Vol. 1 Chapter 7 – Two Plans

I tried thinking up one plan.

If you asked what the plan was for, then naturally, it was to avoid an after-school date with Mizushima.

Yesterday, after the joint P.E. class, I ended up being forced to go along with that so-called『game』and then after school, as usual, Mizushima lay in wait for me and dragged me off just like that.

No matter how much it was for the sake of the『match』if this kept happening day after day, my body wouldn’t hold out.

Once classes ended, I would go straight home and enjoy movies, anime, and games. Surely I wouldn’t be punished for having a peaceful after-school period like that once in a while.

However, if I refused simply because『I hate it』or『it’s a pain』then it would be the same as tucking my tail between my legs and running away from my『match』with Mizushima.

For this one month, I would endure Mizushima’s offensive without running away, and then, after that, I would once again firmly thrust a『No』at her confession. That was my『victory condition』.

So, I thought up a plan that would let me avoid an after-school date with Mizushima, while also giving me a proper excuse that『I wasn’t running away.”

Well, I called it a『plan』and a『strategy』like it was something exaggerated, but what I had to do was simple.

In short, I just had to schedule something else in advance after school.

If I did that, then no matter what complaints Mizushima made, I could naturally refuse her invitation while maintaining the stance of,『I’d really love to go along with you, but…』

“At times like this, I’m glad I’m on the library committee.”

That’s right. As luck would have it, today was a day when I had library committee work after school. No matter how far Mizushima went, surely even she wouldn’t tell me to completely ditch my committee duties and prioritize a date instead.

However, the library committee shift lasted just under an hour, so that alone was too weak as a『reason』. If it was only that much time, Mizushima would definitely kill time somewhere while waiting for me.

Therefore, in addition to that, I would use one more card I had.

“Heh heh heh. Just you watch, Mizushima. Today, I’m not going to let things go your way.”

And so, while working out how to seal off Mizushima’s offensive, I spent the day.

Then came Thursday after school. First, just as planned, I headed to the library.

“…That said, this is depressing in its own way.”

A sigh naturally slipped out but I shook my head as if to blow away my gloomy mood.

Sure, to be honest, having to work together with Ena-chan was awkward.

Even so, I had already told her my honest feelings as they were.

How she took that was, from here on, entirely up to Ena-chan. Even if she thought I was disgusting for being so clingy and unable to move on, or even if she had not cared about it in the first place, that was fine.

So, there was no point in me thinking this and that about it now.

My feelings of still liking Ena-chan had not changed, but from now on, I would interact with her only as fellow students belonging to the same committee.

“All right, let’s go.”

Rubbing my eyes roughly, which were blurred with a faint loneliness, I forced myself to act calm and entered the library.

“Good work.”

“Ah, Sakuhara-kun. Good work.”

“Ah… y-yes, hello. Nakayama-sensei.”

The one who greeted me at the reception counter was Nakayama-sensei, the librarian teacher.

Since she usually left the reception duties to the student committee members and often worked in the office behind the counter, I had assumed today would be the same as always.

“Umm, so you’re handling reception today, Sensei?”

“That’s right. I’ll take care of this side, so Sakuhara-kun, could you handle the detailed work in the back, like sticking on labels? Satomori-san already came in earlier and started.”

“I see. Got it.”

Apparently, that was how it was.

For some reason, I felt like my start had been thrown off, but I pulled myself together and headed toward the office.

When I opened the staff-only door behind the counter, it led into a room about half the size of a classroom.

At the long table for four in the back, Ena-chan was already working.

“G-Good work.”

“Good work. Sakuhara-kun.”

When I called out to her, Ena-chan also stopped her work for a moment and returned the greeting.

Maybe it was just my imagination, but it felt like the pause before she answered was shorter than last time.

“So, um… today we’re working in the office?”

“Yes. Several new books have come in, so we have been asked to make advertising posters for them and do things like sticking on labels.”

Her tone was purely businesslike, but today, Ena-chan was surprisingly『normal』.”

Just like last time, I had braced myself for the atmosphere to become a little more awkward, so it somehow left me feeling deflated.

Maybe Ena-chan, too, already saw me as『just another student in the same committee』.

It was a little lonely, but… yeah, that was right. We were not lovers anymore, so this was for the best.

“Got it. Then I’ll handle the label-sticking. The posters will probably turn out better if Satomori-san makes them.”

“…Understood. Then I’ll leave that to you.”

H-Huh? Was it just my imagination or did Ena-chan’s face turn stern for an instant…?

Could it be that she doesn’t want to do it? Make the posters, I mean.

Well, true, in terms of the work itself, that side was probably harder. But my handwriting wasn’t pretty, I didn’t have any artistic sense either and I didn’t feel like I could make anything decent.

“S-Sorry. Would you rather do the label-sticking? If you want, I can make the poster.”

Thinking that she might have been dissatisfied with the division of work, I hurriedly suggested that.

However, before I knew it, Ena-chan had returned to a composed expression and had already started preparing.

“No, it’s all right. I’ll handle this.”

“Y-Yeah?”

Hmm, maybe it really was just my imagination after all?

Tilting my head, but deciding there was no point thinking about it any further, I also hurriedly took a seat at the table.

Sitting across from Ena-chan as she smoothly ran her marker across the drawing paper, I immediately got to work on the miscellaneous tasks.

‘…………Hm?’

That was when I suddenly noticed that there was something different about Ena-chan’s appearance compared to last time.

When I had seen her from the side, it had been hidden by her long hair, so I hadn’t noticed, but today, Ena-chan was wearing a choker around her neck.

No, rather than a choker, that was… right, a collar. She was wearing a collar.

It had a red-and-black color scheme with a checkered design. It had a buckle-type fastener that made it easy to put on and take off. If you said it was the kind of ordinary collar you could find anywhere, then it really was an ordinary collar you could find anywhere.

‘But that collar… it looks similar.’

Right. The one I had given Ena-chan as a present on our 『three-month anniversary』had also been a collar that looked just like that.

Originally, I had given it to her thinking it was for Ena-chan’s beloved dog, but in the end, it became something Ena-chan herself wore.

To me, it was an item just as full of memories as the bracelet Ena-chan had given me. In other words, it was like proof that we had once been lovers.

Then why was Ena-chan wearing it like this today? We were no longer lovers or anything of the sort. Far from that, Ena-chan had a new lover named Mizushima.

Even so, the meaning behind wearing a gift from her ex-boyfriend, me.

Could that mean… maybe Ena-chan still felt something for me after all…?

‘Wait! No, no, no, no way. That’s not happening.’

I hurriedly blew away the wicked thought that had suddenly surfaced in my mind.

What the hell was I misunderstanding? Our relationship had already ended a long time ago, on that day when Mizushima stole Ena-chan away from me.

Ena-chan had said it herself, hadn’t she?『Please give up on me completely already』.

There was absolutely no way there was any『still』 involved. So that collar must simply be a different item that just happened to have a similar design. Even if it was the one I had given her, the reason she was wearing it today had to be nothing more than a simple whim or something like that.

‘Don’t start having stupid delusions, me.’

Pulling myself together, I resumed the label-sticking work.

So that I wouldn’t think about anything unnecessary anymore, I focused only on how neatly I could stick the labels onto the book spines.

I was a craftsman. From this moment onward, I would become a label-sticking craftsman who had devoted several decades to this one path.

“…Ahem.”

Just as I started working, Ena-chan gave a small cough.

Without paying it any mind, I kept sticking labels on intently.

“…? …Nn, ahem!”

This time, a slightly louder cough came from Ena-chan’s mouth.

I almost lifted my face and asked,『Are you all right?』 but I held myself back. Even if someone like me worried about her, it probably wouldn’t make Ena-chan happy anyway. Right now, I had to focus all my nerves on the label in my hands.

“…………”

However, after I had continued working silently like that for about five minutes…

Gata. Tokotoko. Ston.

“Huh?”

Amazingly, Ena-chan, who had been making the poster across from me, picked up all her work tools and moved to the seat on my left.

At that point, I really couldn’t ignore her anymore and without thinking, I stopped working.

W-What? Why did Ena-chan suddenly come sit beside me?

“…I’m sorry. From that seat, the western sun is a little too bright.”

Before I could ask anything, Ena-chan explained that.

It was true that slightly orange-tinged sunlight was shining in through the office window, but… until now, she hadn’t particularly looked like she found it bright…?

While feeling suspicious, I decided not to press any further.

“I-I see. Then I’ll work over there.”

“Eh…”

“I’m fine even if it’s a little bright. It’d be bad if I took up too much of Satomori-san’s workspace too.”

Besides, having someone like me beside her would probably make her uncomfortable.

Thinking that, I tried to stand up so I could switch seats with Ena-chan, but…

“No, it’s all right. Even like this, it won’t interfere with my work.”

“Huh? No, but…”

“It would be wrong of me to make you move, so this is fine. …This is fine.”

“Y-Yeah?”

Well, if Ena-chan said this was fine, then I didn’t really have any reason to go out of my way to resist it either.

“…Then, shall we resume working?”

“Y-Yeah.”

Honestly, I was already in no state to focus on sticking labels anymore.

Of course I wasn’t. Even if it was a love that had already ended, what kind of high school boy in the world could work with a clear mind in a situation where the girl he loved was sitting right beside him?

No matter how much I tried not to be conscious of her, my gaze inevitably turned sideways.

‘Ena-chan… even her profile really is cute.’

Whether she knew I was glancing sideways at her like that or not, Ena-chan kept making gestures of brushing up her hair with her right hand for some reason. Each time, her white, slender neck and the checkered collar came into view.

A quiet office with no one else around. The girl I loved was sitting right beside me, wearing a collar that I might have given her as a present.

What is this? What is this situation?

If Ena-chan were still my girlfriend, this would be the kind of situation where I’d want to pull her shoulder close, stare at her surprised face, and, if I could get away with it, kiss her just like that.

‘N-No! I can’t! Calm down, Sakuhara Souta! Keep your reason, keep your reason!’

Inside, I was making as much noise as a raging storm, but with a will of steel, I somehow managed to put on a poker face.

However, as if to strike me while I was already struggling…

“Nn, nn, nn… It seems my throat isn’t in very good condition today.”

As soon as Ena-chan said that, she tilted her small face up toward the ceiling and rubbed her exposed throat.

Was it just my imagination that she seemed to be repeatedly touching her throat… or more accurately, the part with the collar, as if trying to draw my gaze there?

‘S-She’s not doing it on purpose… right?’

Feeling that something was off about Ena-chan’s behavior, I began turning it over in my mind.

During our previous library committee duty, she had kept so much distance from me, but today, Ena-chan somehow felt a little closer. It was almost as if she had gone back to being the Ena-chan from when we were lovers.

And, as I thought, what bothered me most was that collar.

It was strange for her to suddenly wear it today when she had never worn it to school before. What’s more, somehow, it looked like she was deliberately showing it off to me over and over…

‘…Hah! N-No way!’

When I thought that far, an unpleasant theory suddenly surfaced in the back of my mind.

‘Could Ena-chan possibly… be suspecting the 『relationship』between me and Mizushima!?’

Until now, of course in front of Ena-chan, and even inside school, Mizushima and I had acted like complete strangers so that nothing suspicious would slip out.

However, just like that time when Higuchi almost ran into us, I couldn’t completely deny the possibility that Ena-chan had happened to see us together outside school.

If Ena-chan had witnessed one of the scenes from our 『match』then naturally, she would think this.

Why were those two together?

And if that happened, then it would only be natural for her to start probing around in order to expose our relationship.

If I thought about it that way, Ena-chan’s actions today felt like they fit together in various ways.

Between the previous library committee shift and today, Ena-chan must have come to suspect my relationship with Mizushima because of something.

That was why today, she might be monitoring my every move like this in order to grab hold of proof.

And the final clincher was that collar. By showing it off to me, wasn’t she basically trying to say this?

【You were so into me that you gave me something like this, and the other day, you even said something like,『I still love you』but behind my back, were you already making a move on another girl, and my lover at that?】

…………That’s it.

That’s definitely it! This is bad. If that’s the case, Ena-chan is seriously furious!

W-W-W-What do I do? Has Ena-chan already found out everything?

N-No, but judging from the fact that she hasn’t taken any action, maybe she still hasn’t reached the point of certainty?

“…Sakuhara-kun?”

“Yeehuh!? W-What is it?”

Since I had suddenly been taken over by tension, when Ena-chan unexpectedly called my name, my voice cracked.

A-Anyway! Until the committee work is over, I have to make sure I don’t let anything slip no matter what!

“No, um, your complexion didn’t look very good. I was wondering if you might be feeling unwell.”

“N-Not at all, okay? My complexion isn’t really that good to begin with(?), so maybe it’s just your imagination?”

Hahaha, my blatantly fake laughter echoed throughout the office.

For a different reason than last time, I sincerely wished that the library committee shift would end soon.

※

Somehow, I managed to get through the library committee work and the time was just past four in the afternoon.

I wanted to go home just like this, but if I went to the main gate now, nine times out of ten, Mizushima would be lying in wait for me.

In that case, I wanted to fill up at least another two hours or so with『plans』inside the school.

That was where I would use the other card I had besides the library committee.

In other words, club activities.

The club I belonged to was the Film Research Club, which I had been a member of since middle school. That said, the reality was that we didn’t have many members or much club funding, so lately, we hadn’t been able to make any proper films.

So even if I went there, we probably wouldn’t be able to do anything that really felt like club activities, but in any case, there were all kinds of films stored there. If I picked one at random and watched it, two hours would pass in the blink of an eye.

In order to show my face at the clubroom for the first time in a while, I headed toward the back of the third floor of the special building, where the cultural clubrooms were lined up.

Before long, I reached one room and knocked on the door. From beyond the door, a muffled voice came flying back.

“<What do you need besides a miracle?>”

“<Guns. Lots of guns.>”

When I answered with the password, the iron door, with rust standing out here and there, was pushed open from the inside.

“Well, well, if it isn’t Sakuhara-kun! Long time no see! You came today!”

The one who greeted me with a welcoming voice the moment she saw my face was a female student whose defining features were long black hair like Sadako’s and round glasses like H〇rry Potter’s.

She was Miyazawa Makoto-senpai, a second-year and also the club president.

“Hello, President. I just came to kill some time, though.”

“No, no, even that is something to be grateful for! After all, in our club, there are more ghost members who only have their names on the roster and never once come to the clubroom! Come on, come in, come in!”

“Well, we haven’t really been able to do much that feels like proper activities either.”

“That’s because we have no activity funds. Also, while we’re at it, because the president has no popularity.”

After Miyazawa-senpai, a gentle-looking girl with a fluffy bob cut and a boy with messy hair and a downer-like atmosphere opened their mouths. These two were also second-year club members, Kikuchihara Umi-senpai and Fujishiro Arata-senpai.

“Ugh, you two are as harsh as ever… Well, it is mostly true, though.”

The senpais were as disorganized as ever.

Well, when I said I was going to shoot a film for last year’s cultural festival, they helped me and gave me advice in one way or another, so they weren’t bad people.

“Activity funds, huh… Since our club budget is small, I suppose the only way is for each of us to get part-time jobs and earn money ourselves!”

“Sorry, but I’m the type of person who wants to use the money I earn only for myself.”

“My dad told me I’m not allowed to do part-time jobs while I’m still in high school.”

“What’s this, what’s this! You people should have a little more self-awareness as members of the Film Research Club!”

While glancing sideways at the senpais as they got caught up in conversation, I picked out a random DVD from the ones lined up on the clubroom shelf.

Just as I was about to play it on the PC provided in the room, Kikuchihara-senpai looked at my face and clapped her hands as if she had remembered something.

“Ah, then~ About that matter, how about asking Sakuhara-kun~?”

“That matter… Hah, I see! That’s right, we still had Sakuhara-kun, didn’t we!”

Immediately, the club president’s eyes behind her round glasses opened wide into perfect circles.

That matter? What was 『that matter』?

“Huh? Huh? What is it? What are you saying about me?”

Even when I asked that, gradually growing uneasy, the president didn’t seem to be listening at all.

Ignoring my questions completely, she grabbed both my shoulders firmly and said this.

“Sakuhara-kun! This Saturday, would you like to try doing a little part-time job?”

…………Excuse me?

※

After killing time in the clubroom as planned and leaving the school building, the time had already passed six-thirty.

Surely even Mizushima had long since given up and gone home by now. It looked like the plan had succeeded.

“Still… a hero show, huh.”

On the way to the main gate, I looked up at the sky, which had grown completely dim, and muttered.

I would appear in a local hero show being held this coming Saturday in the shopping district of the neighboring town.

That was the summary of the『little part-time job』the club president had mentioned.

Apparently, this was a matter brought to them by the chairman of the neighboring town’s shopping district association, who had helped with filming during one of their previous movie productions.

A little while ago, there had been a sudden accident, and one of the performers who was supposed to appear in the show had suffered a fracture that would take several months to fully heal.

They had ended up urgently searching for a substitute, and the question was whether there was anyone suitable in the Film Research Club. Of course, if someone accepted, they were apparently prepared to pay a fitting part-time wage too.

Since it was a request from a chairman who had helped them before, our club president, who was always starved for budget funds, readily accepted. However, no club member was willing to raise their hand, so the search for a substitute had run aground.

That was when their eyes landed on the half-ghost member who had casually wandered into the clubroom for the first time in ages, in other words, me.

Of course, I didn’t want to spend my precious day off on something like that either, and at first, I tried to refuse.

However, that was when I suddenly reconsidered.

‘If I have the proper excuse of a part-time job, maybe I can avoid a date with Mizushima even on a day off?’

And so, just a little while ago, I had nodded and said, 『I’ll do it』.

“…Haha. Even if it’s just a part-time job, I never thought the day would come when I’d become a 『hero』.”

While rotating my shoulders, which had become stiff from a complete lack of exercise, I gave a bitter laugh.

It was a pain, but with this, I should be able to refuse Mizushima’s invitation on Saturday. Since I had the legitimate reason of a part-time job, she probably couldn’t say I had “run away” either.

Regarding that, I was completely satisfied and had no complaints at all.

But the idea of someone like me playing a『hero』was so ridiculous that I couldn’t help laughing.

It was true that I liked heroes. When I was a kid, I had been a huge fan of tokusatsu heroes, and I think I had even gone to hero shows several times. Just like any boy around that age, I had seriously wanted to become a hero.

However, now I had completely become jaded and before I knew it, that admiration had disappeared.

Combined with my villainous-looking face, the current me was probably more the kind of person who belonged on the villain side.

“I’ve never heard of a hero whose motto is,『Let sleeping gods lie』though.”

Would the little kids look at the hero played by someone like me with eyes full of innocent admiration, not knowing anything? That was, how should I put it, enough to make me feel a little guilty.

Sorry, little kids. But the world is often just that kind of place.

“Ah, you finally came.”

“Uwaaah!?”

Just as I was about to pass through the main gate while laughing nihilistically in my heart, someone suddenly called out to me.

Since I had thought there was no one around, I was startled in a very grand fashion and my shoulders trembled.

“Come on, isn’t that way too startled?”

When I fearfully turned around, waiting beside the main gate, just as expected, was Mizushima.

“M-Mizushima? You still hadn’t gone home!?”

“I mean, no matter how long I waited, Souta, you didn’t come at all. I sent you messages over and over too but you didn’t even read them. Seriously, where were you and what were you doing?”

While looking up at me with dissatisfied, glaring eyes, Mizushima poked my cheek.

Come to think of it, I had turned off notifications for her messages today.

As if remembering it, I took out my smartphone and opened the chat screen with Mizushima.

【Souta, is homeroom still not over?】

【I’ll be waiting near the main gate, so hurry up and come, okay?】

【Hey, Souta, where are you right now?】

【…Are you running away?】

【Souta… could you possibly be with some other girl?】

The unread messages had shockingly reached three digits.

Actually, toward the end, some pretty ominous messages were mixed in too. That’s scary. Seriously.

“…At some point, just give up and go home.”

“No way. I want to go home together with Souta. More importantly, why were you so late today? Could it be that you ran away from our date… from the『match』?”

Mizushima said that in a somewhat provocative tone. I knew she would poke at that point.

However, today I had a『plan』. Unfortunately for her, that provocation would not work on me.

“I wasn’t running away. I had something else to do today.”

“Something else?”

“Library committee work.”

“Really? I considered that possibility too, so after homeroom ended, I went and took a quick look just in case, but there was only the librarian teacher in the library, you know?”

T-This girl actually went to verify it. As I thought, she was not someone I could let my guard down around.

“We were working in the office behind the reception counter today.”

“…With Ena-chan?”

“Huh? Ah, well, we had the same shift.”

“Just the two of you?”

“Well, yeah, today’s shift was only us.”

“Hmmm…”

Mizushima narrowed her eyes and then began muttering something under her breath.

“…………I see. So it was the office. I didn’t think of that.”

“Huh? What did you say?”

“No, nothing.”

Mizushima smiled as if to dodge the question but even so, she did not loosen her pursuit.

“But even then, isn’t that still strange? I don’t know the details but library committee work is only about an hour at most, right? What were you doing after that?”

“Club activities. Believe it or not, I’m a member of the Film Research Club. I haven’t shown my face there much lately, so I figured I really should go. I wanted to see my senpais again after so long too.”

Even as I said it, I laughed bitterly inside at how little I actually meant any of that.

Apparently, even Mizushima hadn’t been able to grasp how I usually spent my time in the Film Research Club. Although she looked suspicious, in the end, she nodded as if it was plausible enough.

“Hmmm. Well, if that’s the case, I guess it can’t be helped today.”

“You understand?”

“Yeah. But from next time on, prioritizing club activities will count as『running away』too, okay? If you were able to show your face there for the first time in ages today, then that means you’ll be fine even if you don’t go again for a while, right?”

“Ugh… F-Fine.”

True, since I was practically a ghost member, using 『club activities』as a reason from now on would be pushing it too far.

It seemed this card had been a trump card I could only use this once.

In that case, I’d have to think up another plan again…

“Good. Then, since it’s already late today, let’s at least walk to the station together.”

With a look on her face that said she had been here since my parents’ generation, Mizushima naturally clung to my arm as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

All sorts of things were pressing against me. Well, at this point, I wouldn’t be shaken by skinship at this level anymore.

“Come to think of it… Hey, Souta. It’s almost the weekend, so let’s decide already. Our plans for Saturday and Sunday.”

Then, right around the time the station closest to school gradually came into view.

At last, those words flew out of Mizushima’s mouth. While pretending to remain calm, I grinned inwardly.

‘There it is. I’ve been waiting eagerly for those words.’

The card called club activities had been sealed away, but I still had one more trump card!

“Ah, about that. There won’t be a date this Saturday.”

“Eh?”

“Whoa, don’t misunderstand. It’s not like I’m trying to run away from our match.”

Stopping the bewildered Mizushima with my hand, I spoke like a lawyer slamming down decisive evidence.

“I have work on Saturday. Sorry, but I can’t go along with you. I can’t exactly abandon work to go play around with a girl, right?”

How about that! Even you, of all people, won’t be able to say anything in front of this perfect excuse!

“Oh… Souta, you were doing a part-time job?”

While I was feeling triumphant, Mizushima once again asked me with a suspicious look.

“Is it a short-term job?”

“Hm? Yeah.”

“Hmmm, I see. What kind of job is it?”

Mizushima tried to probe me while pretending to be casual.

But of course, I had absolutely no intention of telling her. If she found out it was a job at a hero show, she would definitely come all the way to the site. Then there would be no point.

“It’s a secret.”

“Ehh, you’re hiding it from me. When was this job decided?”

“That’s a secret too.”

“Is there something you want to buy?”

“That’s a secreeet.”

“…Manual labor?”

“I said it’s a secret… Stop trying to narrow it down!”

Are you Akinator or something!? Akinator¹

She was trying to lead me into guided questions so seamlessly. She really was someone I couldn’t let my guard down around.

“Muu, so it’s the kind of job you can’t even tell your『lover』about. That sounds kinda naughty.”

“Say whatever you want. Anyway, I have work on Saturday, so the date is postponed.”

“……Postponed, huh.”

As if she had finally run out of moves, Mizushima murmured that along with a deep sigh.

Somehow, her mood had visibly dropped.

U-Umm. Even though this was exactly what I had been aiming for, when she looked that disappointed, a wave of guilt came rushing in.

I had been sure she would press me a little more, so somehow, that made it feel even more anticlimactic…

Unable to endure the awkward silence, I deliberately waved my hand with a joking tone.

“H-Hey, come on, aren’t you exaggerating just because we can’t go on one little date? Is it really something to get that depressed about?”

“Yeah, I’m depressed.”

Mizushima nodded without a moment’s delay and put on an especially gloomy expression.

Seeing that, even I couldn’t bring myself to tease her any further.

Haa… Give me a break.

When you make such a meek face like that, even I lose my rhythm.

“…The part-time job is only on Saturday.”

“Eh?”

“I don’t have work on Sunday. So I’m planning to laze around at home… assuming nothing else comes up.”

Perhaps realizing what I was trying to say, Mizushima looked up at me with a face full of expectation.

If she had ears and a tail, they would surely be wagging so hard they looked like they might tear off.

“Hehe…Souta, even if you were a villain, you’d definitely be the type who ends up dying while protecting the protagonist at the end.”

Shut up. Also, don’t talk about dying like that. It’s bad luck.