“Iori~in, ah, oopsies, you with your girlfriend?”
“Wrong, it’s fiancée. You probably know already, but she’s Tendou Tsukasa-san.”
“Ah, nah, it’s nothing urgent on second thought. I don’t wanna interrupt you either, so I’ll get back to you later. See you later, Iorin, and Tendou-san.”
“—Ah, found you, Iori~in. You know, about the last assignment—”
“Oh, Shinocchi, about the circle’s next regular meeting, wait whaaa, Tendou-san!?”
“Oh, Kamiya~an, Iori~in…”
I, who had decided to have lunch on an outdoor bench since it’s one of the rare clear days during the rainy season with the nice Miss Fiancée who’s accompanying me even though I didn’t invite her, have decided to immediately regret that.
The reason was that my friends, who were showing up one by one with a totally half-assed pretext, scattered away with a totally unnatural surprise at finding Tendou next to me.
Rather, no matter what business they got it’s all things they could’ve just asked through the phone. As to why they deliberately came to me directly, I don’t even need to think deeply about it.
“Sorry, those guys are all after you, Tendou. I’ll make sure to tell them how they got no shame to pull such a lame stunt, and that it’s creepy on top of being totally obvious.”
“That’ll just make my reputation worse, so can you please stop? I’m used to guys giving me looks anyway, so I don’t mind,” however without seemingly taking offense, said Tendou, who today got her light brown hair up in a ponytail, and it’s giving complicated feelings.
A beauty is just different, isn’t it? I don’t admire them so much, though.
“That’s not what I meant. Since earlier, weren’t your friends calling you in a very cutesy way?” And so the situation turned into a more inconvenient direction for me.
Those guys were totally being so uncalled-for.
“Aah, yeah. I sure do hope they all die a gruesome death, or never get a girlfriend their whole life.”
My first name, Iori, although it’s not a venerable one, it’s originally a traditional male name.
You can look up ‘Azuma Hyakkan’ for more details, but nowadays it’s not uncommon for these kanjis to be used in women’s names, and it seems to be considered as feminine instead by people of my generation.
Even though it’s not to the point of bearing grudge against my parents’ naming, it’s often not pleasant thanks to this. And so I don’t like to be called by my first name.
“Isn’t it weird that those two on the same level…? Not that, they called you by first name, didn’t they? Then I’ll also—”
“About that, I’ve told them to stop many times but they just won’t.”
“On that matter, it’s a godsend since you stopped after only just a single one, Tendou.”
Tendou is repeating a motion unbecoming of that fine, beautiful face of hers, opening and closing her mouth like a goldfish
I thought that her charming pink lips are somehow, kinda lewd.
“Sheesh, what a bunch of superficial friends. They should just die a gruesome death with blood spurting out of every pore of their skin.” Except for Kamiyan.
“…I see.” Anyway Tendou made a small groan and gave up on going any further, perhaps sensing my strong determination. “By the way, isn’t the punishment just heavy? Actually, aren’t you angry for real? You hate it that much?”
“Nah, I’m not angry at all. It’s gonna be hell if I get angry, you know?”
“But I feel like you’re sounding about the grumpiest I’ve ever heard till now, though?”
“Oh – come – on – that’s – just – your – imagination.”
“You’re now saying in broken speech, though?”
Nuh-uh, I’m really not angry at all, you know? I just a ‘lil bit absolutely won’t forgive them.
“—Hey Shino-kun, I just can’t help but think it’s unfair, though,” Tendou spoke up after brooding over something throughout. This was when she had finished about half of her walnut bread during lunch with bread, which is unusual for us as we didn’t pack for lunch since it’s a sudden decision.
Moreover, unlike me who’s taking a big bite, Tendou—a natural, orthodox young lady except for her history with men—is eating at a slow pace while taking bite-sized pieces in a good manner.
“It’s so sudden, what’s up?”
“What’s with not letting your fiancée call you by your first name, even though your friend does?” And then the topic that should’ve been over for me personally was brought up again.
Somehow I feel like Tendou is slowly learning the way to bring up a topic that is hard for me to disregard.
That said, this time she isn’t at fault, so I’ve gotta be careful to not be harsh with my tone as much as I can.
“But y’know, even you asked ‘what’s with that,’ it’s just like I said earlier, they’re just the bad guys who’re calling someone else ‘Iorin’ as they please even though I don’t allow them.”
“What’s with labeling someone the bad guy for just calling you by nickname…? By the way, what do you think if I call you by your first name?”
“I guess I’d think, ‘I see, so you’re that kinda person, huh’.”
“You’re sounding like something out of Hesse’s work…”
“Huh, I thought it was Emil’s.”
“Why? you mean Emil who made ‘Jugendgedenken,’ right? That was Hermann Hesse.”
“‘Beneath the Wheel’ one?”
“That’s right. Why that’s the one you remember?”
After I replied with, “I just do,” Tendou takes another bite of her bread while tilting her head looking somewhat baffled.
“By the way, Michael Ende was the author of ‘Momo’ and ‘The Neverending Story,’ okay?”
“I see.” Somehow I feel like I’ve heard the name ‘Momo’ a lot in book reports.
Then as I was thinking, ‘she sure is eating so sophisticatedly,’ Tendou’s hands stopped moving.
“Hey, don’t try to mislead me. So Like I said, why can’t I call you by your first name?”
You’re just digressing on your own, and I wasn’t misleading you, alright?
With that in my heart, I chew the pirozhki I’ve stuffed a mouthful of into my cheeks.
Honestly speaking, the price of the bread at the campus store is very reasonable, and although it’s amazingly greasy particularly when it comes to the deep-fried bread kind, it’s still boyish-like and not bad from time to time.
“Hey Shino-kun, I guess that way of eating looks like bad manners, or that it’s tickling one’s motherhood, but it’s touching a complicated spot on girls, okay?”
I nod at Tendou’s words, which sounded rude and gracious, and swallow my piroshki.
“—Like I said, it’s not like I’m saying you can’t. I just told you to stop.”
“But if I do, my favorability will go down, right?”
“Well, I suppose I can say the possibility of that is high.”
“So pompous. Why? Aren’t you and I in a relationship? It’s fine, isn’t it? It’s just your first name.”
“If you think it’s such a great relationship, why don’t you try believing in the bond?”
“You’re talking big! Uuwh~ …Do you hate it so much?”
“I wonder why you can figure out such a thing, but couldn’t foresee the drawbacks from laying 90 people…”
“And stop throwing that at me at every opportunity you see. We weren’t even talking about any of that.”
Actually, even if I leave it as an exception since I hate it from the bottom of my heart, is calling someone by their first name really something to get so worked up about?
Following what Tendou said before how she found the engagement with me desirable, she seems to be trying to get closer to me by making full use of many tricks, and it’s hard to understand why Tendou is being so insistent that she’s taking risks.
“I’ll say this since it’s written all over your face, but there’s stuff going on on my end, too.”
“Have a little more interest! Don’t start eating melon bread while we’re still talking!”
When I appealed with my gaze like, ‘shouldn’t you stop talking during meals instead?’ Tendou, maybe grasping some point to it, made a small “muu” groaning sound and also began to concentrate on her meal.
While I’m om-nom-noming on the melon bread with yet another cheap taste, I’m locking my eyes on her fingers and lips, which I find to be hot somehow, with a sideways glance.
“I do think it’s really rude to be staring at a girl eating.”
“Like I said, don’t talk while eating.” Despite speaking harshly, Tendou’s expression is immediately losing its harshness, and I’m becoming more and more suspicious by the day that maybe she’s hopelessly weak for a slovenly man.
It’s aggravating that I’m admitting that I’m one, though.
Since it couldn’t be helped, afterwards I finished eating the melon bread while gazing at the blues that are showing the sign of summer extending high in the sky.
And then in the moment of post-meal idleness, Tendous’ voice makes waves once again. “—Then on the contrary, the contrary, okay? Call me by my first name, Shino-kun.”
What’s ‘on the contrary’ even.
Tendou’s words sure can be beyond my comprehension from time to time.
“…Why did you add ‘-san’? Weren’t you calling me ‘Tendou’ rather roughly?”
“Well, I’m just thinking of adjusting the shortened distance and all.”
“Why!? You can just leave it shortened!” bang bang, Tendou banging the table.
I think this hitting on the desk or the ground when excited is not a good habit. It’s subtly astonishing.
And by the way, maybe because her hair style is different, today Tendou seems more active than usual and a little childish, but since she originally appeared a little calm and mature, this means it balances out to zero, and there’s a sound ‘classmate feeling’, which is a little troubling.
“Errr, calling a girl by their first name without any honorific is kinda like, thinking ‘she’s mine,’ and also seems arrogant.”
“But, I’m your fiancée, though? Going by the right course, I’ll be your wife, though?”
“Nah, if we go by the right course, you’ll be a stranger in several months. I mean just because someone’s married, I don’t think it’s like you’ll be like an owner or something.”
“Don’t put a negative outcome like breaking off an engagement on the right course; what, were you that much of a feminist, Shino-kun?”
“Nah, I’ve never had a girlfriend, so my abilities for movements like those are just helplessly low.”
“Don’t know if that’s self-torture or something, but what an obscure statement… but so far haven’t you been calling me ‘Tendou’ very roughly?”
“If you’re putting it that way, I guess I might just welcome not calling you by your first name roughly from now on.”
Even though the Miss Fiancée still looks dissatisfied, I’m calling her by her first name as requested, so could I get you to compromise around here?
“Then how about just call me ‘Shino’?”
As I was thinking, ‘it sure feels like a young lady and her servant when putting it into practice,’ Tendou’s complexion became all the more strange.
Did I hear you say it like a little kid?
“I’m saying I want you to be closer to me, but the effect will be different if it’s like that, right?”
Ah, so she’s thinking about that, huh.
Seeing Tendou’s unusual stubbornness, I prepared myself to have a frank talk.
“Look here—you better not take a virgin too lightly1.”
“What do you mean? I mean, I’ve never taken1 a virgin’s, though.”
This young lady just went butting in with one hell of a dirty joke, I can’t even.
“Sorry, stop it, don’t look at me with those eyes, I know it’s my fault! I’m so sorry!” so she said while also grumbling in a small voice like, “I mean, you’re just,” or, “I’ve also never said anything like this before,” which I wish she’d stop.
In the first place, I wasn’t saying any dirty joke(probably), and it’s also an unsavory blame shifting.
“Anyway! What do you mean!?”
“You’ve made a great mistake if you thought you could get away with anything with a vigor like that.”
A beauty’s angry face truly has a strong pressure.
And then I’m weak to pressure.
“Umm, you might haven’t noticed it, but talking about all kinds of stuff like this, and even when there’s nothing happening in particular, my favorability towards you is increasing bit-by-bit, Tsukasa-san.”
“What do you mean even when there’s nothing happening, we’ve already gone on several dates, haven’t we? Also, I see that using ‘-san’ is a done deal.”
“Nah, dates don’t count, okay?”
“Just what would count if you left that out? Does se… well so, what’s bad about that?”
I don’t bother to take a jab at the fact that she cut herself short mid-sentence with an ‘oh crap!’ look at her face, and I guess Tendou still doesn’t get anything at all.
“Don’t know if it’s alright, but at this rate if I end up misinterpreting that we together have a good relationship…”
“Currently no misunderstanding or anything we’re engaged with a promised future, right? A good relationship after this is already husband and wife, you know?”
“If I’m misinterpreting it! Probably one of these days I’ll end up touching like, your cheeks, hair, or ears suddenly without thinking.”
“If that’s what you wanna do, it’s not like I mind you touching wherever you want, though… ”
“…Ah, no no no, I don’t want you to misunderstand. It’s not like it’s like this just because it’s you. This is a condition where your sense of distance would act up due to sexual desire and love maltruniton from thinking ‘won’t it be kinda nice to be with a girl?’; this is a disease that is, indeed, peculiar to a virgin!”
“I admit, it might be a bit creepy to pin the cause on therebeing a virgin.”
“Right? That’s why it’s necessary for me to continue to discipline myself to maintain an appropriate distance. For that reason, I must adamantly refuse to call you without honorifics.”
“I did think the creepiness was a bit too overboard, but you’re surprisingly unperturbed, aren’t you.”
“Nah, probably I’ll cry quietly later. It hurts a lot.”
Why does one have to be born a disgusting virgin.
And why do we lament that?
If I could just keep on living unwaveringly and accepting everything, I’m sure I’ll be feeling as bright as this sky. The sky is beautiful.
“Okay it’s my bad, I’m sorry! Don’t speak in a serious tone! Don’t make that distant look, look at me! Look, I’m not as creeped out as I said I was!” Tendou said, holding my hand that’s dangling loosely, having lost power. As usual, her hands are smooth, and mysteriously soft for being so dainty.
This is what I’m talking about, okay?
Thinking that shaking it off may also be too much, I open my mouth again to distract my awareness while feeling my hand slowly oozing out sweat. “As you said you were, that means isn’t it the reality you’re slightly creeped out?”
“You’re not gonna believe it even if I say ‘not at all,’ right? And also, I don’t wanna say something like this, I tot-tally don’t wanna say it, but—you see, do you think I’m gonna get shaken by this and that of a guy after all this time?”
“Nuh-uh, not at all, though? You’re right it’s too late for that, hahah.”
“I knew that would be your reaction, but it’s irritating…!”
“Owowowow.” The back of my hand got pinched real hard.
It’s still better since she didn’t sink in her nails, but it’s still pretty painful.
It’s like: urgh, it’s turning so red.
“—Wait, aren’t your nails a little plain today?”
“You’ve been looking at a person’s hands so much earlier, but only now?” While emphasizing on the ‘now’ and raising her brows, Tendou‘s expression is growing cold.
Tendou’s nails were previously grown long, and done with a brighter red or with metallic nails, but now they’re trimmed somewhat short, with a few tiny stones lined up on glossy pale pink.
“If it’s so flashy, isn’t it gonna look out of place next to you?”
“It’s not like you have to match me, and you can just do it as you like so it’s fashionable.”
Rather, it’s me, who would sometimes even get flak from my gentle younger sister who is considered plain and reserved, and Tendou, who got too good of a face; there shouldn’t be anything that can be pulled off to make us look like a good match, however.
“But being too flashy isn’t your thing, isn’t it?”
“That’s true, but isn’t doing your nails, in particular, something you do for yourself?” After I said this, I noticed: Ah, I sure was being unnecessary.
And not surprisingly, Tendou smiled a smile that looked astonished, troubled, and yet happy in some way. That expression of hers was as radiant as today’s clear sky.
“I’m saying these nails are for me currently.”
As I’m trying to make sure not to think about the meaning of her words, the fingers that have been gently stroking the back of my pinched hand smoothly slide between my fingers.
Isn’t this the modus operandi of domestic violence?
“—And by the way Shino-kun, don’t you think lately I’ve got a bit of a different air about me?”
“I do think you’ve always been at this, you know? Unreservedly closing the distance and touching someone’s hands.”
“It’s a different topic, but is it true that guys find fetishsm about the nape?”
“Well I think it’s a rather major taste bud, but aren’t the front and the back connected?”
“Then—my skirt today, what do you think?”
As usual, those words were sudden, but they got a hard-to-fight magical power.
If you’re asked for your thoughts, It’s gotta be natural for your gaze to swim there.
That’s why if my eyes got drawn to Tendou’s gleaming fair legs positioned evenly in good manners as she’s sitting down on the bench, it shouldn’t even be something that ought to be blamed by anyone.
Although she’s flamboyant for her good looks and history with men, I actually don’t really remember having seen her in a mini-skirt, also partly due to fashion trends.
Despite that, today she’s in a mini-skirt, boldly throwing out those long, slender beautiful legs, with a somehow-pretty lap, also shiny skin, and also somehow-tight ankle.
That said, it doesn’t feel like a blatant attempt to flirt, but together with today’s kinda sporty hairstyle, it’s coming out as stylish.
I’m not a fashion critic so it might be off the mark, but that’s how it struck me.
However, there’s no change in the beautiful legs open bare in mini-skirt. Isn’t that just lewd?
“—I suppose that’s a response more eloquent than words.” Tendou’s merry declaration of victory got shoved at the speechless me.
It’s vexing, but after staring so intently to this extent, anything I say will just turn into excuses.
“…Come to think of it, everyone’s probably coming to check out your legs, I guess.”
“Guess so, but like I said I’m used to getting attention. That aside, the important one is to have my value, that it also looks good on me, reaffirmed by you.”
For her, that’s probably a tactic that’s not even to the point of giving everything she got.
It stands out simply because of Tendou’s attractive legs, and as for a mini-skirt, it’s a very ordinary length.
And for a shorter one, you can probably find plenty of them on campus alone if you look for it.
“…It’s not like you have to go out of your way to show your legs to appeal; no matter what outfit you’d look good in it anyway, and I know well you’re good looking.”
Nevertheless, Tendou in a mini-skirt is too stimulating for me, not to mention that I was just told earlier it’s okay to touch, which makes it even worse.
“That’s why Tsukasa-san, you can just go ahead and dress however you like.”
In the first place, she got legs so beautifully slender that she can make an appeal even with pants.
After showing my complete defeat at the consecutive defeats following the weekend date, I slurped away the last few remaining carton milk, finishing it.
“Is that so? Then maybe I should save this for only in front of you.”
“You don’t even have to bother to show it to me, though…”
And then while I was grimacing at the milk’s outrageous lukewarmness, I completely missed Tendou’s tiny guts pose hidden behind her merry words.