The changing room was noisy.
Including us, there were nearly twenty girls chattering excitedly, and my already exhausted mind felt like it was reaching its limit.
With a male’s mind, I could say this was a good view in many ways, but at that moment, I was too close to the edge to care about such things.
“Fufufu…”
To make matters worse, Onodera Sachi was giving me a suspicious smile from beside me, making me feel utterly trapped.
But thankfully, I had built up a perfect immunity to situations like this thanks to the hot spring trip I’d taken with the Star’s Flow members recently.
“Kayacchi!”
“Huyaaaack?!”
That immunity didn’t quite work out.
Before I knew it, Tateyama had stripped down and wrapped herself in a towel, hugging me from behind, causing a high-pitched scream to escape my mouth.
“Let’s hurry and change!”
“A, uh, ugh…! T, that’s…!”
The shriek drew everyone’s attention. My body froze from Tateyama’s close contact, and I could feel her soft touch from behind.
All these sensations made me want to run away, but—
“I’m looking forward to it, Kayanoh.”
Onodera stood in front of me, smiling as if she would never let me escape.
“Eeeek…”
From today, I definitely had to add “looking forward to it” to my list of forbidden phrases. I quietly vowed it in my heart.
★
What is an idol?
It refers to someone who is admired by others as a figure of aspiration.
In that case, “Kayanoh Mina” had every qualification to be called an idol at Shiodome Private High School’s class 2-A.
Though I had gotten somewhat used to it over two years, her appearance was extraordinarily rare, capable of drawing attention simply by passing by.
Her naturally glossy brown hair and exotic blue eyes created a mysterious aura, and her flawless skin and cute features resembled a child’s charm.
However, when she watched someone in silence, the soft impression she exuded was countered by an icy atmosphere that added another layer of allure.
Of course, that was due to her extremely introverted personality making her look down all the time…
Anyway, Kayanoh possessed an outstanding charm that could draw attention, and in this modern world where looks were a weapon, she was undoubtedly a top-tier predator.
Thus, Kayanoh had the qualifications to be an idol.
…But that was merely the story of her ‘appearance’ as a weapon.
The truth was, Kayanoh herself did not use her weapon. No, she couldn’t use it.
When her eyes met those of others, she would look away, she’d stutter when talking with opponents, and she’d freeze and tremble at even the slightest physical contact. Using her looks as a weapon was completely out of the question for her.
Such behavior, entwined with her cold aura, earned her the nickname “Ice Princess” at one time, but now everyone in class 2-A knew the truth.
The girl known as “Kayanoh Mina” was just someone who struggled to talk to people—a social misfit with communication impairment.
Thus, Kayanoh could not be the idol of class 2-A, and that fact evoked various emotions in everyone else.
Some felt joy, others were bewildered.
And most of the girls in class 2-A felt something akin to…
“Kayanoh’s so cute…”
“Eek…!”
It could undoubtedly be called maternal love.
Kayanoh’s usual conversation partners were Miyauchi, Tateyama, and Onodera, with the occasional addition of Tokuhara and Hayase, Tateyama’s friends.
Even the brief conversations lasted so little time that Kayanoh mostly spent her days in silence, alone.
This led to the atmosphere forming around her: “Don’t casually talk to Kayanoh.”
No one dared to break that atmosphere.
Even Tateyama and Onodera found it hard to speak to Kayanoh occasionally.
That’s why most of the girls in class 2-A were looking forward to this school trip.
They believed that in this special situation of the school trip, they could finally break that ice.
If they could even bathe together, it would be even easier.
…And their dream had come true. Currently, at the public bath time for class 2-A, a strange spectacle unfolded.
“Kayanoh-chan, for the remaining year, I hope we can get along?”
“Huuaaa…. Y-yes…”
Kayanoh sat submerged at the end of the bath, with girls lining up in front of her.
The girls took turns approaching Kayanoh, patting her head, giving her light hugs, or sitting next to her to whisper in her ear.
Every time this happened, Kayanoh’s face flushed a bright red as she shrunk back, letting out pitiful little screams.
Seeing such a pitiful sight of Kayanoh only fueled the maternal instincts of the girls waiting behind her.
They would line up again just to talk to Kayanoh… and repeat the cycle.
In other words, it was the completion of the ‘Maternal Spiral.’
Kayanoh herself thought, “What on earth is happening right now?” while shivering, but in this situation, her feelings didn’t matter at all.
And the first ones to realize what kind of emotion this was were Miyauchi and Tateyama, who watched Kayanoh’s plight from behind.
“It’s scary…”
“It’s truly frightening…”
Indeed, Kayanoh Mina was not an idol in class 2-A.
She was simply… a bewitching woman.
“I hope I can get closer to Kayanoh-chan.”
“Y-yes, yes, yes…!”
★
After finishing the incomprehensible bath situation, I returned to the room.
In the room, Tateyama, Onodera, and Tokuhara were already lounging on the beds after finishing their baths.
“Oh, Kayacchi! You’re back?”
“Y-yeah…”
I usually finish my baths quickly, but today for some reason, I couldn’t bring myself to leave the tub, making me the last one from our class to finish.
What was that about? Why did my classmates suddenly swarm around me?
I’m not bragging, but I still felt quite out of place in class.
Of course, I wasn’t completely alone like in freshman year since I had Miyauchi, Tateyama, and Onodera with me…
But suddenly having everyone wanting to get close made me freeze up, struggling to even respond simply.
This was way too much for someone like me with communication impairment…. My mental HP was already at 0, I just wanted to crash and sleep…
With such thoughts, I flopped onto the bed where I’d be sleeping for the next couple of days.
Our room had two bunk beds at either end, with Onodera sleeping above me.
Feeling a strange sense of unease, I decided to just sleep for now since I was too exhausted to think about anything else.
“I’m going to sleep first…”
“Huh? But it’s not even 9 PM yet?!”
Tateyama voiced her discontent, but I didn’t have the energy to respond.
Ah, right! I had planned to talk with the members and do some nadering later…
But that thought crossed my mind only briefly.
Having already reached my limit, I slowly drifted off into slumber.
★
On the second day, each group moved separately.
And the first destination for our group was an aquarium in Gangnam.
With plenty of attractions and optimized for spending time, no one objected to the choice.
Of course, wandering around like this wasn’t exactly my style, but I figured an aquarium might be somewhat enjoyable.
“How cute…! Look at this, Haru!”
Tokuhara pointed at a spot where a squirrel was.
Now that I think about it, Tokuhara had mentioned she liked cute animals.
Considering that, this aquarium filled with various creatures might be the perfect choice for her.
After wandering around and finally arriving at an underwater tunnel…
With the bubble, bubble sound filling the air, a gigantic shark swam overhead, while beautiful golden fish glided by beside us.
“Woow…”
It was such a stunning spectacle that a gasp slipped out naturally.
Evidently, it wasn’t just me; Tateyama and Tokuhara had stopped in their tracks, and Onodera reached out her hand to the glass.
As we neared the end of the underwater tunnel, I looked up one last time.
There, a turtle swam freely…
“Hey…”
“Huya?!”
Startled by a voice behind me, I turned around to find a friendly aquarium staff member smiling at me.
“Did you enjoy the underwater tunnel? We’re offering free commemorative photos right now…”
The sudden situation caused my heart to race, but it wasn’t to the extent that I felt the need to run away anymore.
So, I stepped back slightly and waved my hand.
“U-uh, that’s okay…”
“Huh?”
…Ah.
Was it because I answered in Korean that I had learned back home?
I responded to the staff like I typically would with Mom and suddenly realized it.
“…Kayacchi? Did you just say that…?”
Before I knew it, Tateyama was standing right behind me.
My site has received a lot of DMCA notices, lol. From now on, I will update the MTL on https://darkmtl.com/.
The site is fast and lightweight because there are no ads yet. However, the theme is different from Cybor-TL, so take some time to familiarize yourself.
Support me by donating at least $10, and you'll have the right to request any novel from Novelpia (excluding 19+ content) using a newly developed tool.