Glasses Obsession

Noon, cafeteria.

"Hey, Amakusa, what exactly did you say that made Mr. Majima stop and get curious? Come on, tell me."

"Honestly, I'm curious too."

Both of them turned their attention to U Amakusa, but he ignored them and kept shoveling food into his mouth.

Naoki Shimizu and Satoshi Satonaka weren't about to let it go. They kept pressing him, but U Amakusa never said a word.

Kamuro wasn't in the cafeteria—or rather, the school had more than one cafeteria. Besides, even if she came here and saw U Amakusa, she'd hurry off somewhere else.

Kamuro was having a rough time of it too. The girls around her were much harder to deal with than the people around U Amakusa.

"Just eat, you two. Is it really impossible for you to keep your mouths shut?"

Under their relentless assault, U Amakusa's strategy of staying silent finally crumbled.

"Man, I'm jealous. Amakusa, how did you work up the nerve to confess so boldly?"

Thinking back to himself at the bus stop, Naoki Shimizu was kicking himself. If only he'd been a little bolder back then.

Satoshi Satonaka twirled some spaghetti around his fork, popped it into his mouth, and replied disdainfully as he chewed.

"What kind of question is that? When you meet a girl you like, you go after her. What, are you supposed to wait until graduation and then go your separate ways?"

"Yeah, you're right about that."

U Amakusa thought it over and decided Satoshi Satonaka had a point, even though he had no dating experience.

Taking a deep breath, Naoki Shimizu picked up his bowl and gulped down a mouthful, then made a pained face.

"I know that... but when the crucial moment comes, I always..."

"Chicken out?"

"Yeah... I've been single my whole life. When am I ever going to have a sweet romance...?"

Seeing Naoki Shimizu start to sigh, Satoshi Satonaka and U Amakusa exchanged a look. Both of them were at a loss.

Satoshi Satonaka gestured with his eyes.

You handle it.

U Amakusa replied with a look of his own.

Why don't you?

Satoshi Satonaka: A handsome guy trying to comfort him right now would only make things worse.

U Amakusa: You're that confident you're better-looking than me?!

Satoshi Satonaka: Of course.

U Amakusa: ...

At a loss for words, U Amakusa sighed and reached over to pat Naoki Shimizu on the shoulder.

"Shimizu, you need to know that confidence is a man's beauty treatment. Believe in yourself. You can do it. Besides, I've been single my whole life too."

Only then did Naoki Shimizu react to the last part. He looked at U Amakusa as though he'd found a kindred spirit.

"Really?"

"Really."

If you weren't officially together and were still in an ambiguous relationship, that still counted as being single your whole life...

Yeah, probably.

"Bro..."

"By the way, Shimizu, is that girl with glasses your type? What kind of girls do you like?"

Satoshi Satonaka recalled the girl at the bus stop. He thought she'd been wearing glasses.

"Yeah! How could Student Nishikawa not be cute?!"

"Well... she's pretty average."

"What did you say?! You're the one with no taste! Student Nishikawa is super adorable, okay?! Especially when her glasses slide down and she pushes them back up!"

Thinking it over, U Amakusa figured they both had a point. Ryoko Nishikawa could probably be called the class beauty at another school.

Satoshi Satonaka had high standards, but he had the looks to back them up. He was handsome himself.

What's more, the girls at Advanced Nurturing were all so gorgeous that anyone would naturally become a little obsessed with looks in an environment like this.

"Don't tell me... you're one of those...?" Satoshi Satonaka asked, eyeing Naoki Shimizu suspiciously. He felt sure he'd guessed right.

U Amakusa chimed in from the side. "A glasses fetishist."

"Right, right! That's what I was trying to say."

"No way!!"

As though his true feelings had been exposed, Naoki Shimizu hurriedly denied it. He pictured it in his mind, and his cheeks turned a little red.

"It's not like that! I... I only think glasses are great because Student Nishikawa wears them! I don't like Student Nishikawa because I have a glasses fetish!"

This guy... he was completely smitten...

They'd known each other for less than two days, hadn't they? U Amakusa didn't get it. Even though he'd been single his whole life too, he'd never been like this.

"Enough about me. Why don't we talk about you, Amakusa? And Satonaka, aren't you going to get a girlfriend?"

Naoki Shimizu blushed and tried to steer the conversation away from himself, like a bashful little boy.

"Me?" Satoshi Satonaka pointed at himself, then waved his hand dismissively. "I'll pass. I'm not all that interested in that sort of thing right now."

Suddenly, Naoki Shimizu's pupils shrank. He hurriedly scooted away from Satoshi Satonaka.

"Kisa-sama! Don't tell me you've got your eye on me!"

"Huh!?"

Seeing Satoshi Satonaka's confused expression, U Amakusa figured he was the only one who could keep up with both of their trains of thought.

"He means, you're not gay, are you?"

As soon as he said it, all the color drained from Satoshi Satonaka's face. With absolute conviction, he replied, "Impossible. Not even if the Earth exploded and the solar system was annihilated."

Naoki Shimizu let out a long breath and sat back down.

"You don't have to be quite so absolute."

"Anyway, don't worry. There's no chance of that. And with Amakusa around, even if I did like guys, I'd definitely choose him."

?????

What? What's wrong with you?

U Amakusa silently scooted his chair back a little. I thought my bro and I were just friends, but he wants to get into my pants.

"Let's drop this weird topic. Amakusa, you and Student Kamuro seem to have a chance. I'm rooting for you."

You can say that, and you can root for me, but that thumb of yours is practically in my face.

What happened between Kamuro and him could be called expected, but it had also been an unfortunate turn of events.

What he'd said to Kamuro back then had been true. The unfortunate part was that U Amakusa had just liked teasing her and never intended for things to develop this way.

He really did like girls like Kamuro, who seemed mature but could also be a little silly and unexpectedly cute.

But if he and Kamuro didn't end up together...

He'd probably be branded a scumbag. No, definitely.

"Let's talk about you instead, Shimizu. How did you come to like Student Nishikawa?"

Sorry, but U Amakusa could steer a conversation too.

"Uh... well... how do I put it... I just thought she was really cute, and then... naturally, I wanted to date her."

Naoki Shimizu spoke awkwardly, scratching his cheek in embarrassment.

"Then just confess," Satoshi Satonaka urged him with a mischievous grin.

"How could I do something like that?!"

Watching the two of them interact, U Amakusa couldn't help sighing inwardly. Wasn't that just falling for someone at first sight?

Since they were friends, U Amakusa figured he should offer some useful advice—even if it really was just love at first sight.

Super Deduction.

"Shimizu, I think you should give it a try. If you confess, Student Nishikawa will have to pay attention to you. Then, if you act like nothing happened, she'll pay even more attention to you, and then..."

No. Forget I said anything.

Just as U Amakusa had expected, as long as the person involved was considering it, his glasses could show him the answer.

For a brief moment, Naoki Shimizu thought U Amakusa's plan might work and wanted to try it.

But the answer U Amakusa got was that Naoki Shimizu would be rejected.

"Why? Godfather," Naoki Shimizu said anxiously.

"I think you should get to know Student Nishikawa better, Shimizu. Learn about her good points and what she likes. For example, find out which subjects she's good at, then ask her questions about those subjects. Gradually get closer to her before deciding what to do."

"Godfather!"

Well, if he was calling him Godfather, what else could he do? His godfather would help him out!