Chapter 145.5 – Airi’s Spring

This chapter is chronologically located before chapter 130 (vacation arc).

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I have an older brother who's a bit aloof at times and is a bit of a handful when it comes to romantic stuff.

He claims that he's not exactly the best person to talk about romance with, but he does all of this flirting with his girlfriend so naturally that it scares me.

I wish that I had a loved one similar to how my older brother has Akari as his beloved.

Although I call Takei a virgin many times as a joke, it's not like I have any experience either.

Why can't I get a boyfriend?! This is so frustrating!

The school year is about to end and I still haven't met anyone that has caught my eye yet.

A decade and a half of living and zero confessions during that time, what's up with those impossible odds?!

I wouldn't say I'm ugly or anything, but I think I'm decently attractive.

Akari always says that I'm a cute girl, which is pretty credible since she's at the top of the food chain for girls.

Does the name "Airi Tanaka" not stir a feeling inside anyone's heart?

I had such thoughts as I was helping the gardening club clean up after another successful afternoon of maintaining the garden.

"Haha, good job everyone!" My senior bellowed with a hearty laugh. "Please go home and rest for now. You all deserve it!"

I wasn't even in the gardening club, but my friend in the club asked for help since they were low on members and helping hands.

After giving my all for today at school, I exited the school and walked towards the direction of my house.

On the way there, I noticed that there was a silver-haired girl looking around the town with a fascinated look.

At first glance, she looked like a tourist or a foreigner who wasn't used to the place.

However, you would notice something else if you observed the emotions that were evident in her eyes.

It looked like she was feeling nostalgia for this place, as can be seen by how the silver-haired beauty was nostalgically looking at her surroundings.

Her appearance made her out to be a mysterious cool beauty, but I knew better to assume stuff off of other people's appearances.

Although, she does look like she would be the main heroine of a slice-of-life romance series...

Who would be the main protagonist then?

Let's just forget about this for now and see if she needs anything.

I'm really nosy huh? Just like my brother...

"Hey, do you need any help?" I politely called out to her.

The girl looked surprised at being called out, but her surprise quickly disappeared when she realized that I was trying to help her out.

"I'm just looking around right now. I used to live here when I was younger," the girl explained. "I even have a childhood friend here. I'm hoping to meet him again in the near future when I transfer schools and move back here."

Ah, so that's why she was looking around so nostalgically.

She didn't need any help, rather she was just surprised to see how much everything changed.

"Although, I would like to make some more friends before I move back here," the girl shyly said. "I hope it makes the move easier if I know more people in this area before I move back."

Oh, she just wants to make friends? That's perfect!

"Well, then. My name is Airi Tanaka," I introduced myself. "It's very nice to meet you."

It seemed that she really wanted to be friends with me, since her eyes immediately sparkled when I introduced myself.

The girl happily shook my hands. "It's very nice to meet you too! My name is Shizuku Shirakawa!"

With that, we exchanged contact information and went about our ways.

Not even five minutes later after we had parted, there was already another event happening.

"Airi! Wait!!!" The voice of a teenage boy could be vaguely heard from behind me. "You forgot something in the club room!"

I stopped in my tracks when I heard the boy's voice and turned around to face the boy who was running as fast as he could to catch up to me.

If I remember correctly, his name was Mahiro Yunoki... maybe?

I waited for him to catch up, in which he finally caught up to me after a few moments of full-on sprinting.

"Haah... Haah... You forgot this," Mahiro said, as he handed me my pen that I left in the gardening club room.

If it's just the pen, I could've just came back tomorrow and grabbed it though?

Why did he feel the need to run across town to hand this back to me?

Glancing at his profile, I noticed that his hair was extremely disordered because of how he put his all into running.

"Thanks for bringing me my pen," I said. "Can you stay still now? I need to fix your hair."

"I-it's fine," he stammered.

"This is the least I can do..." I muttered.

After managing to convince him, I cleaned up Mahiro's hair and straightened his tie that had gotten a bit loose from all the running that he had done.

"I'm thankful for you bringing me my pen, but why was there such an urgency? It's not good to push yourself that hard," I chided him.

In response to my chiding, Mahiro averted his gaze from me and responded in a weak voice. "It's because I wanted to see you..."

*Thump*

What?

What is this feeling in my heart?

*Thump*

Why is my heartbeat getting faster and faster?

I'm burning up on the inside... I'm sure my face is completely red...

*Thump*

That kindness this person showed me, his strong diligence, his handsome face, why is it making me feel so conscious?

I'm confused. I wish my older brother was here to give me some advice, but he's not here right now.

Although I want to act ignorant and ignore these feelings, it just won't go away.

Is this feeling what they call... love?

—

Like brother, like sister.

Sugar-chan: Airi is so cute!

Serious-san: Spin-off?

Author-san: Arghhh! jwoandoenbuifeuogfek

A/N: Battle Royale / Death Game won the last poll