My study session with Miyama ended up dragging on until seven in the evening.
Surprisingly, we didn't waste any time. We both stayed focused and took the session seriously until the very end.
"Haa... My head's gonna explode..."
Looking completely exhausted, Miyama stretched her legs out under the low table and collapsed backward, arching her body as she lay flat on the floor.
(Th-those massive breasts... Even lying down, they tower like mountains. What a sight. I want to take a picture.)
I stole a few glances at Miyama's Everests while packing up my study materials.
"Ryouta, you're a really good teacher! You give such easy examples for the hard stuff that even a dummy like Airi could understand!"
"Is that so?"
"Yeah! I think you'd make a great teacher!"
"M-me? A teacher?"
She said it so matter-of-factly that I couldn't help but sound dumbfounded.
(The idea of a gloomy loner like me standing at a podium... it's just impossible.)
I’d definitely be awkward, and even as an adult, my gaze would probably be so creepy that the female students would just shun me. I could see that ending from a mile away.
"There's no way I'd ever be a teacher."
"Ehh, really? I thought you were suited for it."
"No way, not a chance."
"Then, Ryouta, what do you want to be in the future?"
I had never seriously thought about the future.
Back in junior high school, I wrote "Home Security Guard" in the graduation yearbook as a joke, but I was such a loner that no one even bothered to call me out on it. It was a special kind of hell.
"My dream for the future... huh. For now, I'll go to a decent university, and then get a job at a decent company..."
"Get a job?"
"...Well, that's pretty much it."
"Wait, it's over already!? What do you mean!?"
"Exactly what I said. I'll get a job, work there until retirement, and then just spend my old age however I want."
Since I'm a loner, I have no desire to change my environment by switching jobs or anything like that.
"Ehh! That sounds so boring! Aim for something more interesting!"
"'Interesting' is way too vague."
"Look, for example, Ryouta, you love anime and stuff, so how about becoming someone who makes it! Or someone who draws those cute pictures on the wall scrolls! There are tons of options!"
Miyama said this while pointing at a certain wall scroll of a white-haired loli in a micro-bikini.
E-even if she says that, I don't have the talent for drawing like an animator or an illustrator.
Even though I'm an otaku, turning it into a career is a bit much. I can only imagine a life where I get a normal job and become a corporate drone... Miyama makes it sound so easy.
Well, people like me whose only redeeming quality is studying are usually like this.
Join a company, become another cog in the machine, settle for a decent salary, and carry out the same assigned tasks every day until death.
But that's the norm for most people, so of course I'll end up living that kind of life too.
"Oh, I know!"
"Good grief, what now?"
"You know those light novels you bought at Airi's workplace before? How about becoming an author for those!?"
"A-a light novel author?"
"You're always reading them in class, Ryouta, and you're smart, so I'm sure you could do it!"
"N-no... light novels are just a hobby."
"Ehh?"
Becoming a light novel author isn't that simple.
Even if, hypothetically, I spent years becoming one, it's a world where effort doesn't always lead to results. It's a brutal industry where countless people vanish after publishing just one book.
A world like that is way beyond an ordinary person like me...
"But you know, Airi would love to read a novel written by a kind boy like Ryouta, even just once."
"...M-Miyama."
"Ryouta, what kind of story would you want to create?"
A story I want to create... huh.
At Miyama's words, I felt a small flame ignite in my heart.
"Will you listen without laughing?"
"Of course!"
"T-the story I want to write is... well,"
"Yeah, yeah."
"It's an urban fantasy about having superpowers that let you do whatever you want with all the breasts in the world."
"............"
When I answered honestly, the atmosphere in the room completely froze.
"Miyama? Hellooo?"
"...For now, I'm reporting this to Yuria."
"H-hey! Please don't tell Ichinose!"
"Then to Rui-chan."
"That's even worse, so stop!"
Miyama opened her phone and started typing, so I stopped her with all my might.
"Geez! Ryouta, you pervert!"
"What! I only said it because you promised you wouldn't laugh. That's cold, Miyama."
"Ryouta's a pervert!"
"W-well, most creative works are fueled by eros anyway, so it should be fine!"
"Ryouta's a pervert~"
"Stop acting like a 'Ryouta is a pervert' bot!"
The heat from both of us began to fill the room.
Even with the AC on, I was sweating buckets.
"Ryouta, are you maybe... looking at Airi's breasts with those kinds of eyes too?"
"...I-I'm not."
It was a terrible lie, about as obvious as a Werewolf getting caught on the first night of the game.
"If it were any other guy, I'd absolutely hate it... but for Airi... if it's Ryouta..."
"Eh?"
Miyama looked up at me with pleading eyes, shielding her slightly sweaty chest with her arms over her summer uniform.
"Ryouta is Airi's only male friend, and I want to get even closer to Ryouta from now on... So, you know, Airi wouldn't mind if it's Ryouta looking. Because Ryouta is... special."
Her face was bright red as she squeezed the words out bit by bit.
Eh? Whoa, wait, does this mean I've been officially authorized to stare at her breasts?
Am I allowed to get a good look at Miyama's massive breasts every day from now on!?
"R-really, Miyama!?"
"But in exchange! There's a condition!"
"A-a condition!? M-money!?"
"It's not money! It's just, um, about Airi..."
"Hmm?"
"From now on, don't call me Miyama... call me Airi?"
"......Eh."
What she demanded in exchange for the right to stare at her breasts was for me to call her by her first name.