After Rui Kuroki woke me up with her morning call, I changed into my uniform, finished my preparations, and headed out to school with her.
As we left, my mother had remarked from the doorway, "With her, Ryouta's future is as good as gold..." She was definitely getting the wrong idea about our relationship.
"Hehe. That was the first time I’ve met your mother, Ryouta-kun, but she’s quite young, isn’t she?"
"Yeah. My parents were high school sweethearts who got married right after graduation. That’s why they’ve always looked younger compared to my classmates' parents."
"I see... That’s actually quite lovely. I’ve always found that kind of thing aspirational."
As she spoke, Rui stared intently at me, her eyes never wavering from mine. Why was she looking at me like that? Did she actually... like me?
But with Rui, it was hard to tell. She often acted suggestive, and there was a good chance I was just misinterpreting her.
(To begin with, what do I actually think of Rui Kuroki?)
Lately, she had been sending me all sorts of selfies in various situations—as frequent as BeReal notifications—so I had started to feel like she was a constant, familiar presence. But originally, that wasn't the case. Before the seat change, I had always viewed Rui Kuroki as a distant, unreachable figure.
She was refined, graceful in everything she did, with a sophisticated face and an incredibly cute smile. On top of that, she was a Perfect Superhuman who excelled in academics, athletics, and popularity, consistently maintaining top-tier grades. In my mind, that image of the perfect beauty remained unchanged.
If anything had shifted since the seat change, it was the realization that she could be a bit manipulative because of her perfectionism—and then there was the incredibly sexy navel she kept showing off in her selfies, the kind of line you couldn't help but want to trace with your finger.
In her case, even knowing her secrets and her hidden side didn't change the fact that she was a Perfect Superhuman beauty. I was well aware that I wasn't in her league, and walking to school together like this was something that normally should never have happened.
The idea that she could love a guy like me, who had no real redeeming qualities—even if I had saved her twice—just didn't feel real.
"Ryouta-kun? You have a pained look on your face. What's wrong?"
"Oh, sorry. I went quiet all of a sudden. I was just... thinking about you, Kuroki."
"Eh..."
Well, even if I overthought it, she was probably just teasing me, so there was no need to—wait.
"Hmm?"
Rui, who had been walking right beside me, suddenly stopped in her tracks and stood there blankly behind me.
"What's wrong, Kuroki?"
"...It’s nothing. More importantly, it’s really hot today, isn't it? My face is starting to feel all flushed."
With her face unusually red, Rui pulled out a handkerchief and wiped the sweat from her forehead.
"Hey, are you okay? You’re in the Track and Field Club; is the heat really making you that red? Are you bad with the sun?"
"I’m fine! I’m fine... so, for now... could you walk on ahead of me?"
"Eh? Oh, sure."
I started walking ahead as she asked, while Rui trailed a little distance behind. Our conversation cut off abruptly, and we continued toward school in silence. I wondered what had gotten into her, telling me to walk in front. What was that all about?
(Maybe... do I smell?)
They say you can't detect your own body odor. Was Rui being tactful by creating distance because I stank? It was summer, so I needed to be careful about that, but this felt so sudden. We had been fine just a moment ago.
(I'll have to have Yuria help me pick out a cologne or something next time.)
"Ah! Ryouta, morning!"
On the way to school, we happened to run into Airi and Yuria.
"Oh, morning, you two."
"Morning, Ryouta. You're with Rui today?" Yuria asked, looking toward Rui behind me.
"Yeah, I just happened to run into Ryouta-kun, so we walked together."
She was spouting another bold-faced lie. I wondered which "random encounter" involved her coming all the way to my front door to get me.
"Is that so? By the way, Rui, isn't your face kind of red today?"
"Huh?"
"You're right! Rui-chan, are you okay?"
"I-I'm fine, I'm fine!" Rui stammered as the other two expressed their concern. It was a rare sight to see her so flustered.
"M-More importantly, Airi, Yuria? The term-end tests are coming up the week after next. Are you two going to be okay? Did you study yesterday?"
"Ugh. Don't start sounding like my mother, Rui. Like hell I studied."
"Hehehe. Airi studied, you know? Right, Ryouta?"
"Huh? Ryouta? Why are you asking Ryouta?"
"U-Uh..."
Suddenly having the conversation tossed to me by Airi while Yuria demanded an explanation, I was at a loss for how to react.
(Wait, was yesterday's study session supposed to be a secret?)
Since both Rui and Yuria had been busy after school yesterday, it seemed Airi hadn't told them about our session. I assumed we were going to keep quiet about it... Why did you have to bring it up, Airi!
I had no choice but to give a brief explanation.
"Actually, yesterday, Miyama and I—"
"Ryouta! Your promise!"
Crap, that’s right...
But calling her that in front of Yuria and Rui felt so incredibly unnatural. Still, I remembered how happy Airi had looked when I used her name yesterday during our study session. Besides, this was the trade-off for getting to look at her massive breasts. I had to do it.
With a grimace, I forced the words out.
"A-Actually, yesterday... Airi and I had a study session together."
"Ehehe, that’s more like it."
"......Huh?"
Rui and Yuria’s voices overlapped in stunned disbelief.
In an instant, the redness drained from Rui’s face as her complexion returned to its usual pale tone.
"Oh...? Ryouta-kun, why are you calling Airi by her first name?"
There it was. Exactly as I feared. Even though she was smiling, I felt an obsessively heavy pressure radiating from Rui, so intense it felt like I was being crushed.