The national university that Mafuyu-chan and I attend is about a 10-minute walk from the station, in the direction further away from the entertainment district.
The usual path to the campus is usually pretty empty, with the only exception being before the first class.
The narrow road along the university is currently crowded with students who either have classes from the first period or are unlucky enough to take compulsory courses during the first period.
In the midst of everything, Mafuyu-chan and I are walking together.
“*yawn*… I’m… sleepy…” (Souma)
During the rainy season, the morning air feels a bit hazy, and a bigger yawn escapes from my mouth than I expected.
“It’s unusual to see Souma-kun yawning. Were you up late?” (Mafuyu)
While walking beside me, Mafuyu-chan, who is in her university mode, tilts her head and peers into my face.
Today, Mafuyu-chan is wearing a white blouse with gray straight-cut tailored pants, a style suited for those with long legs. Because of that, her chest is subtly emphasized at the edge of my view. I make an effort to focus on the scenery ahead.
“Well, I went to bed at the usual time.” (Souma)
After getting into bed, I often end up watching MeTube, so I can’t determine when I actually fell asleep. Unless there is a special reason, I always try to get at least six hours of sleep.
…Or rather, the reason for my sleepiness is pretty clear.
The drop in sleep quality is undoubtedly due to Mafuyu-chan sleeping next to me.
Given that Mafuyu-chan possesses the modesty of a preschooler, I’m sure she played some pranks on me while I was asleep.
I thought of saying that but… I stopped myself.
Because we are currently attracting quite a bit of attention.
The people passing by give us quick glances as they overtake us. Those walking on the opposite side of the road is often pointing at us. And I can hear whispers from all around us.
*whisper* “(Don’t they look mismatched?)” *whisper*
Shut up. We’re not even dating to begin with.
“……” (Souma)
I feel like I can sympathize with Mafuyu-chan now. It’s uncomfortable to be whispered about by strangers or become a topic of conversation for others when you’re not around.
In the few months since coming to the university, she has endured such gazes many times. Mafuyu-chan’s stress right now must be immeasurable.
I glance sideways to see if Mafuyu-chan is okay. Her expression is as usual, but her lips seem to be curved up slightly.
…Why?
Has becoming the subject of such gossip turned into a form of pleasure for her?
“Souma-kun, let’s go.” (Mafuyu)
Mafuyu-chan increases her pace, transitioning from a leisurely walk to a brisk walk.
“Wai-” (Souma)
I was about to say “Wait”, but my words got cut off.
Without me even realizing, Mafuyu-chan is holding my hand firmly ─ and of all the ways, she’s holding it like lovers would ─ and I find myself being pulled through the gaps in the crowd.
“There’s the Shootdown King of the Engineering Department.” (Passerby A)
“Whoa, so the rumor about him having a boyfriend is true? Who is the boyfriend, though?” (Passerby B)
“I want to hold hands too… damn, her butt is kinda lewd.” (Passerby C)
“Nah, it’s her chest man. I’d pay 10,000 yen just to touch it.” (Passerby A)
“Just thinking that she’s letting him do things to her every night makes me depressed.” (Passerby B)
…Whispers are five times as loud now.
“……What the hell is wrong with them?” (Souma)
The ones gossiping are probably people unrelated to Mafuyu-chan and have never even talked to her before. Yet, they’re freely talking about her with vulgar words.
Seeing them do that… really made me angry.
“Mafuyu-chan, hold on a second.” (Souma)
“Eh?” (Mafuyu)
I let go of Mafuyu-chan’s hand and turned back towards the group of three guys we had just passed.
Various people had been gossiping, but these guys were the worst. They intentionally made obscene remarks loud enough for Mafuyu-chan to hear.
“Can I talk to you for a moment?” (Souma)
“Huh? ” “Us?” “What?”
The three of them are probably freshmen; I can tell by their atmosphere.
Once you get into university, everyone gets somewhat crumpled and beaten up in their own way. Like a sixth grader’s school bag covered in countless scratches. But these guys still have that fresh, shiny behavior. They remind me of first graders’ school bags.
I glare at the guy who seems to be the leader. He’s got a custard-like hairstyle. Seriously, he dyed his hair blonde right after entering? Also, don’t leave it like that. Dye it once every two weeks, you moron.
“Hey, could you stop saying weird things about my girlfriend?” (Souma)
“Huh? W-Well, I didn’t really say anything.” (Passerby A)
The custard-head guy was initially confused, but I guess he had to put on a show since he was with his friends.
He’s making an unnatural effort to lower his tone at the end of his sentences as if he’s trying his hardest to show his displeasure.
Totally pointless.
“Forget about that. I’m not looking for a fight or anything. I’m just telling you to stop making dirty jokes that Mafuyu-chan can hear. Just give me a straight answer: Do you understand or not?” (Souma)
If it comes to a fight, I’m fine with that. At the very least, I’m not worried about losing against these guys even if it’s three against one.
As the four of us were arguing in the middle of the pathway with Mafuyu-chan standing behind me, a lot of people passed by with annoyed looks on their faces. Almost all of their gazes were directed at the custard head trio.
I’m not sure if the contents of our conversation were audible, but it seems pretty obvious to those around us why we’re having a dispute.
“…Lame. Why are you getting so worked up? I never cared in the first place… Hey, let’s go.” (Passerby A)
Perhaps unable to withstand the surrounding stares, Custard Head gives off an air of indifference and walks past me. The remaining two follow him with awkward expressions.
I considered making them apologize to Mafuyu-chan properly, but going too far might cause her unnecessary trouble.
Well, they have embarrassed themselves enough in the middle of the street like this. I doubt they’ll ever bother Mafuyu-chan again.
“Sorry, Mafuyu-chan…” (Souma)
I turn around and call out to Mafuyu-chan.
I called out to her, but when I turned around… I could see hearts in Mafuyu-chan’s eyes, leaving me speechless.
“Can you stop saying weird things about ‘my girlfriend’?… ‘MY girlfriend’… hehe…” (Mafuyu)
Mafuyu-chan repeats the line I just said like it’s a chant.
Uh oh… I didn’t have any other way to phrase it, so I instinctively referred to her as my girlfriend, and now it’s backfiring.
“Ah, um… Mafuyu-chan? When I said ‘girlfriend,’ I meant like… going with the flow of the situation… or a figure of speech (kotoba no aya)…” (Souma)
In an attempt to clear up the misunderstanding, Mafuyu-chan sharpened her gaze at me.
“Aya? Who’s Aya? Souma-kun, you’re my boyfriend, so don’t talk about other girls.” (Mafuyu)
Figure of speech (kotoba no aya) doesn’t refer to a girl!
And I’m not your boyfriend!
…From today onward, the rumor that “Someone managed to shoot down the Shootdown King of the Engineering Department” has turned into “Apparently, her boyfriend is the third-year student, Tendou Souma.” But that’s a story for another time.
TL notes:
Thanks for reading!
D-Did Mafuyu just win? Huh, here we see MC naturally protecting his future wife. Good job MC, but I need to hear the continuation of this story… Don’t leave me on a cliffhanger! Damn it, well guess I’ll hear this story in vol 3.
Shizuka PoV and Zeria’s return next chapter.
P.S. Started a new series cause I got some free time. Feel free to check it out. Ah but ODL chapters will continue as per normal.
The new series is called “I Reincarnated as an Incompetent Noble and Somehow Became the [Shadow Hero] ~The Villainous Heroines Who Should Have Had Worries Thank Me for Saving Them and Pledge Their Loyalty, But Why?~“.
Thanks for the new chapter!
Too bad that Shizuka is a no life person, she’ll have the least amount of time to be together with Souma it seems.