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Published at 6th of March 2016 06:41:03 PM


Chapter 5

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Chapter 5

On Monday, the start of the new week, the results of my make-up test came back.

Thanks to Hasegawa's tutoring, I managed to pass with flying colors, much to my surprise.

I have to let Hasegawa know. And I also have to say my thanks to her.


"You should take this chance to ask Hasegawa-san out on a date."

During the following break, at the staircase landing, I reported my results to Koigasaki first. No, to be precise, it wasn't that. I wanted to consult her on how I should express my thanks to Hasegawa.

And so, that was her answer.

"How did you come up with that!?"

Her way thinking was always off the charts, it seemed.

"Isn't this a good opportunity!? You can say something like 『Hasegawa-san, it's all thanks to you that I managed to pass my make-up test! I'd like to express my gratitude and give you a treat! Or is there any place you'd like to go!?』!"

"A thank-you treat...... I see."

"That's right, since you'll be doing a part-time job, you should have some extra cash right? Which reminds me, did you manage to get one?"

"Yeeeah...... the other day, I applied for one and got accepted!"

That's right. I applied for a part-time job back when I looked for one on my cellphone, and on the same day, the call came. On Saturday the following day, I took the interview. And yesterday, I was informed over the phone that I was accepted.

"Isn't that fast! What kind of job is it?"

"Karaoke."

It seems less busy than family restaurants or fast-food joints, and I can idle when there aren't any customers, and also, it seems like I'd be able to meet some girls there...... and thus, with that impure motive, I'll be working part-time at a karaoke chain's outlet near a subway station.

"Oh ~. That's great, isn't it? You'll be making some money and it makes it even easier to ask her out."

"How about you, about the maid cafe."

"I failed in the first round."

"First round!?"

What first round? It's not like it's an idol audition.

Normally, shouldn't it be concluded with submitting a CV and going for an interview?

"Firstly, you have to submit a photo and profile, and only those who get accepted will get an interview. And when I submitted my photo, a mail saying 『Our company requires you to dye your hair black in order to work here. Is that acceptable?』 came back. I don't want my hair to be black. It's no way for me. So, I replied that it was impossible, and they answered that then it would be impossible to work at their place."

...... you wouldn't call that failing, would you?

"That shouldn't be a big problem, right? Dying your hair black......"

"What, no way! Black hair will never suit me! If I make my hair black, I'll look super ugly!"

...... I don't really think hair color will change the shape of your face, though.

"Azuki-chan managed to clear the first round, but when I told her I couldn't make it, she also rejected the offer, since she wanted to work together with me. And so, right now, we're applying to another maid cafe."

"I see......"

"Well, let's not talk about me! Right, date! When you thank Hasegawa, ask her out on a date! And also, ask her for her mail address!"

"Don't say such unreasonable things! It's too hard for me! Jeez, it's a mistake to consult you! Anyway, I'll just let her know my results and say my thanks to her!"

"What, you're so useless!"

Koigasaki, this girl's always laying out an impossible challenge each time.

Just as I was about to return to my classroom, Hasegawa seemed to be coming back from somewhere, and was walking along the corridor towards the classroom. If she went back into the classroom, it would be more and more difficult to talk to her with all my classmates around, so I had to call out to her while she was still in the corridor. I braced myself and approached Hasegawa.

As I casually turned my head around, I saw Koigasaki looking at me with a firm expression, and she nodded twice to me.

No, even if you make that 『All right, go for it』 face, I'll definitely not ask her out, got it!?

Even when I came up to Hasegawa, I became flustered not knowing what to say, and as Hasegawa looked intently at me questioningly, I made up my mind and met her gaze.

"Ha...... Hasegawa!"

I managed to speak up with my willpower, but my nervousness emerged from the back of my voice.

Hasegawa looked at me intently with her usual expressionless face.

"Ah, s-sorry for calling out so suddenly......"

It had been probably three days since I talked to her. Even though I'd gotten used to it, I still ended up getting nervous.

"Ah, I got back, the results, of my make-up test today. I managed to pass without a hitch. Really, thanks a lot, it's all to your credit, Hasegawa."

I rattled off everything in one go.

"I see, congratulations. I didn't do anything......"

"No, it's all thanks to you! I'd definitely have failed again without your help!"

"No, it's nothing really......"

No way I'll let this conversation end!

"E-Erm, by the way, did you manage to watch that DVD you borrowed!?"

Remembering the incident when I brought Hasegawa to TSUTAYA to rent a DVD, I tried to suddenly bring up the topic.

"Yes. I returned it yesterday. There was a return box and I just deposited them inside, however, will that be okay?"

"Ah, yeah, it'll be fine if it's not overdue."

"I see, that's great......"

...... aah, the conversation ended again......

"Well then."

"Ah, yeeaah. Sorry for suddenly calling out to you."

I could only keep quiet and watch as Hasegawa entered the classroom. Since just saying my thanks alone was enough to blow my fuse, it might be too early for me to ask her out on a date.

"Hasegawa-san!"

At that moment, once again, Koigasaki called out from behind. Hasegawa halted at the voice and turned around.

"Erm, if you don't mind, why don't we go someplace together to let us express our thanks for your help with our studies!?"

"Eh? Express your thanks?"

"Yeah, yeah, it was thanks to you that Kashiwada managed to escape from remedial classes, and he really wants to thank you no matter what, he said! I'm also very grateful to you, so I really want to properly thank you ~."

"There's no need to specially thank me or anything...... I didn't really do anything."

Without letting Hasegawa notice it, Koigasaki lightly kicked my leg like before.

"Ah, e-erhh, well, we really have to properly thank you! You tutored me twice, and you also made copies of your notes for us...... I-If you don't mind, if there's anything you want to eat, or any place you want to go, we'll give you a treat!"

I said it.

I thought I must have used all my life's courage for that.

"It's not really that big a deal...... I didn't really do anything deserving of a treat......"

"No, I won't be able to feel easy if I don't!"

I hung on to it since I couldn't bear giving up at this point, but was it too pushy?

Will she feel creeped out if I'm being too pushy? I really don't know the bounds.

"Is that so? If you're saying it to that extent...... then I shall take you up on your offer."

Hasegawa smiled a little.

Maybe she was getting vexed about it, but the fact that she smiled should mean that she wasn't feeling bothered by it, I suppose?

"I'm feeling kind of bad to trouble you......"

"There's no trouble at all!"

I asked Hasegawa out because I wanted to hang out with her, but somehow, it made her feel apologetic about it instead.

"Then, Hasegawa-san, when you think of where you want to go, just text Kashiwada!"

Text!?

"All right."

To think that I'll be able to exchange messages with Hasegawa! Then, I realized something dreadful. My cellphone was inside my bag in the classroom. I could go and get it, but by the time I did that, the break would be over.

I took out my student handbook from my pocket right away, scribbled my mail address on a page, tore it off and handed it to Hasegawa.

"This is my mail address, so once you've decided where you'd like to go, please text me! Let's decide on the program and place via text!"

"All right."

Hasegawa accepted the note with my ugly handwriting.

Aah, what a lousy way to give her my mail address.

"The bell's going to ring soon."

"Ah yeah, sorry, for stopping you suddenly!"

We then entered the classroom and went to our seats.

To think that I can really get to hang out with Hasegawa! While I felt chagrined, this was all thanks to Koigasaki-sama. If it were up to me alone, the conversation would have ended after I said my thanks. Taking advantage of the fact that I was seated in the second row from behind, I took out my cellphone and started writing a text.

『To: Koigasaki Momo

I'm seriously grateful to you!』

...... after sending the text, I thought calmly. I merely gave my mail address to Hasegawa, didn't I? There's a possibility that I won't get any text from her, isn't there?

If she doesn't really want to hang out with me, then that will be highly likely.

Like I thought, even if I had to overdo it, I should have said something like 「Let's exchange our mail addresses!」. In that case, I would have then been able to get her mail address.

The cellphone under my desk vibrated. I hurriedly took it out, and taking care not to get found out by the teacher, I flipped it open.

Don't tell me it's from Hasegawa...... no, it's hard to think that Hasegawa would send out texts in the middle of class. As I let my mind run wild on such a favorable development for an instant, it was immediately crushed.

『Sender: Koigasaki Momo』

That girl...... she's pretty bold despite being much further in front.

『How useless can you be SeRioUsLy... After helping you so much, you BeTtEr make sure you do your part well for the cosplay event GeT IT!? Which reminds me, I've been thinking about it all this while, your texts rEEK of an oLd MaN... Before you even exchange texts with Hasegawa, you should brush up on your teXtS.』

My texts reek of an old man......?

I wonder what she meant by that. While it was true that my texts lacked Deco-Mail and emoticons......

Maybe it's better for me to start writing more modern text messages, I suppose.

To be more specific, maybe it's better for me to fill my texts with Deco-Mail or pictographs or lower case characters, I suppose.

No wait, using lower case characters might be a little unreasonable for guys.

『Is it okay if I just use more Deco-Mail? Maybe like this (Deco-Mail) I don't really get it (Deco-Mail) .』

The Deco-Mail attached to Koigasaki's text got saved into my cellphone's data box automatically, and those Deco-Mail inlaid within the contents of the text.

To be more specific, you get a smiling cat Deco-Mail at the end of a question mark, and a crying teddy at the end of "I don't really get it".

Once again, her reply came back immediately.

『A guy... and furthermore a plain-looking guy like you using Deco-Mail looks painful... On top of that, it's a dead giveaway that 'Using Deco-Mail' = 'Texting a girl'. It's better to just stick to the normal pictographs that come with your cellphone by default.』

I s-see......

Since Deco-Mail was not loaded into a cellphone by default as opposed to pictographs, in order to obtain Deco-Mail, one had to either save the Deco-Mail from the texts that came from another sender or download from a Deco-Mail distribution site (though I had no idea whether such a site existed or not), and basically, since most guys didn't use Deco-Mail, they probably wouldn't purposely download from a site, I suppose; in other words, a guy could only get his hands on Deco-Mail when he received texts from a girl, I guess.

Which meant that, it would be obvious that the guy had been exchanging texts with girls.

Of course, in my case, Koigasaki is the only one who would send me Deco-Mail.

After that, as I was afraid of catching the teacher's attention, I stopped texting, closed my cellphone and put it into my bag.

I would do well to remember that I should only use pictographs and not Deco-Mail whenever I text Hasegawa.

Though before that, I had to receive Hasegawa's texts first......


The next class was an elective class.

I had chosen art class while Kiritani, who was always with me when we changed classrooms, had chosen music, and as such, we had to part ways and I went to the art room alone with my sketch book and stationary.

"Today, you'll draw portraits."

Was the first thing announced by the teacher once we started our art class.

"Please form groups of two."

The words uttered by the teacher were cruel. There was no one I could talk to in this elective class. It's miserable to say this, but, even though three months had passed since I started school, I had yet to make any friends in this class. In other words, I was naturally left out.

"Boy and girl, seats far apart, different classes, doesn't matter ~."

After hearing the teacher's declaration, my eyes turned to the seat in front of the teacher's desk.

Hasegawa was there.

Hasegawa didn't seem to have any friends in class, so I'd been wondering how it would be in this elective class.

In this elective class, there are students from other classes mixed into it, so perhaps she has friends here?

But as I looked at Hasegawa, I just saw her in a daze.

Nobody called out to her, nor did she call out to anyone.

Isn't this the best time to call out to her? Hasegawa was troubled, I too was troubled. However, the pathetic me just couldn't summon his courage to take this one step......

"Has everyone paired up already~? There's no one left over, right ~?"

When I looked around me, everyone had already gotten into pairs.

People had already freely formed their pairs and moved their seats as much as they liked, and as such, there were no more people around Hasegawa. With my heart aching when I looked at her, I couldn't help but move towards Hasegawa with my stationary.

"Hasegawa, c-could it be that you haven't paired up with anyone......?"

Hasegawa turned around at my voice. I'd always thought she had an expressionless face, but I could see surprise on it when she looked at me.

"Kashiwada-kun......?"

"Well, I'm also left over, and searching for someone to pair up with...... if you don't mind, how about pairing up with me!?"

"Is that, so? ...... really?"

Hasegawa looked at me in wonder.

Even though she didn't say a word of acquiescence, I could take that as a yes, I guessed......

"Everyone has paired up, right?"

Hearing the teacher's voice, Hasegawa and I turned to the front.

"Then, decide on who's going to be the model first, and start drawing. If will be easier if you start with a general outline first."

"Ah, Hasegawa, you can start first!"

"...... then, I'll take up your offer, and draw first."

If Hasegawa was the one drawing first, then it meant that I would be the model first huh...... Whichever it was, I would have to spend a long period of time staring at Hasegawa. Is my heart still there? Scratch that, I'm feeling apologetic to be her model with such a plain-looking face.

The other students were drawing happily as they were talking, but Hasegawa and I exchanged no words from start to finish. It's not like I knew what to talk about, and besides, Hasegawa looked so serious as she was drawing that I found it hard to put in a word.

"Are you almost done?"

The teacher said after fifteen minutes had passed.

"I'm done......"

It was rare for Hasegawa to open her mouth first.

In the first place, she might just have been talking to herself and not me.

It was the perfect Hasegawa who was good in both studies and athletics. She must also be good in art, I supposed. I really wanted to take a look at it, but did not have the courage to ask.

"If you've finished, please by all means show it to your partner."

After the teacher made that statement, Hasegawa stiffened.

I gathered my courage and asked.

"Hasegawa, if you're done, can you show it to me?"

"...... do I, really have to show it to you......?"

"...... eh?"

Hasegawa's expression was unusually taut. What in the world happened? While I was happy to see a new expression on her face other than the faint smile or the complete lack of expression I was familiar with, I was curious as to what could have caused her to look like that.

"Erh, I'm not saying that I don't want to show it to you, but...... I'm just afraid that I'll make you upset......"

"Eh? What do you mean? There's no way I'll get upset."

I laughed in spite of myself. Even Hasegawa had a girly side - being too embarrassed to show what she had drawn - to her. Which was cute, I thought.

Hasegawa sighed out as if she was giving up on something, detached the sketchbook from her easel, and handed it to me, while keeping the back side towards me.

"Sorry......"

For some reason, she apologized.

"Ehh......"

I was speechless after looking at the drawing that Hasegawa had handed me.

...... it was beyond my imagination.

Frankly, it was no longer in the realm of being bad.

The thought of Hasegawa seeing me in this manner as depicted in her drawing made me depressed.

Or maybe there was something wrong with the mirror I normally looked at, and this was actually how my face looked.

Whichever it was, I was depressed.

"S-Sorry...... I knew it, I shouldn't have shown it to you."

Hasegawa took back her sketchbook from my hands.

Crap, did I just make a really terrible face?

"No, there's no need to apologize! I think it's really an uniquely great drawing! You also managed to capture the special traits of my face......"

"Kashiwada-kun, please don't overdo it. I'm fully aware that my drawing is bad enough to make people upset. And on top of that, we have to do portraits this time...... I knew it, I shouldn't have paired up with anyone and just drawn my own face instead."

Hasegawa was unusually depressed, and looked hard at her own drawing with a dark expression.

"T-That's not true! I like this drawing!"

I maintained impetuously. Crap, she might think that I'm strange.

"............ Kashiwada-kun, I've been wondering about this, but could it be that......"

"All right, next, the one who was the model earlier, please start drawing!"

The words from the teacher ended up cutting off Hasegawa.

Could it be that...... what!? What on earth was Hasegawa trying to say?

File:Otaria v02 121.jpg

"Amazing...... what should I do in order to be this good......"

Even though I really wanted to know, I was unable to ask now, and started drawing her portrait.

Needless to say, Hasegawa was looking straight at me with a serious expression. The more I looked at her, the more of a well-featured beautiful face I found her to have, and that face was right in front of my eyes. With my hand trembling in nervousness, I tried my best to draw her portrait.

There was a period when I used to imitate manga art, so I was confident that my drawing didn't suck, but even so, it was definitely not anything superb, and thus, I completed a not so interesting portrait.

"Amazing...... what should I do in order to be this good......"

"Eeh!? No, this is not good at all!?"

However, Hasegawa certainly did not appear to be flattering me, and was gazing at my drawing earnestly, impressed.


Even for someone like Hasegawa who was gifted in both beauty and brains, and excelled in both studies and sports, actually had the imperfection of being bad at art huh......

Knowing her imperfection, it seemed like she was also just a human, and a feeling of affinity welled up in me. While I felt apologetic towards the girl who had a serious, troubled look on her face, I was happy to be able to know an imperfection of hers.





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