Chapter 4.1

Youkoso v1c4 part 1

After leaving school, I headed straight for the dorms . Kushida, who left earlier with a friend, was waiting for someone while leaning against the wall . Noticing me, she looked at me with a smile on her face .

“That’s good . I was waiting for Ayanokouji-kun . I have something to talk about . Do you have time?”

“Yea, I have nothing else to do…”

By any chance, is it a confession… ? No, there’s a 1 percent chance of that happening .

“I’ll ask you frankly . Ayanokouji-kun, have you ever seen Horikita smile even once?”

“Eh? No… I don’t remember . ”

It seems like Kushida approached me to talk about Horikita . Also, when I think back, I’ve never seen Horikita smile . Gripping my hand, she closed the gap between us . Is that the smell of flowers? The pleasant smell entered my nose .

“You know… I want to become friends with Horikita-san . ”

“Your feelings are reaching her . At first a lot of people were trying to talk to her, but now you’re the only one left . ”

“Ayanokouji-kun, you seem to know Horikita-san pretty well . ”

“Of course you would get to know someone sitting next to you every day . ”

Girls being girls, they were really eager to make groups from the first day of school . They are even more conscious of factions and groups than men are, and about 4 people held all the “power” among 20 people . The girls say they are just getting to know a lot of people .

However, the only exceptions to this rule is Kushida . All the groups have a lot of people, but only Kushida is starting to get massively popular . Without ever giving up, she kept trying to become friends with Horikita . It’s not something any ordinary student can do . That’s probably why she’s popular .

Also, she’s cute .

After all, cuteness correlates to popularity .

“Weren’t you rejected by Horikita? I don’t think whatever you tell her will make her understand . ”

I know that she’s not the type to mince her words .  If you talk to her carelessly, she would probably pour insults onto you . Honestly, I don’t want to see Kushida get hurt .

“Won’t you… help me?”

“Well…”

I didn’t reply immediately . Usually, if I was asked to help by a cute girl, I would agree without hesitation . However, since I like to avoid trouble, I couldn’t say yes immediately . That’s because I don’t want to see Horikita verbally hurt Kushida . I’ll refuse her gently .

“I understand your feelings, but…”

“Is it no good… ?”

Cute + request + upturned eyes = fatal .

“… Well, it can’t be helped . Only this time, ok?”

“Really!? Ayanokouji-kun, thank you!”

After I agreed to help her, Kushida had a delighted smile on her face .

… Cute . Because I said that I would help, I can’t be rash and do something crazy .

“So, what exactly are we doing? Even if you say you want to be friends with her, it’s not that simple . ”

For someone like me who doesn’t have any friends, it’s a difficult problem I can’t answer easily .

“Hmm…  First step is to make Horikita smile . ”

“Make her smile, huh . ”

Making her smile requires the right mood and atmosphere for us to succeed .

That kind of relationship might be called “friendship” .

Luckily, though, Kushida seems to know how to make people smile .

“Do you have any ideas on how to make her smile?”

“Um… I thought that we could think about it together . ”

With an apologetic “Teehee”, she lightly tapped her head .

If it was an ugly woman I would’ve immediately hit her, but it was fine because it was Kushida .

“Smile…”

Somehow, because Kushida asked me to help, my goal now is to make Horikita smile . Is that goal even possible? Very questionable .

“Anyway, after school, I will try to invite Horikita . When I return to the dorms, I probably won’t have any arms or legs left . Is there any place I should invite her to?”

“Hmm, how about Pallet? I go to Pallet often, so she might have overheard us talking about it . ”

Pallet is probably the 1st or 2nd most popular cafe on campus .

Certainly, I often hear about Pallet whenever Kushida and her friends go after school .

If I hear about it often, Horikita would have also unconsciously learned about it .

“Do you think it would work if you two went into Pallet, ordered, then ‘unexpectedly’ ran into me?”

“No… I think that’s a bit too simple . What if your friends also helped?”

The second Horikita notices Kushida, she would probably go home immediately . If possible, it would be better to create a situation where it’s difficult to get up . I told Kushida the idea I just thought of .

“Oh~ That certainly sounds like it would work! Ayanokouji-kun, you’re smart!”

Kushida listened to me with sparkling eyes while nodding her head and saying “Un, un” .

“I don’t think that has anything to do with my intelligence…  Anyway, that’s the plan . ”

“Ok, I expect a lot, Ayanokouji-kun!”

No, I’m troubled by your expectations .

“If Kushida invited Horikita, she would probably reject you, so should I invite her?”

“Alright . After all, I think Horikita-san trusts you . ”

“Why do you think that?”

“Hmm, well, it looks like she does? At the very least, she trusts you more than anyone else in the class . ”

That doesn’t mean that I’m the most appropriate person for the task…

“That’s because I met her by coincidence . ”

I met her on the bus by chance, and I sat next to her by chance .

If either one of those didn’t happen, I probably wouldn’t talk to Horikita at all .

“Don’t you meet every new person by chance? Then they become your friend, your best friend… and sometimes your lover and family . ”

“… I see . ”

I guess that’s one way to look at it . Talking to Kushida was also a result of a coincidence .

In other words, Kushida and I might be in a relationship before long .