The Fourth Class Is Modern Chinese (Continued)

"Oh, a road bike..."

What road? Did she think ordinary little things were happiness?[Note]... But with the seat this high, wouldn't it lead down the road to To LOVE-Ru?

Note: From "ROAD," a song by the Japanese band THE Tora Buryu. Road Bike is commonly shortened to "Road."

Though I felt uneasy, I still pushed down hard on the pedals and started riding.

It wasn't that I didn't want to obediently follow Orioto's suggestion and lower the seat, but I was a guy! If I complained that even this height was too high and got laughed at with, "Seriously, your legs are so short," I'd be a little hurt!

A man's pride drove me to pedal faster and faster.

My feet on the pedals and hands gripping the handlebars both put in more force. The muscles in my back, where I could feel her faint breath, also tensed tightly.

A relaxed voice utterly unrelated to tension came from behind me.

"I often ride my road bike around on weekends, but I'm scared it'll get stolen when I go to school or work."

I hadn't asked, but Orioto had probably guessed what I was thinking from my muttering earlier and casually continued.

Yeah, apparently road referred to a road bike.

From what I could tell, on holidays she probably rode a road bike around instead of her usual city bike.

...Ah—she really did seem like the type to have that kind of hobby.

A road bike plus a DSLR camera was the standard equipment for a brazen subculture girl. Her lunch during rides was probably smoothies and oatmeal... My prejudice was terrible. Though oatmeal really did look like bird feed.

Come to think of it, I'd never noticed she had those kinds of hobbies back in middle school. No, if someone