Episode 3 - A Beautiful Girl Who Manages The Restroom Wants To Pair Up With Me

"Yuzu, where are you going?"

“To the restroom…”

“Two minutes”

    Without a pause in my words, Ayaka-san interrupted me saying something like that. It was recess time after the first period.

　Two minutes? Do two minutes mean I have to go to the restroom in… 2 minutes?

　Ayaka-san nodded as if she had read my mind. Then she pulled out a stopwatch from her bag and tapped it.

“Two minutes, start”

“Wait, wait!”

　She shouted and made me a mad dash out of the classroom. I rushed to the men's restroom, did my business, then left- and came back to wash my hands. Of course, I washed them thoroughly with soap. Imagined standing in front of Ayaka-san without washing my hands, it’s too filthy.

　Wiping my hands on my pants, I ran back to the classroom and sat down in front of Ayaka-san, just before the timer went off.

“‘Huff’ ‘huff’ ‘huff’… why are you... even in charge of the restroom?"

　I asked Ayaka-san, looking at her with one eye while pulling out a water bottle from my backpack to quench my out-of-breath throat.

　Ayaka-san shrugged her shoulders as if it was a matter of course and threw the timer into her bag.

　Then she opened her mouth.

“It's hard if it's longer than that. I’ll be bored”

"You mean it's hard when you're away from me for more than two minutes?

“...”

　Then she looked away and tapped on the desk rhythmically.

　I guessed I was right. It's hard for you to be away from me, I see. So I'll do my business as fast as I can next time.

　Just as I thought of that, I felt a shock on my buttocks. It seems that Ayaka-san kicked me from under my chair with a ‘bang’... The sound was pretty loud just now, are you alright?

　Her toes seemed to be in a lot of pain- oh, so you are hurt.

　Ayaka-san's face was slightly frowning as she turned away. I guess it was pretty painful after all.

“It was Yuzu's fault for thinking weird things”

“I'm just trying to meet Ayaka-san’s request”

"Shut up"

　If I hear these words, it's time to retreat. If I continue to tease her after she says this, she will stare at me and hurt my heart as she did when she gripped my jersey a few days ago.

　Ayaka-san seems to have taken a liking to use that psychic power.

　Psychic powers are scary. And Ayaka-san seems to have other psychic powers that I don't know about…

　Or rather, I'm afraid that Ayaka-san might be able to use any kind of psychic power.

"Am I scary?"

"Oh, I'm sorry."

“No, I’m the one who’s sorry. Are you scared? I…”

　Having seen her anxious face, I feel sorry for her. Ayaka-san is a girl who is more vulnerable than others because she can half-read people's minds. That's what makes her so adorable.

　It is just my guess, but Ayaka-san may have a complex about her psychic ability.

“That’s not true, what I meant as "scary" is just a joke? I can’t find a good way to say it, but at least Ayaka-san herself is not scary. You can rest assured of that. Also, because…”

　I don't know how to follow up people with such complex. I guess cheerful people can just let it go and reassure them, but I can't do that because I'm not at talking.

　So I decided to say everything that was on my mind.

“Anyway, Ayaka-san's not scary, so don't worry. She's cute enough. Well~ and~ another thing is…”

“That’s enough, I'm okay now”

　My thoughts stopped when I heard Ayaka-san’s voice, who had been expressionless for some time. Despite her inexpressiveness, there was a little red below her eyes.

　What the heck, I thought she was anxious, but she immediately got embarrassed. If that was the case, I should have watched her being anxious a little more.

　She looked pretty cute with moist eyes when she was anxious.

　Then she kicked my chair again with a thud, and the conversation almost repeated... but I held back.

*

"Then, please make a group of two. Those two will be your pair for a semester”

　The home economics teacher who spoke so cheerfully was clearly the enemy of loner students.

　She had a principle that "students who have no contact with each other should be automatically paired up in order of attendance number". I was never separated from my classmates when I was in junior high school.

　More on that point, I had friends but friends in name only or some other cold words I don’t want to hear.

　The chairs in the home economics room were cold and uncomfortable.

"......What should I do? ......"

　The first person I looked for was Ayaka-san. She was my only hope, so I looked around the classroom for Ayaka-san.

　I found her, but she was talking with someone else.

    Before I knew it, Ayaka-san had a friend. The gal-like girl who is seated next to Ayaka-san seems to be chatting with her.

　I’m sure Ayaka-san will team up with her since they got along so well.

　I thought I'd just go into the loner's hangout to get things over with…

    With this in mind, I turned my back on Ayaka-san, and just as I stepped toward the loner’s hangout, which seemed to be the only place where the light did not reach, I was approached by a voice.

“Where are you going?"

“What? Ah, Ayaka-san?”

“What's wrong if it was me?"

"No, uh… didn’t you already have a pair in mind? I thought that you were going to be paired with… the girl you were talking with earlier, right?”

　The moment I said that a strange force was applied to my neck. I was forced to meet Ayaka-san’s eyes.

　Ayaka-san looked really, really angry. A moment later, I feel intense pain in my chest and it becomes hard to breathe.

　I immediately realized that she was using her psychic powers.

“Yuzu. Remember that Yuzu's only place is in front of me, beside me, or behind me. You should realize that there is no way I don’t know about Yuzu's whereabouts"

　Ayaka-san coldly said as matter of fact, and then she deactivates her psychic powers.

　My whole body is suddenly tired, and I sit down on the chair that was just there. And then, Ayaka-san sat down on the seat next to me.

　The aura surrounding Ayaka-san was flaming with anger. I was hesitant to speak to her.

"I'm sorry…"

“Yuzu, don't go away without permission”

“...yes”

    When she says things like that, I can’t help but think that Ayaka-san likes me.

    As I thought about it I came up with a brilliant idea.

　But I didn't have enough courage to say it out loud, so I say it in my mind.

　I asked her if she wanted to go home with me today.

　Then I saw her nodding her head.

　Her pouty face was gone and she was blooming with a very wide smile on her face. Ayaka-san kept nodding.

　I felt like I sensed a special bond between us, who were sitting beside each other.

    I guess it was not my imagination, Ayaka's ears looked a little red.