room, I would be too nervous and it would be bad for my heart.
Besides, Charlotte-san would not feel comfortable coming to my room or inviting me to hers.
It is a very difficult decision to make because I have to consider not only my feelings but also hers.
…I don’t have a choice.
I’ll leave it to Charlotte-san to decide.
“Charlotte-san, I’d like to move to a new place, where should we go?”
“Let’s see…”
Charlotte-san started to think about it as if she was in trouble.
I think she’s probably thinking about the same thing I am.
Well, it is not possible that Charlotte-san is conscious of me, even if we are thinking of the same thing.
I stared at her silently, trying not to disturb Charlotte-san’s thoughts.
But then―.
“Emma wants to go to Onii-chan’s room…!”
Before Charlotte-san could give her answer, Emma-chan pulled my clothes on and said what she wanted.
Yeah, it seems that the place has been fixed.
I looked at Charlotte-san’s face to see if she had come to the same conclusion as I had, and she nodded her head in agreement.
I still feel quite uncomfortable inviting Charlotte-san to my room, but it is definitely better than having them catch a cold from the cool air.
―After that, the three of us moved to my room according to the words of the young girl who had the most decisive power in the room.