Does This Love Suit Your Taste? - Volume 1 Chapter 4.3

Likes and Dislikes 3

Both of us changed into our shoes at the shoe lockers, and Shirahime and I left the school side by side.

Since that day, I’ve been escorting Shirahime to the station every day.

According to the princess (Hime), ‘It’s only natural for a servant to escort me on the way home.’

The saying goes, ‘It’s not over until it’s over’, and that’s exactly right. I’m her servant until we part ways.

The time we spent walking to the station was filled with Shirahime asking me various things about myself and, conversely, Shirahime talking to me about things at school and about herself.

Thanks to that, information about Shirahime that I didn’t necessarily want to know is accumulating day by day.

By the way, I learned that Shirahime’s home is two stations away from this town, and she lives alone.

Originally residing in Tokyo with her family, she moved back to her hometown here when she advanced to high school for a certain reason.

Her parents are in Tokyo and she is alone here in her hometown… In that aspect, her situation is somewhat similar to mine, and I couldn’t help but feel a sense of kinship.

Also, I remember the awkwardness when I pointed out that it was risky for a model like ‘Shirahime Rira’ to walk around town so openly, she retorted, ‘I’m not that famous, you know. Is that a problem?’.

In any case, the more I got to know her, the more I realized that this person, usually called S-Hime, is just a human being after all.

Passing through the quiet residential area near the school and onto the main street, the unusual duo from our school—a delinquent and S-Hime—were attracting attention on the streets as usual today.

However, both accustomed to the stares inside the school, Shirahime and I kept walking straight towards the station without much concern.

During this walk home today, I decided to ask something that suddenly caught my interest.

“Hey. Is there a real reason you’re walking home with me?”

“…Why?”

“Why… The chores were to improve my image, right? So I was wondering if there’s also some meaning to us going home together.”

It seems that the journals and menial tasks are meant for my ‘reform’ and even the kiss was to ‘threaten’ me.

Although there are whims like asking for milk tea sometimes, there’s always seemed to be a solid reason behind what Shirahime asks me to do.

But then, with a distant look in her eyes, Shirahime gazed in the direction we were heading and said,

“Sometimes boys come up to talk to me and try to walk me home when I’m walking home alone. So I thought it might be just right to be with you to keep them away. I’ve noticed that when I’m with you, Toui-kun, the number of boys who approach me decreases.”

Shirahime looked back and glared at the group of boys walking home together as if they were a nuisance.

Although she seemed to accept anyone who approached her, deep down, she apparently preferred to keep the bothersome ones at a distance…

“Then, instead of me, you could just go home with someone else.”

“Find another guy, you mean?”

“Not like that. You have girl friends too, don’t you?”

“Ohh… honestly, I don’t really have anyone I’m particularly close with… I find it hard to stay in groups for long.”

“Why?”

“Because I always have to be mindful of others—it’s exhausting.”

Hearing Shirahime’s true feelings, I am reminded of what Anzu sensei said earlier.

『Shirahime-san is kind and charming, so she’s popular and gets along with everyone. But it’s quite rare to see her spending time with just one person for long.』

It seems she’s more adept at switching between her public and private personas than I thought.

I had always seen her as just a friendly person, but maybe Shirahime consciously kept a certain distance from others.

In a way, that’s similar to me——

As we had this conversation, we arrived at the station.

“Then, see you tomorrow. Keep today’s talk just between us, okay?”

“…I don’t have anyone to tell anyway.”

“Haha, thanks.”

With a fleeting smile, Shirahime passed through the ticket gate.

I’m sure it wasn’t just me who could tell that her smile was fake.

Normally, I would have turned back on my way home immediately, but I ended up watching Shirahime until she climbed up the escalator to the platform and disappeared from view today.

I had dismissed her as just being two-faced, but it seems that the honor student Shirahime I usually see is more thoroughly crafted than I had imagined.

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