Who's the Main Heroine Now?

Kirisu-sensei mentioned that if I had trouble learning Japanese history, I could come to her anytime. She promised to help me.

I accepted her offer before reluctantly departing from her room. I didn't have a chance to give her any cooking lessons, though I figured it was already unrealistic to begin with. Lack of ingredients, tools, and whether Kirisu-sensei would even wish to would be a big problem.

At the moment, that is. In return, I left with the promise of teaching her to cook at a later time. "I'll consider it" was her cool reply.

Now, in my room, I was about to take a quick look at Hoshino's diary, before doing the same but thorough check on Kirisaki. [That sounds creepy, but, whatever.]

Someone knocked on the door quickly. [I haven't even had a chance to open the Diary...]

I went to the front, and unlocked it to reveal Ai. She was still in her school uniform, though her appearance was covered by a jacket, hat, glasses, and mask. Had she not been home at all until this point?

"Yo," I imagined her grinning as she raised one of her hands.

"Ai, huh?" she stiffened a bit. "What's wrong? You can come in if the conversation will take a while."

"...ah, I'll take up on your offer, then," Ai returned to normal, and despite her energetic voice, entered the room with somewhat timid movements. I guess it's normal for girls to feel awkward going into a guy's room, especially when you've only known him for a few days. I never cared about such things, so I don't really understand.

The apartment had a bathroom right across the entrance. Next to the entrance was a rectangular table and two chairs each on both long sides. It looked like it was for the living room. There was a wide gap without a door between the living room and the bathroom to the kitchen, study room, bed room, and the door to the terrace. 

"Do you want something to drink? I also have a homemade little pie if you want. You can sit on one of the chairs to wait."

"Oh, a homemade pie?" Ai pulled up a chair at the table, sitting on it with an intrigued expression. "Now I'm curious."

I shrugged. "I only have chocolate drinks besides black coffee. Which one do you want?"

"Hmm, I'll go with chocolate."

"Right away, then."

I quickly did that. The thermos was still full, so I used that to greatly reduce the brewing time of the chocolate. I took the strawberry pie the size of my palm, which was fresh, along with the chocolate cup to Ai.

"Sit here, Hirosha-kun," Ai patted the seat beside her. I did as she asked.

"This sure looks delicious," Ai widened her eyes at the small plate of pie on the table. "You really made it yourself?"

I smiled faintly. "Of course."

"Then," Ai tried to take a bite. "—ukh." 

I twitched. "What?"

She ignored me, taking another bite with the spoon. Her expression was profound. After swallowing it, she looked at me. "Can I have it?"

I reflexively chuckled. "Well, I have some left. Sure, you can finish it."

"Yay!" Ai eagerly savored the po. She took it slowly, having a conversation in between. "How did you make it anyway?"

"It wasn't too hard, I—"

I bought only five ingredients for it. Since there was no oven, I did it with a pot only.

"Can you teach me, please?!" Ai leaned her body against me. Her eyes literally sparkled when she said that.

"I have no problem with that, but..." I pushed her gently. "You came here for a reason, didn't you?"

"Huh?" Ai tilted her head. "No, I'm not."

"You're not...?" I repeated.

She nodded, then looked a little embarrassed for some reason. "I came here... just because I wanted to see you."

"Oh."

"W-What?"

"That's very adorable. Just now."

"P-Please don't tease me!"

"I'm not."

Ai said something about it being a normal thing for a friend to come to her friend's house. By the looks of it, her attitude had somewhat changed more after just this single day. It looks like she has great friends to contribute to that. I probably won't be needed again before long...

"So what about the offer?" Ai gave me a look of expectation.

I glanced at the wall clock. "It'll take until the evening to be fully completed, or even tomorrow— also, you don't live in this apartment anymore, do you?"

"Eh? Where did that question come from?" 

She was probably avoiding the question.

In response, I explained my reasoning. "Considering how famous you are, commuting to a place like this would be rather risky. I also think it was careless of you to come here even in those clothes. Wasn't there a guard or the like who escorted you here?"

"..." Ai stared sideways in discomfort. "They protested. But... I want to at least spend time with my close friend, now that we've been forced apart. I asked them to let me do this much. Is it wrong?"

There was a silence hanging between us.

I sighed. "If they've allowed it, I won't have a problem. Unless you're here on the run, of course."

"What do you take me for?!"

"A careless, somewhat airheaded, weirdly good at acting, and attractive girl, probably."

"W-Whaaa...? "Ai didn't know how to react.

I chuckled. "Hurry up and finish it. That, or save it for later."

"Ohh, you know me well, Hirosha-kun. I'll save it on you first, then!"

I smiled dryly. "The fridge is open for you."

***

Ai came here in a car. I don't know what kind of car it was. It was black, and had four seats in total inside. 

We didn't enter it. Following Ai from behind, we approached the driver's window, which opened as we approached. I recognized who it was.

"Miyako-san!" Ai exclaims.

The driver furrowed her brows. "What now? You shouldn't be late, should you?"

Ai laughed awkwardly. "Ehehe, I asked for an extension."

Saitou-san gave me a glance. She still recognized me, from the looks of it, smiling kindly. "You must be Hirosha Yoshikawa-kun. My name is Miyako Saitou. I'm Ai Hoshino's overseer."

I replied with an equally friendly smile. "It's a pleasure to meet you. We've met before, haven't we?"

"You still remember?"

"Of course."

Ai looked at me and Saitou-san in turn. "Uh, when?"

"The day when I first met you," I answered. "That must be a few or so minutes before that."

Saitou-san laughed. "I didn't expect you to be Ai's first friend."

Even though she said that, she didn't act so positively with her words. I can guess why.

"If I may, how did you know my name? Did Ai tell you that?" I inquired curiously.

"It's simple," she smiled faintly. "The apartment you live in is in one of our possessions."

"I guess that sounds reasonable..."

This was Ai Hoshino we were speaking of. At least that much was needed to ensure her safety.

"—anyway!" Ai cut in forcefully. "I want to spend the night with Hirosha-kun! Please let me, Miyako-san...!"

[Spend the night?] I raised one eyebrow. "What?"