kscans

Chapter 565 - Reactions: Partner

A short while after the video in question was uploaded.

I received a message just as my university lectures ended—"If you wouldn't mind, would you like to have dinner with me?" In response to this summons (invitation), I made my way to a certain place.

Even if the message had been just that, I would have accepted without a second thought. It certainly wasn't because I had succumbed to the pressure contained in the words appended to the end: 'Also, there are several things I'd like to talk about.'—but that's beside the point.

The only thing that caught the eye was the [Arcadia] console itself. Other than that, the room was extremely simple and tidy, with only a desk, a bed, and a chair.

This was my second time visiting, so I was neither accustomed nor familiar with this private room. What I was offered was not the cushion I had borrowed last time... but rather.

"—You know why you were called here, don't you?"

"...More or less, yeah..."

Forced to sit on the floor in seiza, I found myself being lectured by a smiling girl.

Or rather, I was about to be. I had no idea what fate awaited me, but one thing was certain—

"I see. You sort of know, do you?"

"...Didn't I just do this a little while ago—"

"Is something wrong?"

"Nothing at all."

—that this girl, Sora-san, is scariest not when she's angry or deadpan, but when she has an 'inappropriate smile for the situation' and a gentle voice like this.

My partner, the young lady who seemed to be on the verge of exploding with rage, was, as if it were her birthright, sitting on my lap as I sat in seiza—or not.

She was standing tall before me, hands on her hips, in a true, bona fide lecture-style pose. This might just be the end for me.

"I have something to say to you, Haru. Things like 'you were amazing,' 'you were wonderful,' and my thoughts and congratulations after seeing the video, I already told you the other day, so this is separate from that—taking the current situation into account, there is something I must say to you above all else."

"Y-yes... I'm sure there is..."

The situation was so similar to my exchange with Nia the other day it was like a carbon copy. However, this endlessly pure girl would never steer things into 'scary girl territory'...

"I told you, didn't I? 'You can't just go around smiling at anyone and everyone.'"

"...Eh, ah...?"

However, the fact that my prediction was off the mark seemed to follow the same route. And it didn't stop there—

"For reference, could you tell me why you thought I was angry?"

My mumbled "So it was that..." was picked up perfectly, and in the end, things ended up flowing in a similar direction. Am I an idiot?

In any case, if I was asked, I had to answer. Despite the shame, despite the hesitation, ever since I had resolved to be sincere, my weak position was nothing new...!!

"Um, maybe it's that... your delayed reaction to my interaction with Ashe, the jealousy—"

"THAT'S PART OF IT, BUT...!!!"

"YES, I'M SORRY!!"

Sora-san let out a powerful shout. Though I was genuinely startled and immediately straightened my posture with a quick apology, the sky-blue eyes of the angry young lady did not calm down.

"Today, at school, how many times do you think I heard Haru's... and..."

Looking closely, perhaps the flame flickering in her beautiful eyes was not that of 'anger.' It was an unstable, restless flicker... It was,

more accurately, yes.

"How many times—do you think I heard the name 'Haru-chan'...!"

"..."

It must be bewilderment and confusion.

"And it's not just today! Since last week! It's been non-stop!! Everywhere I go, it's 'Haru-chan,' 'Acrobat-chan,' 'Haru-sama'!!!"

Putting the last one aside—the girl took a breath.

"It was bound to happen! It was bound to happen like this! Sheltered young ladies are already weak to your type, Haru!!"

"M-my type..."

"The type who pays attention to them, who's not just kind but also has a mischievous side, and on top of that is a gentleman, reliable, and gets results every time!!"

"What is that, a textbook example of a popular guy...?"

"I'm talking about you!!?"

Sora-san, a passionate outburst.

"Whoa, wait, let's calm down... Just take a breath for a moment."

Perhaps because she had rattled it all off so forcefully with her real body, unlike an avatar in a virtual world. I showed concern for Sora, who had let out a small cough, while struggling to dispel my own embarrassment.

I mean, come on.

Anyone would get flustered if they were praised so directly like that.

"Ugh... I get it, I really do. You're already so cool, and then you were so considerate of Iris-san—the 'Princess,' helping her, and not just that, but trusting and respecting her... It was like a kind of ideal... Of course they'd fall for you..."

"No, no, 'fall for you'... it's just as a fan, right?"

"Even if it's 'love' as a fan, it still is...!"

My shock at the massive fantasy of a [Acrobat (me)] boom apparently sweeping through her all-girls school was considerable.

I tried to console Sora-san, who had collapsed onto the floor... but her sky-blue eyes, when she looked up again, glared at me sharply, and my pathetic self was instantly cowed.

I no longer had a shred of dignity as an older person. If I showed them this pathetic state, I'm sure the passion of those young ladies Sora mentioned would cool in an instant.

"Even so! All day, every day! To hear 'I love him,' 'I love him so much,' 'he's my ideal,' 'I made him my wallpaper,' 'I want to marry someone like him'! What kind of face am I supposed to make while being constantly told about someone's feelings for a certain someone!?"

"And what kind of face am I supposed to make, being told that...?"

The Acrobat is way too popular, probably because of some youthful fad.

Is the real world bugged or something?

"And to top it all off, that transformed body's smile was the finishing blow... You've already satisfied the demand from the male side, and now you're satisfying it on the female side too... Haru, what do you want to do to my school?"

At this point, what she was saying was completely unreasonable. It felt like she was just talking out of sheer momentum, which was rare for her.

"D-demand... no, um, I'm sorry. And in a way, I'm sorry for saying this, but. That was, ultimately, directed at Ashe for her hard work—"

"But, in the video, it was perfectly directed at the viewers (us). So, as a matter of fact, it was directed at everyone in the whole world...!!"

"..."

Honestly, I understood how she felt. If I turned the tables and thought about it, I was confident I would feel similarly if I were in Sora's position.

In other words.

Her classmates, her peers, were exposing their feelings for me, whatever the nuance. And Sora, who was hearing this either directly or indirectly...

She couldn't say it out loud, so she kept thinking it—He's my partner..

It's no wonder she was stressed. Taking advantage of the fact that she couldn't reveal the truth, they were saying whatever they wanted, like 'I love him' and 'I want to marry him'.

It wasn't about logic. Human emotions are just like that.

And that's why,

"—He's my partner, after all..."

Even for the young lady of the Yotsuya family, who was so mature for her fifteen years, her heart was just like that. Life-sized, selfish—and for that very reason, it threw my own heart into turmoil.

In short, just as she had said "that's part of it" regarding Ashe and the rest.

"...You really are exceptionally jealous, aren't you?"

"Don't look at me with that understanding face. This is all your fault, Haru...!!"

She was jealous not only of Ashe, but of everyone around her... which meant that, no matter what, there was no path for me but to raise the white flag.

"Sora-san."

"..."

"Sora."

"..., ..."

"Stop poking me in the solar plexus—what should I do? What do you want me to do?"

"...As my partner, is fine."

"Yeah."

"...I want you to... hug me tight."

"...If it's as your partner, well, I guess it can't be helped."

Even if it wasn't, in the end.

"Just for ten seconds."

"...Thirty seconds."

"Nope."

I suppose the day when I can refuse this girl's whims will never come.