It was the weekend,
"Horikita Suzune: Are you there?"
You En picked up the phone from his bedside table and read the message from Horikita Suzune. He typed two words,
"I'm not."
Then he buried his head in the pillow, ready to go back to sleep, but his phone rang.
"Sigh,"
You En had expected that. He climbed out from under the covers and sat on the bed, typing with a trace of sleepiness.
"You En: Hello, miss me?"
"Horikita Suzune: No. So, are you free this morning?"
"You En: I am, but I want to sleep."
You En replied.
At around three that morning, someone had knocked on his door. When he looked through the peephole and saw it was his upperclassman, he opened up. She had then dragged him to the Kyudo Club's dojo to practice archery.
He hadn't gotten back until nearly seven. After catching an hour and a half of sleep, Horikita Suzune had woken him up again.
Horikita Suzune said, "Mako and the others told me to ask if you'd come along. If you don't want to, that's fine."
"I'm not going."
When You En heard it was a group of girls going shopping, he was even less interested. They were all nice, lively, pretty girls, but right now, catching up on sleep was more appealing.
Someone seemed to say something beside Horikita Suzune. She relayed it to him,
"They said they'll treat you to something."
"Where? I'm coming."
You En got up and changed without a moment's hesitation.
"Honestly..."
Horikita Suzune didn't know what to say on the other end of the phone. She looked at the Class B girls beside her, who were covering their mouths and giggling.
"Never mind. We're at a café. Just come here."
It took You En less than ten minutes to reach the café. Through the glass windows, he spotted Horikita Suzune and the others.
Ando Sayo and Amikura Mako waved to him, while Kobashi Yume and the others shyly raised their hands to greet him.
You En pushed open the door and walked over to where the girls were sitting.
"I saved you a seat, you know."
Tsube Hitomi patted the spot to her left.
"Come on, Mr. You En."
Ando Sayo, sitting to her right, immediately protested, "How sly! No wonder you were so eager, Hitomi. You'd planned this all along!"
You En sat down and noticed a cup of coffee in front of him.
Horikita Suzune reminded him, "They ordered that for you."
You En picked up the cup and took a solemn sip. He nodded,
"That's delicious!"
As the girls excitedly gathered around You En, chattering and asking him questions, Horikita Suzune couldn't help thinking that he really was popular.
Ando Sayo looked at Kobashi Yume, who sat to You En's left, too shy to speak, then gave Tsube Hitomi a meaningful glance.
Tsube Hitomi understood at once. She stood up and said,
"Let's get our date started!"
You En finished his coffee. The girls really knew him well—they'd added plenty of milk and sugar, knowing he didn't like bitter drinks.
Hearing that the girls were starting their date, he smiled.
"Am I kind of out of place here?"
Ando Sayo and the others planned to help their close friend, Kobashi Yume, find the right moment to confess to You En. How could they let him get away now?
"It's fine, You En. Don't you hang out with us all the time?"
"Oh?"
You En looked around at the girls, then at Kobashi Yume, who had lowered her head. He guessed what was going on.
Fine. I'll play along.
You En first accompanied them to two clothing stores that specialized in women's fashion.
The clothing stores on campus were supposedly meant just for students, but the major brands from outside were actually relatively cheap here. The expensive stuff was custom-made with no brand name.
The Class B girls weren't big spenders, though. They just browsed and tried things on, while the saleswomen enthusiastically recommended outfit after outfit for them to try.
It didn't cost anything, so why not?
At the third clothing store, Horikita Suzune was finally persuaded to try something on. She came out of the fitting room in a pale blue-green one-piece dress, her fair shoulders and collarbones clearly visible.
"How... does it look?" she asked.
You En met her gaze.
"I'm still looking. I haven't had my fill yet."
Horikita Suzune rested one hand on her shoulder, seeming a little embarrassed as she lowered her head.
"Oh."
"Hehe, come look at this!"
Tsube Hitomi rushed over and linked arms with You En. She was the sort who got comfortable with people quickly and was very outgoing. You En didn't mind, and Horikita Suzune was used to it by now.
You En asked, "What is it?"
"Come with me and you'll see."
Tsube Hitomi tugged You En over to a full-length mirror, where several girls were gathered around Kobashi Yume, helping her get dressed up.
Kobashi Yume had changed into a sweet-looking outfit, with a long knit dress and little leather shoes. She shifted her feet nervously, looking rather uneasy.
Tsube Hitomi grinned. "What do you think? Yume's cute, right?"
You En nodded. "Yeah, she's really cute."
Ando Sayo gave Kobashi Yume a thumbs-up, apparently encouraging her.
Before Kobashi Yume could say anything,
You En glanced at the outfits in the store.
"But I think these few preppy outfits would suit you better. You might look even cuter in them."
"Oh?"
The girls gathered together, chattering away, then said a few words to the saleswoman beside them.
The saleswoman smiled and brought out the right sizes, asking Kobashi Yume to try one on in the fitting room.
When the curtain opened again,
Kobashi Yume came out in a short, pale sage-green blazer-style dress. Her petite, adorable charm practically spilled out of her.
The girls immediately crowded around her, hugging and fussing over her.
Ando Sayo coughed. The girls realized this wasn't the time and quickly scattered.
Tsube Hitomi gave Kobashi Yume a gentle push.
"You En, what do you think?"
You En looked rather pleased with himself. "Yume looks great in it. Looks like I have a good eye."
Horikita Suzune had changed back into her own clothes. She walked over, saw his smug expression, and said,
"Show-off."
"Oh, right."
You En saw Kobashi Yume about to say something again, and quickly spoke up.
"Hey, I remember there's an eyeglasses shop over there. I took a look while you were changing. They have lots of decorative glasses, too.
The saleswoman said students can try them on. I think you should give it a shot. You might find something that looks great."
The interruption made Kobashi Yume swallow the words she'd been about to say.
Ando Sayo decided it wasn't the right moment yet and replied,
"Sure, let's go take a look."
At the eyeglasses shop,
The last time You En had visited a place like this had been in his previous life.
Back then, he'd eventually become moderately nearsighted. In this life, he hadn't studied very hard or spent overtime in front of a computer. He also made sure to rest and exercise, so he wasn't nearsighted and his eyesight was still pretty good.
Horikita Suzune stared at a large basket of glasses, seeming unsure which ones to pick.
You En looked at her face shape.
"Half-rim glasses would suit you better."
Horikita Suzune glanced at him but said nothing, continuing to browse.
The girls each picked out frames to try on. Of course, they didn't just try one pair; they kept at it until they found something they liked.
You En found a chair and sat down. A saleswoman brought him a glass of water. He thanked her, but she just smiled and said there was no need—she was only doing her job.
The service staff at the school really were nice. They never complained no matter how much trouble students caused. Here, students were treated like royalty.
"You En, what do you think?"
Tsube Hitomi came over wearing a pair of women's sunglasses.
"Those don't really suit you," You En said. "But your eyes are already beautiful. You don't need glasses."
"Hey, that's what I thought, too."
The other girls came over one by one to ask You En what he thought.
You En answered without putting a foot wrong, and every girl ended up happy.
Horikita Suzune stood to one side, her head tilted. She didn't ask, but she wore a pair of silver half-rim glasses. They gave her usually cool aura an even more inscrutable edge, along with a strangely restrained allure.
After complimenting Kobashi Yume, You En stood up and went to the counter to pick out a pair of gold half-rim glasses.
He put them on and walked over to Horikita Suzune, lowering his head slightly.
"Well?"
Horikita Suzune lifted her gaze to the boy in front of her. Their eyes met, and for a moment she couldn't find the words.
"...They look pretty good. Why?"
"Sigh, you really don't know how to compliment someone."
You En looked a little disappointed, which the other girls noticed.
Kobashi Yume looked somewhat dejected, while Ando Sayo encouraged her in a whisper. Tsube Hitomi watched the two of them and loudly declared that this was unwinnable.
They wrapped things up and moved on to the next dress-up session.
After that, they visited the campus aquarium, museum, dessert shop, jewelry store... and even a lingerie shop. Of course, You En didn't go into the women's lingerie shop.
Soon it was noon.
You En and the others found a decent restaurant and sat down.
Tsube Hitomi felt utterly out of place, sprawled across the table with no regard for appearances. "I had so much fun this morning. Ah... but we have to start studying again this afternoon. It's such a drag."
"Aren't students supposed to study?"
Ando Sayo didn't see what the problem was. The school provided such great facilities, the teachers were highly skilled, and their classmates were so friendly.
Ichinose Honami had even arranged for You En, the top student in both grades and looks, to tutor them.
If they still didn't study hard, they'd be letting everyone down—and themselves, too.
"Um... You En."
Kobashi Yume suddenly spoke, as if she'd worked up all her courage.
You En looked up at her. "Yume, keep working hard this afternoon. I'll give you a few more problems to solve. How about I make you a whole test?"
"Huh?"
Kobashi Yume froze at his words, completely forgetting what she'd wanted to say.
"All right, I'm full. Thank you for treating me today."
You En thanked them very formally for the meal, then got up and left.
Horikita Suzune said goodbye too, then followed behind him.
Once they were outside the restaurant and there weren't any familiar students nearby, she asked,
"Was Kobashi Yume going to confess to you?"
You En looked confused. "Was she? How would I know?"
Horikita Suzune folded her arms. "You were acting strange all morning. If you really wanted to reject her, why not just say so? Why encourage her and look out for her in all sorts of ways? Aren't you just leading her on?"
You En smiled.
"Truly kind people don't take advantage of kindness. The more kindness they receive, the more they think about the other person."
Horikita Suzune looked at him thoughtfully.
"What about me?"
You En pulled out his terminal and looked at the 5,000 points he'd earned from five hours of part-time work that week. Some of them had already been spent.
"Being kind to others can mean being cruel to yourself. Don't overthink it. Just be yourself."
At the restaurant,
The girls discussed You En for a while.
Ando Sayo was about to pay the bill so they could split it afterward. She opened her terminal and saw that someone had transferred points to her.
It was from You En. The amount was exactly what the girls had spent treating him that morning, plus his share of lunch...
Maybe I could try pursuing him, too?
The thought crossed Ando Sayo's mind, but she quickly dismissed it. The gap between them was too great.
Even if she succeeded, it wouldn't necessarily be a good thing...
Before you continue