CH 12

The next day.

I woke up early, and arrived at school earlier than usual.

There were only two people in the classroom, including me.

It was me and one other person, Saegusa-san, who for some reason has been known to arrive at school much earlier than usual since she took her current seat.

I arrived half an hour earlier than usual today, but I wondered how long she had been in the classroom.

“Good morning, Saegusa-san.”

I greeted Saegusa-san as I walked to my seat.

“G, G, Goo, good morning, Ichijo-kun.”

Saegusa-san turned her face toward me and gave me a stiff greeting, but she is acting suspiciously this morning.

“Oh, that’s right. Thank you for Lime ID yesterday. Do you think it’s better not to tell anyone about this?”

“Uh, yeah! I’ve been saying no to all the student in my class when they ask me about it, so it would be really helpful if you could do that. ……”

I was quite surprised by the answer, but I just replied, “Okay.”

But then, why did she tell me about it?

Wouldn’t that be a bit of a misunderstanding? But I knew better than anyone that Saegusa-san, a top idol, had no reason to see me as a romantic interest, so I decided not to worry about the details.

I’m not sure what the reason is, but if this kind of Saegusa-san and I can have a Lime chat, then I should consider it a blessing in disguise.

“I’m sorry I didn’t answer you last night. I took a bath and fell asleep!”

“I see. It’s okay, I don’t mi—“

“I do mind!”

I tried to tell her that I didn’t mind and that it was okay, but she snapped at me and said, “I do mind.” She must have said that without thinking, because she looked down, her face red with embarrassment.

“Oh, yeah, I’m sorry. I really wanted to lime you a little more, I guess.” (Ichijo)

As the atmosphere became very uncomfortable, I quickly followed up.

In fact, she was my favorite idol, Shiorin, so it was true that I wanted to lime her a little more. It’s very true.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah! I’ll send you another Lime today!”

As Saegusa-san said this with a shy smile, the conversation ended as the other classmates came into the classroom.

–but honestly, it helped.

The destructive power of Saegusa’s embarrassed smile was so strong that even I was not sure I could withstand any more attacks.

Lunch break.

Today is another day, and I’m eating my lunch with Takayuki who is sitting in front of me.

Saegusa-san was eating her lunch alone again today, smiling.

I always wondered if she liked bento so much, but she looked so happy eating her meal that just looking at her made me feel happy.

Everyone else in the class seemed to feel the same way, with friendly glances directed at Ms. Saegusa from all around the classroom.

As expected of Saegusa, she had a charm that could soften the atmosphere of the place just by eating her lunch.

“Takuya, I’m not doing club activities today, so lets hang out after school.”

“Hmm? Yeah, I’m not working today either, so it’s okay.”

“Thanks! There’s a restaurant I want to go to in front of the station.”

“You want to go?”

“There’s finally a maid cafe in front of the station in this town! Aren’t you interested?”

“Huh, a maid cafe. ………… I will go!”

Kashan!

As I cheerfully replied to Takayuki’s wonderful suggestion, I heard a sound like something was falling next to me.

Takayuki and I turned our heads in response to the sound and saw that it was Saegusa-san dropping the chopsticks she was holding.

Saegusa-san hurriedly picked up the chopsticks she had dropped.

“Hey, are you okay?”

“Oh, yeah, I’m fine, I’m done eating.”

When I called out to her, she replied, looking a little embarrassed.

It’s okay if you’ve already finished eating.

“Yes, Ichijo-kun, do you like maid cafes?”

I was caught off guard, Saegusa-san threw an unexpected question at me.

You were listening to me, Saegusa-san …….

Do I like maid cafes? It was a little embarrassing to be asked by a girl.

I’d like to run away right now,……, especially since it’s Saegusa-san.

“Well, well, honestly, am I interested in …… ……?”

“Yeah, do you like maids?”

“Well, yeah. I like it…….”

This conversation is so embarrassing! Please hurry up and finish!

I replied, hoping so, and Saegusa-san muttered a single word, “I see,” and ended this conversation.

However, although Saegusa-san’s face seemed to be smiling, I could sense that there was some kind of fighting spirit lurking in her face, an emotion that was the complete opposite of her expression.

“Well, well, let go after school alright.”

“Oh, yeah, I got it.”

Takayuki and I promised to go to the maid cafe after school, even though we were a little frightened by Saegusa’s strange behavior.

After school.

Takayuki and I came to the front of the maid cafe we were looking for.

It was on the fifth floor of a commercial building in front of the station, with a huge pink sign that could be easily seen from outside.

“Let’s go!”

Oh, yeah!

We made up our minds and nervously opened the door to the store.

“Welcome home! Master!

Upon entering the store, I was greeted by a group of girls dressed in cute maid outfits.

It’s a common expression on TV or in manga, “Welcome home! Master! We were a little touched to hear it in person.

As we were thinking that they really said that, we were led directly to our seats.

The restaurant had only been open for a short time, but it was packed with customers.

We ordered an omu-rice omelet and asked the maid to write some words on it with ketchup, and we also asked to take a picture with the maid.

“Well, that’s about it.”

“Yeah, I guess so.”

We had fun while we were inside, but once we stepped outside, we instantly became calm and went home with some emptiness, spilling out our impressions.

We felt that this was just another social experience, and that we had grown up one more time.

When I looked at the clock, it was already a little after 10pm.

I was lying alone in my room, playing with my phone, when I received a new message from Lime.

The sender was Saegusa-san, with whom I exchanged Lime yesterday.

I opened the message thinking that she had said she would chat with me again today.

“How was the maid cafe?”

Hmm? Saegusa-san?

Do you want to talk about it in Lime? I wasn’t sure how to reply, but I just said, “It was fun.”

“It was fun.”

My reply was immediately read.

No, I’m not saying I like it, but what is this?

Isn’t it kind of like a boyfriend being blamed by his girlfriend? I was sweating like crazy.

I didn’t know what to say, so I put my phone down and changed my mind.

Then, without waiting for my reply, I received another message from Saegusa-san.

Hmm? A picture?

It wasn’t a message, but an image file, which I opened with trepidation.

I opened the image file that had been sent to me out of the blue with trepidation, and when I saw the image on the screen, I was taken aback.

“What are you doing, Saegusa-san? ……”

The screen of the phone in my hand shows a selfie of Saegusa-san in a maid costume.

The maid outfit she was wearing was, upon closer inspection, the one she wore in the music video for Angel Girls’ third single, “Anata dake no maidservant.

The mini-skirted and frilly maid outfit, similar to the costume she wore at the maid cafe we visited today, suited her very well.

It was a selfie taken by the super idol Shiorin, looking a little embarrassed and blushing, how could it not be cute?

—I mean, it’s not as cute as it sounds.

–Piccon

While I was admiring Saegusa-san’s maid outfit, I received a new message from her.

“I tried it on too, what do you think?”

No, I don’t know how to reply to that. …… That’s it. ……

“It’s great. I’ll keep it as a family heirloom.”

I replied, and saved the image three times.