The main reason was her eye-catching appearance. Itâs not like her hair color is too flashy or her clothes too fancy, her aura is just different.
In this situation where Aisa, who stands out, initiates a conversation with a proverbial âVillager Aâ, naturally, the people surrounding will start buzzing with rumors, but she continues talking regardless.
âI heard about you and Manami.â
âAhâŚâ
What is it?
Oh well. Iâm hoping to get this over with quickly because Iâm scared of drawing any more attention, so I donât feel the need to ask what sheâs referring to.
âShouldnât you be doing something with me too?â
âTakanishi too?â
I wonder what sheâs talking about. Ah, this is bad. I donât know why, but sheâs in a bad mood now. Her eyes got three shades darker, itâs too scary.
âTakanishi?â
âUmâŚâ
âWhatâs my name?â
Is that what youâre mad about?
âWhatâs my name?â
Aisa leans toward me with her hands on the desk.
Scary. Iâll have to say it.
âAisaâŚâ
âGood. Anyways, it seems like you promised Manami a reward under some conditions, but it would be unfair if we used the same conditions.â
Ah, so she was talking about my promise with Manami!
If thatâs the case, then these conditions are⌠too unfair. Considering the current conditions, Iâll definitely end up having to accede to one of Aisaâs commands, unless she gets really sick on the day of the exam or something. Unreasonable. What are you planning to make me do?
âSo, yeah, Iâm gonna make it into a competition.â
âCompetition?â
âYes. Weâll take the score of my worst subject and the score of your best subject.â
âThatâsâŚâ
No matter how much I want to say sheâs underestimating me, actually verbalizing it would cross a certain line.
âThe reward for the winner will be the same as your bet with Manami. Do you understand?â
âMmâŚâ
I nodded my head because she had started to lean toward me again, bringing her face up to my eyes. Give me a break, Iâm not immune to this. If a beautiful girl like Aisa gets closer than Iâve ever been to even a plain girl, I wouldnât be able to say anythingâŚ
âGood.â
She quickly turns around and heads back to her seat.
Ah, she smelled good. No, this isnât the time to think about that.
âYou were pretty conspicuous back there, self-proclaimed âvillagerâ.â
Akito says to me with a grin.
âShut up.â
âAfter all, idols are still cute, arenât they?â
There was no denying that Aisa was beautiful. It was also true that I was a little nervous.
âSo, what was that just now?â
âUh⌠What was what?â
In a predictable development, Manami had done something and Aisa wanted to follow suit because she was stubborn. This has always been the pattern.
When a situation like this arises, Aisa forgets her usual calm demeanor and gets pissed off, like what happened just now.
âWell, up to this point, youâve only been seen by the idol, but now youâve made direct contact with her.â
Thatâs the impression people will get.
âYou donât seem like an uncomfortable pair to me.â
âDonât be ridiculous. Me and her, weâre not even close.â
âThatâs one way to put it. I guess youâre ready for it.â
I think Iâve been caught off guard, but itâs too late.
Because Akito has already noticed my blushing face.
âWell, come on. Take this opportunity to talk to her a little.â
âYeah, wellâŚ. Itâs fine.â
Itâs just that⌠sheâs cute, and Iâve known her for a long time.
But, to be honest, the way she looks now scares me. Every year, Aisaâs glare improves more, and lately itâs been getting even more intense.
This time, the conditions were, in essence, that the loser would have to do whatever the winner wanted. I had nodded my head vigorously, but even with her considerable handicap, my odds of winning didnât even reach 50%.
If sheâs competing with me to make me obey her in some way, I should be wary.
âFor example, she could be planning on dragging me away from being Manamiâs tutorâŚâ
âThatâs too negative to youâŚ.â
I think so too, but considering our relationship over the last few years, well, I donât think itâs impossible.
And above all, should I think positively, Iâm afraid of the shock Iâd receive if my expectations arenât met. Especially at this point, because I was becoming more and more aware of my feelings. In many ways, it made it a little scary to think about.