Chapter 14: Youth ~Chihirocchi Side ~

"Chihiro—how was it?"

As I sat slumped at my desk after the test, the girl in the seat ahead turned around with a bright smile.

"Looks like I managed to avoid failing… barely."

Probably, anyway.

"Haha, that’s good. Wanna go celebrate?"

"Nah, I’m heading home today. Haven’t slept…"

"Ah, so you pulled an all-nighter."

She laughed lightly. It was the last day of exams, and I’d forced myself through.

"Yeah… I’m completely dead."

"Good work! Let’s hang out again sometime."

"Yeah… sure."

I grabbed my bag, stood up, and made my way toward the entrance. At the shoe lockers, I swapped out my indoor shoes for my outdoor pair.

"Minamikawa, got a minute?"

"Huh?"

I turned at the voice. A guy I’d seen around before—though I didn’t know his name—from another class was standing there.

"What is it?"

"Not here. Can we talk somewhere else?"

…Wait, what?

"Uh… sure."

"Sorry."

We walked around to the back of the school building, where no one else was around.

What on earth is happening…

"You know what I think? Idols just build up fame so they can eventually move into porn."

At our usual family restaurant, Eromi-neesan—who honestly looks like a total loli—was spouting yet another of her awful lines.

"Is that so, nya?"

"The other day, I read an article about some pretty famous gravure idol who went into porn. But the thing is, I didn’t even know her! I regretted it so much. Like, if only I’d become her fan a year earlier…"

The fact she can say this with a straight face is unreal.

"Doesn’t that just rot your brain?"

"That’s ‘cause you’re still a rookie, Prez. At my level, I can even fantasize I was the one who dragged her down into porn with my power."

…This woman is terrifying.

"You’re awful, nya. Just a hardcore masochist always being trained by your girlfriend."

"It’s not training! It’s love!"

"You sound like one of those women who insists she isn’t in an abusive relationship, nya."

I thought the same thing.

"Look, she’s never hit me."

"But she made you do ✕✕✕✕ in the bath until you wet yourself, right? That’s disgusting, nya."

Yeah, that’s disgusting.
Really awful.

"As long as he’s happy, it’s fine, isn’t it?"

Ah… so he is happy.
This guy’s a lost cause.

"Anyway, Tama doesn’t care about your crazy relationship, nya. And no, I’m not going into porn either."

"Do it! You’re an A, Nyaa-ko, and with the friend bonus I swear you’d sell!"

"Don’t ✕✕✕✕ your friends, nya! And definitely don’t brag about it!"

Seriously, the lowest of the low.

"But hey, Prez, Chihirocchi—you’d both buy it, right?"

"Well…"

"Yeah, probably…"

…Yeah, maybe I would.

"But no, I’m not going into porn. More importantly—forget that trash—how were your tests, Chihirocchi?"

"Oh, right. Good job, man. To celebrate, I’ll treat you to a parfait."

Eromi-neesan handed me the menu.

"Thanks. I think I’ll scrape through somehow though…"

"Hm? Something happen?" Prez asked.

"Yeah… kind of a big problem…"

"Let me guess. Your sister or mom found your porn stash."

"These days it’s not mags but smartphones, nya. So, your phone got snooped, nya."

"No, that’s not it."

At that, the two lolis across from me slumped forward in unison. Seeing them do it was kind of cute—except after our earlier conversation, it didn’t feel cute at all.

"Then what?"

"Actually… on my way home after the test, a guy from another class called out to me."

The three of them froze.

"And?"

"He took me behind the school… and confessed."

He asked me to go out with him.

"For real…?"

"That’s youth, nya."

"So, what’d you say?" Eromi-neesan pressed.

"I was so shocked I just froze… then he told me not to rush and to take my time with the answer."

"Hm. Was he handsome?"

"He looked kinda flashy."

Definitely seemed popular.

"Well, if he’s into gyaru girls, that makes sense… so what’ll you do?"

"Of course I’ll turn him down. I like girls."

I mean, I’m a girl—obviously.

"Yeah, figures."

"Tama might consider it, but Chihirocchi, you wouldn’t, nya."

Shachou and Tama-san both nodded.

"Chihirocchi, what exactly are you worried about?"

Eromi-neesan asked, tilting her head.

"It’s not that I won’t turn him down—I will—but I’m stuck on how to do it…"

"So you don’t want to meet face-to-face. Makes sense, since you’d be letting him down."

"Yeah… it’d be awkward."

As expected of Eromi-neesan.
She’s not a virgin for nothing.

"I think just using a message app is fine, but… do you even know which one he uses?"

"I don’t. I thought about asking a friend, though."

"Don’t do that. If you don’t know his contact, it’s better to leave it that way. If it were me, I’d take it as a sign you were interested."

Ah… yeah.

"That’s true, nya. If you start talking, you might end up as friends, and then maybe… more…"

"I’d think the same. It’d just make it harder to give up."

…Makes sense.

"So I have no choice but to tell him directly?"

"You could always slip a letter into his shoe locker."

The shoe locker, huh…

"Isn’t that kind of insincere, nya?"

"Why? What’s wrong with it?"

"He worked up the courage to confess, so you should answer him properly, nya."

"That’s just making it more troublesome for yourself. Nyaa-ko, you’re letting your guy side influence you too much. You’re an idol—you get similar stuff, don’t you? If you tried to handle every single one, you’d burn out."

As expected of Eromi-neesan.
So mature.
Hard to believe this is the same pervert who, just earlier, said being forced to ✕✕✕✕ in the bath and wetting himself was ‘happiness.’

"Tama-san, what do you think, Shachou?"

Tama turned to Shachou, the oldest of us.

"Hmm… sorry, but I can’t really give advice. I never had that kind of experience back in school, and even now, as a woman, I’ve never been confessed to."

"Shachou, you’ve got the figure, the cool vibe, the looks, but that Benz is the problem. It screams you’ve got some scary man in the shadows."

"I get it, nya. That’s not a car women buy, nya."

True enough…

"Really? You guys criticize my car so much. Is it that bad? I actually like it…"

Shachou looked a little hurt.

"Shachou… you always give me rides, but honestly, sometimes it’s scary."

"When?"

"When you’re wearing sunglasses and smoking. Now, since you’re a woman, I can kind of see you as a cool lady… but if you were still 180 centimeters tall and male, you wouldn’t look like a normal citizen at all."

Yeah, that’d look shady no matter what.

"Totally shady, nya. Some guy like that chauffeuring a high school gyaru—it screams sketchy business, nya."

"Shachou, don’t tell me… when you were a man, did you slick your hair back?"

"I did…"

Terrifying!
Now that I think about it, the only saving grace is that her hair is dyed brown.

"………Shachou, you’re not in the money-cleaning business, right?"

"I am not! It’s just a normal company! Fine, fine—I’ll sell the Benz and switch to a Crown!"

Not much of a difference, really…

"You don’t have to go that far. But how about quitting smoking? It’s bad for your health."

"I’m not quitting. Anyway, forget me—we’re talking about you."

"Ah, right, right. Chihirocchi’s rejection plan. Whether you do it in person or with a letter, either works. What matters is that you give a clear no. Flashy guys tend to be persistent."

"Got it… I’ll do that."

Honestly, after all this, my worries about rejecting him feel kind of trivial now…