Shinonome Nanami:

"Your pouting face is so cute, Onee-chan!"

Konami, who was grinning ever since I came back, continued to tease me.

"Don't you have any other work, Konami?", I angrily asked her.

"Come on, Onee-chan.", Konami sat down beside me. "Tell me about that guy."

"Eh? Why?"

"Because I want to know what's so special about that guy. He was the first ever male I have seen you talking so happily with apart from father. And also..."

"And also?"

Konami looked at me with serious eyes and continued, "I want to be sure that the guy is actually reliable and not deceiving Onee-chan." 

"Konami... sometimes you really need to stop reading too much manga." 

"Ouch!"

I lightly flicked on her forehead with my fingers. She, as usual, overreacted as if I had committed a war crime.

"Mitoma-kun is an honest and reliable guy. You don't have to think too much about him.", I proudly claimed.

"I just want to know what did that Mitoma-kun do to capture Onee-chan's heart. Doesn't Onee-chan fear every man in the world?"

Jeez, she's still going on about that.

Wait... what did she say? Capture... my heart...

My face instantly became red in embarrassment.

"N-No! T-That's not what it is! You're totally wrong! We're not like that! We're just friends!"

"Eh? You're not a couple?"

It took some good time to explain her the whole situation. I did not tell her the molester part though. Otherwise she would be very worried for me every single day.

"Wait! So Onee-chan, you really asked him to do all of this? Isn't this a little too selfish request from you? And he agreed to all of this?"

"It's selfish request, yes. But he did agree to it. He's very kind after all."

"But Onee-chan, how come you do not get scared of him?"

"I don't know... I just feel safe around him... He is just different from other guys.", I thought a little and answered. 

"Onee-chan... I must warn you one thing. All men are wolves."

"K-Konami! I'm already scared of men. Why are you trying to scare me even more?" 

Konami acted like she was a 60 years old grandma and continued to advise me.

"I mean Onee-chan, for sure there's a chance that the guy unconditionally wants to help you. But I'm afraid that probability is less than 1%."

"What are you trying to say, Konami?"

"Look, he may be a kind guy. But I'm afraid, he also expects something back from you... Who knows, he may try to blackmail you or attack you someday."

"HE WILL NEVER DO THAT!"

After that I kicked out Konami from my room and lied down on my bed. I opened my phone and took a look at the profile of a certain contact. Needless to say it was of Mitoma-kun. The profile picture was of a soccer player. I don't know the name because of my lack of knowledge about soccer. 

I unintentionally smiled at that picture.

                                    ♡

Kaoru Mitoma:

The next day, I woke up 30 minutes earlier. It was not as if I planned to do this but I just couldn't sleep at all. I got freshed and ate some cup noodles. I reached the station way earlier than usual. 

However I had to take the exact train in which Shinonome would be. That's why I had to wait another half an hour at the station. 

After getting on the train, it took me a few seconds to find her. Shinonome was standing on a corner as expected. He face was anxious until now. But when she noticed me, a bright smile appeared on her face.

I went to stand at the exact same position as last day and guarded her. 

"Thank you once again, Mitoma-kun."

"No problem. You didn't have any problems right until now? Should I pick you up from next day onwards?"

"Ah don't worry. It's only 10 minutes I was alone after all."

"Really? It's okay then."

We were quiet for some time. I noticed that Shinonome was trying to say something to me.

"Do you want to tell me something?", I asked her.

"Eh? Ah.. yeah.", she stuttered at first but then answered. She looked other way and said,

"How should I say it... I actually forgot to ask you this yesterday... Does Mitoma-kun have a girlfriend?"

That question caught me off-guard. Her face was red while she was asking that. Don't tell me... this is finally going towards the anime route?

"Eh.... I... don't have any..."

"Really? That's good.", she took a sigh of relief.

"But... why are you asking this?"

"Ah... I mean, if you had a girlfriend, then she probably wouldn't like you to be together with another girl."

"I see..."

I probably expected a little too much. I need to hold my horses.

"By the way, can I help Mitoma-kun any way to repay him?", she eagerly asked.

Her innocent motivation to help me back was very cute.

"Ah you don't have to worry about that. I'm helping you because it's my own selfish wish. Shinonome-san doesn't have to take any l responsibility at all."

"Mitoma-kun is so kind after all.", she gently smiled to me.

                                  ♡

"Kaoru!"

"Hey! Don't hit me."

Tanaka grabbed my shoulders as soon as I entered the classroom.

"You didn't come to the karaoke last day. Without you, it was so boring."

"Really? Maybe only you were bored."

"No. Kamada too got bored. In fact, we have a mission today for Kamada."

"Mission?"

I wondered what now this guy was thinking about....

"Today after school, you, I, and Kamada have to go somewhere."

"After school? Sorry I can't."

I have to take Shinonome-san home after school. No way I could go to some stupid mission with them.

"Hey? Come on. Today the last period is cancelled. So we have 40 more minutes in hand."

"40 more minutes huh... okay if the mission is completed within 40 minutes, then it's okay."

I mean if I had to wait 40 minutes anyway, then I could go with them.

"That's my boy. Hey, Kamada! Even Kaoru has agreed!"

Kamada looked at us with a surprising worried expression. He had excellent grades in our class. He was also great in sports. However, he didn't have a girlfriend, probably because of his scary look.

"What happened to Kamada?", I asked.

"Last day when we went to karaoke, some girl suddenly gave him a letter and disappeared. That turned out to be a love letter."

"That's crazy haha! Who is that brave girl?"

"Well, she's not from our school. She's from the nearby school, Toshiyame Institution. And now he has to respond to her. That's why we have to go there!"

"I see. Let's have fun then... wait!"

Isn't that... the same school as Shinonome-san?