Kyoto: I just want to be a gentleman

And Kuroki could have asked other friends to take her home... why did he choose me?

The Kuroki House is a large Japanese-style building near my home.

Haishan’s idea is actually not wrong. If he goes home with me, he can borrow an umbrella... But even so, ordinary people would not want to go home with the lowest otaku in the class...

"Can I hold this umbrella?"

Before walking out of the porch, Kuroki prepared to open my umbrella.

"You've been using this umbrella since middle school, right?"

"Oh, yes, yes."

“Haha…it’s true.”

Why does she know!!!

“This umbrella is quite big.”

"Umbrella, let me get the umbrella."

"Well, you are very considerate."

Kuroki still acted calm, but he seemed more approachable than when he was with other people.

(Kuroki doesn't seem to have so many changes in expression in front of other boys...)

I seemed to understand some of what Haishan said.

"Then I'll leave the umbrella to you?"

I took the umbrella that Kuroki opened and let her enter it.

"Excuse me."

"..."

I was so nervous that I couldn't speak.

She was the school idol and I was an ordinary person eating oranges in front of the TV... We shouldn't have shared an umbrella.

(We never spoke before we changed seats)

Kuroki's strides were unexpectedly long, making him look like a track and field athlete.

"Izumiya-kun."

After I took a few steps, Kuroki, who was walking on the left, looked up at me and asked.

"You have a girlfriend recently, right?"

"……what?"

I was stunned.

The question was so abrupt that I couldn't help but stop.

"Could it be that the girlfriend is...Yuria or Airi?"

"N-No! How can a nerd like me, who is at the bottom of the class, date a beautiful girl like Kaiyama or Ichinose?"

"He was obviously shaken. He usually doesn't talk much but he was eager to deny it. His hand holding the umbrella was shaking... Conclusion: He was obviously lying."

The insight is extremely sharp.

Are you a detective... this guy.

"Why did you lie to me? We were classmates in the same middle school, right?"

Classmates are just classmates, nothing more!

Kuroki put his face close to mine and I couldn't move away due to the rain so I just had to hold back my blush.

"No lie! I'm not seeing anyone!"

"Then why are you so close to Ellie?"

"seamount?"

"You and Ellie had lunch in the cafeteria yesterday, right? My friend from the track team told me. Why are you so close?"

Is it already common knowledge that Haishan and I had lunch?

"Answer quickly."

Could it be that Kuroki has always been concerned about this...?

Her relatives and friends were close to the geek in the class, so it was natural for her to be worried.

In other words, those words in the morning were meant to pull me away from Haishan.

"That was... just to thank her. I met her by chance in a store the day before yesterday, and she helped me buy what I wanted."

This is not lying.

We met by chance in the store (the store where she worked), and she saved for me what I wanted (the first volume of "Strange Absorption").

"Really? There's really nothing going on between you and Ellie?"

"Of course not. How could a beautiful girl like Kaisan like a nerd like me?"

“…Haha, I see. That’s good.”

Kuroki breathed a sigh of relief.

She was probably worried that her good friend would associate with a shithead like me.

Her relaxed expression is so beautiful that she could be entered into a competition.

(Overwhelmingly beautiful girl... I can't believe she's right next to me, she feels like she's from another world)

Although Kuroki doesn't have plump breasts and thighs, her face is more beautiful than any girl I have ever seen, and the more I look at her, the more attractive she becomes.

“It’s a little embarrassing to say this, but I’ve always been a perfectionist.”

After calming down, Kuroki suddenly spoke.

“Whether it’s studying or sports, or meeting the expectations of my family, teachers, and people around me, I have to be perfect.”

Ah, so that means “it wouldn’t be perfect if her good friend Haishan dated someone like me” right?

Don't worry, Kuroki. I don't have that kind of relationship with Ichinose or Kaizan.

"So I was relieved to learn that Izumitani-kun wasn't Airi's boyfriend..."

……what?

The rain is getting heavier.

In front of the deserted school gate, we stood under the same umbrella and looked at each other.

"Hey, what does that mean—"

I was about to ask when she started laughing.

"When I was in middle school, Izumitani-kun was the only one who didn't confess to me."

just me?

Difficult, could it be…"

Watanabe Hideyuki turned another page.

"Perfect Superman Kuroki Rui is a perfectionist who pursues perfection.

But her perfectionism extends beyond academics and sports.

"Among my classmates in middle school, Izumitani-kun was the only one who didn't confess to me."

(All my classmates except me actually like Kuroki...?)

I don't understand why Kuroki said that.

But her words seemed to say that because I was the only one who hadn't confessed to her, her "perfection" was incomplete.

Is what Kuroki said true?

In middle school, all the boys except me confessed to Kuroki. It's hard to imagine such a thing.

But——because Kuroki is Kuroki Rui, this perfect superhuman, this rare existence, it is hard not to believe her words.

"Ah, are you doubting?"

"No, that's not it..."

"I'm telling you, this is true. All the boys in middle school confessed to me, except Izumitani-kun."

Hei Mu gave a sly smile, as warm as a ray of sunshine on this rainy day.

No matter how beautiful a girl is, you can't trust everything she says.

"What about other students who date girls?"

"They only chose other girls after being rejected by me, right? Haha, everyone actually wants to eat filet mignon, but they have to settle for pork belly or beef shoulder... Love is so cruel."

(Your metaphor is cruel...!!)

I suppressed the urge to complain.

"But—Izumitani-kun is different, right?"

“I, I…?”

"You don't even look at other girls. You can be called a herbivore... This is different from other boys."

Me, a herbivore…?

I consider myself a carnivore (I like big breasts and big thighs), and no one can compare to me in this respect...

"You actually like me too, right? You just didn't confess because you were shy, right?"

"…I'm sorry, I don't feel that way about you."

"You really like me, don't you? Don't you?"

Kuroki approached me with a sweet smile.

(This guy...half forced me to confess my feelings for his own perfectionism)