Chapter Four: “The Princess Wants to Be Chosen by the Prince” — Part One

“…Hah.”

Nothing but sighs escaping me. This wasn’t like me at all. After dinner I always went straight to stretching and flexibility work, then into bed as early as I could manage.

Today, I’d invited Himena-chan to my room.
And I’d put on the maid uniform.

“Something is seriously wrong with me.”

I couldn’t think of any other explanation for how I’d behaved this afternoon. There had been absolutely no need to lie about throwing late just to put the uniform on.

“It’s not like it was even cute.”

For as long as I could remember, cool had always been the word people used for me, never cute. I thought so myself, too.
I was tall, and I knew my face read as androgynous.
It had never bothered me. If anything, I’d been proud of it. And yet.

…Iori-senpai, you’re truly adorable.

That was what Himena-chan had said. Probably sincerely.
Just remembering it made my pulse do something strange. It was because Himena-chan had called me cute that I’d lost my mind and put the thing on in the first place.
Honestly, I muttered under my breath, and right at that moment a LINE message arrived from Himena-chan.

I’m so looking forward to seeing you again tomorrow!

The message was packed with cute stickers, which was very Himena-chan. Even when I let a conversation trail off into stickers, Himena-chan always found a way to start it back up again.
Most of what we exchanged didn’t mean much in particular. But lately, when a message came from Himena-chan, I felt glad.

Yes.
I felt glad.

People directed affection at me often enough, and I’d been confessed to before. But no one had ever kept coming at me this honestly, this many times.

“What is it about me that Himena-chan likes?”

The Himena-chan in my head immediately answered everything! without a moment’s pause. Actually, what was a Himena-chan doing in my head? Why was she in there?

I sighed and lay back on my bed. The familiar ceiling looked, for some reason, different than usual.

“…She throws me off.”

I’d never thought this much about one person’s feelings for me before. Other people’s affection had always just been there, part of the background, and precisely because of that I’d never found myself fixating on any one person in particular.
And yet here I was, feeling glad when a message came from Himena-chan. Feeling unsettled when she was with someone else.
This really wasn’t like me.

☆★☆★☆★☆★

“Good morning, Senpai!”

Every Wednesday morning, Himena-chan and I did the flower bed watering together. What had initially felt like a bit of a chore had, thanks to Himena-chan’s wholehearted enthusiasm, become something I found myself looking forward to.

“Morning.”
“I tried doing doughnut hair today. What do you think?”

Himena-chan spun around to show me. Doughnut hair, apparently — two braided loops on either side of her head that did, in fact, look like doughnuts.

“It suits you.”
“I made myself cute because I get to see you first thing in the morning, Senpai!”

Himena-chan changed her hairstyle often, but she probably wasn’t naturally dexterous. Which meant she put in real time and effort every day to make it work.
And it wasn’t just her hair. Whenever she was going to see me, her makeup was always perfect too.

“Oh, Iori-senpai. Is it all right if I wait for you after practice today?”

She asked while getting the watering cans ready.

“I don’t mind, but it’ll be late and we won’t be able to go anywhere, you know.”
“Just walking to the station together would make me happy. And we’d get to take the same train!”

School to the station wasn’t far. Even if we caught the same train, we’d only be sitting together for three stops.
And for just that, Himena-chan was willing to wait more than three hours.

“Please, Iori-senpai. Please!”

She pressed her hands together and bowed her head with full force.
Why did she have to try this hard for something like this.

“All right.”
“Thank you so much. I’m so happy!”

She murmured yes quietly to herself, as if savouring it, and began watering the flowers with a big smile. The water caught the morning light, sparkling as it fell.
Cute.
That word, I thought, suited Himena-chan far better than it would ever suit me.

“…Iori-senpai.”
“Yes?”
“If you look at me that intently, I’m going to get embarrassed, you know?”

Himena-chan looked back at me, her pale cheeks flushed red.
Himena-chan really does like me enormously, doesn’t she.