Chapter 58: Friend’s Room

Reading Settings

Translator: Soafp

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[Momo PoV]

“……Ah!”

I woke up.

There's a calming scent…… Oh right, this is Icchi's house!

Looking to the side, there's a machine emitting steam with a pleasant smell.

Icchiis sometimes more feminine than girls. It's a sense of defeat……

“Hey, Ayanon, wake up!”

“……! I, I fell asleep again……”

I really struggle with studying.

I worked hard to get into this place in middle school, but it became even tougher in high school.

Ayanon is smart, but she tends to slack off quite a bit.

I shouldn't be the one to say that, though.

Whenever we study together, we end up taking a nap.

Today, thanks to Icchi, we made great progress, but in the end, we fell asleep. The room smells nice too.

“……Huh? Icchi isn't here either.”

“Um…… Ah”

Ayanon points forward.

There――

“……”

“Zzz…… Zzz”

It's almost like siblings.

Kanon-chan and Icchi are sleeping side by side.

“They're sleeping……”

“……Oh”

America's first reveal: Icchi's sleeping face!

Ayanon has been watching for a while now……

……It's my first time seeing a male friend's sleeping face. It feels like I'm doing something wrong.

“What should we do~?”

“It would be rude to wake them up forcibly, but we have to wake them up.”

“I see~. But I'd like to let them sleep a little longer.”

“Yes. We did make him work quite hard.”

“……”

“What's wrong?”

[――“I only have academic ability as my strong point”――]

He said that before we were coming here.

Back when he had black hair, he was always studying in the corner of the classroom.

At the end of the first year, he had an impressive fifth place. Quite remarkable.

[――“Are you okay, Icchi?”――]

[――“Teaching others…… well, I'm good at it. I actually want people to come”――]

[――“As expected~”――]

He said that in the classroom on Friday too.

But I was a bit concerned about how he's good at teaching even though he was always studying alone.

“Icchi was really good at teaching~”

“Huh? Yes, it seemed like he knew everything.”

“Ahaha. I'm really envious of his intelligence~”

“……Eh, Momo?”

I sneak up closer to Icchi.

Trying not to wake him up――

“I actually wanted to see him up close all along~”

“Wait……”

Observing the defenseless sleeping Icchi's head.

His sleeping face.

It's Icchi's fault for sleeping.

“I'm so envious of this intellect~!”

Unable to resist, I touched his hair.

I've been curious about it for a long time.

After all, Kanon-chan touches it so much.

“……”

The more I stroke it, the more colors I see.

Blue, red, light purple―― Really, why did he dye it such flashy colors?

My heart is pounding, pounding.

It might be my first time touching a boy's head――

“……That's enough.”

“Wah!? S-sorry!”

“Kanon is watching.”

“Huh?”

Ayanon stops my hand from touching.

I notice that I'm making eye contact with Kanon-chan who's in the background.

“……Momo, that's a weird face!”

“Ah, I-I didn't mean to~”

“……!!”

“Eh, Kanon!”

Kanon's face changed from a suspicious one to one with a sudden idea.

And then she dashed off.

No one can stop Kanon-chan once she's determined――

“Stop, that's not allowed!”

“Treasure hunt!!”

Kanon-chan, running around, is racing through Icchi's house.

“……Kanon-chan, that's not allowed~ Not allowed~”

It's a secret that I was expecting “that” just a little bit.

After all―― Ayanon is the only one who had seen that room of his.

---

“……What is this……”

It's a room about six tatami mats in size.

There was a futon, so it must be the bedroom.

There's a study desk, bookshelf, and a line of natural waters.

There are over ten types of natural water lined up by the window.

And a computer.

“……”

It's very neatly arranged, but I can't help but be curious.

 “What's this… ‘Introduction to Polo'…?”

“Escape!!”

“Ah!”

Kanon-chan slipped out of Ayanon's grasp and escaped.

I followed her out of the room reluctantly, since it would be suspicious if I stayed any longer.

And then―― unbelievably…

“A secret room!!”

She crawled under the black “storage space” that he had obviously been hiding.

Like a ninja――

“So many books!!”

…What!?

Aren't those books he shouldn't be showing to a child…?

“Kanon! Come out of there!”

“I'll go!”

It was like a tent.

I pulled down the closed zipper and opened the entrance.

“……!”

“Onii-chan's house is full of books!”

Kanon-chan popped out, and inside, a small space revealed itself.

There was just a simple desk and chair. That's all it looked like, furniture-wise.

However―― it was filled with books and papers, much more than the bedroom.

The Human Anatomy

The Basics of Illustration

What You Need for Your Pen to Create Worlds

So many different kinds.

The Structure of Stories

About Emotions

Thesaurus

And even more.

About Sound

Introduction to Composition

Until You Meet Your Instrument

The stacks kept growing――and then:

Modern Literature Solutions

The World's Easiest Math

The World's Easiest Physics

High School Textbook Guides

Grammar So Simple Even a Panda Can Understand

What It Means to Teach

All Applications Stem from the Basics

“This…”

It seemed like the book had just been read.

The book spread open on the desk, despite looking brand new, was filled with an overwhelming number of sticky notes.

It wasn't a textbook but a reference book―― for the purpose of “teaching.”

I couldn't help but flip through it. The sticky notes――

“When teaching, always put yourself in the student's shoes.”

“Whether it's English, classical literature, or physics, prioritize understanding the fundamentals.”

“When they say they don't understand, start by confirming what they do understand.”

The number of notes was uncountable.

Amidst the piled-up loose leaf papers, every inch was filled with writing.

Modern literature, English, math――everything he had taught us today.

“Momo? What are you doing!”

“Ah, no――nothing!”

With a trembling voice, I hurriedly exited the room.

I zipped it back up… making sure it looked like nothing had changed.

Still, I couldn't shake the feeling of unease.

[――“Hatsune-san, I think you should focus on learning the grammar first.”――]

Now that I think about it, he had hesitated while teaching.

Maybe that's normal――but it's clear now that he had been remembering what was in those books as he taught us.

For some reason――I was sure of it.

Because it's him.

From everything we've talked about, it was obvious he was determined.

But I never imagined he would go this far for us.

Normally, no one would. But Icchi――he's not exactly “normal.”

I had a growing sense of certainty that he was going way too far for his friends.

[――“Let's ask Icchi, who ranked fifth in the grade, to teach us!”――]

When I said that…

He looked happier than I had ever seen him before.

“……Ah.”

…Hey, Icchi.

Were you studying all this time “just to teach us” for today?

Did you spend most of your break for our sake?

“Why go that far…?”

That's…

Because of me―― Icchi's grades might actually drop.

I got carried away.

It was so fun that I forgot about everything else.

Now that I'm calm, regret is starting to well up inside me.

… I was getting in his way so much.

“M-Momo?”

“…!”

I ran to my desk, as if escaping.

The formulas he wrote shined brightly on my notebook.