On a certain holiday, Takumi was summoned to Kotori's room.
"............"
"............"
Takumi and Kotori faced each other in silence across a sturdy, practical low table.
Despite Kotori's glamorous new look thanks to her high school debut, her indoor clothes were the same old tacky tracksuit she always wore. Her hair was tied back, and she wore glasses.
Having recently become conscious of how cute Kotori had become, Takumi secretly felt a sense of relief that she was dressed in a way that didn't emphasize her femininity.
Now, what was the reason for the summons today?
This time there was no "stretching cat" stamp; the message just said, "Please come over." It didn't seem to be for their usual routine.
Although he had known Kotori since childhood, they didn't usually hang out together. He couldn't think of a reason why she'd call him.
The only time she had called him over outside of the routine was when she wanted him to help her draft the script for a phone call to a hair salon to book an appointment for her high school debut haircut.
The hair salon was an unknown world to Takumi as well.
His only image of it was a place where he would be subjected to the ordeal of constant conversation with the staff. He remembered agonizing over the script.
By the way, the plan they settled on was to simply state the purpose unilaterally—giving her name and the desired date and time (a little in the future to ensure a reservation)—to prevent any conversation from occurring.
Of course, when she tried to make the call, she got cold feet and ended up doing the routine anyway.
Kotori, meanwhile, was extremely nervous and frozen stiff.
Feeling they wouldn't get anywhere at this rate, Takumi sighed and started the conversation.
"So, what is it today?"
"M-My turn as day duty is coming up soon..."
"Day duty... Ah, I see."
Takumi understood the reason for Kotori's tension.
The day duty tasks—erasing the blackboard, calling the class to attention, changing the water in the flower vase, writing the daily log, and sometimes opening/closing classrooms or moving equipment—weren't particularly difficult.
However, the fact that the work was done in pairs of one boy and one girl was the major hurdle for both Takumi and Kotori. Being paired with a girl in middle school who ended up crying was a slight trauma for him.
Day duty was a depressing event that forced one to confront their social standing through their partner.
While Takumi wore a grim expression, Kotori's eyes widened. She leaned forward and declared loudly, her voice trembling.
"I'm going to complete the next day duty properly, just the two of us with my male partner!"
"Whoa...!"
Takumi let out a cry of admiration.
In the past, Kotori's male partners would call her gloomy, creepy, or a bad match, unilaterally push the work onto her, and she would secretly do the work without anyone knowing.
But thanks to her makeover, the boys' evaluation of her was different now.
Kotori focused her will, tensed her eyes, and clenched her fist as if to steel herself.
"My goal is to show up the guy who gave me the fake confession!"
"To become popular, make friends and a great boyfriend, and have a sparkling high school life, right?"
"Yeah. But I still haven't unlocked the achievement of talking to a boy properly."
"True."
Strictly speaking, even when boys talked to her, she often either just glared, unsure of how to reply, or gave curt answers like "Hmm" or "Oh." As a result, she was accelerating her reputation as the "Ice Princess on a High Peak."
"It'll be difficult to do day duty without talking...""I see. So you want advice on how to talk to your male partner before the day duty."
"Yes..."
Takumi crossed his arms and let out a low groan.
Takumi, who was bad at socializing, had no idea what to do.
Kotori couldn't hide her nervousness, trembling her clenched fists, but she was still trying to achieve this high-difficulty goal.
Takumi, knowing Kotori's past, couldn't ignore her resolve.
"By the way, who is your male partner?"
"Toba."
"...Seriously?"
This time, Takumi looked up at the ceiling.
Toba belonged to the high-caste group and was the class's mood-maker—cheerful and a bit of a joker. He was talkative, often chatted with classmates, and livened up the atmosphere. He was the complete opposite of Kotori, who was bad at talking.
If they proceeded to day duty as they were, Takumi could easily imagine a scene where Toba would try to talk to her a lot, but Kotori would be unable to reply properly, making things awkward.
Kotori must have felt the same way. That's why she came to him for advice.
"............"
"............"
A heavy silence hung in the air. Two socially awkward people put their heads together to think of a plan, but no brilliant idea came to mind.Besides, if they knew such a method, they wouldn't be loners in the first place.
How did the students of the world manage to do such a difficult thing?
Thinking this, he recalled the work of other people—and suddenly realized something.
"Hey, the goal this time is to complete day duty without any fuss with Toba, right?"
"Yes. Because I've always done it alone until now."
"I was thinking, maybe you don't necessarily have to converse?"
"...What do you mean?"
Kotori asked with a puzzled expression.
Takumi put on his grim look, twirling his index finger, and stated his idea.
"Look, the people who usually do day duty, they aren't exactly having friendly chats, are they? They're only talking about dividing up the day duty tasks, like 'Can you erase the board for the next class?', 'Can you take care of the key for the biology room after school?', or 'Can I leave the logbook to you?'"
"Ah! You're right! If I decide what to talk about beforehand, I won't have trouble with conversation!"
Kotori's face brightened, and she clapped her hands, speaking quickly. Takumi nodded firmly.
One of the reasons Kotori usually stumbled over her words was that she never knew how to reply when someone talked to her. Therefore, if she prepared her lines in advance, that problem would be solved.
Fortunately, day duty tasks weren't that many.
Thinking of responses for a few possible scenarios was practically feasible.
Seeing a path to completing the goal, Takumi started to cheer up.
However, Kotori suddenly realized something, lowered her voice, and pointed out with a serious expression.
"I just tried a quick simulation, and if I initiate the conversation, I might be able to minimize the number of times we have to talk?"
"Ah, and if you, as you are now, ask Toba, he'll find it hard to refuse, and the goal of completing day duty will be easier."
"But, how do I..."
"Ugh, that's..."
Takumi trailed off.
If he could just talk to people himself, he wouldn't be a loner.
He knew the psychological hurdle was high, so he couldn't say anything.
They both understood that they were just hesitating.
An inexplicable silence filled the air.
Stuck in a rut, Takumi looked frustrated. Kotori stared at him and then suddenly muttered with a puzzled look on her face.
"Speaking of which, I can talk to you normally, Takumi. Why is that?"
"That's... well, we've known each other for a long time, and we're used to each other, right?"
Kotori casually said something rude to Takumi. But since it was a normal occurrence for them, neither of them noticed.
Kotori, seeing Takumi stuck again, declared with a look that said, "I've got it."
"Then I just need to get used to talking to Toba before day duty!"
"Kotori, that's..."
And then Kotori stood up and declared loudly, clearly excited.
"I'm going to be able to greet Toba by the time day duty comes!"
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