I Was Hired As A Tutor By A Cute Little Devilish Junior - Chapter 32 Album

“…Pardon my intrusion.”

I opened the door of my house with Shiina. She walked quietly through the door in an unusually reserved tone.

“My parents haven’t come home yet, and Kanade will be home late today. Don’t be so nervous, just come in.”
“That information makes me even more nervous…”

I was expecting her to say something like, “It’s just the two of us then, Senpai♡” as usual, but what the heck is this response?
This was the second time Shiina had come to my house, so there was nothing to be afraid of now.

I took her to the second floor where my room was located.
When we get to my room, Shiina looked at the door and gave me a strange look.
As I looked at her, I saw a plaque with the words “Nii’s room” written on it in faint handwriting.

“Could this be it?”
“Yeah, I think it was in elementary school. Kanade gave it to me as a present.”
“‘Nii’s room?’ Fufu, it’s so cute.”

I think it was when Kanade was still in the lower grades, and she was making a door plate for a summer craft project or something.
I thought she was making it for her own room, but when I saw the finished product, it was just like this.

I was happy to see that I had surpassed Mom and Dad in priority for gifts, but I also felt a little bad.
I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I was pretty sure I’m the one Kanade cares the most out of the whole family.
Mom doesn’t seem to mind, but Dad seems to be lonely.

“Kanade told me I could throw this away, too.”
“It’s so cute; you wouldn’t throw it away.”
“Yeah, I don’t think I’ll throw it away for a while.”

This was the first gift that Kanade had given me, after all.
It was not easy to throw away a gift made by my cute little sister.

After one last glance at the plaque, I opened the door and let Shiina in.

“Senpai’s room… It’s very clean.”
“Really? Thank you, I try to keep it tidy on a daily basis.”
“Senpai, contrary to your appearance, you actually keep your room clean?”
“I don’t know. I think it’s normal.”

I didn’t know what to say, but Shiina said something I didn’t want to hear.
“What do you mean ‘contrary to my appearance?’ Are you trying to tell me that I look like a mess? Or is it the room?”

“I thought all high school boys’ rooms were messy.”
“Apologize to every high school boy in the country who likes to keep their room clean.”
“But you’re not a neat maniac, are you? But you like to keep your room clean, do you have a reason?”
“Well, that’s…”
“What’s the reason?”
“Umm, it’s a little hard to say. Well, Kanade is a bit of a spoiled girl, isn’t she?”
“That’s right. I think she’s it’s more than a little bit, but go on.”

Yes, you’re right.

“Hahaha… That’s why she often comes to my room, and that’s probably why I was so conscious about cleaning my room.”
“I see. I think Senpai is a huge siscon.”
“I-Is that so?”
“That’s right. I’m jealous of Kanade-chan.”

She puffed out her cheeks and sat down on the bed.
Then, without hesitation, she laid down.

“What are you doing, Shiina?”
“It’s just a small meal, so don’t worry about it.”

She lay down on my face and said in a muffled voice, breathing heavily.
Don’t worry about the kouhai who call it a meal and sniff your bed. That’s what she seems to be saying.

If there’s anyone out there who went through this, please call me right now.
I’d love to learn how they can manage this situation.

“Shiina?”
“What’s wrong?”
“You know. I didn’t invite Shiina to smell my bed.”
“Eh, you didn’t?”
“I’d like to see what’s going on with Shiina’s memory system.”
“Fufu, Senpai wants to know a girl’s secret so badly.”
“What secret? Is there stuff in Shiina’s brain that I shouldn’t know about?”
“Of course there are many…Do you want to know?”
“No, not really.”
“You should be more interested in me. Buh-buh.”

Hey, come on. Don’t flop around in someone’s bed.

Where did the initially reserved Shiina go when she was in the room of her senpai?

“Didn’t you want to know who I was in middle school?”
“I want to know so badly.”
“Okay, then let’s start by getting out of bed.”
“I refuse.”
“Hey.”

Shiina clung to the bed as if to say, “I’m not going to give in.”
It was like a dog that doesn’t want to go for a walk at all costs.

“By the way, you said we were going to see the middle-schooler Senpai, but what does that mean in the end?”
“That’s obvious. This is it.”

As I said that, I took out a slightly dusty book from my desk.

“Is that possibly Senpai’s….”
“Yeah, it’s my middle school graduation album.”
“Hmm!”
“Oh!”

The moment I held up the album, Shiina snatched it away from me with uncanny speed.
No, what even happened? I couldn’t even see the afterimage because it was so fast.
She’s even back in the bed.

“Why don’t you be a little more reserved.”
“Ghehee, Senpai in middle school…”
“Shiina, you’re drooling.”

Shiina was drooling on my pillow.
Um, excuse me. I’m going to sleep there after this.

“Come on, let’s look at it together, Senpai.”
“Sure, sure.”

Shiina, who was lying on the bed, patted the spot next to her.
I thought about it for a moment and sat down in that position.

“Isn’t the flow of things to sleep together right now?”
“Who would even do that.”
“Heh? You looked like you were thinking about it for a minute.”
“It was your imagination. Oh, this is so familiar.”

To escape from Shiina’s teasing, who had so cleverly exploited a sore spot, I opened the album and looked inside.
The first page contains photos of the school building and grounds, and I couldn’t help but let my voice out from nostalgia.

As I flipped through the pages, I saw a group picture of all the students at the school. I couldn’t remember when it was taken.
I looked for myself among the classmates who I still vaguely remembered.

“I found Senpai!”
“No, how come you found me so much faster than me?”
“Wow~, you’re so cool!”
“Listen to me.”

When I looked at where Shiina was staring, I saw myself with a small smile on my face.
I was a little younger than when I looked into the mirror now, but I looked healthy.

Shiina looked at me in my school uniform and rambled on incoherently about how cool or cute I was. Which was it?
I felt a little embarrassed by Shiina’s incessant comments, so I turned the page and moved on.

“Wow, Senpai in a jersey! This one is in gym clothes!”
“You look like you’re having fun, Shiina.”
“It’s no surprise, isn’t it? It’s not every day I get to see something like this!”
“You can see jerseys all the time in gym class.”
“I don’t want to be seen as a carnivorous girl who goes to peek at Senpai doing PE”.
“O-Oh. Right…”

I felt there was something wrong that I couldn’t quite explain.

We went through more and more photos of school trips and sports festivals.
Among them, there was a small photo of me alone in the library, studying, and I wondered when it had been taken.
I hadn’t noticed it when I graduated from middle school. I didn’t know there was such a picture.

I looked at the photo again, feeling a little happy, and saw that there was only one other person in it.

“How nostalgic…”

I couldn’t help but say it out loud as well.
In the photo where I studied, unaware that I was being photographed, I see a girl I recognize.
Her face was still obscured by her long bangs, but she was definitely the girl I remembered who liked to read.

“Senpai, why are you smiling at your own photo? It’s creepy.”
“Do you know how much of an offense it is for a boy to hear a girl say ‘creepy?'”
“I don’t know about that. It’s creepy.”
“Hey, what? What are you mad about?”
“I’m not mad, I’m creeped out.”

Shiina poked my waist with her elbow and started hitting me with a series of “creepy.”
I went through the album of memories to the end, enduring the continuous attacks that hurt me soberly.

After looking through the album and relieving her stress by hitting the “creepy” button, Shiina meditated with a satisfied look on his face.

“I was able to replenish the Senpai component more than I thought I would.”
“I don’t know what kind of component that is, but I’m glad you’re satisfied.”
“Yes♪”

The forlorn look on her face that she had shown when she was at school earlier was replaced by a rainbow smile of happiness.
I think it was a bit of a sacrifice on my part, but Shiina was feeling better, so it was worth it.
Then I slowly put the album back on the shelf.

“Hey, Senpai. Aren’t I supposed to take that album home with me…?”
“Okay. It’s getting dark, so go home early, Shiina.”