Chapter Two: “The Princess Wants to Appeal to the Prince” — Part Ten

The five-minutes-to-closing bell rang and we began packing up. Thanks to Yuuri’s thorough — and thoroughly demanding — tutoring, my head was nearly at capacity.
But because of her, a solid amount of the exam material had actually made it in. At this rate, failing grades in any subject should be avoidable.

Iori-senpai had been put through her paces just as rigorously by Kanami-senpai. Soft and gentle appearance notwithstanding, Kanami-senpai was apparently just as sharp as Yuuri.

“Himena-chan.”

As we left the library, Iori-senpai spoke to me in a voice low enough for only me to hear.

“…You must be a little sad that it wasn’t just the two of us until the end, right?”

She murmured it close to my ear, careful not to let the two walking ahead catch it.

Her low voice right next to my ear — that is far too much to handle…!!

“Iori-senpai, how are you so impossibly cool?!”

It came out at full volume before I could stop it. Yuuri glanced back for just a moment, pulled the expression of someone who has long since made peace with this, and turned forward again.

“Hey, Himena-chan — are you free after this?”
“What?!”
“If you’d like — want to get dinner somewhere nearby before heading home? Just the two of us.”

Wh-what is happening?! Is Senpai asking me on a date?! Does this mean we’re getting married?!

The unexpectedness of it was making my head go strange.
I’d been planning to go home and keep studying — but that was completely beside the point now.

“What do you think? Or were you going to walk home with Yuuri-chan today?”
“I will absolutely go with you I will follow you to the ends of the earth.”

I let the momentum carry me and grabbed Senpai’s hand. Our eyes met, and she gave me that beautiful smile of hers, same as always.

☆★☆★☆★☆★

Our dinner date ended up taking place at a family restaurant near school. Somewhere more romantic would have been nicer, but we couldn’t go far, so it couldn’t be helped.

Besides — anywhere is fun when I’m with Senpai!

“What are you going to have, Senpai?”
“I’m starving — maybe the chicken nanban. What about you, Himena-chan?”
“I’ll have the peperoncino!”

We put our order in on the touchpad and I looked across at Senpai’s face again. Yes — still impossibly beautiful.
Even so, inviting me to dinner out of nowhere — what had prompted that?

Maybe she’d been looking forward to our study date too, and wanted to make up for losing the alone time. I hoped that was it…!

“Himena-chan.”
“Yes!”
“…Do you usually walk home with Yuuri-chan?”
“Huh?”

I hadn’t expected her to bring up Yuuri, so the question caught me off guard. Surely Senpai wasn’t interested in Yuuri — was she?

“Not always. She has club activities, so. If neither of us has anything on we’ll walk together, but we don’t arrange it in advance or anything.”
“I see. What about in the mornings?”
“Mornings we’re basically together every day.”

Why is Senpai asking so much about Yuuri? Could it be — could her type actually be small girls like that?!

“I-Iori-senpai.”
“Yes?”
“Do you have a thing for girls with bobs?!”

Yuuri’s looks were decent enough, even if she wasn’t in my league. And our types were completely different.
I’d put real effort into my hair every day — but I’d cut it for Senpai if I had to. And surely a bob would suit me too.

“…You know, Himena-chan.”

Iori-senpai let out a quiet breath and took a sip of water. Then she tucked her hair behind her ear and smiled.

“You really do like me, don’t you.”

A teasing smile, a slightly exasperated smile — and underneath both of those, just a little relieve.

I love her…!! What even is that expression, I love it so much!!

“I really do — but more importantly, Senpai, so you don’t actually have a thing for bobs?!”
“I don’t have any particular preference about hair. Though I think I like Himena-chan’s hair long.”
“Really?”
“Mm. It changes a little every day, so it’s fun.”
“I’ll do a different style every single day.”
“You do go to extremes, Himena-chan.”

Senpai laughed softly, and right on cue our food arrived warm. Iori-senpai’s portion was enormous. Where it all went in that slender frame, I wasn’t sure — though given how much she trained, it was probably fair enough.

A study date, followed by a family restaurant date — and Senpai was the one who’d invited me to dinner.
This was unmistakably, off-the-charts promising, wasn’t it?!
Dangerous. I had to be careful not to sit here grinning helplessly in front of Senpai.

“Iori-senpai — let’s do another study date. Next time I’ll make sure I can actually teach you properly — I’ll work hard and be ready!”

This time I’d had to borrow Yuuri and Kanami-senpai’s help, but I wanted to be properly prepared by the next one.
Time alone with Senpai outside club activities was rare enough — exam season was basically the only chance.
Next time, without fail, I was going to show her something impressive and make her heart skip.

“Then I’ll leave it to you next time.”
“Yes — it’s a promise!”

I stood up and claimed her little finger. Pinky swear, I said — and as I did, I thought, from the bottom of my heart:
I want Senpai’s ring finger.
Her left hand, of course.