The sound of my heart pounded against my eardrums and reverberated inside my head. Likewise, my blood simmered, and my body was soaked in sweat—my pen had threatened to slip out of my slick grip several times already.
I looked away from my untouched workbook and surveyed my surroundings. Unlike the old, somewhat dirty walls of my meager apartment, these were pure white. A carpet, smooth and inviting to the touch, lay across the lustrous wood flooring. On top of the wooden single bed, I spotted a stuffed animal—either a bear or rabbit, I couldn’t tell. There was also a closet, a table, and several other pastel furnishings decorating the room. The table I was currently sitting at was round and made of glass; it fit right at home with the rest of the cute, stylish decor. And, finally, on the opposite end of the table was a girl grappling with her textbook.
You can probably tell where I’m going with this, can’t you? I’d been invited into Haruka’s—in other words, my girlfriend’s—very own bedroom! What had triggered such a wonderful event, you might ask? It had been none other than our midterm exams—a prominent source of stress for students everywhere.
It was already June, and with exams right around the corner, all club activities were on break.
Haruka had asked me to help her study today. Sure, I might’ve been a dunce, but I did attend the AP class of the prestigious Seiun High—at the very least, I could help a regular student like Haruka prepare for her exams. What’s more, she was counting on me. How could I have turned her down? So, of course, I’d happily agreed.
And so, after school, we’d headed to the library to prepare for our exams together. Unfortunately, the place had been filled to the brim with students who’d had the same idea as us.
“Oh, wow!” Haruka had cried. “The tables are all packed!”
“My bad,” I’d replied. “So I guess this place gets pretty popular before tests, huh?”
What a stupid mistake. I hadn’t known that you couldn’t find a place to sit before exams. It seemed obvious, but I’d never used the library up until that point; I’d always gone straight home without waiting for club activities to end. Plus, I’d only started dating Haruka this spring.
As an alternative, I’d offered Haruka to study in the AP classroom.
“Hey, Hiromichi...” she’d responded. “Would you like to study at my place instead?”
Those were the events that brought us to the present moment. This was my first time being in a girl’s room—and, most importantly, it was my girlfriend’s room. To be totally honest, it felt like my heart would burst out of my chest.
But, man, girls’ rooms really do have a nice smell to them...
A sweet scent, like flowers or candy, lingered in the air. I’d heard about this strange phenomena from other guys in the past, but I hadn’t believed it until now. Women had to have come from another planet.
No, this is probably just the smell of Haruka’s shampoo or something.
Perhaps she and Shigure used the same brand, because I’d catch whiffs of a similar fragrance whenever I passed by Shigure. But I was getting sidetracked. What really mattered was this nice aroma, one that I’d only caught fleeting hints of before, currently enveloped my entire body. And, most importantly of all, it belonged to my girlfriend. That alone made me happy.
Geez, I needed to ease up on the reins a bit. I was in such high spirits that my brain verged on melting. In fact, if I took a deep breath right now, just how much heavenly bliss would I be blessed with?
Huh? Are you calling me a pervert? Slow down there, partner! This was completely and utterly out of my control.
I’ll give you an example—let’s say a nature lover came upon a vibrant, grassy plain. The first thing they’d do is inhale a lungful of fresh air, right? It was the same deal here. I cared deeply for Haruka. Wanting to sniff her? That was the most natural thing in the world. Absolutely beyond my control, right?
Well then, I’ll be seeing you later, asshole. I’ve got a girlfriend to smell!
“Hey, Hiromichi,” Haruka said.
“Hack! Wheeze!”
“Wh-What’s wrong? Are you sick?”
“No, I just swallowed and it went down the wrong pipe. I’m fine. So... what’s up?”
“For this English problem, why is the word ‘take’ incorrect?”
“Oh, it’s because you’ve mixed up the directions. In this case, you’d use the word ‘bring.’”
Oh shit, that was close!
Cold sweat ran down my back. I’d been flaring my nostrils like a crazed bull, hadn’t I? As a boyfriend, I can’t imagine taking overly eager, huge-ass whiffs of your girlfriend’s room would ever be a good look. I guess I’d gotten swept up in being invited into my girlfriend’s room and fell into a trance of sorts, but I couldn’t let Haruka see me like this.
I stopped acting like an idiot and redirected my attention to studying. But as you’d expect, I couldn’t concentrate in the least. For the first time in my life, I was in a room belonging to the opposite sex—and my girlfriend’s, no less. This was her own private slice of the world, where she spent most of her time. And she herself had invited me here. How could anyone expect me to focus on translating what Bob, Nancy, and Taro were discussing? Not happening, chief.
In the end, I came to a different conclusion. Concentration? Screw that noise. I had a much more important objective—I needed to figure out what kind of signals Haruka was sending by inviting me here!
According to the pros online, when girls wanted to take their relationship to the next level, there were several things that they’d do to hint at that fact: they’d start to lean against you more, act spoiled, and send out suggestive signals. Recently, our relationship had taken a huge leap forward. We’d walked home from school while holding hands. Then, not long afterwards, she’d invited me over. This was quite possibly a signal from Haruka that she wanted things to progress... further.
Of course, she could have just been relying on me—an AP student—to help her grades improve. Maybe she was fine with inviting close friends to her room. If I misread any of her signals and overstepped my bounds...
“Urgh,” I groaned.
W-What a terrifying thought. I can’t let that happen. My heart would shatter into a bajillion pieces.
And so I knew it’d be best to scope these signals out with the utmost caution. Was I just getting my hopes up? Reading too much into things? Before I came to a conclusive decision, I’d need to sear each and every one of Haruka’s actions into my retinas!