What If I Told Tomori-san, The Girl Who's Cold Only Towards Me, That I Knew Her Secret Account? - V1 Chapter 8.2

Events on a Snowy Day ② 2

“What are you doing, Class President?”

While staring at my phone and whispering [I love you, I love you, I love you] in my heart, I was suddenly spoken to.

Surprised, I lifted my face, and there was Kagisaka-kun.

Yay! My prayers were answered!

But I tried to appear as natural as possible and said,

“Why are you here?”

“Hoshimiya Coffee is my favorite place.”

“Really? As expected, you’re still stalking me, this is wh——”

“What were you doing? You had a serious expression while looking at your phone. Were you chatting with your boyfriend?”

“I don’t have a boyfriend!”

“Then what were you doing?”

“Um, well…”

I couldn’t exactly mention the charm spell, so to hide my uneasiness, I looked down and said,

“… It’s none of your business, right?”

Ah, I did it again.

Even though I don’t have to worry about other classmates now, why do I still snap at him?

Kagisaka-kun must be getting fed up and will probably return to his seat.

“Hey, now that we’ve met, why don’t we study together?”

“Huh!?”

“The seat across, is it empty?”

“Wait! I haven’t agreed yet—”

“And by the way, that outfit looks cute. It suits you well, Tomori.”

“…!?”

I could only manage to respond with […Of course] to that unexpected attack.

And then, Kagisaka-kun brings his belongings and sits in the opposite seat.

(…It’s a dream come true.)

After receiving compliments on my outfit on a day off, we started studying together.

To think that the scenario I had fantasized about multiple times became a reality…

“See, I told you she had a boyfriend.”

“Are they high school students? Damn, I’m envious. I wish I could have had that kind of high school experience too.”

I overheard a quiet conversation between a man and a woman in the cafe.

To avoid feeling too embarrassed by staying silent, I decided to initiate a conversation with Kagisaka-kun.

“You’re eating something unusually cute.”

“It’s common for guys to eat pancakes these days. But anyway, did you come here to study or not?”

“Y-Yeah, but I also wanted some time to think.”

“Did someone consult you again?”

“Well, yeah. Don’t you remember? Takakura-san from our class. After she asked me for love advice, she started dating a college student. But it seems they didn’t get along once they actually started dating.”

“So they broke up. It’s a selfish story.”

“That’s too harsh. Aren’t you the one that is being selfish today? Why did you disrupt me and suddenly suggest studying together?”

“Just a whim.”

With a curt response, Kagisaka-kun starts working on the problem set.

He’s dressed in a sleek coordinate: a black jacket, a crisp white shirt, and slim pants. Perhaps due to his composed attire or the fact that I’m not used to seeing him in anything other than his school uniform, he appears even more mature than usual.

《So precious~! K-kun looks so cool in his casual clothes!》

《I secretly want to record this!》

《It’s impossible, studying in this situation is impossible!》

Trying to calm myself down even a little, I pour out my thoughts on my secret account.

Not a single piece of the study material enters my head.

In contrast, Kagisaka-kun is making progress with the problem set… sigh.

(…Really, at least be a bit conscious of me. It feels like I’m the only one who cares about this.)

On a day off, sitting next to a girl alone, it would be nice if he felt a little embarrassed.

I’ve been thinking about him this whole time.

I wonder if he would be surprised if I held his hand… No, that’s definitely impossible.

There’s no reason to hold hands, and unfortunately, I don’t have the courage for that.

I need to try a different approach… Ah, I got an idea.

“Hey, want to have some?”

I carefully timed it as Kagisaka-kun finished the problem set, offering him a slice of cake with a fork.

Just like a close couple.

“Yes? What’s this all of a sudden?”

“You finished the problem set, right? So I thought I’d give you a reward.”

“You’re just trying to make fun of me…”

“Of course. I thought I’d take this opportunity to relieve my pent-up frustrations. I want to see your face stained with embarrassment.”

Knowing Kagisaka-kun, he’s definitely going to refuse again.

If he does that, I tease him back with something like, [Is an indirect kiss too embarrassing for you?]

I’m sure he’ll feel embarrassed.

“Uh, what?”

However, Kagisaka-kun casually takes a bite of the cake on the fork.

(…Wait, wait, wait)

This is not what I expected!

I didn’t think he would eat it with such speed… or rather! An indirect kiss?!

Kagisaka-kun use my fork…

“Here.”

As I panic internally, Kagisaka-kun offers his own pancake to me this time.

Once again, it’s the lover-style of using forks. (TN: Using each other.)

“Wait… Um, isn’t this embarrassing to do?”

“Tomori was the one who did it first, right? So it’s payback.”

“You should say it’s returning the favor in this case!”

“I also want to see your face stained with embarrassment. Or is it something you can only do to others but not to yourself?”

“H-Hey, don’t make fun of me!”

(TN: Payback, returning the favor. The wordplay revolves around the use of ‘仕返し’ (shi kaeshi), which means ‘payback’ and ‘お返し’ (o kaeshi), which means ‘returning the favor.’

Tomori emphasizes that the proper term to use in this situation should be returning the favor, which is reciprocating a kind action, rather than the negative connotation of seeking revenge or payback.)

Trying to maintain my dignity, I accept the offered pancake and take a bite…

…This is not good.

Just the thought of an indirect kiss makes it hard to taste anything.

But I feel happy.

Even if it’s until tomorrow morning, I can study hard.

It feels like I received that much energy.