I Was Hired As A Tutor By A Cute Little Devilish Junior - Chapter 8 Library

“Murakami-senpai. Would you like to study in the library today?”
“Library?”

This was the second day off I spent with Shiina.
She suddenly asked me that question.

“There is actually a library near here. It’s quiet and has a nice atmosphere, so I thought it would be a nice change of pace.”
“A library. You’re right, that’s a good idea sometimes.”
“Thank goodness♪ I’ll go change my clothes.”
“Yeah. I’ll take care of the desk and dishes, so you can change at your leisure.”
“Eh? You’re not going to peek?”
“I think I’ll go home now.”
“I’m kidding! I’ll cry if you leave without my permission!”
“I’m punishing you for fooling around with a high school student of your age. I won’t leave without permission, so go change your clothes.”
“Mmm~”

I brushed aside Shiina’s seeming disapproval and quickly cleaned up the plates that contained the snacks.
After washing the plates and cups in the sink and wiping them with a towel, I put them back in their original cupboards.

This has become a habit I have after I finish my daily studies.
It was something I always do, but when I thought about it again, I was a little embarrassed that I’ve gotten so used to being in Shiina’s house.

Especially when I’m washing dishes with Shiina. I wonder if this was what it was like to live with her, and I thought about really stupid things.

As I was shaking my head to get rid of my worries, Shiina came back after getting dressed.

“Senpai. Is there something wrong with your head?”
“I don’t think that’s the right way to put it.”
“Are you getting into headbanging?”
“That’s up and down, isn’t it? It’s nothing. I was just thinking.”
“Are you contemplating the color of my underwear?”
“I’m going to send you flying.”

Shiina ran off to the sink, saying “Kya~” happily.
After a while, she changed from glasses to contacts and came out.

“You don’t go out with your glasses?”
“I used to wear glasses until junior high school, but I had some problems. Besides, I only have these house glasses now.”

Shiina showed me the glasses she had been wearing a while ago.

“I see. I’m not going to say anything if there is a reason, but I think Shiina looks cute with those glasses on.”
“~~! I-I knew it, Senpai is a charmer!”
“Hah? What’s wrong all of a sudden?”
“You don’t understand anything about a pure maiden’s heart! Hmph.”
“H-Hey. Wait.”

Shiina didn’t bother to hide her unhappiness as she turned and walked out the door.
When I hurriedly followed her out the door, Shiina had already walked around to the front of the stairs.

I ran over to Shiina and grabbed her arm just before she went down the stairs.

“I-Is something the matter?”
“Shiina, there’s something I have to tell you.”
“I’m not accepting your apology.”
“That’s not the point. It’s more important and I have to say it for your sake.”
“Heh? T-That means…”

The grumpy expression on her face changed to one of anticipation.
I told her in a serious tone.

“Shiina. You forgot to lock your door.”

“Eh…?”

　＊　＊　＊

After making sure the house was locked up properly, we walked towards the library.
When it came to Shiina, she has been turning her face away from me since a while ago.
Incidentally, her cheeks were reddish.

“Hey, isn’t it about time for your mood to turn for the better?”
“Pssst.”
“Don’t talk like that.”

She had been like this ever since we left home.
I don’t even know what to apologize for, and I haven’t been able to have a real conversation with her at all.

“Can you at least tell me why you’re grumpy?”
“Pssst. There’s nothing to say to a senpai who plays with a maiden’s heart.”
“Only you think that.”

I don’t remember doing anything like that at all.
But judging from the way Shiina was acting, I must have messed up somewhere.

I don’t know if it was because I haven’t had much contact with girls in my life.
However, it would be wrong to expect myself to understand a girl’s heart when I haven’t even tried to have a girlfriend in 16 years of my life.
Maybe Shiina’s daily behavior was just my lack of knowledge, and maybe it really meant something.

In the end, we arrived at the library, continuing my sterile exchange with Shiina.
As soon as we entered, a large number of bookshelves filled my entire field of vision.
There was a large staircase in front of us, and bookshelves lined the second floor, which I looked up at.

Even at a quick glance, it was quite large. Since I didn’t have a library near my house, I was getting a little excited.

It was not that I particularly like books, but I don’t hate them either.
Even though our purpose was to study, I’m sure she would forgive me if I just went around a little bit.

…Well, before that, I still haven’t even been forgiven for what I said earlier.

“Where are we going to study?”
“…Over here.”

Without making eye contact, Shiina replied bluntly and headed towards the stairs leading to the second floor.
I sighed and followed her.

When I got to the second floor, I found that there were fewer bookshelves than on the first floor, but instead there were desks and chairs.
Shiina immediately took a seat at a nearby desk. After some hesitation, I ended up sitting down beside her as usual.

“…”

I had hoped that once I resumed my studies, I would be able to manage this atmosphere, but it seemed it was not that easy.
Shiina remained silent, staring down at the problem book in her hand.

However, her hands were not moving and she seemed to be stuck.
However, it would not be possible to ask questions as usual in this atmosphere.

“…”

I tried to follow Shiina’s example and spread out a reference book on my desk, but I couldn’t get anything into my head because I was thinking about all the things I didn’t need to.

I sighed again and looked at Shiina’s profile.
Shiina ignored me at first, but since I kept staring at her, she turned around as if she had given up.

“W-What is it? Senpai.”
“No, I was thinking about how to get you in a better mood.”
“H-Hmm. Don’t think that my mood will be easily fixed. Hmph.”
“Yeah. I know.”

Shiina, who had always been so attached to me, was like this. It shouldn’t take much to put her in a good mood.
I stared at her profile and just kept thinking.

I wondered if there was anything Shiina would like me to do for her.
I rambled through my memory and tried to recall.
I was able to find it without much rewinding of my memory.

Yesterday, when Shiina and I went out to town, she said she wanted to hold my hand.
I still don’t know what she meant by that, but either way, I was sure she wanted to do it.

Hold hands.
The last time I did such a thing with the opposite sex was probably in the early grades of elementary school.
At her age, it was naturally something she was not comfortable doing. But as long as Shiina wants to do it, it was worth a try.

Gyuu.

“Fueh?”

I placed my hand on top of her left hand that was on the desk.
As Shiina squealed in surprise, I let my momentum carry me to intertwine our fingers.

When I looked at Shiina’s face again, she was looking at my hand and face in turn with a puzzled expression on her cheeks.
Shiina’s mouth clenched a little, but after a while, she coughed and said, “Mmm.”

“W-What is it? Out of the blue…T-This is sexual harassment.”
“Give me a break. I did it thinking that it would make Shiina a little happy, but if you didn’t like it, I’m sorry.”

As I said this, I let go of her hand, though I was quite hurt inside—

Gyuu.

“Eh?”

The opposite of what happened before, this time my hand was wrapped in Shiina’s.
Shiina grabbed my hand to hold it with her other hand as I tried to pull away.

“I-I didn’t say I didn’t want to.”

Shiina turned her face away from me.
“You’re not being honest,” I muttered, trying to hold back an involuntary laugh.

“Did you say something?”
“No, it’s nothing.”

After that, Shiina regained her good mood and returned to her usual routine.
In the end, she did not let go of my hand until we left the library.