Baka-Tsuki - User contributions [en]

Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu:Volume1 Chapter3

2010-12-29T20:47:07Z

3eee3: /* Chapter 3 */

===Chapter 3===

Although it was good to have sunny weather even after going into the monsoon season in June, the result of going into summer so early was that it became extremely hot. This was something that happened on the day that I got so fed up with the heat that I wanted to move to Australia to play with the Kangeroos and Koalas.

After school, I mustered up all my strength to clean up the music preparation room.

Firstly, I sorted the various papers into their respective categories, placing them back on the shelves and then I pulled out an amplifier from under the abandoned-looking conductor's stand. When I lifted a piece of music score from the teacher's table, a cloud of dust suddenly burst into the air like snowflakes.

"Cough Cough......"

The music preparation room looked as though it had been completely abandoned, just like the house of a useless man whose wife had divorced him and then kicked him out of the house.

"My god......"

I couldn't help but mutter.

I knew that the situation would be bad, but I would never have imagined that it was this bad. Looks like I've underestimated the potential ability of that person.

Looking at the music preparation room that could never be cleaned up, I sighed deeply.

As to why I'm cleaning up this place, it's all because of the owner of this room, the music teacher who is also my class teacher (A woman whom I have no resistance against).

I'll have to start from three hours ago.

"Yuu-kun~Are you free today?"

After the homeroom period, I had finished packing my bag and was just about to head home when the music teacher came looking for me. Her voice was as silky as the purr of a cat that was having it's chin rubbed by its master.

"No I'm not. My schedule is completely packed. I have absolutely no free time at all."

"I have a favour to ask of Yuu-kun~"

"I don't want to do it."

"If you're willing to do it, Onee-san will reward you for it~"

"I don't think I have a need for your reward."

"I have three types of set meals for you to choose from, how about that?"

"...I'm going home."

Since she pretended not to hear what I was talking about, I decided to just ignore this idiot and go home.

"Wait......Wait up!"

My arm was caught in a vice-grip, this is not good.

"...What?"

"I've already said that I have a favour to ask of you."

"And haven't I already said that I'm not interested?"

Nothing good ever comes out of doing her 'favours'. I speak from my personal experience.

"Don't say that. Why don't you hear me out first?"

Looks like she won't let go of me unless I hear her out. I don't have a choice but to nod my head reluctantly.

"...Fine, I'm only going to listen though."

"Mm~Onee-san loves it when you say that."

She pressed me into her sizeable bust. The soft feel that came into contact with my cheek, and the flowery smell that floated into my nostrils was indeed extremely tempting, but if I were to admit defeat here, I would have fallen right into Yukari's trap.

"What do you want to say exactly?"

In response to my question, Yukari gave a strange expression before saying,

"To be honest~The year director gave me a direct order today~"

"What kind of order?"

"He wants me to clean up the music preparation room by today."

"...Goodbye."

I only managed to turn away before my arm was caught by Yukari's vice-like grip again.

"Wait! Why are you trying to run away before I finish what I have to say~"

"I already know what you want, you want me to help you clean don't you? Please clean up by yourself, I've already cleaned the toilet for you before.

"Ah, that's such a pity. Although you're close, but that's not what I'm here for."

"It's not?"

I was sure that I won't be wrong, since all this person does is to trouble others.

Or could it be that I'm wrong?

"Hmm, it's not like that. Because I'm not trying to get you to help me clean, but trying to get you to do it for me."

Just what is going through this person's head!

There should be a limit to how shameless one can be!

"......Please die!"

I was already prepared to run for my life after throwing that phrase at her, but I would never have thought that Yukari would cling on to me for dear life.

"Hang on! I really want to help you, but I have something important going on today."

"What important thing?'

"It's SERAPH's live performance (whispers)!"

"...Huh?"

I thought that I had heard wrongly.

"SERAPH's having a live concert today, and I've already gotten my hands on the VIP ticket that I pre-ordered six months ago, so if I'm unable to go, I'll die because of this unfufilled desire."

'...You're serious about this?"

"Of course I am."

Yukari gave me a serious expression that I've never seen before as she replied. On a side note, SERAPH is the name of her favourite visual-kei band.

"Yuu-kun, I'm begging you, I really don't have anyone else to turn to, this is the biggest wish of my life."

Yukari attempted to climb on top of me while begging me with tears in her eyes.

Even though it was her own fault that things have come to this, but I was unable to just leave her in the lurch like that. I guess I don't have a choice but to help her then.

Since I have nothing to do after school today anyway, might as well let Yukari owe me a favour!

"...I've got it, so please stop trying to squash me from above, I'll clean the music preparation room for you alright?"

"Eh? You're willing to do it for me?"

"Yes, I'll help you for the time being."

Upon hearing my answer, the twenty-three years-old female teacher who was a diehard fan of visual-kei bands was filled with happiness.

"Thank you so much Yuu-kun, I love you!"

"...You're welcome."

That's basically what happened.

This is how I come to be cleaning up this heap of trash, but right now, I really regretted my decision.

"This is ridiculous..."

Due to the corrosive influence of the owner of this room, the sparkly clean music preparation room had become a nightmare island of rubbish in merely two months.Feeling despondent, I swiped off a layer of dust off Beethoven's portrait with a duster, while writing the word 'meat' on his dust-covered forehead. This primary-school level prank probably has the legendary musician turning in his grave.

Just as I tiredly prepared to magically wipe of the word that I had written on Beethoven's forehead...

Poron~~

I seem to have heard the sound of a piano.

At first I had thought that I was hearing things, so I just ignored it, but after a while, I realised that there was a melody to the notes. The melody was one that was sounded melancholic at times and and poignant at other times, while sounding sorrowful throughout, and it seemed to be coming from the neighbouring music room.I looked at the clock that was hung up on the wall, it was almost seven o'clock atnight, which means that all the students who were involved in club activities should already have gone home by now. So why would there be anyone playing the piano at this time?

My first thought was of one of the school's seven mysteries - The piano that plays by itself in the music room.

It can't be?

I opened the door of the music preparation room quietly and surveyed the situation in the neighbouring music room. But from my perspective, the position of the piano was in my blind spot, which meant that I was unable to see the person playing the piano (hopefully it is a person playing the piano). But I could now confirm that the sound was indeed coming from the piano.

I hesitated for a moment before deciding to step into the music room. I slowly shuffled towards the piano while praying that a person was indeed playing the piano. As I gazed at the piano, what I saw was actually--

"..."

Haruka.

Bathed in the golden glow of the setting sun, Haruka was playing the piano.

Probably because she was too engrossed in playing the piano, Haruka did not notice my presence. Her soft fingers nimbly danced across the keyboard as I looked on, mesmerized.

The piece finally finished, Haruka breathed out.

"Good work."

"Ah?"

Haruka jumped at the sound of my clapping, her eyes wide with surprise as though she just saw a rhinoceros beetle in the middle of winter.

"That...That's strange? Why would Yuuto-san be here? There wasn't anyone here when I came in..."

Of course she would be surprised at seeing a person that shouldn't be here after finishing a piece.

I explained my predicament to her.

"Ah,I see, you must be tired."

Haruka's tinkling laughter swept away the tiredness from the cleaning that had built up in my body. She's definitely an angel!

"Speaking of which, why are you still here at this hour?

In comparison, this should be stranger shouldn't it? It's not strange that Haruka would be in the music room, it's the timing that is strange.

"Well...It's complicated..."

Haruka tilted her head slightly as she replied.

"Enlighten me!"

I excitedly requested.

"Alright, I'll tell you then. To be honest, I was reading in the library a while ago when I came across this description of Shakespeare in a world history book..."

"Shakespeare? You mean that playwright?"

"Yes, I really like his works. He left behind an entire collection of brilliant plays, plays like <<Macbeth>> and <<A Midsummer Night's Dream>>.

"Ah...I see."

I nodded while feeling extremely guilty.

Because out of Shakespeare's works, I only know of <<Romeo and Juliet>>, and only a rough outline of the story at that.

"But, how does that tie in with you playing the piano?"

"Because the tempest is mentioned in one of Shakespeare's plays. Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 17 also carries the name of 'The Tempest', which is why I felt like playing this piece when I saw Shakespeare's name in the book...I also have a performance coming up, so I had wanted to practice a little before I went home."

"I...I see."

Reading -> World History -> Shakespeare -><- The Tempest -->> Piano, so this is how Haruka thinks. A little complicated, but still understandable.

"Do you usually read until this hour?"

If she went straight to the library after school, then she would have read for about three and a half hours, probably longer than the time I read for the entire week.

"Yes, because mid-term exams are coming."

"...Mid-term exams..."

I was roughly hauled back to reality by those words.

Before that moment of enlightenment, I really had forgotten all about the mid-term exams (that is to say, I've been running away from reality the whole while). Two weeks from today, the dreaded mid-term exams will begin.

Although Hakujo Academy has a two-term system, which means that there are only four exams a year, students who failed the exams (thirty percent and below) would be forced to
burn a third of their summer holidays on remedial lessons. Perhaps some people may think that thirty percent is extremely easy to get, but for people who aren't academically talented like me, it is an extremely dangerous obstacle.

"Is Yuuto-san also in the midst of preparing for the mid-term exams?"

"No, I haven't started preparing at all."

Since I just remembered that mid-term exams actually exist, I obviously have not even started on revision.

"Not at all? But you should already have a study plan for the next two weeks right?"

"Well......I'm not very good at things like that."

I really don't like studying, but if I don't study, then I'll have to burn a third of my summer holidays. It's unthinkable to give up a third of one's once-in-a-lifetime seventeen year-old summer holiday and to be stuck in a small classroom with mountains of notes and teachers, whose tempers are hotter than the weather (Why is it that most of the teachers in Hakujo Academy are single and male?).

"Now that I think about it, my notes are not even complete......"

I spend seventy-percent of my time in class daydreaming, so my notes are extremely disorganized and incomplete; one entry in April, the next one in June.

"I've got to borrow someone's notes to photocopy."

Although I said that, but I had no one to borrow from. In the years leading up to this year, the best candidate was Nobunaga (his results are extremely good), but since we're in different classes this year, our notes aren't the same either. I probably have to borrow from the three idiots.

...Looks like it's a matter of life and death.

Seeing that I was getting flustered, Haruka gave a pensive expression as she placed her finger next to the corner of her mouth, her head tilting forty-five degrees to the side.

She held that position for about thirty seconds.

After thirty seconds, Haruka seemed to have thought of something, as she opened her mouth to speak,

"Yuuto-san, why don't we study together?"

"Hmm..."

Study? Haruka and I?

"That's right, if you don't mind, I can lend you my notes to photocopy, even though my notes might not be that complete either..."

No, there would never be anything incomplete about Haruka's notes, for she's always attentive in class.

"That'll be too inconvienient for you..."

My results and Haruka's results were at opposite ends of the academic spectrum, so borrowing her notes would be the vital boost that I desperately need to pass the exams, but this wouldn't benefit Haruka anyway, and could even cause her to be docked points if the teachers found out.

But Haruka shook her head.

"It's not inconvienient at all! Studying is more enjoyable with a partner."

Is that so? I always hear that studying alone would be more efficient. But as long as Haruka doesn't mind, this would be a life-saver.

"...Is it really alright?"

"Of course it is."

Haruka answered without hesitation.

"Then...Thank you very much."

I have to take this chance to turn my results around. If I continue like this, I'm in real danger of landing in remedial classes.

"Then, what about the time and place? You can just pick a time that you're free..."

"Hmm..."

Haruka thought about it for a moment.

"About the time...How about this Sunday? From One O'clock onwards, the place...how about my home?"

"Ah, I'm alright with anything..."

I answered without thinking.

"...Hmm?"

I suddenly realized that there was a strange noun in Haruka's suggestion. Did she just say 'my home...'?

"What's wrong?"

"No, it's nothing..."

My ears must be playing tricks on me. Haruka would never invite me to her home. I must have heard wrongly because I was expecting too much. Mm, it must be like that.

Seeing that I was in agreement, Haruka happily repeated the time and place.

"I'll see you on Sunday then, please don't forget about it!"

And so, I came to Haruka's home on Sunday to study for the mid-term exams.

I got lost.

"This is a map detailing the route to my home, it's only ten minutes away from the train station, so I don't think you'll get lost..."

I should have known something like this would happen the moment I received the hand-drawn map from Haruka, but I was too excited about being able to visit her home that I had completely overlooked the probable result if I were to follow her map. It was already too late when I took out the map at the train station near Haruka's home.

I took out the map that Haruka had given me and saw monstrous creatures and hysterical eight-eyed eels covering most of the map.

A wide-eyed bird-like, sadistic-looking creature was drawn at the side of the map. It had a satanic smile on its face as it drove a sharpened rod into the belly of an eel, the words on the sharpened rod reading 'it's here'.

...What is this? Is it some kind of psychological test for first-timers?

I really feel like crying.

A row of neatly written words at one corner of the map detailed 'Drawn by Haruka'.

Now...what do I do?

I attempted to go forward, but immediately got lost at the first crossroad junction. I wanted to call for help, but Haruka didn't have a cellphone, while I didn't take down the number of her home phone. There was an address written on the map, but since I didn't live around that area, I had no idea where it was, and to make things worse, there wasn't a traffic police in sight.

"I'm dead..."

Just as I was pathetically sitting at the side of the road like a tired bird, somebody called out to me from behind.

"Onii-san, what's wrong?"

I looked back to see a girl looking back at me. She looked like a middle schooler, with a pretty face and eyes that twinkled with charm. Her hair was tied down at the sides into two ponytails, giving her a mischievous but cute look. She would definitely become an extremely pretty girl in a few years.

"You've been groaning for a while now, are you having a stomache? Do you want me to call the funeral car?"

"What, are you planning to send me to the crematorium?"

"Ah! I should be calling the ambulance in this kind of situation."

The girl laughed, but stopped almost immediately as she realized the seriousness of my situation.

"What do I do? I should call for help if you're really not feeling well, shouldn't I?"

She was serious.

"I'm not feeling unwell, I'm just lost..."

I suddenly thought that since this girl looks like she lived in the area, perhaps she would be able to understand the map. Maybe Haruka's map is a perfectly readable map to everyone but me.

And so I hopefully showed the map to the girl, who looked disgusted as she looked at the mep.

"What's this? Demons? Or the Tiger Lady?"

"..."

"Or are these ghosts?"

My last hope was destroyed in a moment...Well, at least I expected this reaction.

"...This...Should be a map."

Hearing the truth, the girl jumped in surprise.

"...A map? This is a map? That's impossible..."

"It's true."

I don't want to believe it either but this is really supposed to be a map.

"Hmm, it still looks like a drawing of ghosts and demons no matter how I look at it."

The girl looked at the map with the look of a person looking at a rare animal. I completely agree with her assessment of the picture.

"Are the giant snakes supposed to be roads? Ah! There's a weirdly shaped thing here! Ah! There're two Karakasas over here."

This girl's really jumpy.

"...Hmm?"

She suddenly quietened down when her gaze stopped on a certain portion of the map.

"...It can't be!"

And then, she mercilessly tore the map to pieces.

"Hey, hey......"

I can understand her painful feelings of wanting to tear the map to pieces, but destroying the map would also destroy any clue that I had to finding my way to the Nogizaka residence.

"Hmm...Onii-san, you'll never get to your destination if you look at this map!"

"Even then......It's better than nothing isn't it?"

"It's definitely better to have nothing than that piece of map! I'll draw a new one for you, do you have any stationary with you?"

After tearing my only hope to pieces, the girl stretched out her right hand towards me. Although I don't know what she intended to do, but since she seemed to be willing to help me draw a new map, I quietly handed her my notebook and a pencil.

I let the girl have a look at the address written on one of the pieces of the map. The girl only took one look before beginning to work.

"This is how it should be."

Her pencil flying over the notebook paper, the girl drew a map for me.

"There, it's finished."

"Huh?"

Compared to Haruka's map, this map was on a completely different level! To be honest, I would even think that even comparing the two maps would be an insult to the girl's map.

"You're really good at drawing..."

Even a monkey could get to Haruka's home with this map.

"Not at all, it's actually a very simple route to your destination, and it should be harder to draw a map that resembles a drawing of demons and ghosts right?"

Though the girl said something like that, but anyone could tell that she was rather pleased with herself.

"But you really saved my life here, thank you."

"You don't have to say that! It's not something to be so grateful about. And also...I'm partly responsible for something like this."

"?"

"Ah, it's......it's nothing! I'll be going now, see you soon, Onii-san."

"Ah, wait!"

Without any hint of acknowledgement, the girl left.

...Just what was that about? Well, at least I'm saved.

It was all thanks to the map that the girl drew for me that I managed to get to the Nogizaka residence safely.

Technically, even though I had already reached the Nogizaka residence, but...

"What is this..."

That was the first thing that I had to say after reaching the Nogizaka residence.

A huge door was in front of my eyes, along with a line of ridiculously tall walls that extended far beyond my line of sight. From far away, the Nogizaka residence looked like an estate that nobles in the middle-ages lived in, complete with a fountain like the one in <<Roman Holiday>>.

Is this place really in Japan? The estate in front of my eyes really made me question whether this was indeed Japan. I had known that the Nogizakas were rich, but...this is beyond the wildest imagination of normal people.

And that was only the beginning.

Seriously, that was only the beginning.

Immediately after I pressed the doorbell, a maid came out to welcome me. A real maid! Although I had seen cat-eared maids in Akihabara, but a real maid in a real Japanese household was right in front of my eyes! I was too shocked for words.

The maid bowed respectfully the moment she saw me.

"Ayase Yuuto-sama right? Haruka-sama is expecting you. Please enter."

"Ye...Yes..."

I didn't even have the time to be moved over being addressed as 'sama' for the first time in my life before I was whisked into the huge garden. Whoa! The garden of the Nogizaka residence was like a forest, with bubbling streams running through the residence like a natural park.

"This way please."

After walking through the huge garden, I finally stepped foot into the residence itself. The residence looked like a castle from the outside, and even more from the inside. I've never been in hall with such a highly vaulted ceiling, and the luxurious decorations, ancient armor sets and art pieces were completely unknown to the son of a working class family like me.

"Wow, this is great..."

The Nogizaka residence was ridiculously luxurious.

Just as I was stupefied by the impressive entrance hall, the maid told me something extremely scary.

"Please follow closely behind me, it'll be dangerous if you get lost."

Could this place be a huge labyrinth? Judging by the scale of the place, a direction-idiot like me would probably die if I got lost here. I do not wish to get lost and embarrass myself in this place.

Following behind the maid, I turned seven corners, walked through two long corridors, went up and down three flights of stairs, finally reaching the living room (because the hall was extremely large, I didn't know if this was the living room or still the entrance hall), and finally met Haruka. I spent twenty whole minutes from the moment I stepped into the residence to get to the living room...It's ridiculous!

"Ah, Yuuto-san, welcome."

Haruka was wearing a white summer dress as she smiled at me, standing up from an ancient-looking sofa in the middle of the room.

"Hazuki-san, thank you for bring Yuuto-san here."

"It's nothing, I'm merely doing my job."

The maid answered expressionlessly.

"Please sit down and make yourself at home."

In accordance with the maid's directions, I sat down on the sofa. What a soft sofa!

"Would you like some tea?"

"Ah, would you mind?"

Haruka replied to the maid's suggestion.

"Not at all. Which kind of tea leaves would you like to use."

"Hmm, how about two pots of Royal Bengal Tigers?"

"What about snacks? We have Madeleine, plum pudding and Victorian cakes in the kitchen right this moment."

"We'll have the plum pudding."

"Alright, please wait for about ten minutes."

The maid left after receiving her orders from Haruka. I couldn't understand more than half of the vocabulary that they used in their conversation. Royal Bengal Tiger? Is that the name of a monster?"

"Please wait for a moment, Hazuki-san makes really good black tea."

...It's actually the name of a tea.

I've only ever drank canned and bottled black tea, so I wasn't knowledgeable about the different types of tea at all, perhaps it's actually a very common type of tea?

Exactly ten minutes later, the maid returned.

She placed the cups and pudding in front of us before standing behind Haruka like a statue.

Haruka then turned to face the maid.

"Hmm...Let me introduce her to you. This is Sakurazaka Hazuki-san, she's the head maid, in charge of our accomodation."

'Head' maid? So you're saying that there are more of these maids?"

"I am Sakurazaka Hazuki, it's an honour to meet you."

The maid gave a perfect bow together with her perfect greeting, but her face remainded expresionless throughout. Mm...Looking at how she interacted with Haruka a while ago, she seems to be the calm and collected type. Although she's really pretty, but she seems to be hard to interact with. I was quietly assessing her.

"Hazuki-san looks to be a strict person, but she's actually really gentle."

Did Haruka say that in response to what I was thinking in my head?

"A while back, she fed the leftovers from dinner to a stray cat. She almost always goes to the pet shop on rest days. Her hobby is collecting stuffed toys, so her room is filled with cute stuffed toys."

Stuffed toys? Hmm...I really couldn't imagine such a strict-looking person would have a room full of stuffed toys and even name each and every one of them.

"...Haruka-san, I can hear you."

Hazuki-san retorted softly. Hmm? She's actually blushing!

Ah~Hazuki-san's blushing."

"......I'm not."

She seems to be a little lost as to what she should do.

The three of us talked for a while longer.

After talking to Hazuki-san, I realised that although she looked stern, she wasn't hard to interact with, as she'll answer your questions and react to your jokes (she doesn't laugh, but at least there's a reaction). But the only thing that bothered me was that her expression almost never changes, means that you'll never know what she's actually thinking. But to that, Haruka said that 'You'll learn how to read the small changes in her expression once you get to know her better.' Hmm...Is that really the case?

So much had happened that I almost forgot what I was here for. I am here to study for the mid-term exams, not to get a feel of the upper-class lifestyle.

To achieve our original aim, we moved to Haruka's room after finishing our refreshments (I won't go into detail about the other halls, the dance floor and the mini cinema that I saw on my way there).

So this is Haruka's room...It's surprisingly normal.

Haruka's room is about thirty tatamis large, with a huge piano in the middle of the room and a luxurious-looking bed in a corner. Of course, this kind of room wouldn't be considered 'normal' in the usual sense, the normal that I'm referring to is the lack of any sign of Akihabara-influences in the room.

"Ah, please make yourself at home, I'll bring out the table."

Haruka said to me before she walked into a hidden closet to bring out the table. Judging by the size of that closet, it's probably bigger than my entire room.

I sat on the expensive-looking carpet before looking around the room once again. No matter how I look, this was the normal room of the daughter of a rich family, no Akihabara references to be seen anywhere.

This was really a room that looked like it belonged to the 'Nuit étoile', It would indeed be extremely strange if Haruka's room was like Nobunaga's with posters, manga, novels and figurines all strewn around the place.

Haruka brought the table out at this moment, so I asked,

"There doesn't seem to be any posters in this room."

"Ah, that's because..."

Haruka stopped abruptly. Hmm? Did I just ask something I should not have asked?

"Those things are really cute, and I really want to display them in my room if it were possible......but......I don't have a choice, because my family doesn't know about my hobby."

"Huh?"

Even her family doesn't know?

"My parents.......especially my father, he's extremely strict, so he'll probably throw all my anime posters and figurines away if he saw them. Because he thinks that these things are bad for my education, so I can't put them in places that are obvious."

Haruka lowered her head as she explained.

That's......really too bad for Haruka. I seem to have gained an insight as to why Haruka lacks some common sense. And that's also because there's nothing that could be classified as entertainment in this room right? No television, no computer, this must be the reason why Haruka doesn't have a cellphone either.

"Oh right, is your family at home?"

I suddenly thought of her family.

If her father is at home, then I better go and pay my respects to him, or he'll think that I'm a good-for-nothing who's here to corrupt his precious daughter if he sees me.

"I'm the only one at home today. Father's at the Pentagon, mother's teaching at the cooking school that she runs, it'll probably be midnight when they return. My grandfather's in Hokkaido hunting bears, so he left in the morning......."

"......"

My god! Just what kind of person is her father? I could possibly disappear from the face of the earth if I make one wrong move.

Not noticing my feelings, Haruka happily continued talking,

"So you can relax, just treat this place as your own home. Let's start with English, since it'll be tested on the first day of the mid-term exams."

Haruka really wasn't the top student in the level for nothing, as she nonchalantly did her own set of practice questions while helping me with the foundation questions given by the school, pointing out my mistakes and explaining the solution to me at the same time.

"Ah this is a special usage of the future tense, so you can translate it as "After moving to the city, he never went back to his home village ever again", that is to say, he might have invested a large sum of money after he moved to the city, but it turned out to be a failed investment, and not able to find a job, he could only work part-time in a convenience store. And in the end, because his landlord refused to renew the rental contract, he got kicked out of his apartment, and so he died alone in a public park, with his dreams of returning to his home village as a rich man shattered.

"Hmm,mm...I see......"

"This question tests your ability to differentiate between verbs and adverbs, and in comparison with the former "stopped to smoke", the meaning of the latter is "to stop smoking". Which is to say that the first sentence refers a middle-age smoker who's in the late stages of nicotine poisoning and couldn't help but stop for a smoke at the roadside or some other place where it's illegal to smoke, and got fined for it. As for the second sentence, it refers to a person who really liked to smoke, but later quit smoking for the sake of his child, and now hates smoking to the extent that he'll want to kill anyone who smokes in front of his child."

"...Hmm, even though I won't know about the middle-aged man's condition regarding nicotine poisoning, but I guess that's probably it..."

Although Haruka was teaching me this whole time, our study session was proceeding rather smoothly. Even when she was teaching me, her right hand was still writing down the answers to her own practice questions.

"Oh, and this is..."

Just as Haruka-sensei was about to launch into her n-th explanation of the day, her left hand suddenly knocked my eraser off the table and onto the carpet.

"Ah, I'm sorry."

Haruka stretched to pick up the eraser, but I was closer to it,

"It's alright, I'll pick it up."

"No, I'll..."

Miraculously, we reached for the eraser at the same time.

"..."

"..."

My fingers came into contact with something soft. Definitely not my eraser.

My heart started pumping into overdrive.

"Ah......I......"

"I......I'm sorry!"

I hurriedly pulled my hand back, my heart still beating furiously as though I was on drugs and overheating. My face was also burning up as though I just came out of a hot spring.

What's going on! What a strange atmosphere! I looked over and saw Haruka blushing furiously, just like that time in the small park at Akihabara...If I were to describe the atmosphere in terms of colours, then the middle of this room would be covered in a shade of pink...

Haruka's slightly moist eyes were right in front of me.

Now that I think about it, right now, Haruka and I were the only ones in this room. By the only ones, I mean that there isn't anyone other than the two teenagers in this enclosed space. From this, the keyword that we'll naturally think about it......Secret room murder?

Not that! But if it's not that keyword, then I really can't think of any other keyword that's so, encompassing.

No,it's not the time to bash myself over my lack of imagination.

Anyway, I have to think of a way to pull away from this pink-shaded atmosphere, because if this goes on, my sense of reason will fly off like a satellite that's gone off-course, all the way to the other end of the universe...... Alright, to calm myself down, I shall start counting prime numbers. Starting from 0......Hmm, is 0 even a prime number?

Shouldn't I be starting from 1? Hmm, that doesn't sound right either...

My brain suddenly got itself into a knot.

My mathematics results are so bad that my math teacher came to me with tears running down his cheeks, 'I'm begging you, even if you're able to promote to the third year, please don't come for the science class mathematics lesson, alright?' That's basically a guarantee letter certifying that I'm an idiot.

......I'm so pathetic to call myself an idiot.

I turned to look at Haruka's face feeling sorry for myself and realized that Haruka was also looking at me.

Our eyes met! Haruka's face reddened even more, as she fidgeted around in her seat and looked away awkwardly before closing her eyes slowly as though preparing herself...... That's strange, why did Haruka close her eyes?

Another ten seconds passed like this.

Hmm...it'll would be an insult to Haruka if I were to do nothing at this juncture wouldn't it? I've never been in such a suggestive situation before, so I really don't know what to do.

Now that it has come down to this, I only have two choices, either I go with the flow and don't think about the consequences, or I pretend to fall asleep. After struggling with myself for a while (that is to say, after my mental condition deteriorated for a while), I was about to choose the first choice when...!!

"Please forgive me for breaking the nice atmosphere between the two of you."

Someone suddenly spoke from behind us.

"!?"

I turned around to see a maid stand behind us.

"Argh!"

"Kya!"

"...Do I look that scary?"

The maid answered our screams of terror with a mildly disappointed expression. No, that's not the point, the point is, since when has she been standing there?

"I knocked five times, but no one answered, so I had no choice but to let myself in."

No... Even if all my focus was on Haruka, it was impossible for me to not know if someone had come into the room. This maid is scary.

"Ha,Hazuki-san, is there anything you need?"

Haruka hurriedly changed the subject.

"Yes. Mika-sama just returned and has something to talk to you about, are you free right now?"

"Hmm? Mika?"

"Yes."

Haruka was a little confused.

"Umm...Haruka, who's Mika?"

"Hmm? Ah, I haven't told Yuuto-san about her, she's my sister."

"Sister? I didn't know that Haruka has a sister."

"Yes, she's in the second year of middle school."

Not that she mentioned it, Nobunaga seemed to have mentioned it to me some time ago.

"I'm sorry, I'll go over to Mika's for a while......"

"Mm, I got it."

"I'm really sorry...I'll be right back, please relax and rest here for a little while."

After Haruka and the maid left, I was the only one left in the room.

Haruka wants me to relax, but I was unable to calm myself down in such a big room, feeling like a lab rat that has just been released from its cage into a huge laboratory.

It was really boring to just sit here, so I decided to take a tour around the room.

The first thing I looked at was the the large piano in the middle of the room. The maid had said that it's a Steinway grand piano...anyway, this is a branded piano that costs around 20 million yen, something my family could never afford. Even if we could afford it, we don't have anywhere to put it.

"..."

I suddenly felt this strong sense of defeat as I couldn't help but shift my gaze away from the piano.

I walked towards the bookshelf opposite the piano.

There were many music scores placed on the shelf, Beethoven, Schubert, Chopin, Liszt, Schumann, Brahms, I only knew the composers that my music teacher at school had introduced to the class.

"Could it be......that Haruka can play all of these pieces?"

<<Twelve Super Technical Practice Pieces>>...Although some of the scores sounded extremely hard, but I guess Haruka should be able to play all of them right? She was probably playing a super technical practice piece the last time I heard her play in the music room.

All of a sudden, I saw a book without a title hidden between the music scores. This book was covered with a classy white cloth, and was obviously treated more importantly than the music scores.

"What's this?

I was curious as to the true identity of the book.

I took the book down from the shelf and unwrapped the cloth around it.

"..."

It was a comic book.

"...This..."

No, to be precise, this should be a comic magazine, it's an old magazine that's the same size as a music score. The name of the magazine is,

<<Innocent Smile>> First Edition.

--Ah, that's the one.

Looking at the name of this magazine, I was reminded of how Haruka and I snuck into the school library at midnight about two months ago. This is something that Haruka loves, the magazine that started everything. The magazine had 'First Edition', so it should be the one that I saw at the library the other time, the magazine that got Haruka interested in the world of anime and manga. This magazine was the only thing worthy of Haruka's careful protection.

The magazine in Haruka's memory...

My gaze locked onto a smiling long-haired girl on the cover of the magazine.

"...Hmm?"

She attracted my attention deeply.

Why would I be attracted to that drawing? I don't know, but it seems to have awakened some distant memory in my mind.

"Yuuto-san, Mika wants to say hello, would you mind?"

Haruka's voice came from outside the room.

"Of course I won't mind!"

I don't have a reason to reject a person who wants to say hello to me, and I'm also rather interested in Haruka's sister. I should think that her sister would be just like her, a natural Ojou-sama right?

"Is that so, Mika will be really happy. Let's go in, Mika!"

"Alright!"

A lively girl walked in from the other side of the door.

"Hmm? This..."

"Hehe, good afternoon, Onii-san, we meet again!"

It's the girl who drew the map for me! She's Haruka's sister?

"Ah, don't be so surprised! Onii-san's such a naive person. Didn't I said 'see you soon'?"

She did say something like that. But...How could she have known that I was Haruka's friend?

Seeing that I was still confused, the girl came over and whispered into my ear.

(Because only my sister could draw such a demonic-looking map, plus her name was on the map.)

...Ah, so that's how it is.

(And also, Onee-san had mentioned that a guest would be coming today.)

The girl giggled again. Her innocent expression was exactly the same as Haruka's, proving that they were indeed sisters.

"...Demonic-looking drawing?"

Haruka asked confusedly.

"Ah, it's nothing. Onee-san, introduce him to me!"

"You're right, but it looks like the two of you already know each other...Yuuto-san, she's the sister I was talking to you about earlier..."

"I'm Nogizaka Mika, fourteen years old this year. My hobbies are playing the violin and rearing wild boars. Onii-san, please take good care of me!"

"..."

I seemed to have heard something impossible when she was talking about her hobbies. Well, I guess I should just pretend that I didn't hear anything!

After putting my own feelings in order, I started to introduce myself.

"Mm, I'm Ayase Yuuto, Haruka's classmate, please good care of me as well."

"Ah...Yuuto-san?"

That's strange, why would Haruka's sister have this kind of reaction to my name?

"Mika, he's older than you, it's rude to address him by his name..."

"It's alright, I don't mind, it's just that...is my name very weird?"

"Ah, hehe, it's that..."

"?"

"It's nothing much, just that you call Onee-san 'Haruka'."

Haruka's sister, Mika, looked at Haruka and I with strange smile on her face.

"What do you mean?"

"Is there a problem?"

"Nope, it's just that there aren't a lot of guys who refer to Onee-san so intimately..."

Is that so? Well, everyone in school does seem to address Haruka as either Nogizaka-san, Haruka-sama, or the 'Nuit Étoile', and if a guy wanted to address her by her name directly, he'll have to go through the same punishment as I did (rolled up into a grass mat and thrown into the water). If I wasn't a guy who liked to step on such landmines, we probably won't have such a relationship right?

"It's......It's nothing special! It's just that, Yuuto-san is my classmate, and, we're friends, so.......so......"

"Hmm, Yuuto-san...it's my first time hearing Onee-san calling a guy by his name."

From Haruka's faltering answer, I could see how the relationship between this pair of sisters worked.

Seeing that Haruka was uncertain as to what to do, I decided to step in.

"Don't make any wild guesses, Haruka and I are just friends."

In truth, this explanation wasn't exactly correct, but since Haruka's family didn't know about her special hobby, so this should be how our relationship should look like on the surface shouldn't it?

"Onee-san, is that right?"

"Ye...Yes, we're just friends, our relationship isn't that spe......special."

Haruka answered in a suspicious manner.

Mika looked at Haruka as she gave a suggestive smile.

"Hmm, I see, so that's how it is."

"What do you mean?"

"Nope, nothing. If this continues, I think I'll be able to dig out all sorts of interesting things, but since I've gotten the gist of things, I'll let the two of you off today.

Oh, right! Onii-chan, please call me Mika from now on!"

"Got it."

"Great."

Haruka's sister was surprisingly different from her. If Haruka's the moon, then her sister would surely be the sun.

After that, I never got to touch my books again.

Under pressure from Mika, we played monopoly, international chess, and pieced puzzles together......and spent several hours like that.

"Mika, Yuuto-san's here to study."

"Ah, it's alright, just a while, just let Onii-chan play with me for a while longer."

"You..."

Although Haruka's tone carried a hint of displeasure, she actually didn't seem to mind it much.

"Yuuto-san, I'm really sorry, Mika usually doesn't warm up to people she just met for the first time. If you don't mind, please play with her a while longer..."

"I'm alright with it."

"Yay, then lets play poker cards next."

And thus, I ended up feeling as though I was here to play instead of studying, but...I guess it's not a bad thing to just relax and enjoy myself! There should still be sufficient time to prepare for the mid-term exams next week, things will surely work out (I'm just running away from reality).

It was already evening when I looked at the time.

Haruka invited me to stay for dinner, but as I had a problematic sister who would go out of control if she wasn't fed at home (sometimes a problematic music teacher would be there as well), I had no choice but to regretfully reject her invitation.

"I see, that's such a pity."

"I'm really sorry to reject your invitation like this, I'll make sure to prepare dinner for her before I come next time."'''(!)'''

"Prepare dinner? Yuuto-san, do you have a dog at home?"

"Ah, yes..."

The two were similar in that 'both need to be taken care of', but 'she' would probably be unhappy about being put on the same level as a dog.

"A dog...Ah, that's right, there's still a bit of the plum pudding we had earlier left. If you don't mind it, please bring it back for your dog."

"No, I wouldn't want to trouble you."

"No, not at all, please don't stand on ceremony, I think your dog will like it."

Haruka jogged out of the room to tell Hazuki-san about the plum pudding. She really seems to think that I have a dog at home.

"Well, I guess she's not far off the mark..."

There isn't a lot of difference between the two anyway.

"Onii-san, come over for a while!"

"Hmm?"

Mika beckoned towards me. Could it be that she wants to show me Haruka's childhood photos while she's out of the room?

I went over expectantly.

"Onii-san, did you have fun on your date at Akihabara?"

"!?"

She suddenly asked me something like that.

"You went on a date with Onee-san right? That's great, did the two of you hold hands? Did you guys kiss?"

My tongue got tied into a knot due to the flurry of questions thrown at my direction; why would she know about that?

"You..."

"What are you talking about..."

"Hehehe, there's no point in pretending, I know everything."

"Pre,pretending? What are you talking about..."

Since she mentioned Akihabara, she must be referring to the shopping trip that I went with Haruka last month, she can't be referring to anything else. But, how would she know about that? Even if she was trying to get me to divulge certain information, but don't you think that it's a little too accurate?

Mika probably saw through my inner dismay as she continued with her next wave of attack.

"Hmm, you're still pretending? But I have proof you know. It should be the Sunday of that long weekend right? Because Onee-san happily went out wearing her new clothes on that day you know."

Seeing my trepidation, Mika gave me the finishing blow.

"Onee-san even prepared a special 'shopping bookmark' for Onii-san, you know, that demonic-looking drawing."

"..."

I had no choice but to confess.

"How do you know about that......"

Seeing that I finally admitted defeat, Mika flashed a victorious smile.

"Hehehe, because I saw the 'shopping bookmark'! But it's not my fault, because Onee-san placed it on the table in the living room right in the full view of everyone."

"......"

"I took a look at it and saw two copies of the 'shopping bookmark'. One copy had 'specially for Yuuto-san'. At that time, I was still wondering who that mysterious 'Yuuto-san' was..... Until I heard from Onee-san that a guest named 'Yuuto-san' was coming today."

"Ah......I see."

I understand now, If it really was like this, then of course Mika would know about our shopping trip.

It was really something that Haruka would do, absentmindedly forgetting something on the living room table. Though Haruka looked to be perfect on the surface, she had an inclination to slip up at important moments. But I was already used to this inclination of hers.

"Right--Could I ask you something?"

".......Please do."

Right now, I don't think any question would make me more surprised than I already am now.

"Onii-san, you also know about Onee-san's secret right?"

"Eh......"

This was something I wasn't expecting.

Speaking of Haruka's secret, she could only be referring to one thing, should I just answer her? No, Haruka's family do not know about her secret don't they? Or did Haruka tell Mika? God......I'm getting more confused by the minute.

"Onii-san, so do you?

"About this.......no......"

"Ah, just by looking at you I think that you should know about it. You'll be better off if you were more honest."

Mika said as she tickled my sides.

"Hey......Hey......I'm really ticklish!"

"Then answer my question! Hehehe"

"Ughahahahahahaha......Stop......Stop it......."

"hehehe"

After a few minutes of fooling around, Mika asked me again with a serious expression.

"Onii-san, please answer me seriously. Do you know about Onee-san's secret?"

"......"

Although I hesitated for a moment, but I still decided to tell the truth. Because something about Mika's gaze told me that I should.

"......I know about Haruka's secret. I stumbled onto it by mistake, but Haruka told me everything after that."

"I see."

Mika's expression brightened considerably.

"Mm. I guessed as much. A woman's instinct is the most accurate thing in the world."

Mika smiled as she explained her rationale.

"Then, can I ask a question now?"

"Sure, what do you want to ask?"

"How do you know about Haruka's secret? She hasn't told her family has she?"

Although she might have guessed by looking at the 'shopping bookmark', but Mika's tone suggested that she has known about it for a long time already.

"Ah, about that."

Mika gave a slightly exasperated smile.

"Hmm......Onee-san did try very hard to hide it, but Hazuki-san and I have known about it for ages, because Onee-san never tells lies. I think my parents are the only ones who have not found out about it yet. But I know that Onee-san really wants to hide this secret of hers, so I haven't told her that I know her secret."

She didn't even stumble over such a long line of words. Mika thinks extremely far for a girl of her age......looks like she's a really good sister. In comparison, I really want to exchange my sister for a bag of toilet rolls.

I finally understood how Mika came to know of Haruka's secret.

But there was still one last thing that I didn't know.

"Why did you assume that I also know Haruka's secret?"

Regarding this, Mika should have been rather confident of my answer before asking me. But I already had been very careful in hiding the fact that I knew.

"This is easy. Onee-san would never invite someone who doesn't know of her secret to Akihabara, and she even prepared a special demonic drawing......Ah, no, I mean, she even prepared a special hand-drawn map."

"......You're right."

Her explanation made a lot of sense.

"And......even if I don't go down that line of thought, it's easy to guess at the truth from Onee-san's facial expression."

"Facial expression?"

"Yes. Because I've never seen such a happy expression on Onee-san's face before, until today. That expression means that she's giving you her heart. It definitely means that she's giving her heart to you. I guess that's because she's able to show her true self in front of you."

"......The real Haruka......you say?"

The Haruka that I see, is more real than the 'Nuit Étoile' that people in school sees......Is it because of the fact that I know her secret? I've only noticed recently that Haruka's actions in school are a little awkward, and that even when she's smiling, there's a small distance between the other students and her.

"I believe that Onee-san doesn't dislike Onii-san, and that this is something she's clear about, I also believe in my own assessment that Onii-san's a good person."

"Mm."

Both of them say that I'm a good person when I'm not as good as they think I am.

"Onii-san."

Mika's expression suddenly changed, as she looked at me with a serious expression on her face.

"No matter what happens......please don't abandon Onee-san."

"Abandon......"

About that......No matter how you look at it, it should be the other way round isn't it? Because Haruka is the 'Nuit Étoile', while I'm just an average student!

But Mika shook her head.

"Onee-san had a period of painful memories when the people around her found out about her secret. Because everyone around her felt that she should be a perfect Ojou-sama. In other words, they forcibly expect Onee-san to be the perfect person that they imagine her to be, which is why they would abandon her once their perfect image of Onee-san has been shattered. In actual fact, Onee-san's just a clumsy girl with a strange hobby.

Perhaps......it's really like what Mika says. There's a Haruka fan club in school, but how many of those fan club members would know about this side of Haruka? And how many of them would be able to look at her the same way they did before once they know about this side of her? A girl who gets addicted to capsule machines, who loves to read weird manga, who cries because she wasn't able to buy the game console that she wanted......This would never be part of the image of the 'Nuit Étoile' that everyone in school has of Haruka.

"I think the Onee-san needs someone beside her who doesn't look at her through coloured lens, so......no matter what happens, please be good friends with Onee-san, because I......never want to see an abandoned Onee-san crying ever again......"

Mika bowed to me as she spoke.

Mika really cares about Haruka. I can see that she's a really good girl from the way she speaks and her attitude towards me.

"......Don't worry, I will never abandon Haruka."

I placed my hand on Mika's head and told her using my kindest voice.

"Mm......"

Although I hesitated for a moment, but I still decided to tell Mika about my feelings.

"Because Haruka's a very important friend of mine, and also......"

"And also?"

"......I......I think she's very cute. Whether it's her natural clumsiness or her strange hobby, I think she's really cute."

If I didn't feel this way, then I wouldn't have gotten into so many incidents in the two months after I found out about Haruka's secret (Breaking into the school at midnight, being ignored by all the members of Haruka's fan club etc)

"Onii-san......You're just like what I thought you would be like!"

Mika happily shouted as she hugged me tightly. The twin tails at the side of her head swished past my nose, bringing with it the same scent that Haruka has, probably pointing to the fact that they use the same shampoo. For a moment, I had the impression that the person in my lap was Haruka, and that......

Just at this moment......

"Sorry to keep you waiting."

The door opened with a click, announcing Haruka's return.

"The doggie's present has been prepared......Huh?"

"Ha......Haruka......"

Haruka walked in with a paper bag in her hands, her gaze coming to rest on Mika and I.

"Haruka, no, this is......"

This is the worst timing. Because from an objective point of view, it looks as though I'm the one who's hugging (or attacking) Mika.

"Mi......Mika! Say something!"

"Onii-san felt that I was too cute for words, so he suddenly hugged me. And then situation just continued as how such situations would continue, kya~"

Now's not the time to 'kya~'!

Not knowing what to do, my body stiffened like a husband caught in bed with a lover by his wife, but Haruka merely smiled.

"That's enough, Mika, you shouldn't trouble Yuuto-san anymore."

"Alright~!"

Mika let go of me as she gave a mischievious look, while Haruka continued smiling at Mika, what's going on?

"......Haruka, you're not angry?"

"Hmm? Why should I be angry?"

Haruka replied me confusedly, as though a question mark suddenly popped up in her head. It looks like she doesn't think that there was anything wrong with Mika hugging me......

For some unknown reason, I suddenly felt extremely sad.

"Onee-san's really slow about such things."

Mika latched onto my arm as she nodded knowingly.

"This is one of Onee-san's good points, as well as one of her bad points."

"?"

"Ah~ It's nothing if Onee-san doesn't understand. Onii-san, the most important thing is still......"

"Hmm?"

Mika turned her gaze from Haruka to me as she said with a serious expression on her face,

"I know that Onee-san frequently gets into accidents, but......no matter what happens, please take good care of her......Onii-san~! (This Onii-san is different from the other Onii-sans as Mika's calling Yuuto 'brother-in-law')

Is it just me, or did that last 'onii-san' sound a little different from the ones that came before it? Or did I hear wrongly? I must be be imagining things.

"Then......I'll see you tomorrow."

Haruka, who saw me to the door, said her goodbyes reluctantly.

"This is the leftover pudding that we had in the afternoon, and some other presents."

A hand-drawn hellhound looked at me with demented eyes beside the words 'For Doggie-san' on the package that Haruka gave me. Looks like the contents of this package must be something extremely valuable.

"Then......I'll see you to the train station......"

"Even though I'll really like that, but I don't think you need to. It's not a long way to the train station, so I'll be able to get there by myself."

I rejected Haruka's suggestion reluctantly since it's only ten minutes to the train station (while it took me twenty minutes to get to the entrance from the 'castle' in the Nogizaka residence)

"Onii-san, be careful on your way back!"

"Please come again soon."

Mika and Hazuki-san also came to see me off.

"Goodbye."

"I waved to the three of them before turning to walk towards the train station.

Just like that, I had a beautiful day.

Not only did I get to meet two interesting people, Hazuki-san and Mika, I also got much closer to Haruka. Although I got lost on my way to Haruka's home, jumped on from the back by that soundless maid, and also interrogated mercilessly by Mika, today was a beautiful day for me.

I hope that I'll have more days like this in the future.

What comes after this is not important to the story at all.

When I gave Haruka's present to the doggie-san in my home......

"Wow, this is delicious! The pudding's good, but the smoked meat is great to go together with Japanese sake. Although the taste is a little too light for my liking, but the person giving the present has been generous enough, so I'll probably be struck down by heaven if I complain anymore."

"......Smoked meat?"

So there was something like that in the package? Oh, right, Haruka mentioned something about other presents.

I suddenly had a bad feeling about the package! I peeked at the 'thing' beside my sister.

It was a paper bag that read 'High class beef jerky'. Only thing is......it also read 'for dogs'.

"......Argh!"

I was lucky that my drunk sister didn't notice as she happily stuffed the beef jerky into her mouth. And so I kept my eye on my sister as I quietly transferred the beef from the paper bag into another plastic bag before throwing the paper bag into the dustbin (to destroy any evidence). Because if my sister found out......she'll kill me.

"Hmm? What's wrong?"

"Ah,it's......it's nothing, it won't taste as nice if it gets wet, so I placed it in another bag."

"Oh, thank you."

After saying a rare 'thank you', my sister reached for the beef jerky again. Looks like she really likes the taste of this beef jerky (for dogs).

Oh well, it's not like she'll die from eating it. And I've also heard that recently, pet food is becoming even classier than human food, so I guess it won't be a problem right?

"......I think I'll go sleep now, you should sleep early!"

"Alright, I'll go sleep when I finish this bottle."

Just like that, I was able to leave the living room without getting killed.

In the end, the beef jerky (for dogs) that Haruka gave me that day, all went into Ruko's stomach.

<noinclude>
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|-
| Back to [[Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu:Volume1_Chapter2|Chapter 2]]
| Return to [[Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu:Volume1_Chapter4|Chapter 4]]
|-
|}
</noinclude>

Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu:Volume1 Chapter1

2010-12-29T19:29:12Z

3eee3: /* 5 */

===Chapter 1===
__NOTOC__
==1==
The lunch break on that day wasn't any different from the usual lunch breaks.

I was eating lunch and chatting with a few classmates whom I am close to (Nagai, Takenami, and Ogawa, more commonly known as the three idiots) in the 2-1 classroom of the private high school Hakujo Academy. The topic of conversation would probably induce suicidal thoughts in other people.

"That's why I think that the female sports uniform should have bloomers, anyone who wears [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bermuda_shorts Bermuda shorts] that reach down to the knees isn't human. Anyone who's opposed to this motion isn't a citizen of Japan."

"That's right, I think so too."

"You're absolutely right."

Ogawa and Takenami nodded their heads vigorously in agreement with Nagai's opinion.

"Yuuto, what do you think?"

"Hmm? Well, I'm alright with anything I guess."

I was really alright with anything that the girls wore, which was why I answered the way I did.

"Alright with anything? It's because of your sitting-on-the-fence attitude that Japan has been brought to its current state of affairs. You're always like this, not taking sides on anything."

"Ayase, that's what you are. You don't have your own opinion on anything, you always cross the bridge only when you bump into it. You'll be sorry one day if you continue like this."

"That's right, you can't carry on like this!"

The three of them took turns to take shots at me, but they were merely meddling in other people's affairs. I don't deny that I'm an irresponsible and insensitive guy (though it's rather embarrassing that I say that about myself), but even I don't want to hear such criticism from three guys who discuss bloomers with perfectly straight faces.

"Alright, let's do this! You can listen to our respective arguments before deciding which side you're on. We'll start with the visual impact of bloomers."

Gosh, they really are the 'three idiots'.

I sighed soundlessly while casually looking around the classroom. Everything was normal, students were eating their lunch while chatting with their friends, making up the familiar lunchtime scenery.

The spot in the classroom that attracted me the most was that seat next to the corridor. Because in the classroom that is so messy that it would make even the monkey enclosure look tidy, only that particular spot had a soothing and comforting aura around it.

Seated in that place, was a beautiful girl endowed with the nickname "Nuit Étoile".

She's my classmate, Nogizaka Haruka.

She had probably finished lunch already, as she leaned slightly backward and was concentrating on the book that she held in her left hand. The way she flipped the pages of her book with her fingers looked like a scene straight out of a painting. Colloquially, it means that she's too cute to be described. Or perhaps I should say that she's the very embodiment of a perfect and beautiful lady. Anyway, it seems as though all traces of corruption could be washed away just by looking at her.

[[Image:NHnH vol01 021.jpg|thumb]]

I stared, mesmerized, at Nogizaka Haruka with my mouth stuffed with bread (while completely ignoring the discussion between Nagai and the others). Yes, the psychological wound received a few moments ago had already been healed. The feeling of pure bliss would probably be something like this, right?

I immersed myself in the joy of watching her while fantasizing.

But after a few short minutes, this feeling of bliss was abruptly ended.

I heard a familiar voice coming from the other side of the corridor. It wasn't a very loud voice, but it would probably take up a lot of my time, since it's probably Nobunaga. I sighed soundlessly again; here comes another idiot.

"Is Yuuto here?"

Just as I expected, a familiar face appeared at the entrance of the classroom. He's a petite pretty boy with light brown hair whom others would mistake as a girl from afar. This fellow started shouting the moment he saw me.

"Ah! There you are! Yuuto, did you catch the anime that aired late last night? I recorded it as I watched because I feel that that's the best way to appreciate it."

The volume of his voice attracted some attention from the other students in class, but after everyone saw that it was from Nobunaga, they resumed whatever it was they were doing before immediately. I don't know how to put it, but anyway, my classmates have gotten used to his presence after he's been coming over to talk to me since the start of the school year.

"You didn't watch it? Yesterday's 「The Shy Triangle」 will air its last episode next week, and the climax of the entire series is when the good friend of the protagonist...Ah, the DVD seems to be going on sale soon, I'll definitely go and buy it, since it's going to be a limited edition and will come with a figurine of the protagonist 'Clumsy girl Aki-chan'..."

The guy who ran into my classroom and started talking about a topic that one would find it hard to associate with his appearance is Asakura Nobunaga. I've known him since kindergarten, which is why you could use the phrase 'hellish bonds of friendship' to describe our relationship, though he's still a good friend of mine, since he doesn't get me into any trouble. Honestly speaking, he's still quite a cheerful and sociable person, which is why he can strike up a conversation with almost anyone. His academic results are extremely good, with Physics and Mathematics being his best subjects. From his earlier actions, you can tell that his hobby is a rather extreme one, a form of otaku-ism...which is what we all know as the 'Akihabara clan'. The man whose name is a combination of the names of two imperial generals has a weak looking exterior and a hobby which neither fit the names of a warring general nor his appearance. In conclusion, he's a guy with complicated characteristics and is hard to place into any category.

"Yuuto, you've really missed out by not watching. This anime series was adapted from a manga, but its something like a tale prior to the story, explaining why the protagonist and his best friend turned against each other......"

"Ah------ I got that already!"

I had to do something to shut him up or he'll eat up my entire lunch break. I took this course of action precisely based on past experiences.

"It's not nice of you to be such a wet blanket when I was just getting into my rhythm!"

"It's not nice of you to suddenly run into someone else's classroom to spam him with your personal hobby!"

"Is that so? But doesn't everyone like to talk about these kind of things?"

"Please do not think that everyone is like you!"

"Hmm, but, you like these kind of things, don't you?"

"Don't I always say that I don't have any special inclination?"

I don't like it, but I don't hate it either. I don't agree with it, but I don't disagree with it either. This is my stance regarding this fellow, and the rest of the Akihabara clan. No, to be more precise, it's more of 'I don't really understand them'. In short, I'm still quite mystified regarding the age-old question of 'why are people at this age still so interested in cartoons', and even more surprisingly, I'm actually good friends with someone like this.

"Hmm...But I've always thought that you have the right attributes."

What kind of attributes?

"That's the highest level of praise that I'll give to anyone, you know. Hmm...let's not talk about this anymore. Yuuto, I've got big news for you!"

"Big news?"

I felt that what this fellow was going to say probably won't be anything serious and wholesome, but...

"I've been looking for a certain magazine all this while, haven't I? Our school's library finally bought this old issue! Our library's the best, I can import in any rare book that I want by just filling in an application form. The school can afford to buy all these books because of the extremely generous donations that they have been receiving. Their funds seem limitless. Money really makes the world go round indeed, yah~"

Nobunaga grinned widely as he babbled on and on about this big news.

Magazine? I seem to remember him asking me to help look for a magazine with an extremely strange name a while back. Looks like the school had approved his application form.

"......Wait a minute, did you fake an application form?"

I looked at him suspiciously.

"That's rude, I would never do something like that."

Nobunaga shook his head as he gave a "you're totally wrong" expression, and then answered with a perfectly straight face, "I merely threatened them."

That's even worse.

But that fellow completely ignored my reaction.

"「INNOCENT SMILE」 is an extremely famous magazine! The original manga of the anime that aired yesterday night was serialized in this magazine. It wasn't too long ago, so you probably should have some memory of it. It caused quite a stir when its first edition came out."

Just as Nobunaga went into his extremely long-winded debate mode, there was a huge noise in the classroom.

Our position was in the middle of the classroom, while the sound came from the opposite direction. To be more precise, it came from the second-last seat from the corridor, which was the place that held my attention before Nobunaga came in. From a certain perspective, that was the one place in class that would never be associated with loud and jarring noises.

But right now, Nogizaka-san was standing there with her eyes trained on the two of us, with a chair lying face-down, the source of that loud noise, beside her feet.

The classroom suddenly became extremely quiet. Nogizaka-san, who always wore an expression of peaceful serenity, now had a disturbed expression on her face.

"No...Nogizaka-san, what happened?"

"I...I don't know, we didn't do anything weird did we?"

"She seems to be looking at Ayase-kun..."

Murmurings were heard in the classroom.

Did we do something wrong?

Even though I felt that we hadn't done anything, the sharp gaze that Nogizaka-san threw at us was that of a policewoman who has just caught a molester in the act on a crowded train. Under a gaze of that nature, Nobunaga and I really looked like we had done something against the welfare of society, and the looks from the rest of the class seemed to ask the exact same question, 'What did the two of you do?'.

"Yuuto, what do we do? Everyone's looking at us."

"Ye......Yeah......"

I thought that the most probable reason would be that Nobunaga's voice was way too loud, disturbing Nogizaka-san's reading. Even though I was already used to it, Nobunaga's voice would naturally become extremely loud when he talked about his hobby. It wouldn't come as much of a surprise if that had disturbed Nogizaka-san.

Which would mean that we had really done something wrong. So we should probably apologize.

Under the watchful eyes of the rest of the class, I walked towards Nogizaka-san's seat.

"Erm......I'm sorry for disturbing you with our loud conversation."

I bowed deeply as an apology, Nogizaka-san then seemed to regain her usual expression.

"Ah, that's not it, you've misunderstood. I didn't mean to blame the two of you or anything, so you don't have to apologize to me."

"?"

But, weren't you glaring at the two of us just a few moments ago?

"It's nothing, so, it's nothing......I'm sorry for troubling everyone."

After saying that, Nogizaka-san politely bowed to the rest of the class as she righted her chair and sat down as though nothing had happened.

However, this left us extremely confused.

"What just happened?"

"I don't know...... Wasn't it because of the noise you were making?"

"I'm not noisy!"

I ignored Nobunaga's contradictory loud shout to defend his stance that he's not loud, but instead I stared at Nogizaka-san like someone who had been played around with by a fox spirit. On the regal face of the "Nuit Étoile", a trace of uneasiness could still be seen... there has to be some reason for that.

Deviating from the topic at hand, from the time when Nobunaga rushed into the classroom to when Nogizaka stared at us, Nagai and the other two were still heatedly debating on the topic of bloomers. Was that due to concentration, or just plain stupidity?

I think the correct answer should be the latter.

Actually, I didn't really care if they're idiots or not.

The fifth and sixth periods ended without incident. After class had ended, I walked towards the library only because that Nobunaga told me......

"Yuuto, I'm really sorry, but could you help me return this book to the library? Since you're free after school anyway, while I have to rush back to finish the map for WonFes--"

......Geez! I don't know what Wan Wan Fes. (Could it be a festival for dogs? But I recall that guy having a cat instead...). If it's like this, then he should have just returned it yesterday! But thoughts are just thoughts, and I agreed to help him, as he had often helped me out before (like him lending me textbooks when I forgot mine: helping me to repair my computer when it broke down......etc), oh well, I really had nothing to do after school anyway.

And this was why I came to the library, a place where I would normally almost never set foot in.

It was said that the rate of usage for our library was unbelievably low, because, the number of people, including yours truly, who've actually used the library could be counted on one hand. To increase the rate of usage of the library, the school even set up an electronic lending system, renovated the library to be an extremely comfortable place for reading, and had bought books of all genres. But to the modern generation of children who're far disposed from printed products, all these measures were for naught, as nothing had changed. But I have not used the library for anything other than for afternoon naps, so who am I to really say anything.

Anyway, because of the pitiful number of users, I shouldn't need much time to return a book.

I walked towards the computer terminal and started to tap the keyboard. One has to use the computer to borrow or return books, which was rather tedious (Nobunaga said that once you get used to it, computers would definitely be faster than human processing). Oh well, if I felt that something as simple as this was tedious, then I probably won't be able to survive in modern society. The man who doesn't work does not get to eat. I entered the reference code of the book and my student identification number......OK, that's it. I only have to return the book to its place on the shelf. (By the way, the title of the book is 「Pretty Girl Models Collection III --- The History of Ball Joints」. Our school really does buy everything). Mission accomplished, I can go home now.

Just as I was about to walk towards the exit.

"..."

I spotted a suspicious character.

How should I put this? Mm, it is an extremely suspicious character indeed.

Because this person is hiding her face with her schoolbag while attempting to move stealthily behind the bookshelves like a ninja or assassin, and its a female student to boot. Thus if this is not strange, then what is (sarcasm)... What is with that person? She seems to want to conceal her movements, but isn't this making it worse, and attracting more attention instead? Or, could it be that she actually wanted attention instead?

In any case, it would be better not to come into contact with someone like that. Troubles come about from the mouth, as long as you are not overly curious, even the cat could suffer an unexplained death. Just as I decided to pretend not to see anything and tried to get out of the library---

I saw the face of the suspicious character behind the bookshelf.

At that moment, I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me.

I thought I was hallucinating due to my brain's rejection reaction towards this library that I almost never step into.

"......"

Why would I think that way?

Because I was extremely familiar with that face.

"That's......"

Nogizaka-san?

As unbelievable as it sounds, that suspicious person really was Nogizaka Haruka. I would never miss that beautiful face of hers even if I was a mile away. But, why was she behaving so strangely?

I was bursting with questions, but Nogizaka-san didn't notice me as she ambled up to the computer terminal beside me, with the air of a 15-year old girl who's preparing to steal a motorcycle in the middle of the night, and began to type. I saw a magazine beside her, so she was probably planning to borrow it.

Tap, tap, I heard the sound of fingers on the keyboard.

She had probably finished borrowing the book, as Nogizaka-san lifted her head from the terminal with the smile of a German expert. Just as she prepared to walk towards the exit......

Our eyes met.

"..."

"..."

At that moment, time stopped.

"..."

"..."

"...Erm...What brings you here?"

That was what I wanted to ask her, but it wasn't surprising that Nogizaka-san would look at me as though she was looking at that legendary giant monster Uma, because the probability of meeting me in the library was lower than meeting a yeti.

"Since when have you been standing here?"

"For a while now."

"You...You saw it?"

"?"

Saw what?

"You...You saw the book that I borrowed..."

"No, I didn't see it..."

"Oh, is that so? Hoo!"

Nogizaka-san's expression was reminiscent of a middle-aged manager who just found out that he wasn't on the list of retrenched personnel. What's happening?

"?"

"Ah! It...It's nothing, Ayase-kun, please don't think about it, I'll be going now."

Nogizaka-san hurriedly nodded to me as she strode towards the exit. Maybe because she was disturbed by my presence, but she totally didn't notice that she was walking towards a reading table and chair set.

"Ah...Nogizaka-san, that's......"

"Hiiee!?"

And then!

Smash!

In the midst of the noise of falling furniture, Nogizaka-san, who'd tripped over a chair, fell onto her back. This was a breathtaking set of actions that one would be hard-pressed to produce.

"Ou...Ouch! Why would there be a chair here..."

Things were becoming stranger, those chairs have always been there, and the serenely-peaceful Nogizaka-san would actually do something out of character. Just what was happening? Perhaps this was what "even the most complete strategy could fail" was referring to?

Whatever the case, I couldn't possibly just leave her there, so I helped Nogizaka-san up. From a certain perspective, Nogizaka-san probably brought it upon herself! But it would have been ungentlemanly of me not to help a girl who has just fallen down in front of you (especially if that girl is Nogizaka Haruka), and I have a National Gentlemanly Conduct Grade 2 certificate......Even though I just made that up myself.

"Ah......Thank you! I'm so sorry!"

After helping up the almond-eyed Nogizaka-san, I turned my eyes to her personal belongings that were scattered all over the place.

It was really a mess, but just as I was going to help her pick up her things...

"No...You can't!"

That scream was unbelievably loud, the kind that you hear when a bedroom scene suddenly shows on the T.V. when you're eating with your family. I can't? What does she mean? Is she saying that I'm not allowed to touch her personal things with my dirty hands......? No, I don't think Nogizaka-san would think that way.

"?"

Although I didn't know why Nogizaka-san wanted to stop me, I still reached out to help her pick up the magazine.

"No, don't do it!"

Nogizaka-san reached out towards the magazine at my feet like a depraved bandit.

But...

"Ah?"

On the path of her trajectory, there was a mathematics notebook!

"Ah? This...!?"

She stepped onto that notebook with one hundred percent accuracy!!

"Ehhhhhhh!?"

The foot that had all the force of her body weight behind it, was set free from its contact with the ground by virtue of the friction (or lack thereof) between the notebook and the floor of the library!

"Kyaaaaaa!"

And then, her body flew into the air, while directly in front of her......was a bookshelf.

Smash! Boom!

In the midst of an even louder crash, the bookshelf toppled over from Nogizaka-san's spinning attack. And then, the toppled shelf hit the one beside it, and the one beside it toppled over onto another shelf......the bookshelves toppled one by one like dominoes.

In the space of a few short seconds, all the bookshelves had toppled over.

"..."

In a mere instant, the library had become ground zero.

Erm......

What just happened? I frantically tried to piece together the chronology of events.

What I see now is a library floor that's completely covered with books, making it look like a library from hell, and Nogizaka-san, who's never gotten into a fight her whole life, but had boldly smashed her way towards the bookshelf, plus her personal belongings that were spread out all over the floor.

What am I doing here?

Though I had blanked out for a moment there, I suddenly remembered what I was doing when I looked at all the things on the floor. That's right, I was trying to help Nogizaka-san pick up her personal belongings.

Nogizaka-san didn't seem to be hurt, so I wanted to help her pick everything up. And the first book that I picked up was that magazine by my feet!!!

---I finally found out the reason behind Nogizaka-san's panic.

"..."

"..."

There was an anime-style picture with a girl who had hair the color of the sky, something that could never be achieved through natural genetic inheritance, and a pair of biologically impossible large and sparkling eyes. The girl was smiling as she grabbed the hem of her skirt lightly with her fingers.

Below the picture was an overly photoshopped caption which read 「INNOCENT SMILE」 in bold and think yellow letters.

"This..."

I was speechless for a moment. This...was definitely the magazine that Nobunaga was talking about. But, why would Nogizaka-san want to borrow this book...

I had no time to continue my line of thought before a surprising voice entered my ears.

"Sob...sob...I've been seen, I've been seen!"

I only realized that the situation was serious when I saw that it was the sound of Nogizaka-san crying.

Due to the commotion, a few students from the art room had already gathered at the library.

"It's all over......sob..."

Nogizaka-san was still crying.

Actually, in this kind of situation, I felt that I should be the one that it was 'all over' for.

The stares from the surrounding students were sharp and piercing, turning the library into a much more dangerous place. Though there were only four or five students from the art room at the scene, their looks made me feel like I was the kind of contemptible man who extorted money from his girlfriend until she couldn't take it anymore and wanted a break-up, whereupon I bullied her until she cried. That kind of look was extremely uncomfortable to bear.

"What's happening? Aren't those two dating? -whisper whisper-"

"They are? But the guy looks like he doesn't really care about what's happening? -whisper whisper-"

"Was he the one who pushed down all the bookshelves? -whisper whisper-"

"Isn't he Ayase-kun of class 1? -whisper whisper-"

Listening to the contents of the whisperings, the only bright spot was that they hadn't realized that the crying girl was Nogizaka Haruka.

"The girl must have been begging him not to abandon her when he pushed her into the bookshelves."

"How could he! That's despicable!"

"Enemy of all women!"

"Detestable man!"

They were really going overboard here.

But from an objective point of view, it really did look like I had made Nogizaka-san cry, because that was practically the only possibility that could be inferred from the situation in the library, so I couldn't really blame the whispering students either.

In a nutshell, one thing was certain.

And that was, if I continued to stay at the scene of the crime, my bad reputation would be the talk of the entire school by tomorrow morning.

That's why...

With reference to the wisdom passed down by our ancestors, it was time to make a retreat! Therefore I picked up the stuff scattered all over the floor at breakneck speed, grabbed the hand of Nogizaka-san, who was still crying, and ran for our dear lives!! In truth...

We really were running for our lives!! From the library that is. From behind us...

"Ah! They've escaped!"

"He's kidnapping her?"

"They're eloping?"

"It should be the former, it's obvious that it's the former."

Those few lines were slightly better. But, why must they see me as the villain? I haven't done anything wrong.

Even I felt like crying, but when compared to a woman's tears that are like pearls, a man's tears are merely salt water. Other than the ability to melt slugs, salt water was practically useless.

But...why did it turn out like this?

I sighed deeply as I tried to look for a place where we wouldn't be seen. My feelings right now were heavier than a meat-cow that was being sent to the slaughterhouse.

Because of this...

I, who had been accused of breaking the law and of being a detestable man, finally made it out of the library with Nogizaka-san in tow, coming to a stop on the roof of the school. To someone without an exceptional  brain like me, this was the only place I could think of which could let us talk in peace and not be seen.

Nogizaka-san had already stopped crying...but right now, she still wore a blank expression as her shoulders continued to shiver, giving an impression that was completely different from the perfect 'Nuit Étoile', as she appeared to be infinitely delicate. I had never noticed that Nogizaka-san was actually so petite.

There was only one reason behind Nogizaka-san's panic.

And that was the copy of 「INNOCENT SMILE」 that I held in my left hand.

Because everything happened so fast, I had no time to organize my thoughts. But after calming down and thinking about it, I understood why she was in such a panic.

Which is to say...

"Nogizaka-san...You're an otaku..."

Nogizaka-san gave a start at my words. Bingo! Looks like I was right!

Which means that the incident at lunch break was only her reaction to Nobunaga's reference to 「INNOCENT SMILE」. But no, now is not the time to be analyzing her actions calmly.

Nogizaka-san was extremely depressed.

Looks like Nogizaka-san was extremely bothered by the fact that someone knew that she was an otaku, but it was indeed extremely surprising.

Normal people would be more condemning with regards to the different hobbies of a small group of people, but there were so many of such things in Nobunaga's room that it made you want to vomit (literally), so I don't really mind these kind of things.

"Erm, Nogizaka-san..."

I decided to move on.

"...Mm?"

A flash of fear suddenly cut across Nogizaka-san's dull-looking eyes.

"Erm...I've already forgotten everything that I saw today."

"Huh?"

Nogizaka-san, who was looking like a wilted flower, finally perked up a little.

"I'm not saying that I don't care about you......but you seem to be extremely disturbed about this incident, right? So I'll forget everything that has happened today, I won't tell anyone about this, and I won't mention it in front of you either, so you don't need to worry."

"..."

After listening to my long sentence, Nogizaka-san had a stunned expression on her face, looking like a deer that was going to be shot by a hunter. Did I say anything weird?

"..."

For a while, Nogizaka-san stopped moving. Hmm...this looks bad, and it could become even worse if I don't try to cheer her up. Just as I started to think of ways to do that...

"Ayase-kun, please do not take me for an idiot, and please do not look at me with such a strange gaze."

Nogizaka-san spoke.

"Strange gaze? What do you mean?"

"Well......Because......most people are openly disapproving of this kind of hobby. So..."

Maybe she had thought of something, which was why Nogizaka-san would say this kind of thing. Openly disapproving? Though there was some truth in that, but...

"I understand what you're trying to say, but...even if you have that kind of hobby, a normal person is still a normal person, a strange person is still a strange person. That's why I don't believe in judging a person by their hobbies."

Nobunaga is the best example. He's the perfect embodiment of an otaku, and though he is a bit...strange, he's definitely not a bad person, or I wouldn't have been his best friend for more than ten years.

"But...But..."

Nogizaka-san still had a worried look on her face. Hmm...How should I explain this?

"What I mean is, even if you have this kind of hobby, you're still you, right? That won't change, so you don't have to think about it so much."

"I'm...still myself?"

Nogizaka-san stuttered a reply.

"That's right! To be honest, being an otaku is just another hobby. In the end, I just think that it's an accompanying gift of a person's character. Because the nature of that gift differs from one person to the next, it's merely a small part of a person's character. A person's most important part shouldn't be here, should it? And..."

"...And what?"

"Hmm...I don't really know how to say this. But when I found out that you have a side that no one else knows about, I felt that it was really interesting..."

"Huh..."

"Or maybe I should say that I feel that I've gotten a little closer to you, so I'm happy..."

Nogizaka-san's face was beet-red.

Although my words seemed to be nonchalant, it was a true reflection of my feelings.

But Nogizaka-san seemed to be seriously listening to my words.

"You're probably the first person to say this to me."

Probably? If not for this chance encounter, I didn't think I'd say something like this to the 'Nuit Étoile' either.

"Anyway, that's how it is, so I don't think you need to be too bothered by it."

Seeing that Nogizaka-san had calmed down, I passed the magazine to her, patted her lightly on the shoulder, and left the roof of the school building. I walked down the stairs, changed shoes at the lobby, and walked out of the school gate, finally able to move freely again.

I lectured Nogizaka Haruka.

I actually lectured Nogizaka-san with a mountain of extremely weird talk. Something which I really regret doing now, because I actually lectured a classmate with whom I had barely exchanged two sentences with before. Looks like I'm the weird one here. But it was all over now, and there was no point thinking about how I regret doing it.

In conclusion, my relationship with Nogizaka Haruka should probably stop here shouldn't it?

No matter how you look at it, she's the prettiest girl in school, she's an extremely smart girl with brilliant academic results, and also the daughter of one of the wealthiest families in Japan, while I'm an average common citizen. Even if I do know that Nogizaka-san has her panicky moments, even if that has brought me closer to her, to be honest, we're still two people from completely different worlds. Today's incident was merely an accidental crossing of two parallel lines.

At least, that was what I had thought at that time.

==2==

Over the next few days, nothing of particular importance happened.

Nogizaka-san was still the school's most unattainable girl, while I continued to stumble through school. Rushing into class before the first bell rang, fighting against the sleep demon during lessons, chatting with Nagai and the others for a few minutes after lessons, either going to the arcade or listening to Nobunaga's endless fountain of otaku knowledge after school. I didn't have any goal in life, and I've never had a lifelong dream either. Though my everyday life was boring, it was extremely stable; it was the average life that I loved.

But within these unchanging days, I realized that one thing had changed.

And that was...

From that day onwards, the times which my gaze settled on Nogizaka-san has increased. In the classroom, I suddenly realized that I was staring at her. Hmm...Just what is happening?

"About that, I think that's called love."

"Argh!?"

Nobunaga's idiotic face suddenly appeared from the side.

"Yo! Yuuto! Let's eat lunch together!"

"When...When did you get here?"

I didn't feel his presence at all.

"Heh heh, stealth is one of my 48 special abilities!"

I've known this fellow for more than ten years, and still do not know everything about him...oh well, its not like I want to anyway.

Going back to the main topic.

"Love? Nobunaga, what do you mean?"

"Gaining and losing, unable to differentiate between what's true and what's not, that's a person in love."

I know that, but my situation's not like that.

"I would advise you not to have any ideas about the 'Nuit Étoile'."

Nobunaga ignored my response as he pulled up a chair from a neighboring table to sit in front of me while he began to speak.

"How should I put this...For someone like you, she's in another league. Hmm...it's just that your social statuses are different!"

"Hmm."

"Yuuto, I don't think you know this, but in the time span of a little more than a year that she has entered this school, the number of people who have confessed their love for the 'Nuit Étoile' was, 94 people in total, 78 guys and 16 girls, about 20% of our school's population, while the number of people who have been rejected was also 94, which means that there is a 100% chance of getting rejected. An extremely scary statistic isn't it!"

My god...I know that Nogizaka-san was popular, but 16 girls? What's the meaning of that? Girls! And why would this guy have such detailed information on his hands?

"This kind of information gathering is one of the mandatory skills required of the modern man. I could also tell you the basic personal information of the 'Nuit Étoile', hmm...Nogizaka Haruka, 16 years-old, born on the 20th of October, 155cm tall, excels at every subject, does not have a weak subject, has a grandfather, her parents, and a sister that's 3 years her junior in her immediate family..."

Nobunaga read off a notebook-like contraption that he fished out of his pocket...when did he become a stalker?

"Hey, don't look at me like I'm some kind of pervert, that's really rude of you! I'm not interested in real-life girls, for 2D girls are better, the most special of them being the cat-maid with a tail......"

I didn't even ask him about that kind of thing, as even if I were to retort, it would be obvious that we were on a different wavelength.

"And in such an information-laden time, anyone would be able to find out such information. This is a digitalized society, though there's a law regarding the protection of personal privacy, as long as one has the will, it's extremely easy to extract such information. Just tell me if you need information regarding other people. I know just about everything about everyone in school."

Nobunaga told me as he smiled generously.

...This person's dangerous! I've got to avoid having him as my enemy!

"This is just my personal opinion! It's lamentable, but if you were to attempt to woo the 'Nuit Étoile', I think your chance of failure is 99.9%. According to my sources, even the basketball team captain, Sasaoka-senpai, was one of the rejected. He's actually a man-made hunk who had gone for plastic surgery, so if even someone like him got rejected, you..."

"...Don't look at me with that glimmer of pity in your eyes!"

"No, I'm not saying that you're not good or anything, it's just that you've chosen the hardest opponent of all. I just wanted to warn you that the 'Nuit Étoile' is the strongest opponent in our school."

Nobunaga shrugged as he smiled,

"But, no matter what you decide to do, I'll support you since we're childhood friends."

It's really disgusting to be described as 'childhood friends' by another guy. No, that's not the point.

"...I've never thought of wooing Nogizaka-san."

"Really?"

What are you so suspicious about! I've never told anyone about this from the start.

"Since you said it, let's not talk about this anymore. But, have you heard this phrase before?"

Nobunaga had a wise expression on his face as he continued,

" 'To start to care is to start to fall in love!' BY Asakura Nobunaga."

Just where did he get that from! I've never heard that!

I don't know if it was the influence of Nobunaga's words, but the frequency with which I looked at Nogizaka-san actually increased after that conversation. During lessons, after lessons, after school, as long as I had the chance, I would look for her. This is bad, I seem to have contracted some serious disease.

A few more days passed after that.

This incident happened one morning two weeks after that day.

==3==
"We're going to conduct a check on personal belongings now, so please take out everything from your bag!"

The form teacher's, Tanabe Shigeo (38 years-old, male, single), words caused a stir in the classroom. While it was a mandatory check, it was understandable that the students were still unhappy about it.

"Be quiet! I'll be checking the guys, while Kamishiro-sensei will be checking the girls."

Kamishiro-sensei is our assistant-form teacher, and a light music teacher who had only just graduated from an all-girls university last year. She didn't put on any airs, was well-liked by her students, and was also extremely pretty. She's pretty, cute, and her figure's......Hmm? I seem to have deviated from the main topic.

Speaking of which, I immediately thought of one thing when I heard that there was going to be a check.

It can't be that much of a coincidence can it? Nogizaka-san can't be holding that book right now, right?

The time limit for borrowing a book from our school library was two weeks. If she had really held the book until the last day, then she would have to return it today. No, she can't be that unlucky!!

I nonchalantly looked behind me, and saw that Nogizaka-san's face had gone ashen, looking as though she was the victim of a murder.

....Ah, she must be holding the book right now.

"Please endure the check for a while more, it's finishing soon."

As per the instructions of Kamishiro-sensei, the female students began to place their personal belongings on their desks, as Nogizaka-san could only do the same with a helpless look in her eyes. I seemed to have caught a glimpse of the magazine that I had seen two weeks ago hidden among the textbooks and music scores on her table.

What should I do?

I thought about it, and I shouldn't do anything, since it's not like I'm not obliged to help her or anything.

But...

The image of Nogizaka-san crying from two weeks ago suddenly flashed across my mind. Even though I've already seen her uncontrollable sobbing, if that were to repeat itself in front of the entire class, just what kind of situation would it result in? Hmm...I didn't even dare to imagine it, but I know that it wouldn't be pretty for the pampered daughter of a wealthy family like Nogizaka-san to react to this kind of sudden event. She probably wouldn't even know what to do.

Was there really no way around it? No matter if it was a mud boat or the Titanic, she had already boarded the vessel, so I should be doing something to help her. But just as I realized that the opponent was Kamishiro-sensei, I couldn't think of any plan of attack. Two negatives make a positive, there must be a way, I can't miss this opportunity!

God, why is my brain so slow to react in the morning!

I raised my hand to speak.

"I...My stomach really hurts, may I make a trip to the washroom?"

"What's wrong? Did you eat too much for breakfast? Never mind, since you've passed the check already, you may go."

The 38 year-old Tanabe Shigeo obnoxiously said something which implied that he didn't care about his students at all. As he made his way around the desks of his students, I thought that the reason behind the fact that he still hasn't gotten married was due to his character...Oh well, it's not like it's any business of mine. I pretended to be in pain as I slanted my body while walking towards the exit of the classroom, passing by Nogizaka-san's seat in the process.

"I'm sorry."

"Huh?"

After saying that to Nogizaka-san, who was on the verge of tears, I pretended to trip on a bag on the floor as I deliberately fell towards her table.

"Eh? Ah!"

The table fell over as the textbooks, scores and other stuff that were on it flew onto the floor as well. Together with Nogizaka-san's low scream, her surroundings descended into chaos.

"Nogizaka-san, are you alright?"

"Ayase, get lost!"

"All you do is to get in the way of others! You better get away from Nogizaka-san this instant!"

My classmates started shouting at me from all corners of the classroom. How could it be that not even one of them cared about my condition?

"Ayase-kun. What are you doing!?"

Kamishiro-sensei walked over. She probably didn't see it.

"Sorry, I was trying to get to the washroom as soon as possible when I tripped."

"You're always so rash. Alright, just carry on and leave this to me."

"Sorry to trouble you."

I nodded towards Kamishiro-sensei, who had a conspiratorial smile on her face, and hurried out of the classroom.

I walked along the corridor to the washroom, clutching my stomach with one hand.

There shouldn't be a stalker hiding in the men's toilet right now, but for the sake of secrecy, I confirmed that there wasn't anyone else in the washroom before taking out a rectangular object from the inside of my uniform. No prizes for guessing the correct answer, of course it was the 「INNOCENT SMILE」. The blue-haired girl on the cover was still smiling happily. Phew, at least I successfully smuggled it out!

"This is..."

Just as I was congratulating myself, I suddenly realized that there was something else beneath the magazine, an expensive-looking green book. This is a book of musical scores, one of those that was on Nogizaka-san's table. Looks like in my hurry to smuggle the magazine out of the classroom, I had taken something else out along with it.

"Composed by Franz Liszt. Erster Mephisto-Walzer No. 1, S514"

Such a resounding name for a piece. The Waltz of Mephisto. I flipped the book open, only to find that its interior was covered with musical symbols which I didn't understand. Wow.

She's too brilliant! I don't know anything about playing the piano. But in that moment, I already knew that this wasn't a piece that an average high school student could play. Which was why I could only stand there in awe of Nogizaka-san's piano prowess.

I carefully closed the thick score that once again reminded me of how perfect Nogizaka-san is.

At that moment, something strange loomed up in the corner of my vision.

"..."

This is a drawing right? A horrific-looking villain with the eyes of a bloodthirsty bear was drawn in one corner of the piano score. He was holding a conductor's baton in one hand, while in a speech bubble beside him contained, 'please remember not to play at too fast a tempo at this part♪', written in pink ink. In the stark contrast between the picture and the contents of the speech bubble, the reminder appeared to be extremely impish.

But the bear really wasn't drawn very nicely, as it also looked like a man-eating wolf, or a large bloodhound, or a failed clone of Godzilla. As for the object that it held in its hand, it looked like a saber, a police baton, or even an ill-designed lightsaber.

To be honest, that drawing was extremely bad. So bad that a kindergarten kid with a little bit of talent in the arts would be able to draw something better.

"...I'll just pretend that I didn't see it!"

After mulling it over, I felt that this was the wisest course of action. There are a lot of things in the world that are best left hidden and not known to mankind. See no evil.

After looking at it for a while more, I quietly closed the score.

After school, Kamishiro-sensei called me to the office.

She seemed to have seen through my act in the morning.

"You hid something at that time didn't you?"

Kamishiro-sensei crossed her legs in a way that would desolate the eyes of innocent youths as she asked. Against this sort of opponent, that the ill-conceived trick would be seen through shouldn't be much of a surprise. So I thought about how best to answer the question.

"Hmm...I admit that I hid something, but I assure you, it wasn't anything contraband. It was an object that would bring great distress to a teenage girl, which was why I took such a drastic and rash measure to solve the problem."

I just gave an answer that even I didn't understand, but Kamishiro-sensei gave a devilish smile as though I just sold my soul to her.

"I believe you. You were trying to protect Haruka, right?"

"No, about this..."

"Am I wrong?"

"Ugh..."

It seems like...she's seen through everything. It's true that aged ginger is more pungent, so I should just keep my mouth shut for now.

"Alright you don't have to give me the details, so let's just put this matter behind us. Mm...it must be nice to be young and so full of energy. The exuberant youthfulness of the E generation, if only I was five years younger!"

Kamishiro-sensei's eyes sparkled with an unearthly light, she seemed to be rather happy. Though she seemed to have misunderstood something, but any attempts to explain the situation would probably fall on deaf ears, so I decided not to act rashly.

"It's true that one should experience every type of situation while one's still young, like dating two girls at once or a triangular relationship, anything goes! If you don't play your cards properly, you could even get into a 6-way relationship..."

And this was how I spent the next five minutes.

After Kamishiro-sensei finally snapped out of her own world, she uncrossed and crossed her legs again before continuing our conversation.

"Hmm, I don't have anything else to say to you, you can go now...Ah, wait a moment, I remembered something. Yuu-chan, do you know where my cellphone is? I lost it after I went to borrow some music scores during lunch break."

"How would I know the location of your cellphone..."

"Really? Actually, I was thinking that you had hidden it! Good boys also have times when they want to play bad, it's the special psychology of teenage boys..."

"I categorically deny that."

"If you say it so seriously, onee-san will be sad you know..."

"..."

I retorted softly.

"Ah, such a cruel retort, but I'm not bluffing...I really forgot where I put it, it's really strange. Oh well, I'll just continue looking for it, I'll think of something else if I really can't find it."

"You really do know how to act blur..."

Though I'm hardly one to say that, but,

"Really? Hmm! Haruka and you...To be honest, the two of you are a surprising couple."

"No, we're not dating..."

I retorted immediately, she really had misunderstood our relationship.

"It's alright, there's no point hiding it, onee-chan knows everything already."

[[Image:NHnH vol01 060.jpg|thumb]]

"It's not a question of hiding it or not...she's the 'Nuit Étoile'! I'm not good enough for her, so this is all just a misunderstanding."

However.

"An inter-caste love relationship! So touching..."

God, this person isn't absorbing anything I'm telling her.

"...You haven't changed one bit, Yukari."

As expected of my sister's friend, for people who aren't dense enough will never be able to make friends with my sister...But why am I surrounded by such dense people! Nobunaga, the three idiots, Yukari, and my sister. Is this what they call 'birds of a feather flock together'? I really don't want to go down that line of thought.

"Hey, please call me Kamishiro-sensei when in school."

In that moment, I remembered that I had the habit of calling other people by their given names.

"I'm alright with anything, Sen---sei."

Under the influence of the pleading brown-colored eyes of Kamishiro-sensei, I lost the power to retort. Oh well, since this incident's over, I can go back to the classroom. But just as I prepared to walk back to my classroom, Yukari suddenly put on an expression that middle-aged obasan's have when they're preparing to sexually harass their female colleagues and happily told me,

"Saito-sensei's out on official business today, and the bed in the infirmary is empty! Work hard! Young man!"

I just walked out of the teacher's office when I saw Nogizaka-san standing there.

She stood there quietly, like the only lily in a garden full of tulips, though a little conservative, but still different from the rest.

"Ah..."

Nogizaka-san fiddled with her white hairband when she saw me as she stepped forward, looking as though she had something to say.

She stood there for a while before finally making up her mind,

"Umm...Ayase-kun..."

Her pink lips parted to say something, but...

"Ah! Isn't that the 'Nuit Étoile'?"

A voice rudely interrupted her.

"Where?"

"Look! There!"

On the other end of the corridor, there were a few guys who were pointing in our direction and talking among themselves.

"It's true, and some guy is trying to flirt with her."

"What!? A guy?"

One of the guys gave a murderous shout.

To be honest, after so much had happened, I had almost forgotten that Nogizaka-san was a famous person in school. A famous person like her talking face to face with a serious-looking guy (me) outside the teacher's office was extremely noticeable.

"What!? The 'Nuit Étoile'?"

"And a guy?"

"What's the matter? Just what is happening?'

Other than the loud voices of the group of guys, even the other students who were passing by had stopped and were looking at us curiously, some even moving closer to get a better look. In a few moments, the two of us had been completely surrounded by people.

Hmm...

The popularity of the 'Nuit Étoile' was extremely scary, so much so that we couldn't even hold a conversation in peace in public.

For the first time in my life, I realized that personal privacy was actually so worthless and meaningless. Though it's not my place to give out such lamentations,

Because 120% of those guys' interest was on Nogizaka-san and not on me.

Just as I was thinking about that, more and more people started to arrive. I looked around me...about twenty or even thirty people had already gathered, just where did all these people come from?

Anyway, it would be suicide to continue staying here. Under the watchful eyes of so many people, we won't be able to speak to each other properly.

Since it has come down to this, there was only one way of resolving this.

"Nogizaka-san, let's go."

"Ah?"

I pulled Nogizaka-san, who had a dazed expression on her face like a duckling who has just been born, away from the scene. It's so strange! Why am I always running whenever I'm together with Nogizaka-san?

"Hey, that fellow actually dared to flirtatiously drag the 'Nuit Étoile' by her hand!"

"What!? By her hand?"

Just as we ran through the layers of human walls around us to escape, angry shouts sounded from the surrounding crowd.

"Damn! Don't run away!"

"Unforgivable..."

"Damn it, I've remembered his face! The next time I see him, I'll tie him up and hang him upside down from the roof!"

My god, those are such extreme words, I even started to hallucinate, as I thought I saw a group of people putting on red headbands that read 'Protect Haruka-sama~ The Nuit Étoile Protection Force~'.

......Those should be the hallucinations generated by my own mind.

Once again, we came to the rooftop.

The only difference was that this time, Nogizaka-san wasn't the one crying, though I felt like I was going to. Looks like the legendary secret fan club really exists, I should get Nobunaga to dig up some information on them. I do not want to be the public enemy number one of these people, for if I don't take the appropriate actions, I might really be hung upside down from the rooftop.

As I thought about the fanclub members, all of whom had looked at me murderously, I felt extremely depressed.

I finally understood the extent of Nogizaka-san's popularity. It was rumored that Nogizaka-san's fan club membership was a three digit value, and it looked to be true. In the context of our school population, a three digit value would be equal to roughly a quarter of the entire school population. In other words (including girls), of every four students in our school, one is a supporter of Nogizaka-san. That's a bit too terrifying isn't it?

Nogizaka-san was panting loudly beside me due to fatigue, which wasn't a surprise, given the long distance that we ran to get here.

After Nogizaka-san's breathing had become more even, I opened my mouth to speak.

"Did......Did you have something to say to me?"

Actually I could already guess what Nogizaka-san would want to say.

"Yes I do, about this morning's incident......"

After she stopped panting, Nogizaka-san finally lifted up her head.

As I expected! That would be the only reason why Nogizaka-san would come looking for me.

Even though it's a bit sad to say that, but......

"Ah, I'm really sorry for lunging at you so suddenly in the morning."

As I said that, Nogizaka-san became a little nervous.

"Eh? That......That was very nice......No! It wasn't nice, but......"

So was it nice or was it not nice?

Nogizaka-san suddenly lowered her head like a dove, her slightly messy hair moving along with the movement of her head. At this point in time, the soft and silky fragrance of her hair was blown over.

"I'm really grateful to you. That time.....You were helping me, weren't you?"

"It's nothing!"

You could say that I was helping her, or you could say that I just couldn't leave her like that, because I know Nogizaka-san's secret!

Nogizaka-san giggled.

"Ayase-kun, you're a really nice guy."

"Nice guy..."

Normally, by saying that the guy is a nice guy, the girl usually means 'you're a hopeless nice guy', so it wasn't anything to be happy about. But since it came from Nogizaka-san, she probably doesn't mean it that way!

"Anyway, I want to thank you for helping me. I'm grateful for you helping me keep the fact that I borrowed the 「INNOCENT SMILE」 a secret...And I'm really sorry......Because of me, you got called to the teacher's office."

She bowed her head in apology again.

"It's nothing, don't think too much about it. It was Kamishiro-sensei who called me to the office, so it's nothing!"

"But..."

"It's alright, I wasn't scolded or anything!"

Finally convinced after my repeated explanations, Nogizaka-san finally raised her head again.

"Ayase-kun, thank you for all your help."

Nogizaka-san gave me a shy smile. Hmm......If she continues in this vein, I'll start to feel embarrassed too.

Which was why I decided to change the topic.

"Oh right, I gotta return this to you."

After checking to make sure that no one was around, I took out 「INNOCENT SMILE」 and the music score.

"Ah, Ayase-kun, you even took away the music score."

"I used too much force when I was trying to hide 「INNOCENT SMILE」! This piece of music looks really difficult, are you able to play it?"

I asked Nogizaka-san who was for an instant slightly embarrassed.

"Yes... it's the piece I'm currently practicing, so I'm almost able to play the entire piece."

I nodded. So she can play it after all. As the name of the piece, 「The Waltz of Mephisto」 suggests, this wasn't a piece that normal people would be able to play, but she could.

Just as I was filled with awe at her piano prowess, Nogizaka-san suddenly thought of something, and abruptly looked up at me...

"So......could it be that you looked inside?"

Nogizaka-san's voice carried a tinge of uneasiness, as though saying that I saw something.

"I......Didn't I drew a lot of drawings in it?"

She looked up at me.

"Ah......That's right......"

That man-eating bear who looked like it just killed two of three people! Because the visual impact was too jarring, I remembered that drawing in exquisite detail, the drawing which would bring at least three days of nightmares to anyone who looks at it.

"I'm sorry, but I saw it...or rather, it ran into my line of sight, I merely glanced at it."

"S..so, you saw it?"

Nogizaka-san lowered her head. Hmm...that really was something that I shouldn't have seen, it was forbidden fruit! Just as I was frantically trying to think of a way to get over this awkward atmosphere, Nogizaka-san surprised me with her next sentence.

"What do you think of it?"

"Huh?"

What do you mean?

"That is......it's quite nice isn't it? It's the first time anyone has seen my drawings"

Nogizaka-san's eyes sparkled when she said that, her expression showing the confidence she had in her drawing skills. Don't tell me......that she's asking for my opinion? I never thought that things would turn out like this.

'The main source of nourishment of that bear seems to be humans'...That doesn't sound like a compliment. 'The bear's eyes make it look like it's sniffing drugs'...that's definitely not a compliment. 'If we were to put that bear into a hot pot, it'll probably be very delicious'...I really didn't how I should phrase my answer.

After mulling it over...

"The bear's gaze is extremely evil...no, or rather, it's very piercing. Everyone's perspective is different, so I suppose some people would find it very cute..."

In the end, my polite and invincible compliment was shattered by Nogizaka-san's response.

"...Hmm? Bear? But that's a cat!"

Nogizaka-san tilted her head as though asking, just what are you talking about.

"..."

"..."

"...Ah, you're absolutely right, it's a cat."

A cat?

I honestly didn't knew that it was a cat. Because a normal cat wouldn't have fangs would it?

"Umm...Uh...It's really creative to let the cat hold a conductor's baton!!"

"...It's supposed to be a cat toy!"

"..."

"..."

"Ah, that's right, it's a cat toy."

The book is a music score, and adding those two things sure add a new perspective.

Luckily, Nogizaka-san didn't seem to have heard my soundless murmurings.

"It's embarrassing to say it myself, but I'm rather confident about that piece of art!"

Nogizaka-san continued.

"..."

Is she serious?

I stared at Nogizaka-san.

The look in her eyes was extremely serious.

There was no look in the world that could be more serious than that.

"..."

Well, no point picking out her faults, no one's perfect after all!

"...Hmm, that's a really creative and outstanding piece of work, I like it! I think I see a hint of Picasso's 「Guernica」 in it."

I expressed my own opinions very tactfully, but this was already the best I could say.

"Really? I'm so happy!"

Looking at the joy expressed on Nogizaka-san's innocent face, I felt a sense of guilt weighing down on me. At least I wasn't lying.

"I'm really really happy! I'm glad I asked for your opinion!"

"Righ......Right......"

I'm glad she didn't ask somebody other than me.

"Well......then please take good care of me in the future!"

"?"

What?

"I think I'll improve faster if I show it to other people. I've always been practicing alone, but its hard to improve like this...Of course, only if you have the time..."

"..."

Was she planning to show me these satanic drawings that bring down nightmares and summon demons on a regular basis?

"What......What do you think?"

"...About this......"

"You don't want to?"

I didn't give an immediate answer and Nogizaka-san's expression immediately turned to one reminiscent of a puppy that had been abandoned by the roadside. That expression is a banned technique, for no one can reject the 'Nuit Étoile' or let the 'Nuit Étoile' put on such an expression. Furthermore, that Nogizaka-san would implore me like this is because I'm the only one who knows about this hobby of hers......I didn't have a choice, for I'm stuck between a rock and a hard place, and I really think that I've boarded the Titanic.

"If you don't mind, I'm willing to discuss it with you anytime."

I deliberately pitched my voice higher so as to impress upon my sincerity.

"Really!"

Nogizaka-san gave a blissful smile. God, I think I'll lose a hundred days of my life everytime I see this smile in the future...oh well, no point thinking about that now.

After that, for a long period of time (at least 30 minutes), I was listening to Nogizaka-san talk about her passion for drawing.

"I have to go now, thank you very much for today. After I finish some new drawings, I'll show them to you again. I'll be going first."

Because of her piano lesson, Nogizaka-san left first. She was in extremely high spirits, humming the tune of 「Für Elise」 as she walked.

Looking at her receding figure, I couldn't help but mutter to myself.

"...Have I acted too rashly...?"

==4==
That night, I was studying in my room when an exaggeratedly loud voice came from downstairs.

"Hey! Yuuto! You've got a call!"

I was slightly miffed at being interrupted just as I was getting into the rhythm of my English-Japanese translation homework, but my sister was in a worser mood, ready to explode at any moment.

"I said, you've got a call!!!"

She kicked the door to my room open!! She even took down one of the door hinges along with her kick!! And then she stomped into my room.

The tall person who entered my room.

"Ruko..."

My sister (A karate second-dan holder, but often abuses her martial arts skills. In the Ayase household where my parents are rarely at home, she has the highest authority) appeared to be extremely unhappy, like an Asian black bear woken up from its slumber during winter time.

She only wore a white shirt on top of her underwear, such a disgraceful appearance.

"How could she wake me up from my sweet slumber! I don't know who she is, but you better teach her a lesson and tell her not to call in the middle of the night!"

Middle of the night? It's only ten! Though it wasn't early, but it wasn't that late either. And what did she mean by 'teach her a lesson'? Shouldn't she say lecture or something!

I knew that retorting was useless, but I still gave it a try.

"Whatever makes you happy, since both mean 'input' in one way or another."

Those two phrases are completely different! They have totally different meanings!

But to Ruko, who was even lazier and more perfunctory than me, those two phrases really weren't that different. She gave an irritated expression as she glared at me.

"...You're really annoying! Just answer the phone will you! I'm so sleepy.......I'm going to sleep now, so you better remember to unplug the phone after you finish your conversation! "

Ruko threw the phone over to me before going through the door that was swinging on only one of its hinges.

For the love of God! Who'd have believed that she's actually the secretary for the CEO of a top-class firm, which goes to show that anything can happen in this society of ours. It was indeed the state of affairs that beautiful women would always have their way. Though my sister is pretty, I don't really want to comment on her character. For a society that is perpetually harping on equality, we're extremely unfair.

I thought of all this as I answered the phone.

"Hello?"

And then...

"Ah, hello? Is this Ayase-kun? It's Nogizaka."

A surprising voice came from the other end of the line, the female voice that had the power to calm anyone who hears it, one that I've been hearing quite a lot of recently. But right now, this voice sounded extremely serious, nothing like the cheerful one I had heard in the day. Something must have happened.

"I'm really sorry to disturb you at such a late hour. Umm...I would like to ask for a favor from you, Ayase-kun..."

A favor? My heart beat really fast at that word.

"...I'm really embarrassed to say this right now. But I know I'll regret it for life if I don't say it now."

The seriousness in that voice was mixed with a heavy dose of embarrassment. Could it be that? No, Nogizaka-san would never ask me to do something as absurd as imitating the way crickets walk upside-down.

"Erm......Are you listening?"

"Ah, of, of course I'm listening."

I had no reason not to be listening.

"That's great...Ayase-kun, could you come out and meet me now?"

"Huh..."

After a second of lightning-quick analysis......

"Meet up...just the two of us?'

"That's right."

To meet up at this time......She can't be planning to have a secret date with me can she? The two of us sitting on a bench in the park. Time has stopped, and then the two of us......No, I can't continue fantasizing! I'll start to think about contents similar to the plot in a third-grade novel if I continue fantasizing.

I shook my heard violently. Got to stay calm, got to stay calm, I have to keep my cool.

To return my heartbeat to normal, healthy levels, I mentally recited the multiplication table. At this time, Nogizaka-san continued,

"Actually...I would like you to accompany me to school."

"School?"

The school in question...would obviously be the Hakujo Academy that we both attend. Why would she pick such a time to go to school when there wasn't a late night dare challenge of any kind going on......

"......The magazine...I forgot to return it."

The soft and hesitant voice cut off my line of thought.

"I had planned to return it after meeting Ayase-kun, but as I was feeling extremely happy after our conversation, I felt that I could return it a bit later......and I forgot to return in the end."

"You're talking about......that magazine?"

「INNOCENT SMILE」

"......Yes."

"..."

The situation......was really serious. The basic rules of our school were rather loose, but our school was extremely strict regarding the usage of school facilities. If a book that was borrowed from the library wasn't returned by the due date, the school would publicly remind the student through the PA system.

Of course, the public reminder would also include the student's name, year, and the name of the borrowed book.

"If I'm mentioned, I'll...sob..."

Probably thinking about what would happen if the book that she borrowed was publicly announced to the entire school, Nogizaka-san was whimpering slightly.

"Th, that's why I thought I'd go return it instead. *sniff* Bu, but going alone to school when it's this late...it's scary. So, I thought I'd ask somebody to go with me...B, but..."

Nogizaka-san said in a tearful voice.

So that's how it is. About this, I was the only one whom she could turn to for help. Because if she was to look for someone else, she'd have to show them 「INNOCENT SMILE」, bringing her hobby to the knowledge of one more person.

"Sob......Is it too much to ask? I'm really sorry to always bother you like this, but..."

It wasn't her fault. And......only a demented man would abandon a crying Nogizaka-san, right?

Therefore.

"Hmm...Let's just meet up at school now, alright?"

"Sob...Ah...?"

A surprised exclamation came from the other side of the line.

"You're willing......to go with me?"

"Yup, since I've got nothing to do right now anyway."

It was decided. Though I haven't finished my English homework, that's not important at a moment like this! I would like to avoid both Nogizaka-san's tears and the scolding given by my English teacher (forty-two years old, characteristic: Extremely annoying), but I don't have the time to deliberate any further on this.

"Thank you......sob......Thank you so much"

And that was how I decided to sneak into school at such an unearthly hour.

The campus was extremely creepy at night.

The thirty-something year-old white cement campus looked as thought it was floating in the sky in the dark, and from an angle, it really looked like an abandoned mansion, giving any observers a severe case of the goosebumps. This atmosphere was like the one in the supernatural shows on television where the spiritually-inclined guest appears and declares to the audience that 'an extremely evil aura can be felt here', whereupon the audience painfully wrestles with their inner-selves whether to continue watching or not. Nogizaka-san, who was standing next to me, was looking at the campus with exactly the same expression on her face, looking as though she was about to burst into tears any moment.

Now, how should we go about infiltrating the campus?

Of course the main gate wouldn't be open at this time, so perhaps we should try going by the staff entrance. Since it's the staff entrance, it should be near the teachers' office. But we'd have to be extremely careful if we were to go in by the staff entrance so as to avoid getting caught by a patrolling teacher. Or should we break a window and reach in to take the key, use a power tool to break the lock of the main gate, or just smash our way through the gate with a metal pole. Just that...all the above-mentioned methods were illegal.

Isn't there any way that's quieter? (Even though no matter how quiet an act of infiltration is, it's still an illegal act) Just as I was trying to come up with a better idea...

"Ayase-kun, this way."

Nogizaka-san pulled on my arm.

"We can get in by the back gate."

"Back gate......why?"

"Because I have a backup key."

"A backup key?"

Why would she have something like that?

"The key was in my father's study, so I just borrowed it for a while, because I thought it might come in handy!"

So it was from her father's study...I seem to have understood something, but why would her father have a backup key of the school?

"I'm not very sure about the specifics...but it seems like my father donated a large amount of money to the school, and to prepare for emergencies, he asked for a backup of all the keys in the school."

Investment...Right, I've heard this before. Ever since Nogizaka-san came to study at this school, ninety percent of all the money donated to Hakujo Academy came from the Nogizaka family. So it probably wouldn't be surprising if Nogizaka-san had a backup copy of all the keys in the school......right?

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing......"

Now's not the time to voice my questions, but since she had the backup copies to all the keys in the school, she'd surely have the key to the main gate. Wouldn't it be much better to just go in by the main gate? But I didn't say that out loud.

"Let's go!"

"Yes!'

Because the library was on the second story, we walked in the direction of the stairs.

Not surprisingly, the interior of the school was also empty, and as silent as a cemetery.

"It's really creepy..."

Nogizaka-san said as she looked around the deserted corridor. She gripped the sleeve of my shirt tightly, not daring to let go for even a second.

"If this was a game, a zombie should be jumping out from this corner."

"Ah!!!"

I had played this game where you had to fight off hordes of zombies, giant spiders and other monstrosities while attempting to escape from a western-style building. For the first ten minutes of the game, you would probably feel like you're about to be devoured by two of three zombies, but...

Never mind, forget I said it, now's not the time to think about something like that.

"Ayase-kun, do you know about the seven mysteries of our school?"

As we neared the stairwell, Nogizaka-san suddenly mentioned that. The seven mysteries of the school, though I'm not exactly sure as to the actual number of the mysteries, but there should be quite a few of them. Like...

There's the 'Thirteen steps of death to the rooftop'.

As for the others, I only know of the 'Dancing human figure in the science classroom', 'The self-playing piano in the music room', 'The self-bouncing ball in the empty gym'.

"There's still 'Hanako-san, who lives in the toilet' 'The big mirror in the infirmary that reflects the death of the user', and...'the dead book-reader'."

Nogizaka-san filled in the gaps.

"..."

An extremely bad premonition filled the air after hearing such rumors.

This was my first time hearing about 'The dead book-reader'. Since it has to do with a book-reader, it should be connected to the library right? And we just had to be going to the library at this time.

"..."

Should we just head back?

"Don't...Don't leave me behind!"

[[Image:NHnH vol01 084.jpg|thumb]]

My arm was held in a vice-like grip by Nogizaka-san, who had tears rolling about in her eyes. Looks like I wouldn't be able to perform the 'great escape'.

During the time when I was struggling with myself about whether to run away or not, we reached the library in question. The wooden door that looked so normal in the day now looked like the gates to hell.

It was a really bad feeling.

"So...What's the story behind 'The dead book-reader'?"

I asked Nogizaka-san.

"A long long time ago, when the campus was still made of wood, there was a student who really liked to read. Because he was crazy about reading, so this student would go to the library every day, until one day, where he passed away after getting into an accident on his way to the library. But it's rumored that for the sake of reading, this student would still report to the library everyday, which is why in the dark and silent library, footsteps and the sound of a book dropping onto the ground can be heard, and the shadow of a reading figure can also be seen at the window."

"You really know a lot about that."

"We're going off track here, but I heard that someone really came down to the library in the middle of the night, and that book-reader really did appear in front of that person."

"..."

"I only heard this story the day before yesterday. So now......I kind of regret hearing it..."

Nogizaka-san lowered her head. Even if she regrets hearing that story, it was already too late...

"...It'll probably be even worse if this story was told to someone who's never heard of it before."

"You're right......It would be worse."

"I've never heard this story before."

"Huh...you..."

Nogizaka-san placed a finger at the edge of her mouth as she lapsed into deep thought.

"...So you're saying that...You just heard the story for the first time from me?"

"That's right."

"..."

"..."

The surroundings were deathly silent.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said all that."

Nogizaka-san apologized with a horrified expression on her face, just like a puppy who did something wrong and was getting scolded by its master. I believe that no one would be able to grumble even a word more after seeing her like this.

"Ah, it's alright, since you didn't do it on purpose."

And I was the one who was asked for the details in the first place.

"But, if you meet the dead book-reader and get murdered by him because of my words..."

Nogizaka-san's face was terribly pale as she fervently prayed that I would not become the victim of a supernatural murder!

"It'll be alright! The dead book-reader won't run out just because of your story! And my only redeeming feature is that I'm really tough, so I'd probably be able to survive a supernatural attack without much effort."

Because I have been forced to accept Ruko's rigorous training since I was young.

"But...the attack of a spirit...isn't a physical attack, but a mental one, like curses..."

"That's alright too."

Regarding mental attacks, besides Ruko's training, I've also been on the receiving end of a lot of training from Yukari. So my defensive ability against mental attacks would probably be even higher than my defensive ability against physical attacks. I'm not proud of this inhuman defensive capabilities of mine, but it's the unfortunate truth.

Nogizaka-san smiled as she squinted slightly, probably hinting that she accepts my answer?

"......You're really kind."

"No......I'm not that kind......"

Why would she suddenly say something like this?"

"Hehe!"

"No...That's..."

I wanted to deny it, but couldn't find the right words. To mask the fact that I was blushing, I turned my gaze to the direction of the library.

"Cough, though I can't deny that this library's really creepy...we still have to go in don't we?"

Once I said that, Nogizaka-san immediately nodded her head furiously with a serious expression on her face.

"Let's...Let's go!"

Even though Nogizaka-san was the one calling for us to go, she didn't move at all as she looked at me as if trying to send me some kind of telepathic message...she probably wants me to lead the way. Alright, let's do it!

I pushed open the gigantic wooden door to the library, the wooden frame creaking under the force exerted by my hands before it opened. On the other side of the door was...an empty library. If this was a horror film, then at the exact moment where the door was opened, we would have gone face to face with 'the dead book-reader', a worst-case scenario that I wanted to avoid at all costs. The atmosphere in the empty room seemed to be extremely sinister, as though a ghoulish white face would appear from behind the black-painted shelves any moment.

"You can't leave me. Please don't leave me alone, I'm begging you."

Nogizaka-san grabbed my arm tightly as she whimpered, a flowery smell making its way to my nostrils. In fact, she needn't have been so worried, since she was grabbing me so tightly that I wasn't even able to move.

"Ah, I'm sorry."

Nogizaka-san hurriedly let go of me, my body finally regaining its freedom of movement. But for some reason, I suddenly felt a trace of regret.

"Let's just maintain this position. Please don't leave me alone alright?"

Nogizaka-san looked up at me as she requested me to stay by her side while she held on to my arm. I nodded as we made our way towards the book-return counter.

It was about fifty meters to the counter, and we carefully made our way over.

During this short journey, Nogizaka-san's beautiful face almost touched mine a couple of time. Her alluring amber eyes, her exquisitely white skin, and her pink lips all made my heart beat faster after every close encounter...Is there a problem with the regularity of my heartbeat?

"Kya!"

Nogizaka-san seemed to have tripped over something...it should be the reading chair again, right? She lost her balance, but fortunately, she broke her fall just before her face was about to come into contact with the floor. That was close!

"Why is there a chair here..."

How could you say that when the chair's always been here, and you've already tripped over it once before already?

"I've embarrassed myself again, I'm so clumsy!"

She smiled embarrassingly before continuing to walk, but promptly tripped over another chair, and fell flat on the floor this time.

"..."

I was thinking, she can't be...

Nogizaka-san's a little...no, extremely dense.

"...I've been tripping over or running into things ever since I was young."

Nogizaka-san answered the question in my mind.

"I would be able to fall down even when walking on flat ground, and I've even walked into electrical poles and parked cars."

"You're not good at sports?"

But I had thought that she does quite well during physical education classes.

"Hmm......I don't think this has got anything to do with physical ability."

"...I think you're right."

Was she really like this? I've never seen her trip over something or knock into something at school though.

"I'm usually extremely careful...but maybe it's because Ayase-kun has already seen me trip over something that I probably subconsciously let my guard down, leading to me to trip over more things."

Nogizaka-san smiled abashedly. Looks like she's been putting in a lot of effort to maintain her public image.

"...Ah, what have I been saying! We should quickly return the book!"

The red-faced Nogizaka-san suddenly remembered our mission and walked towards the book-returning counter, this time not tripping over anything. After reaching the counter, Nogizaka-san immediately turned on the computer, which powered up with a whir as the monitor displayed the operating system.

"Hey, I suddenly thought of something."

"Thought of what?"

"Even if the book was returned now, won't the data be stored in the computer?"

It's a computer specially designed to handle the borrowing and returning of library books. Which is why the date and time of all transactions would definitely be recorded in the computer. To be more precise, in the hard-disk of the computer. It'll definitely show that on the twenty-second day of April, at 23:08, book number 1203 (INNOCENT SMILE) was returned to the library.

"..."

Nogizaka-san froze for five seconds.

"...I never thought of that."

Hey, Hey!

"Hmm...There's got to be a way. Let's think logically. Since no one in their right minds would return a book at this time, I would expect the librarian to assume that there's a problem with the data. People always look for a reason to explain such small and insignificant inconsistencies."

Maybe she's right. But I would never have guessed that she had this careless side to her.

"Please wait for a moment while I return the book."

Nogizaka-san concentrated on the computer in front of her after saying that.

I had nothing to do, so I couldn't help but look at Nogizaka-san, who had both eyes on the monitor.

Sleek, black hair, snowy white skin, under the weak light of the moon and the reflection of the light from the screen, her body was bathed in a bluish white light, making her look as mysterious as the Goddess of healing magic in legends. She's the beautiful, clever, dignified and musically talented 'Nuit Étoile'. But the string of compliments didn't seem to fit the girl standing in front of me.

Because my impression of Nogizaka-san isn't like this.

Before this, I had thought of Nogizaka-san as a calm and collected lady. And I'm sure the rest of my classmates would see her in the same way.

But right now, I finally understand why we can never judge a book by its cover.

Which daughter of a wealthy and powerful family would illegally infiltrate her own school just to return an otaku magazine?

And even crying while tripping over numerous things in front of another in the process, embarrassing herself by being extremely clumsy...

But, compared to the normally perfect Nogizaka-san, I felt that the Nogizaka-san that I was seeing right now was more 'human'. A much better feeling. But I guess I should keep such thoughts to myself! Because Nogizaka-san probably won't be happy with that, even if I thought this side of her was better.

"Nogizaka-san."

"Yes?"

Nogizaka-san didn't turn her gaze as she continued to operate the computer.

"Why did you start this hobby...I mean, how did you become an otaku?"

I finally asked that question! God, what have I said! I had already promised Nogizaka-san not to speak of this anymore.

"Hmm, how..."

Surprisingly, Nogizaka-san didn't seem to mind it at all as she answered my question.

"Actually, I'm not very sure myself, by the time I realized it, I was already an otaku. Just that...I'm quite sure that 'that' set off this whole hobby of mine."

She place a finger on the edge of her mouth as she thought about what 'that' was.

"This happened about six years ago. Because I quarreled with my parents over all the skills that I had to learn, I ran to a park near my house to cry. The reason for that quarrel should have been...I had promised some friends to go and play together, but it clashed with my Japanese dance class so I couldn't go. That was the first time anyone had invited me out to play, so I was extremely happy, but I had to reject their invitation because my parents had enrolled me in the Japanese dance classes...I was really upset, so I ran out to the park to cry my heart out. I ignored the stares of people passing by and just wailed. I think I probably wanted someone to come over and comfort me, but this world wasn't as caring as I had thought it was. More than a few people walked past me, but they all ignored me, since a crying kid is really annoying. But...there was one person, just one person came over to talk to me."

Nogizaka-san had a faraway look in her eyes, as though she was looking at a distant place.

"Although he was a bit rough about it, he tried his best to comfort me. I still remember what happened as though it was yesterday. At that time...He let me read the first edition of 「INNOCENT SMILE」."

Nogizaka-san continued in a slightly exaggerated tone.

"Before that, I had never read manga before, so it was a refreshing experience for me...In the flash of an eye, I was enraptured by the magazine. People who read manga would feel very happy, and I was probably deeply attracted to that kind of atmosphere...And in the end, I even asked that person to give that first edition to me."

Nogizaka-san laughed.

Wow! What a touching story! How did that guy even thought of using the 「INNOCENT SMILE」 to comfort a primary school girl! This guy was incredible.

"That's probably the beginning of my hobby. After that incident, whenever I thought of that happy atmosphere, I would hide and read manga...which is why, even till this day, 「INNOCENT SMILE」 has a special place in my heart."

So that's why she was willing to take the risk to return this book to the library. Even Nobunaga had said that old editions of 「INNOCENT SMILE」 were priceless books. I think I finally understand why Nobunaga would do anything to achieve his goals.

"Phew...I'm finally done."

I heard the sound of the ENTER key being depressed. Looks like our mission was complete.

Nogizaka-san finally noticed my gaze. Just as she stretched in front of the computer screen, she suddenly stopped moving, like an electric toy dog that had run out of batteries.

"What's wrong? Is there something on my face?"

Nogizaka-san's face was beet-red due to her embarrassment, a reaction that I would never see in the classroom.

"No...I just think that you're a strange daughter of a wealthy and powerful family."

I told her my honest opinion.

"Hmm...I think it's really rude to say that to the person in question..."

Though she said that, Nogizaka-san didn't look angry at all. On the contrary, I thought she looked rather happy.

"In my opinion...Ayase-kun's much stranger than me. Yes, you're so strange that I can guarantee you'll win any All-Japan weirdo competition that there is."

"Thank you for the compliment."

What kind of competition is that!

"..."

"..."

For a moment, all was quiet.

"...Hahahaha!"

"...Hahahaha!"

In the next moment, both of us looked at each other and laughed. At the stroke of midnight, male and female laughter coming out of the empty library! If anyone hears that, there'll probably be a new version of the seven mysteries of the school. That'll be 'The terrifying maniacal laughter of a spirit couple in the library at midnight'.

I don't long how long we stood there laughing.

After our laughter had subsided, Nogizaka-san suddenly spoke rather seriously.

"I had thought......that everything was over." She began to talk about such a thing abruptly.

"Everything was over?"

"Yes."

Nogizaka-san nodded her head furiously.

"At the time when Ayase-kun saw that I had borrowed 「INNOCENT SMILE」, and also saw me trip and fall...I thought that everyone would know that I have this kind of hobby, and then everyone will look at me with strange looks and make fun of me. I really thought that it was going to turn out like that."

She's right. Although I didn't do it because I come into contact with such material on a regular basis through Nobunaga, there are many people in society who look down on people with such hobbies. If anyone knew that the 'Nuit Étoile' was an otaku, that person would probably announce it to the whole school without hesitation.

Wait a minute, Nogizaka-san's tone seems to be suggesting that...

"Nogizaka-san, did you think that I would go around telling everyone that you're an otaku?"

Could it be that she thinks I'm that kind of person?

Nogizaka-san looked away embarrassedly.

"I'm...I'm really sorry! Because I didn't know what kind of person you are! So I couldn't deny that there was a definite possibility of that happening. And I've almost never talked to guys before...So I was a little afraid...of you."

"Never talked to..."

Nogizaka-san? The 'Nuit Étoile'? Now I would have never known that!

"For some reason, guys are always extremely stiff around me, unable to relax like they do around other girls. It seems that only Ayase-kun's able to talk to me normally."

I think it's because Nogizaka-san's too cute and perfect. But...I don't have to be like the other guys!

Nogizaka-san continued,

"Which is why I really thought that everything was over, so much so that I even thought about running away to a faraway place...But the truth has proven that I was wrong, because Ayase-kun kept his promise and didn't tell anyone about my hobby, and even after knowing about my hobby, you didn't make fun of me. You treated me like a normal person....and even helped me. If not for you, I really won't know what I would have done...I think I'm really despicable to doubt you in the first place, I really want to shout out how much of an idiot I am. I really......really want to thank you, Ayase-kun."

Nogizaka-san stood in front of me as she gave a curtsy to me to express her gratitude.

"Thank you......Thank you so much for everything you've done!"

That posture was extremely similar to one I had seen in a certain magazine a few days ago, but now that Nogizaka-san was the one doing it, it was probably the cutest pose of the century...

Just as I was about to lose all sense of reason...

Shuffle, shuffle!

"!?"

A sound came from behind the shelves.

"What...what was that......sound?"

Nogizaka-san grabbed me with lightning-quick reflexes. This kind of speed is the type that would only appear when one's caught in a fire...no, it should be an inhuman display of fleet-footedness, right? Whatever the reason as to Nogizaka-san's unnatural display of power, the point is, my arm came into contact with two soft orbs...

"It...It seems to have come from the other side of the shelves, could it be the 'dead book-reader'...

"Spirits don't exist in this world..."

They don't exist...Or rather, I hope they don't exist.

"What do we do?"

Nogizaka-san looked up at me anxiously. There are three courses of action available to me right now. One, under the influence of my considerable curiosity, I go over to check it out. Two, remain calm and run away. Three, pretend to be frightened and take advantage of the situation to hug Nogizaka-san. Personally, I hope to choose number three, but...No, it's merely my personal fantasy, and I could get charged for sexual harassment.

Logically, I should choose option two, since we've already done what we set out to do, there's no need to find out about anything that doesn't concern us.

"Ah, Ayase-kun..."

"I'll go and take a look, wait here for me."

She hugged me tightly around my waist.

"I'm going with you."

"But, you may see something scary..."

"I'll be even more afraid if I were to stay here by myself."

She's right.

"Then, let's go over together?"

"Al...Alright..."

The two of us started to walk towards the direction in which the strange sound had come from.

"I think...that sound came from the shelve with the music scores."

"Music scores?"

We even have music scores in our library? I only thought that it was weird they had 「INNOCENT SMILE」, but it shouldn't be much of a surprise if they had music scores as well.

"It's around here."

Under the guidance of Nogizaka-san, just as we neared the corner of the shelf in question...

Dangdangdang.......

We heard a different sound from just now.

Shuffle shuffle...

And then we heard the sound of a book dropping onto the floor.

"Kya..."

Nogizaka-san grabbed my hand while covering her ears with surprising agility.

"I think..."

She looked up at me with tears in her eyes.

"It must be the 'dead book-reader'...Ayase-kun! I think we should run!"

"No, wait a moment..."

The sound of books dropping onto the floor stopped, but another sound took its place. Dingdangdangdingdangdang...It sounded familiar. Ah...could it be 'that'!

"Ah, Ayase-kun!"

I went up to the shelf and saw my conjecture validated.

"...It's a cellphone."

There was a white object on the shelf with the music scores, the white object was vibrating as it knocked into the music scores on the shelf. Because it's a cellphone that's receiving a call.

"...I seem to have seen this somewhere."

There was a keychain on it with YUKARI spelled out in English. Ah! Didn't that person say that she lost her cellphone? It looked as though she left it here when she came to borrow music scores. She really knows how to create a stir! I decided to return it to her tomorrow as I turned off the power to cut off its annoying ringtone.

"Nogizaka-san, it's alright, I've found the source of the sounds."

I called out to the ashen-faced, shivering Nogizaka-san who was hiding behind the shelf. Probably because the strange sounds had disappeared, Nogizaka-san seemed to have relaxed a little as she slowly made her way towards me.

"You know what was causing those sounds?"

"Yes, this is the source of it all"

I showed the white cellphone that had the opposite color to its owner's heart to Nogizaka-san, as she slumped down onto the ground as though her soul had just been sucked away.

"Ah, I feel weak now that I've loosened up ."

Nogizaka-san seemed to have been scared witless. This was the first time I've seen someone who's been scared to that extent, and that person was the 'Nuit Étoile'...It was a scene straight from the world of slapstick comedy.

"Hah..."

I couldn't help but laugh. Seeing that I was laughing at her, Nogizaka-san puffed out her cheeks.

"What...What are you laughing about! What's so funny? It's not like I did it on purpose, it's because...because it was too terrifying!"

She was retaliating, but soon stopped.

"You're......really a strange person."

"Same to you to!"

And then we looked at each other and started laughing again, laughing so loudly that even the people staying beside the school would probably be able to hear us.

Maybe a new version of the seven mysteries of the school would be heard in school tomorrow?

==5==
We finally completed our mission.

As we walked out of the school gate, Nogizaka-san bowed deeply to me.

"Thank you so much for today, Ayase-kun, you saved my life. Maybe...Today's actions weren't legal, but I was very happy."

It was fun. Yeah, that expression was pretty improper, but it wasn't without its merit. That's why I could respond with a large smile.

"You're welcome, I enjoyed myself too."

Those were my true feelings.

"You...can just call me Haruka."

Nogizaka-san requested timidly.

"I'm saying that, you can just call me by my name. It feels like I'm an outsider if you keep calling me Nogizaka-san. No, I am an outsider, ah, I don't mean it that way...sob, I'm really bad at this...anyway, I wish that you'll call me Haruka and not Nogizaka-san."

She was serious about that.

Hmm...I don't know why she would be so flustered, but since she was the one who requested me to call her by her name, I don't think there should be any problems. To be honest, I felt that it would be an honor to be able to call her by her name.

"I got it, so I'll just call you...Haruka."

"Yes!"

Nogizaka-san nodded her head happily...No, I should refer to her as Haruka now. Right now, Haruka looked extremely cute.

"Then you should also call me Yuuto, all my good friends call me that."

For some reason, I suddenly felt embarrassed then and I purposely looked away from her.

"Good friends..."

Haruka mumbled before smiling again, an honest smile straight from the heart that I've never seen before in the classroom.

"I got it, Yuuto, please take care of me from now on."

And thus, the relationship between Nogizaka Haruka and I began.

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| Back to [[Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu:Volume1_Prologue|Prologue]]
| Return to [[Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu:Volume1_Chapter2|Chapter 2]]
|-
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</noinclude>

Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu:Volume1 Chapter1

2010-12-29T19:09:20Z

3eee3: /* 3 */

===Chapter 1===
__NOTOC__
==1==
The lunch break on that day wasn't any different from the usual lunch breaks.

I was eating lunch and chatting with a few classmates whom I am close to (Nagai, Takenami, and Ogawa, more commonly known as the three idiots) in the 2-1 classroom of the private high school Hakujo Academy. The topic of conversation would probably induce suicidal thoughts in other people.

"That's why I think that the female sports uniform should have bloomers, anyone who wears [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bermuda_shorts Bermuda shorts] that reach down to the knees isn't human. Anyone who's opposed to this motion isn't a citizen of Japan."

"That's right, I think so too."

"You're absolutely right."

Ogawa and Takenami nodded their heads vigorously in agreement with Nagai's opinion.

"Yuuto, what do you think?"

"Hmm? Well, I'm alright with anything I guess."

I was really alright with anything that the girls wore, which was why I answered the way I did.

"Alright with anything? It's because of your sitting-on-the-fence attitude that Japan has been brought to its current state of affairs. You're always like this, not taking sides on anything."

"Ayase, that's what you are. You don't have your own opinion on anything, you always cross the bridge only when you bump into it. You'll be sorry one day if you continue like this."

"That's right, you can't carry on like this!"

The three of them took turns to take shots at me, but they were merely meddling in other people's affairs. I don't deny that I'm an irresponsible and insensitive guy (though it's rather embarrassing that I say that about myself), but even I don't want to hear such criticism from three guys who discuss bloomers with perfectly straight faces.

"Alright, let's do this! You can listen to our respective arguments before deciding which side you're on. We'll start with the visual impact of bloomers."

Gosh, they really are the 'three idiots'.

I sighed soundlessly while casually looking around the classroom. Everything was normal, students were eating their lunch while chatting with their friends, making up the familiar lunchtime scenery.

The spot in the classroom that attracted me the most was that seat next to the corridor. Because in the classroom that is so messy that it would make even the monkey enclosure look tidy, only that particular spot had a soothing and comforting aura around it.

Seated in that place, was a beautiful girl endowed with the nickname "Nuit Étoile".

She's my classmate, Nogizaka Haruka.

She had probably finished lunch already, as she leaned slightly backward and was concentrating on the book that she held in her left hand. The way she flipped the pages of her book with her fingers looked like a scene straight out of a painting. Colloquially, it means that she's too cute to be described. Or perhaps I should say that she's the very embodiment of a perfect and beautiful lady. Anyway, it seems as though all traces of corruption could be washed away just by looking at her.

[[Image:NHnH vol01 021.jpg|thumb]]

I stared, mesmerized, at Nogizaka Haruka with my mouth stuffed with bread (while completely ignoring the discussion between Nagai and the others). Yes, the psychological wound received a few moments ago had already been healed. The feeling of pure bliss would probably be something like this, right?

I immersed myself in the joy of watching her while fantasizing.

But after a few short minutes, this feeling of bliss was abruptly ended.

I heard a familiar voice coming from the other side of the corridor. It wasn't a very loud voice, but it would probably take up a lot of my time, since it's probably Nobunaga. I sighed soundlessly again; here comes another idiot.

"Is Yuuto here?"

Just as I expected, a familiar face appeared at the entrance of the classroom. He's a petite pretty boy with light brown hair whom others would mistake as a girl from afar. This fellow started shouting the moment he saw me.

"Ah! There you are! Yuuto, did you catch the anime that aired late last night? I recorded it as I watched because I feel that that's the best way to appreciate it."

The volume of his voice attracted some attention from the other students in class, but after everyone saw that it was from Nobunaga, they resumed whatever it was they were doing before immediately. I don't know how to put it, but anyway, my classmates have gotten used to his presence after he's been coming over to talk to me since the start of the school year.

"You didn't watch it? Yesterday's 「The Shy Triangle」 will air its last episode next week, and the climax of the entire series is when the good friend of the protagonist...Ah, the DVD seems to be going on sale soon, I'll definitely go and buy it, since it's going to be a limited edition and will come with a figurine of the protagonist 'Clumsy girl Aki-chan'..."

The guy who ran into my classroom and started talking about a topic that one would find it hard to associate with his appearance is Asakura Nobunaga. I've known him since kindergarten, which is why you could use the phrase 'hellish bonds of friendship' to describe our relationship, though he's still a good friend of mine, since he doesn't get me into any trouble. Honestly speaking, he's still quite a cheerful and sociable person, which is why he can strike up a conversation with almost anyone. His academic results are extremely good, with Physics and Mathematics being his best subjects. From his earlier actions, you can tell that his hobby is a rather extreme one, a form of otaku-ism...which is what we all know as the 'Akihabara clan'. The man whose name is a combination of the names of two imperial generals has a weak looking exterior and a hobby which neither fit the names of a warring general nor his appearance. In conclusion, he's a guy with complicated characteristics and is hard to place into any category.

"Yuuto, you've really missed out by not watching. This anime series was adapted from a manga, but its something like a tale prior to the story, explaining why the protagonist and his best friend turned against each other......"

"Ah------ I got that already!"

I had to do something to shut him up or he'll eat up my entire lunch break. I took this course of action precisely based on past experiences.

"It's not nice of you to be such a wet blanket when I was just getting into my rhythm!"

"It's not nice of you to suddenly run into someone else's classroom to spam him with your personal hobby!"

"Is that so? But doesn't everyone like to talk about these kind of things?"

"Please do not think that everyone is like you!"

"Hmm, but, you like these kind of things, don't you?"

"Don't I always say that I don't have any special inclination?"

I don't like it, but I don't hate it either. I don't agree with it, but I don't disagree with it either. This is my stance regarding this fellow, and the rest of the Akihabara clan. No, to be more precise, it's more of 'I don't really understand them'. In short, I'm still quite mystified regarding the age-old question of 'why are people at this age still so interested in cartoons', and even more surprisingly, I'm actually good friends with someone like this.

"Hmm...But I've always thought that you have the right attributes."

What kind of attributes?

"That's the highest level of praise that I'll give to anyone, you know. Hmm...let's not talk about this anymore. Yuuto, I've got big news for you!"

"Big news?"

I felt that what this fellow was going to say probably won't be anything serious and wholesome, but...

"I've been looking for a certain magazine all this while, haven't I? Our school's library finally bought this old issue! Our library's the best, I can import in any rare book that I want by just filling in an application form. The school can afford to buy all these books because of the extremely generous donations that they have been receiving. Their funds seem limitless. Money really makes the world go round indeed, yah~"

Nobunaga grinned widely as he babbled on and on about this big news.

Magazine? I seem to remember him asking me to help look for a magazine with an extremely strange name a while back. Looks like the school had approved his application form.

"......Wait a minute, did you fake an application form?"

I looked at him suspiciously.

"That's rude, I would never do something like that."

Nobunaga shook his head as he gave a "you're totally wrong" expression, and then answered with a perfectly straight face, "I merely threatened them."

That's even worse.

But that fellow completely ignored my reaction.

"「INNOCENT SMILE」 is an extremely famous magazine! The original manga of the anime that aired yesterday night was serialized in this magazine. It wasn't too long ago, so you probably should have some memory of it. It caused quite a stir when its first edition came out."

Just as Nobunaga went into his extremely long-winded debate mode, there was a huge noise in the classroom.

Our position was in the middle of the classroom, while the sound came from the opposite direction. To be more precise, it came from the second-last seat from the corridor, which was the place that held my attention before Nobunaga came in. From a certain perspective, that was the one place in class that would never be associated with loud and jarring noises.

But right now, Nogizaka-san was standing there with her eyes trained on the two of us, with a chair lying face-down, the source of that loud noise, beside her feet.

The classroom suddenly became extremely quiet. Nogizaka-san, who always wore an expression of peaceful serenity, now had a disturbed expression on her face.

"No...Nogizaka-san, what happened?"

"I...I don't know, we didn't do anything weird did we?"

"She seems to be looking at Ayase-kun..."

Murmurings were heard in the classroom.

Did we do something wrong?

Even though I felt that we hadn't done anything, the sharp gaze that Nogizaka-san threw at us was that of a policewoman who has just caught a molester in the act on a crowded train. Under a gaze of that nature, Nobunaga and I really looked like we had done something against the welfare of society, and the looks from the rest of the class seemed to ask the exact same question, 'What did the two of you do?'.

"Yuuto, what do we do? Everyone's looking at us."

"Ye......Yeah......"

I thought that the most probable reason would be that Nobunaga's voice was way too loud, disturbing Nogizaka-san's reading. Even though I was already used to it, Nobunaga's voice would naturally become extremely loud when he talked about his hobby. It wouldn't come as much of a surprise if that had disturbed Nogizaka-san.

Which would mean that we had really done something wrong. So we should probably apologize.

Under the watchful eyes of the rest of the class, I walked towards Nogizaka-san's seat.

"Erm......I'm sorry for disturbing you with our loud conversation."

I bowed deeply as an apology, Nogizaka-san then seemed to regain her usual expression.

"Ah, that's not it, you've misunderstood. I didn't mean to blame the two of you or anything, so you don't have to apologize to me."

"?"

But, weren't you glaring at the two of us just a few moments ago?

"It's nothing, so, it's nothing......I'm sorry for troubling everyone."

After saying that, Nogizaka-san politely bowed to the rest of the class as she righted her chair and sat down as though nothing had happened.

However, this left us extremely confused.

"What just happened?"

"I don't know...... Wasn't it because of the noise you were making?"

"I'm not noisy!"

I ignored Nobunaga's contradictory loud shout to defend his stance that he's not loud, but instead I stared at Nogizaka-san like someone who had been played around with by a fox spirit. On the regal face of the "Nuit Étoile", a trace of uneasiness could still be seen... there has to be some reason for that.

Deviating from the topic at hand, from the time when Nobunaga rushed into the classroom to when Nogizaka stared at us, Nagai and the other two were still heatedly debating on the topic of bloomers. Was that due to concentration, or just plain stupidity?

I think the correct answer should be the latter.

Actually, I didn't really care if they're idiots or not.

The fifth and sixth periods ended without incident. After class had ended, I walked towards the library only because that Nobunaga told me......

"Yuuto, I'm really sorry, but could you help me return this book to the library? Since you're free after school anyway, while I have to rush back to finish the map for WonFes--"

......Geez! I don't know what Wan Wan Fes. (Could it be a festival for dogs? But I recall that guy having a cat instead...). If it's like this, then he should have just returned it yesterday! But thoughts are just thoughts, and I agreed to help him, as he had often helped me out before (like him lending me textbooks when I forgot mine: helping me to repair my computer when it broke down......etc), oh well, I really had nothing to do after school anyway.

And this was why I came to the library, a place where I would normally almost never set foot in.

It was said that the rate of usage for our library was unbelievably low, because, the number of people, including yours truly, who've actually used the library could be counted on one hand. To increase the rate of usage of the library, the school even set up an electronic lending system, renovated the library to be an extremely comfortable place for reading, and had bought books of all genres. But to the modern generation of children who're far disposed from printed products, all these measures were for naught, as nothing had changed. But I have not used the library for anything other than for afternoon naps, so who am I to really say anything.

Anyway, because of the pitiful number of users, I shouldn't need much time to return a book.

I walked towards the computer terminal and started to tap the keyboard. One has to use the computer to borrow or return books, which was rather tedious (Nobunaga said that once you get used to it, computers would definitely be faster than human processing). Oh well, if I felt that something as simple as this was tedious, then I probably won't be able to survive in modern society. The man who doesn't work does not get to eat. I entered the reference code of the book and my student identification number......OK, that's it. I only have to return the book to its place on the shelf. (By the way, the title of the book is 「Pretty Girl Models Collection III --- The History of Ball Joints」. Our school really does buy everything). Mission accomplished, I can go home now.

Just as I was about to walk towards the exit.

"..."

I spotted a suspicious character.

How should I put this? Mm, it is an extremely suspicious character indeed.

Because this person is hiding her face with her schoolbag while attempting to move stealthily behind the bookshelves like a ninja or assassin, and its a female student to boot. Thus if this is not strange, then what is (sarcasm)... What is with that person? She seems to want to conceal her movements, but isn't this making it worse, and attracting more attention instead? Or, could it be that she actually wanted attention instead?

In any case, it would be better not to come into contact with someone like that. Troubles come about from the mouth, as long as you are not overly curious, even the cat could suffer an unexplained death. Just as I decided to pretend not to see anything and tried to get out of the library---

I saw the face of the suspicious character behind the bookshelf.

At that moment, I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me.

I thought I was hallucinating due to my brain's rejection reaction towards this library that I almost never step into.

"......"

Why would I think that way?

Because I was extremely familiar with that face.

"That's......"

Nogizaka-san?

As unbelievable as it sounds, that suspicious person really was Nogizaka Haruka. I would never miss that beautiful face of hers even if I was a mile away. But, why was she behaving so strangely?

I was bursting with questions, but Nogizaka-san didn't notice me as she ambled up to the computer terminal beside me, with the air of a 15-year old girl who's preparing to steal a motorcycle in the middle of the night, and began to type. I saw a magazine beside her, so she was probably planning to borrow it.

Tap, tap, I heard the sound of fingers on the keyboard.

She had probably finished borrowing the book, as Nogizaka-san lifted her head from the terminal with the smile of a German expert. Just as she prepared to walk towards the exit......

Our eyes met.

"..."

"..."

At that moment, time stopped.

"..."

"..."

"...Erm...What brings you here?"

That was what I wanted to ask her, but it wasn't surprising that Nogizaka-san would look at me as though she was looking at that legendary giant monster Uma, because the probability of meeting me in the library was lower than meeting a yeti.

"Since when have you been standing here?"

"For a while now."

"You...You saw it?"

"?"

Saw what?

"You...You saw the book that I borrowed..."

"No, I didn't see it..."

"Oh, is that so? Hoo!"

Nogizaka-san's expression was reminiscent of a middle-aged manager who just found out that he wasn't on the list of retrenched personnel. What's happening?

"?"

"Ah! It...It's nothing, Ayase-kun, please don't think about it, I'll be going now."

Nogizaka-san hurriedly nodded to me as she strode towards the exit. Maybe because she was disturbed by my presence, but she totally didn't notice that she was walking towards a reading table and chair set.

"Ah...Nogizaka-san, that's......"

"Hiiee!?"

And then!

Smash!

In the midst of the noise of falling furniture, Nogizaka-san, who'd tripped over a chair, fell onto her back. This was a breathtaking set of actions that one would be hard-pressed to produce.

"Ou...Ouch! Why would there be a chair here..."

Things were becoming stranger, those chairs have always been there, and the serenely-peaceful Nogizaka-san would actually do something out of character. Just what was happening? Perhaps this was what "even the most complete strategy could fail" was referring to?

Whatever the case, I couldn't possibly just leave her there, so I helped Nogizaka-san up. From a certain perspective, Nogizaka-san probably brought it upon herself! But it would have been ungentlemanly of me not to help a girl who has just fallen down in front of you (especially if that girl is Nogizaka Haruka), and I have a National Gentlemanly Conduct Grade 2 certificate......Even though I just made that up myself.

"Ah......Thank you! I'm so sorry!"

After helping up the almond-eyed Nogizaka-san, I turned my eyes to her personal belongings that were scattered all over the place.

It was really a mess, but just as I was going to help her pick up her things...

"No...You can't!"

That scream was unbelievably loud, the kind that you hear when a bedroom scene suddenly shows on the T.V. when you're eating with your family. I can't? What does she mean? Is she saying that I'm not allowed to touch her personal things with my dirty hands......? No, I don't think Nogizaka-san would think that way.

"?"

Although I didn't know why Nogizaka-san wanted to stop me, I still reached out to help her pick up the magazine.

"No, don't do it!"

Nogizaka-san reached out towards the magazine at my feet like a depraved bandit.

But...

"Ah?"

On the path of her trajectory, there was a mathematics notebook!

"Ah? This...!?"

She stepped onto that notebook with one hundred percent accuracy!!

"Ehhhhhhh!?"

The foot that had all the force of her body weight behind it, was set free from its contact with the ground by virtue of the friction (or lack thereof) between the notebook and the floor of the library!

"Kyaaaaaa!"

And then, her body flew into the air, while directly in front of her......was a bookshelf.

Smash! Boom!

In the midst of an even louder crash, the bookshelf toppled over from Nogizaka-san's spinning attack. And then, the toppled shelf hit the one beside it, and the one beside it toppled over onto another shelf......the bookshelves toppled one by one like dominoes.

In the space of a few short seconds, all the bookshelves had toppled over.

"..."

In a mere instant, the library had become ground zero.

Erm......

What just happened? I frantically tried to piece together the chronology of events.

What I see now is a library floor that's completely covered with books, making it look like a library from hell, and Nogizaka-san, who's never gotten into a fight her whole life, but had boldly smashed her way towards the bookshelf, plus her personal belongings that were spread out all over the floor.

What am I doing here?

Though I had blanked out for a moment there, I suddenly remembered what I was doing when I looked at all the things on the floor. That's right, I was trying to help Nogizaka-san pick up her personal belongings.

Nogizaka-san didn't seem to be hurt, so I wanted to help her pick everything up. And the first book that I picked up was that magazine by my feet!!!

---I finally found out the reason behind Nogizaka-san's panic.

"..."

"..."

There was an anime-style picture with a girl who had hair the color of the sky, something that could never be achieved through natural genetic inheritance, and a pair of biologically impossible large and sparkling eyes. The girl was smiling as she grabbed the hem of her skirt lightly with her fingers.

Below the picture was an overly photoshopped caption which read 「INNOCENT SMILE」 in bold and think yellow letters.

"This..."

I was speechless for a moment. This...was definitely the magazine that Nobunaga was talking about. But, why would Nogizaka-san want to borrow this book...

I had no time to continue my line of thought before a surprising voice entered my ears.

"Sob...sob...I've been seen, I've been seen!"

I only realized that the situation was serious when I saw that it was the sound of Nogizaka-san crying.

Due to the commotion, a few students from the art room had already gathered at the library.

"It's all over......sob..."

Nogizaka-san was still crying.

Actually, in this kind of situation, I felt that I should be the one that it was 'all over' for.

The stares from the surrounding students were sharp and piercing, turning the library into a much more dangerous place. Though there were only four or five students from the art room at the scene, their looks made me feel like I was the kind of contemptible man who extorted money from his girlfriend until she couldn't take it anymore and wanted a break-up, whereupon I bullied her until she cried. That kind of look was extremely uncomfortable to bear.

"What's happening? Aren't those two dating? -whisper whisper-"

"They are? But the guy looks like he doesn't really care about what's happening? -whisper whisper-"

"Was he the one who pushed down all the bookshelves? -whisper whisper-"

"Isn't he Ayase-kun of class 1? -whisper whisper-"

Listening to the contents of the whisperings, the only bright spot was that they hadn't realized that the crying girl was Nogizaka Haruka.

"The girl must have been begging him not to abandon her when he pushed her into the bookshelves."

"How could he! That's despicable!"

"Enemy of all women!"

"Detestable man!"

They were really going overboard here.

But from an objective point of view, it really did look like I had made Nogizaka-san cry, because that was practically the only possibility that could be inferred from the situation in the library, so I couldn't really blame the whispering students either.

In a nutshell, one thing was certain.

And that was, if I continued to stay at the scene of the crime, my bad reputation would be the talk of the entire school by tomorrow morning.

That's why...

With reference to the wisdom passed down by our ancestors, it was time to make a retreat! Therefore I picked up the stuff scattered all over the floor at breakneck speed, grabbed the hand of Nogizaka-san, who was still crying, and ran for our dear lives!! In truth...

We really were running for our lives!! From the library that is. From behind us...

"Ah! They've escaped!"

"He's kidnapping her?"

"They're eloping?"

"It should be the former, it's obvious that it's the former."

Those few lines were slightly better. But, why must they see me as the villain? I haven't done anything wrong.

Even I felt like crying, but when compared to a woman's tears that are like pearls, a man's tears are merely salt water. Other than the ability to melt slugs, salt water was practically useless.

But...why did it turn out like this?

I sighed deeply as I tried to look for a place where we wouldn't be seen. My feelings right now were heavier than a meat-cow that was being sent to the slaughterhouse.

Because of this...

I, who had been accused of breaking the law and of being a detestable man, finally made it out of the library with Nogizaka-san in tow, coming to a stop on the roof of the school. To someone without an exceptional  brain like me, this was the only place I could think of which could let us talk in peace and not be seen.

Nogizaka-san had already stopped crying...but right now, she still wore a blank expression as her shoulders continued to shiver, giving an impression that was completely different from the perfect 'Nuit Étoile', as she appeared to be infinitely delicate. I had never noticed that Nogizaka-san was actually so petite.

There was only one reason behind Nogizaka-san's panic.

And that was the copy of 「INNOCENT SMILE」 that I held in my left hand.

Because everything happened so fast, I had no time to organize my thoughts. But after calming down and thinking about it, I understood why she was in such a panic.

Which is to say...

"Nogizaka-san...You're an otaku..."

Nogizaka-san gave a start at my words. Bingo! Looks like I was right!

Which means that the incident at lunch break was only her reaction to Nobunaga's reference to 「INNOCENT SMILE」. But no, now is not the time to be analyzing her actions calmly.

Nogizaka-san was extremely depressed.

Looks like Nogizaka-san was extremely bothered by the fact that someone knew that she was an otaku, but it was indeed extremely surprising.

Normal people would be more condemning with regards to the different hobbies of a small group of people, but there were so many of such things in Nobunaga's room that it made you want to vomit (literally), so I don't really mind these kind of things.

"Erm, Nogizaka-san..."

I decided to move on.

"...Mm?"

A flash of fear suddenly cut across Nogizaka-san's dull-looking eyes.

"Erm...I've already forgotten everything that I saw today."

"Huh?"

Nogizaka-san, who was looking like a wilted flower, finally perked up a little.

"I'm not saying that I don't care about you......but you seem to be extremely disturbed about this incident, right? So I'll forget everything that has happened today, I won't tell anyone about this, and I won't mention it in front of you either, so you don't need to worry."

"..."

After listening to my long sentence, Nogizaka-san had a stunned expression on her face, looking like a deer that was going to be shot by a hunter. Did I say anything weird?

"..."

For a while, Nogizaka-san stopped moving. Hmm...this looks bad, and it could become even worse if I don't try to cheer her up. Just as I started to think of ways to do that...

"Ayase-kun, please do not take me for an idiot, and please do not look at me with such a strange gaze."

Nogizaka-san spoke.

"Strange gaze? What do you mean?"

"Well......Because......most people are openly disapproving of this kind of hobby. So..."

Maybe she had thought of something, which was why Nogizaka-san would say this kind of thing. Openly disapproving? Though there was some truth in that, but...

"I understand what you're trying to say, but...even if you have that kind of hobby, a normal person is still a normal person, a strange person is still a strange person. That's why I don't believe in judging a person by their hobbies."

Nobunaga is the best example. He's the perfect embodiment of an otaku, and though he is a bit...strange, he's definitely not a bad person, or I wouldn't have been his best friend for more than ten years.

"But...But..."

Nogizaka-san still had a worried look on her face. Hmm...How should I explain this?

"What I mean is, even if you have this kind of hobby, you're still you, right? That won't change, so you don't have to think about it so much."

"I'm...still myself?"

Nogizaka-san stuttered a reply.

"That's right! To be honest, being an otaku is just another hobby. In the end, I just think that it's an accompanying gift of a person's character. Because the nature of that gift differs from one person to the next, it's merely a small part of a person's character. A person's most important part shouldn't be here, should it? And..."

"...And what?"

"Hmm...I don't really know how to say this. But when I found out that you have a side that no one else knows about, I felt that it was really interesting..."

"Huh..."

"Or maybe I should say that I feel that I've gotten a little closer to you, so I'm happy..."

Nogizaka-san's face was beet-red.

Although my words seemed to be nonchalant, it was a true reflection of my feelings.

But Nogizaka-san seemed to be seriously listening to my words.

"You're probably the first person to say this to me."

Probably? If not for this chance encounter, I didn't think I'd say something like this to the 'Nuit Étoile' either.

"Anyway, that's how it is, so I don't think you need to be too bothered by it."

Seeing that Nogizaka-san had calmed down, I passed the magazine to her, patted her lightly on the shoulder, and left the roof of the school building. I walked down the stairs, changed shoes at the lobby, and walked out of the school gate, finally able to move freely again.

I lectured Nogizaka Haruka.

I actually lectured Nogizaka-san with a mountain of extremely weird talk. Something which I really regret doing now, because I actually lectured a classmate with whom I had barely exchanged two sentences with before. Looks like I'm the weird one here. But it was all over now, and there was no point thinking about how I regret doing it.

In conclusion, my relationship with Nogizaka Haruka should probably stop here shouldn't it?

No matter how you look at it, she's the prettiest girl in school, she's an extremely smart girl with brilliant academic results, and also the daughter of one of the wealthiest families in Japan, while I'm an average common citizen. Even if I do know that Nogizaka-san has her panicky moments, even if that has brought me closer to her, to be honest, we're still two people from completely different worlds. Today's incident was merely an accidental crossing of two parallel lines.

At least, that was what I had thought at that time.

==2==

Over the next few days, nothing of particular importance happened.

Nogizaka-san was still the school's most unattainable girl, while I continued to stumble through school. Rushing into class before the first bell rang, fighting against the sleep demon during lessons, chatting with Nagai and the others for a few minutes after lessons, either going to the arcade or listening to Nobunaga's endless fountain of otaku knowledge after school. I didn't have any goal in life, and I've never had a lifelong dream either. Though my everyday life was boring, it was extremely stable; it was the average life that I loved.

But within these unchanging days, I realized that one thing had changed.

And that was...

From that day onwards, the times which my gaze settled on Nogizaka-san has increased. In the classroom, I suddenly realized that I was staring at her. Hmm...Just what is happening?

"About that, I think that's called love."

"Argh!?"

Nobunaga's idiotic face suddenly appeared from the side.

"Yo! Yuuto! Let's eat lunch together!"

"When...When did you get here?"

I didn't feel his presence at all.

"Heh heh, stealth is one of my 48 special abilities!"

I've known this fellow for more than ten years, and still do not know everything about him...oh well, its not like I want to anyway.

Going back to the main topic.

"Love? Nobunaga, what do you mean?"

"Gaining and losing, unable to differentiate between what's true and what's not, that's a person in love."

I know that, but my situation's not like that.

"I would advise you not to have any ideas about the 'Nuit Étoile'."

Nobunaga ignored my response as he pulled up a chair from a neighboring table to sit in front of me while he began to speak.

"How should I put this...For someone like you, she's in another league. Hmm...it's just that your social statuses are different!"

"Hmm."

"Yuuto, I don't think you know this, but in the time span of a little more than a year that she has entered this school, the number of people who have confessed their love for the 'Nuit Étoile' was, 94 people in total, 78 guys and 16 girls, about 20% of our school's population, while the number of people who have been rejected was also 94, which means that there is a 100% chance of getting rejected. An extremely scary statistic isn't it!"

My god...I know that Nogizaka-san was popular, but 16 girls? What's the meaning of that? Girls! And why would this guy have such detailed information on his hands?

"This kind of information gathering is one of the mandatory skills required of the modern man. I could also tell you the basic personal information of the 'Nuit Étoile', hmm...Nogizaka Haruka, 16 years-old, born on the 20th of October, 155cm tall, excels at every subject, does not have a weak subject, has a grandfather, her parents, and a sister that's 3 years her junior in her immediate family..."

Nobunaga read off a notebook-like contraption that he fished out of his pocket...when did he become a stalker?

"Hey, don't look at me like I'm some kind of pervert, that's really rude of you! I'm not interested in real-life girls, for 2D girls are better, the most special of them being the cat-maid with a tail......"

I didn't even ask him about that kind of thing, as even if I were to retort, it would be obvious that we were on a different wavelength.

"And in such an information-laden time, anyone would be able to find out such information. This is a digitalized society, though there's a law regarding the protection of personal privacy, as long as one has the will, it's extremely easy to extract such information. Just tell me if you need information regarding other people. I know just about everything about everyone in school."

Nobunaga told me as he smiled generously.

...This person's dangerous! I've got to avoid having him as my enemy!

"This is just my personal opinion! It's lamentable, but if you were to attempt to woo the 'Nuit Étoile', I think your chance of failure is 99.9%. According to my sources, even the basketball team captain, Sasaoka-senpai, was one of the rejected. He's actually a man-made hunk who had gone for plastic surgery, so if even someone like him got rejected, you..."

"...Don't look at me with that glimmer of pity in your eyes!"

"No, I'm not saying that you're not good or anything, it's just that you've chosen the hardest opponent of all. I just wanted to warn you that the 'Nuit Étoile' is the strongest opponent in our school."

Nobunaga shrugged as he smiled,

"But, no matter what you decide to do, I'll support you since we're childhood friends."

It's really disgusting to be described as 'childhood friends' by another guy. No, that's not the point.

"...I've never thought of wooing Nogizaka-san."

"Really?"

What are you so suspicious about! I've never told anyone about this from the start.

"Since you said it, let's not talk about this anymore. But, have you heard this phrase before?"

Nobunaga had a wise expression on his face as he continued,

" 'To start to care is to start to fall in love!' BY Asakura Nobunaga."

Just where did he get that from! I've never heard that!

I don't know if it was the influence of Nobunaga's words, but the frequency with which I looked at Nogizaka-san actually increased after that conversation. During lessons, after lessons, after school, as long as I had the chance, I would look for her. This is bad, I seem to have contracted some serious disease.

A few more days passed after that.

This incident happened one morning two weeks after that day.

==3==
"We're going to conduct a check on personal belongings now, so please take out everything from your bag!"

The form teacher's, Tanabe Shigeo (38 years-old, male, single), words caused a stir in the classroom. While it was a mandatory check, it was understandable that the students were still unhappy about it.

"Be quiet! I'll be checking the guys, while Kamishiro-sensei will be checking the girls."

Kamishiro-sensei is our assistant-form teacher, and a light music teacher who had only just graduated from an all-girls university last year. She didn't put on any airs, was well-liked by her students, and was also extremely pretty. She's pretty, cute, and her figure's......Hmm? I seem to have deviated from the main topic.

Speaking of which, I immediately thought of one thing when I heard that there was going to be a check.

It can't be that much of a coincidence can it? Nogizaka-san can't be holding that book right now, right?

The time limit for borrowing a book from our school library was two weeks. If she had really held the book until the last day, then she would have to return it today. No, she can't be that unlucky!!

I nonchalantly looked behind me, and saw that Nogizaka-san's face had gone ashen, looking as though she was the victim of a murder.

....Ah, she must be holding the book right now.

"Please endure the check for a while more, it's finishing soon."

As per the instructions of Kamishiro-sensei, the female students began to place their personal belongings on their desks, as Nogizaka-san could only do the same with a helpless look in her eyes. I seemed to have caught a glimpse of the magazine that I had seen two weeks ago hidden among the textbooks and music scores on her table.

What should I do?

I thought about it, and I shouldn't do anything, since it's not like I'm not obliged to help her or anything.

But...

The image of Nogizaka-san crying from two weeks ago suddenly flashed across my mind. Even though I've already seen her uncontrollable sobbing, if that were to repeat itself in front of the entire class, just what kind of situation would it result in? Hmm...I didn't even dare to imagine it, but I know that it wouldn't be pretty for the pampered daughter of a wealthy family like Nogizaka-san to react to this kind of sudden event. She probably wouldn't even know what to do.

Was there really no way around it? No matter if it was a mud boat or the Titanic, she had already boarded the vessel, so I should be doing something to help her. But just as I realized that the opponent was Kamishiro-sensei, I couldn't think of any plan of attack. Two negatives make a positive, there must be a way, I can't miss this opportunity!

God, why is my brain so slow to react in the morning!

I raised my hand to speak.

"I...My stomach really hurts, may I make a trip to the washroom?"

"What's wrong? Did you eat too much for breakfast? Never mind, since you've passed the check already, you may go."

The 38 year-old Tanabe Shigeo obnoxiously said something which implied that he didn't care about his students at all. As he made his way around the desks of his students, I thought that the reason behind the fact that he still hasn't gotten married was due to his character...Oh well, it's not like it's any business of mine. I pretended to be in pain as I slanted my body while walking towards the exit of the classroom, passing by Nogizaka-san's seat in the process.

"I'm sorry."

"Huh?"

After saying that to Nogizaka-san, who was on the verge of tears, I pretended to trip on a bag on the floor as I deliberately fell towards her table.

"Eh? Ah!"

The table fell over as the textbooks, scores and other stuff that were on it flew onto the floor as well. Together with Nogizaka-san's low scream, her surroundings descended into chaos.

"Nogizaka-san, are you alright?"

"Ayase, get lost!"

"All you do is to get in the way of others! You better get away from Nogizaka-san this instant!"

My classmates started shouting at me from all corners of the classroom. How could it be that not even one of them cared about my condition?

"Ayase-kun. What are you doing!?"

Kamishiro-sensei walked over. She probably didn't see it.

"Sorry, I was trying to get to the washroom as soon as possible when I tripped."

"You're always so rash. Alright, just carry on and leave this to me."

"Sorry to trouble you."

I nodded towards Kamishiro-sensei, who had a conspiratorial smile on her face, and hurried out of the classroom.

I walked along the corridor to the washroom, clutching my stomach with one hand.

There shouldn't be a stalker hiding in the men's toilet right now, but for the sake of secrecy, I confirmed that there wasn't anyone else in the washroom before taking out a rectangular object from the inside of my uniform. No prizes for guessing the correct answer, of course it was the 「INNOCENT SMILE」. The blue-haired girl on the cover was still smiling happily. Phew, at least I successfully smuggled it out!

"This is..."

Just as I was congratulating myself, I suddenly realized that there was something else beneath the magazine, an expensive-looking green book. This is a book of musical scores, one of those that was on Nogizaka-san's table. Looks like in my hurry to smuggle the magazine out of the classroom, I had taken something else out along with it.

"Composed by Franz Liszt. Erster Mephisto-Walzer No. 1, S514"

Such a resounding name for a piece. The Waltz of Mephisto. I flipped the book open, only to find that its interior was covered with musical symbols which I didn't understand. Wow.

She's too brilliant! I don't know anything about playing the piano. But in that moment, I already knew that this wasn't a piece that an average high school student could play. Which was why I could only stand there in awe of Nogizaka-san's piano prowess.

I carefully closed the thick score that once again reminded me of how perfect Nogizaka-san is.

At that moment, something strange loomed up in the corner of my vision.

"..."

This is a drawing right? A horrific-looking villain with the eyes of a bloodthirsty bear was drawn in one corner of the piano score. He was holding a conductor's baton in one hand, while in a speech bubble beside him contained, 'please remember not to play at too fast a tempo at this part♪', written in pink ink. In the stark contrast between the picture and the contents of the speech bubble, the reminder appeared to be extremely impish.

But the bear really wasn't drawn very nicely, as it also looked like a man-eating wolf, or a large bloodhound, or a failed clone of Godzilla. As for the object that it held in its hand, it looked like a saber, a police baton, or even an ill-designed lightsaber.

To be honest, that drawing was extremely bad. So bad that a kindergarten kid with a little bit of talent in the arts would be able to draw something better.

"...I'll just pretend that I didn't see it!"

After mulling it over, I felt that this was the wisest course of action. There are a lot of things in the world that are best left hidden and not known to mankind. See no evil.

After looking at it for a while more, I quietly closed the score.

After school, Kamishiro-sensei called me to the office.

She seemed to have seen through my act in the morning.

"You hid something at that time didn't you?"

Kamishiro-sensei crossed her legs in a way that would desolate the eyes of innocent youths as she asked. Against this sort of opponent, that the ill-conceived trick would be seen through shouldn't be much of a surprise. So I thought about how best to answer the question.

"Hmm...I admit that I hid something, but I assure you, it wasn't anything contraband. It was an object that would bring great distress to a teenage girl, which was why I took such a drastic and rash measure to solve the problem."

I just gave an answer that even I didn't understand, but Kamishiro-sensei gave a devilish smile as though I just sold my soul to her.

"I believe you. You were trying to protect Haruka, right?"

"No, about this..."

"Am I wrong?"

"Ugh..."

It seems like...she's seen through everything. It's true that aged ginger is more pungent, so I should just keep my mouth shut for now.

"Alright you don't have to give me the details, so let's just put this matter behind us. Mm...it must be nice to be young and so full of energy. The exuberant youthfulness of the E generation, if only I was five years younger!"

Kamishiro-sensei's eyes sparkled with an unearthly light, she seemed to be rather happy. Though she seemed to have misunderstood something, but any attempts to explain the situation would probably fall on deaf ears, so I decided not to act rashly.

"It's true that one should experience every type of situation while one's still young, like dating two girls at once or a triangular relationship, anything goes! If you don't play your cards properly, you could even get into a 6-way relationship..."

And this was how I spent the next five minutes.

After Kamishiro-sensei finally snapped out of her own world, she uncrossed and crossed her legs again before continuing our conversation.

"Hmm, I don't have anything else to say to you, you can go now...Ah, wait a moment, I remembered something. Yuu-chan, do you know where my cellphone is? I lost it after I went to borrow some music scores during lunch break."

"How would I know the location of your cellphone..."

"Really? Actually, I was thinking that you had hidden it! Good boys also have times when they want to play bad, it's the special psychology of teenage boys..."

"I categorically deny that."

"If you say it so seriously, onee-san will be sad you know..."

"..."

I retorted softly.

"Ah, such a cruel retort, but I'm not bluffing...I really forgot where I put it, it's really strange. Oh well, I'll just continue looking for it, I'll think of something else if I really can't find it."

"You really do know how to act blur..."

Though I'm hardly one to say that, but,

"Really? Hmm! Haruka and you...To be honest, the two of you are a surprising couple."

"No, we're not dating..."

I retorted immediately, she really had misunderstood our relationship.

"It's alright, there's no point hiding it, onee-chan knows everything already."

[[Image:NHnH vol01 060.jpg|thumb]]

"It's not a question of hiding it or not...she's the 'Nuit Étoile'! I'm not good enough for her, so this is all just a misunderstanding."

However.

"An inter-caste love relationship! So touching..."

God, this person isn't absorbing anything I'm telling her.

"...You haven't changed one bit, Yukari."

As expected of my sister's friend, for people who aren't dense enough will never be able to make friends with my sister...But why am I surrounded by such dense people! Nobunaga, the three idiots, Yukari, and my sister. Is this what they call 'birds of a feather flock together'? I really don't want to go down that line of thought.

"Hey, please call me Kamishiro-sensei when in school."

In that moment, I remembered that I had the habit of calling other people by their given names.

"I'm alright with anything, Sen---sei."

Under the influence of the pleading brown-colored eyes of Kamishiro-sensei, I lost the power to retort. Oh well, since this incident's over, I can go back to the classroom. But just as I prepared to walk back to my classroom, Yukari suddenly put on an expression that middle-aged obasan's have when they're preparing to sexually harass their female colleagues and happily told me,

"Saito-sensei's out on official business today, and the bed in the infirmary is empty! Work hard! Young man!"

I just walked out of the teacher's office when I saw Nogizaka-san standing there.

She stood there quietly, like the only lily in a garden full of tulips, though a little conservative, but still different from the rest.

"Ah..."

Nogizaka-san fiddled with her white hairband when she saw me as she stepped forward, looking as though she had something to say.

She stood there for a while before finally making up her mind,

"Umm...Ayase-kun..."

Her pink lips parted to say something, but...

"Ah! Isn't that the 'Nuit Étoile'?"

A voice rudely interrupted her.

"Where?"

"Look! There!"

On the other end of the corridor, there were a few guys who were pointing in our direction and talking among themselves.

"It's true, and some guy is trying to flirt with her."

"What!? A guy?"

One of the guys gave a murderous shout.

To be honest, after so much had happened, I had almost forgotten that Nogizaka-san was a famous person in school. A famous person like her talking face to face with a serious-looking guy (me) outside the teacher's office was extremely noticeable.

"What!? The 'Nuit Étoile'?"

"And a guy?"

"What's the matter? Just what is happening?'

Other than the loud voices of the group of guys, even the other students who were passing by had stopped and were looking at us curiously, some even moving closer to get a better look. In a few moments, the two of us had been completely surrounded by people.

Hmm...

The popularity of the 'Nuit Étoile' was extremely scary, so much so that we couldn't even hold a conversation in peace in public.

For the first time in my life, I realized that personal privacy was actually so worthless and meaningless. Though it's not my place to give out such lamentations,

Because 120% of those guys' interest was on Nogizaka-san and not on me.

Just as I was thinking about that, more and more people started to arrive. I looked around me...about twenty or even thirty people had already gathered, just where did all these people come from?

Anyway, it would be suicide to continue staying here. Under the watchful eyes of so many people, we won't be able to speak to each other properly.

Since it has come down to this, there was only one way of resolving this.

"Nogizaka-san, let's go."

"Ah?"

I pulled Nogizaka-san, who had a dazed expression on her face like a duckling who has just been born, away from the scene. It's so strange! Why am I always running whenever I'm together with Nogizaka-san?

"Hey, that fellow actually dared to flirtatiously drag the 'Nuit Étoile' by her hand!"

"What!? By her hand?"

Just as we ran through the layers of human walls around us to escape, angry shouts sounded from the surrounding crowd.

"Damn! Don't run away!"

"Unforgivable..."

"Damn it, I've remembered his face! The next time I see him, I'll tie him up and hang him upside down from the roof!"

My god, those are such extreme words, I even started to hallucinate, as I thought I saw a group of people putting on red headbands that read 'Protect Haruka-sama~ The Nuit Étoile Protection Force~'.

......Those should be the hallucinations generated by my own mind.

Once again, we came to the rooftop.

The only difference was that this time, Nogizaka-san wasn't the one crying, though I felt like I was going to. Looks like the legendary secret fan club really exists, I should get Nobunaga to dig up some information on them. I do not want to be the public enemy number one of these people, for if I don't take the appropriate actions, I might really be hung upside down from the rooftop.

As I thought about the fanclub members, all of whom had looked at me murderously, I felt extremely depressed.

I finally understood the extent of Nogizaka-san's popularity. It was rumored that Nogizaka-san's fan club membership was a three digit value, and it looked to be true. In the context of our school population, a three digit value would be equal to roughly a quarter of the entire school population. In other words (including girls), of every four students in our school, one is a supporter of Nogizaka-san. That's a bit too terrifying isn't it?

Nogizaka-san was panting loudly beside me due to fatigue, which wasn't a surprise, given the long distance that we ran to get here.

After Nogizaka-san's breathing had become more even, I opened my mouth to speak.

"Did......Did you have something to say to me?"

Actually I could already guess what Nogizaka-san would want to say.

"Yes I do, about this morning's incident......"

After she stopped panting, Nogizaka-san finally lifted up her head.

As I expected! That would be the only reason why Nogizaka-san would come looking for me.

Even though it's a bit sad to say that, but......

"Ah, I'm really sorry for lunging at you so suddenly in the morning."

As I said that, Nogizaka-san became a little nervous.

"Eh? That......That was very nice......No! It wasn't nice, but......"

So was it nice or was it not nice?

Nogizaka-san suddenly lowered her head like a dove, her slightly messy hair moving along with the movement of her head. At this point in time, the soft and silky fragrance of her hair was blown over.

"I'm really grateful to you. That time.....You were helping me, weren't you?"

"It's nothing!"

You could say that I was helping her, or you could say that I just couldn't leave her like that, because I know Nogizaka-san's secret!

Nogizaka-san giggled.

"Ayase-kun, you're a really nice guy."

"Nice guy..."

Normally, by saying that the guy is a nice guy, the girl usually means 'you're a hopeless nice guy', so it wasn't anything to be happy about. But since it came from Nogizaka-san, she probably doesn't mean it that way!

"Anyway, I want to thank you for helping me. I'm grateful for you helping me keep the fact that I borrowed the 「INNOCENT SMILE」 a secret...And I'm really sorry......Because of me, you got called to the teacher's office."

She bowed her head in apology again.

"It's nothing, don't think too much about it. It was Kamishiro-sensei who called me to the office, so it's nothing!"

"But..."

"It's alright, I wasn't scolded or anything!"

Finally convinced after my repeated explanations, Nogizaka-san finally raised her head again.

"Ayase-kun, thank you for all your help."

Nogizaka-san gave me a shy smile. Hmm......If she continues in this vein, I'll start to feel embarrassed too.

Which was why I decided to change the topic.

"Oh right, I gotta return this to you."

After checking to make sure that no one was around, I took out 「INNOCENT SMILE」 and the music score.

"Ah, Ayase-kun, you even took away the music score."

"I used too much force when I was trying to hide 「INNOCENT SMILE」! This piece of music looks really difficult, are you able to play it?"

I asked Nogizaka-san who was for an instant slightly embarrassed.

"Yes... it's the piece I'm currently practicing, so I'm almost able to play the entire piece."

I nodded. So she can play it after all. As the name of the piece, 「The Waltz of Mephisto」 suggests, this wasn't a piece that normal people would be able to play, but she could.

Just as I was filled with awe at her piano prowess, Nogizaka-san suddenly thought of something, and abruptly looked up at me...

"So......could it be that you looked inside?"

Nogizaka-san's voice carried a tinge of uneasiness, as though saying that I saw something.

"I......Didn't I drew a lot of drawings in it?"

She looked up at me.

"Ah......That's right......"

That man-eating bear who looked like it just killed two of three people! Because the visual impact was too jarring, I remembered that drawing in exquisite detail, the drawing which would bring at least three days of nightmares to anyone who looks at it.

"I'm sorry, but I saw it...or rather, it ran into my line of sight, I merely glanced at it."

"S..so, you saw it?"

Nogizaka-san lowered her head. Hmm...that really was something that I shouldn't have seen, it was forbidden fruit! Just as I was frantically trying to think of a way to get over this awkward atmosphere, Nogizaka-san surprised me with her next sentence.

"What do you think of it?"

"Huh?"

What do you mean?

"That is......it's quite nice isn't it? It's the first time anyone has seen my drawings"

Nogizaka-san's eyes sparkled when she said that, her expression showing the confidence she had in her drawing skills. Don't tell me......that she's asking for my opinion? I never thought that things would turn out like this.

'The main source of nourishment of that bear seems to be humans'...That doesn't sound like a compliment. 'The bear's eyes make it look like it's sniffing drugs'...that's definitely not a compliment. 'If we were to put that bear into a hot pot, it'll probably be very delicious'...I really didn't how I should phrase my answer.

After mulling it over...

"The bear's gaze is extremely evil...no, or rather, it's very piercing. Everyone's perspective is different, so I suppose some people would find it very cute..."

In the end, my polite and invincible compliment was shattered by Nogizaka-san's response.

"...Hmm? Bear? But that's a cat!"

Nogizaka-san tilted her head as though asking, just what are you talking about.

"..."

"..."

"...Ah, you're absolutely right, it's a cat."

A cat?

I honestly didn't knew that it was a cat. Because a normal cat wouldn't have fangs would it?

"Umm...Uh...It's really creative to let the cat hold a conductor's baton!!"

"...It's supposed to be a cat toy!"

"..."

"..."

"Ah, that's right, it's a cat toy."

The book is a music score, and adding those two things sure add a new perspective.

Luckily, Nogizaka-san didn't seem to have heard my soundless murmurings.

"It's embarrassing to say it myself, but I'm rather confident about that piece of art!"

Nogizaka-san continued.

"..."

Is she serious?

I stared at Nogizaka-san.

The look in her eyes was extremely serious.

There was no look in the world that could be more serious than that.

"..."

Well, no point picking out her faults, no one's perfect after all!

"...Hmm, that's a really creative and outstanding piece of work, I like it! I think I see a hint of Picasso's 「Guernica」 in it."

I expressed my own opinions very tactfully, but this was already the best I could say.

"Really? I'm so happy!"

Looking at the joy expressed on Nogizaka-san's innocent face, I felt a sense of guilt weighing down on me. At least I wasn't lying.

"I'm really really happy! I'm glad I asked for your opinion!"

"Righ......Right......"

I'm glad she didn't ask somebody other than me.

"Well......then please take good care of me in the future!"

"?"

What?

"I think I'll improve faster if I show it to other people. I've always been practicing alone, but its hard to improve like this...Of course, only if you have the time..."

"..."

Was she planning to show me these satanic drawings that bring down nightmares and summon demons on a regular basis?

"What......What do you think?"

"...About this......"

"You don't want to?"

I didn't give an immediate answer and Nogizaka-san's expression immediately turned to one reminiscent of a puppy that had been abandoned by the roadside. That expression is a banned technique, for no one can reject the 'Nuit Étoile' or let the 'Nuit Étoile' put on such an expression. Furthermore, that Nogizaka-san would implore me like this is because I'm the only one who knows about this hobby of hers......I didn't have a choice, for I'm stuck between a rock and a hard place, and I really think that I've boarded the Titanic.

"If you don't mind, I'm willing to discuss it with you anytime."

I deliberately pitched my voice higher so as to impress upon my sincerity.

"Really!"

Nogizaka-san gave a blissful smile. God, I think I'll lose a hundred days of my life everytime I see this smile in the future...oh well, no point thinking about that now.

After that, for a long period of time (at least 30 minutes), I was listening to Nogizaka-san talk about her passion for drawing.

"I have to go now, thank you very much for today. After I finish some new drawings, I'll show them to you again. I'll be going first."

Because of her piano lesson, Nogizaka-san left first. She was in extremely high spirits, humming the tune of 「Für Elise」 as she walked.

Looking at her receding figure, I couldn't help but mutter to myself.

"...Have I acted too rashly...?"

==4==
That night, I was studying in my room when an exaggeratedly loud voice came from downstairs.

"Hey! Yuuto! You've got a call!"

I was slightly miffed at being interrupted just as I was getting into the rhythm of my English-Japanese translation homework, but my sister was in a worser mood, ready to explode at any moment.

"I said, you've got a call!!!"

She kicked the door to my room open!! She even took down one of the door hinges along with her kick!! And then she stomped into my room.

The tall person who entered my room.

"Ruko..."

My sister (A karate second-dan holder, but often abuses her martial arts skills. In the Ayase household where my parents are rarely at home, she has the highest authority) appeared to be extremely unhappy, like an Asian black bear woken up from its slumber during winter time.

She only wore a white shirt on top of her underwear, such a disgraceful appearance.

"How could she wake me up from my sweet slumber! I don't know who she is, but you better teach her a lesson and tell her not to call in the middle of the night!"

Middle of the night? It's only ten! Though it wasn't early, but it wasn't that late either. And what did she mean by 'teach her a lesson'? Shouldn't she say lecture or something!

I knew that retorting was useless, but I still gave it a try.

"Whatever makes you happy, since both mean 'input' in one way or another."

Those two phrases are completely different! They have totally different meanings!

But to Ruko, who was even lazier and more perfunctory than me, those two phrases really weren't that different. She gave an irritated expression as she glared at me.

"...You're really annoying! Just answer the phone will you! I'm so sleepy.......I'm going to sleep now, so you better remember to unplug the phone after you finish your conversation! "

Ruko threw the phone over to me before going through the door that was swinging on only one of its hinges.

For the love of God! Who'd have believed that she's actually the secretary for the CEO of a top-class firm, which goes to show that anything can happen in this society of ours. It was indeed the state of affairs that beautiful women would always have their way. Though my sister is pretty, I don't really want to comment on her character. For a society that is perpetually harping on equality, we're extremely unfair.

I thought of all this as I answered the phone.

"Hello?"

And then...

"Ah, hello? Is this Ayase-kun? It's Nogizaka."

A surprising voice came from the other end of the line, the female voice that had the power to calm anyone who hears it, one that I've been hearing quite a lot of recently. But right now, this voice sounded extremely serious, nothing like the cheerful one I had heard in the day. Something must have happened.

"I'm really sorry to disturb you at such a late hour. Umm...I would like to ask for a favor from you, Ayase-kun..."

A favor? My heart beat really fast at that word.

"...I'm really embarrassed to say this right now. But I know I'll regret it for life if I don't say it now."

The seriousness in that voice was mixed with a heavy dose of embarrassment. Could it be that? No, Nogizaka-san would never ask me to do something as absurd as imitating the way crickets walk upside-down.

"Erm......Are you listening?"

"Ah, of, of course I'm listening."

I had no reason not to be listening.

"That's great...Ayase-kun, could you come out and meet me now?"

"Huh..."

After a second of lightning-quick analysis......

"Meet up...just the two of us?'

"That's right."

To meet up at this time......She can't be planning to have a secret date with me can she? The two of us sitting on a bench in the park. Time has stopped, and then the two of us......No, I can't continue fantasizing! I'll start to think about contents similar to the plot in a third-grade novel if I continue fantasizing.

I shook my heard violently. Got to stay calm, got to stay calm, I have to keep my cool.

To return my heartbeat to normal, healthy levels, I mentally recited the multiplication table. At this time, Nogizaka-san continued,

"Actually...I would like you to accompany me to school."

"School?"

The school in question...would obviously be the Hakujo Academy that we both attend. Why would she pick such a time to go to school when there wasn't a late night dare challenge of any kind going on......

"......The magazine...I forgot to return it."

The soft and hesitant voice cut off my line of thought.

"I had planned to return it after meeting Ayase-kun, but as I was feeling extremely happy after our conversation, I felt that I could return it a bit later......and I forgot to return in the end."

"You're talking about......that magazine?"

「INNOCENT SMILE」

"......Yes."

"..."

The situation......was really serious. The basic rules of our school were rather loose, but our school was extremely strict regarding the usage of school facilities. If a book that was borrowed from the library wasn't returned by the due date, the school would publicly remind the student through the PA system.

Of course, the public reminder would also include the student's name, year, and the name of the borrowed book.

"If I'm mentioned, I'll...sob..."

Probably thinking about what would happen if the book that she borrowed was publicly announced to the entire school, Nogizaka-san was whimpering slightly.

"Th, that's why I thought I'd go return it instead. *sniff* Bu, but going alone to school when it's this late...it's scary. So, I thought I'd ask somebody to go with me...B, but..."

Nogizaka-san said in a tearful voice.

So that's how it is. About this, I was the only one whom she could turn to for help. Because if she was to look for someone else, she'd have to show them 「INNOCENT SMILE」, bringing her hobby to the knowledge of one more person.

"Sob......Is it too much to ask? I'm really sorry to always bother you like this, but..."

It wasn't her fault. And......only a demented man would abandon a crying Nogizaka-san, right?

Therefore.

"Hmm...Let's just meet up at school now, alright?"

"Sob...Ah...?"

A surprised exclamation came from the other side of the line.

"You're willing......to go with me?"

"Yup, since I've got nothing to do right now anyway."

It was decided. Though I haven't finished my English homework, that's not important at a moment like this! I would like to avoid both Nogizaka-san's tears and the scolding given by my English teacher (forty-two years old, characteristic: Extremely annoying), but I don't have the time to deliberate any further on this.

"Thank you......sob......Thank you so much"

And that was how I decided to sneak into school at such an unearthly hour.

The campus was extremely creepy at night.

The thirty-something year-old white cement campus looked as thought it was floating in the sky in the dark, and from an angle, it really looked like an abandoned mansion, giving any observers a severe case of the goosebumps. This atmosphere was like the one in the supernatural shows on television where the spiritually-inclined guest appears and declares to the audience that 'an extremely evil aura can be felt here', whereupon the audience painfully wrestles with their inner-selves whether to continue watching or not. Nogizaka-san, who was standing next to me, was looking at the campus with exactly the same expression on her face, looking as though she was about to burst into tears any moment.

Now, how should we go about infiltrating the campus?

Of course the main gate wouldn't be open at this time, so perhaps we should try going by the staff entrance. Since it's the staff entrance, it should be near the teachers' office. But we'd have to be extremely careful if we were to go in by the staff entrance so as to avoid getting caught by a patrolling teacher. Or should we break a window and reach in to take the key, use a power tool to break the lock of the main gate, or just smash our way through the gate with a metal pole. Just that...all the above-mentioned methods were illegal.

Isn't there any way that's quieter? (Even though no matter how quiet an act of infiltration is, it's still an illegal act) Just as I was trying to come up with a better idea...

"Ayase-kun, this way."

Nogizaka-san pulled on my arm.

"We can get in by the back gate."

"Back gate......why?"

"Because I have a backup key."

"A backup key?"

Why would she have something like that?

"The key was in my father's study, so I just borrowed it for a while, because I thought it might come in handy!"

So it was from her father's study...I seem to have understood something, but why would her father have a backup key of the school?

"I'm not very sure about the specifics...but it seems like my father donated a large amount of money to the school, and to prepare for emergencies, he asked for a backup of all the keys in the school."

Investment...Right, I've heard this before. Ever since Nogizaka-san came to study at this school, ninety percent of all the money donated to Hakujo Academy came from the Nogizaka family. So it probably wouldn't be surprising if Nogizaka-san had a backup copy of all the keys in the school......right?

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing......"

Now's not the time to voice my questions, but since she had the backup copies to all the keys in the school, she'd surely have the key to the main gate. Wouldn't it be much better to just go in by the main gate? But I didn't say that out loud.

"Let's go!"

"Yes!'

Because the library was on the second story, we walked in the direction of the stairs.

Not surprisingly, the interior of the school was also empty, and as silent as a cemetery.

"It's really creepy..."

Nogizaka-san said as she looked around the deserted corridor. She gripped the sleeve of my shirt tightly, not daring to let go for even a second.

"If this was a game, a zombie should be jumping out from this corner."

"Ah!!!"

I had played this game where you had to fight off hordes of zombies, giant spiders and other monstrosities while attempting to escape from a western-style building. For the first ten minutes of the game, you would probably feel like you're about to be devoured by two of three zombies, but...

Never mind, forget I said it, now's not the time to think about something like that.

"Ayase-kun, do you know about the seven mysteries of our school?"

As we neared the stairwell, Nogizaka-san suddenly mentioned that. The seven mysteries of the school, though I'm not exactly sure as to the actual number of the mysteries, but there should be quite a few of them. Like...

There's the 'Thirteen steps of death to the rooftop'.

As for the others, I only know of the 'Dancing human figure in the science classroom', 'The self-playing piano in the music room', 'The self-bouncing ball in the empty gym'.

"There's still 'Hanako-san, who lives in the toilet' 'The big mirror in the infirmary that reflects the death of the user', and...'the dead book-reader'."

Nogizaka-san filled in the gaps.

"..."

An extremely bad premonition filled the air after hearing such rumors.

This was my first time hearing about 'The dead book-reader'. Since it has to do with a book-reader, it should be connected to the library right? And we just had to be going to the library at this time.

"..."

Should we just head back?

"Don't...Don't leave me behind!"

[[Image:NHnH vol01 084.jpg|thumb]]

My arm was held in a vice-like grip by Nogizaka-san, who had tears rolling about in her eyes. Looks like I wouldn't be able to perform the 'great escape'.

During the time when I was struggling with myself about whether to run away or not, we reached the library in question. The wooden door that looked so normal in the day now looked like the gates to hell.

It was a really bad feeling.

"So...What's the story behind 'The dead book-reader'?"

I asked Nogizaka-san.

"A long long time ago, when the campus was still made of wood, there was a student who really liked to read. Because he was crazy about reading, so this student would go to the library every day, until one day, where he passed away after getting into an accident on his way to the library. But it's rumored that for the sake of reading, this student would still report to the library everyday, which is why in the dark and silent library, footsteps and the sound of a book dropping onto the ground can be heard, and the shadow of a reading figure can also be seen at the window."

"You really know a lot about that."

"We're going off track here, but I heard that someone really came down to the library in the middle of the night, and that book-reader really did appear in front of that person."

"..."

"I only heard this story the day before yesterday. So now......I kind of regret hearing it..."

Nogizaka-san lowered her head. Even if she regrets hearing that story, it was already too late...

"...It'll probably be even worse if this story was told to someone who's never heard of it before."

"You're right......It would be worse."

"I've never heard this story before."

"Huh...you..."

Nogizaka-san placed a finger at the edge of her mouth as she lapsed into deep thought.

"...So you're saying that...You just heard the story for the first time from me?"

"That's right."

"..."

"..."

The surroundings were deathly silent.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said all that."

Nogizaka-san apologized with a horrified expression on her face, just like a puppy who did something wrong and was getting scolded by its master. I believe that no one would be able to grumble even a word more after seeing her like this.

"Ah, it's alright, since you didn't do it on purpose."

And I was the one who was asked for the details in the first place.

"But, if you meet the dead book-reader and get murdered by him because of my words..."

Nogizaka-san's face was terribly pale as she fervently prayed that I would not become the victim of a supernatural murder!

"It'll be alright! The dead book-reader won't run out just because of your story! And my only redeeming feature is that I'm really tough, so I'd probably be able to survive a supernatural attack without much effort."

Because I have been forced to accept Ruko's rigorous training since I was young.

"But...the attack of a spirit...isn't a physical attack, but a mental one, like curses..."

"That's alright too."

Regarding mental attacks, besides Ruko's training, I've also been on the receiving end of a lot of training from Yukari. So my defensive ability against mental attacks would probably be even higher than my defensive ability against physical attacks. I'm not proud of this inhuman defensive capabilities of mine, but it's the unfortunate truth.

Nogizaka-san smiled as she squinted slightly, probably hinting that she accepts my answer?

"......You're really kind."

"No......I'm not that kind......"

Why would she suddenly say something like this?"

"Hehe!"

"No...That's..."

I wanted to deny it, but couldn't find the right words. To mask the fact that I was blushing, I turned my gaze to the direction of the library.

"Cough, though I can't deny that this library's really creepy...we still have to go in don't we?"

Once I said that, Nogizaka-san immediately nodded her head furiously with a serious expression on her face.

"Let's...Let's go!"

Even though Nogizaka-san was the one calling for us to go, she didn't move at all as she looked at me as if trying to send me some kind of telepathic message...she probably wants me to lead the way. Alright, let's do it!

I pushed open the gigantic wooden door to the library, the wooden frame creaking under the force exerted by my hands before it opened. On the other side of the door was...an empty library. If this was a horror film, then at the exact moment where the door was opened, we would have gone face to face with 'the dead book-reader', a worst-case scenario that I wanted to avoid at all costs. The atmosphere in the empty room seemed to be extremely sinister, as though a ghoulish white face would appear from behind the black-painted shelves any moment.

"You can't leave me. Please don't leave me alone, I'm begging you."

Nogizaka-san grabbed my arm tightly as she whimpered, a flowery smell making its way to my nostrils. In fact, she needn't have been so worried, since she was grabbing me so tightly that I wasn't even able to move.

"Ah, I'm sorry."

Nogizaka-san hurriedly let go of me, my body finally regaining its freedom of movement. But for some reason, I suddenly felt a trace of regret.

"Let's just maintain this position. Please don't leave me alone alright?"

Nogizaka-san looked up at me as she requested me to stay by her side while she held on to my arm. I nodded as we made our way towards the book-return counter.

It was about fifty meters to the counter, and we carefully made our way over.

During this short journey, Nogizaka-san's beautiful face almost touched mine a couple of time. Her alluring amber eyes, her exquisitely white skin, and her pink lips all made my heart beat faster after every close encounter...Is there a problem with the regularity of my heartbeat?

"Kya!"

Nogizaka-san seemed to have tripped over something...it should be the reading chair again, right? She lost her balance, but fortunately, she broke her fall just before her face was about to come into contact with the floor. That was close!

"Why is there a chair here..."

How could you say that when the chair's always been here, and you've already tripped over it once before already?

"I've embarrassed myself again, I'm so clumsy!"

She smiled embarrassingly before continuing to walk, but promptly tripped over another chair, and fell flat on the floor this time.

"..."

I was thinking, she can't be...

Nogizaka-san's a little...no, extremely dense.

"...I've been tripping over or running into things ever since I was young."

Nogizaka-san answered the question in my mind.

"I would be able to fall down even when walking on flat ground, and I've even walked into electrical poles and parked cars."

"You're not good at sports?"

But I had thought that she does quite well during physical education classes.

"Hmm......I don't think this has got anything to do with physical ability."

"...I think you're right."

Was she really like this? I've never seen her trip over something or knock into something at school though.

"I'm usually extremely careful...but maybe it's because Ayase-kun has already seen me trip over something that I probably subconsciously let my guard down, leading to me to trip over more things."

Nogizaka-san smiled abashedly. Looks like she's been putting in a lot of effort to maintain her public image.

"...Ah, what have I been saying! We should quickly return the book!"

The red-faced Nogizaka-san suddenly remembered our mission and walked towards the book-returning counter, this time not tripping over anything. After reaching the counter, Nogizaka-san immediately turned on the computer, which powered up with a whir as the monitor displayed the operating system.

"Hey, I suddenly thought of something."

"Thought of what?"

"Even if the book was returned now, won't the data be stored in the computer?"

It's a computer specially designed to handle the borrowing and returning of library books. Which is why the date and time of all transactions would definitely be recorded in the computer. To be more precise, in the hard-disk of the computer. It'll definitely show that on the twenty-second day of April, at 23:08, book number 1203 (INNOCENT SMILE) was returned to the library.

"..."

Nogizaka-san froze for five seconds.

"...I never thought of that."

Hey, Hey!

"Hmm...There's got to be a way. Let's think logically. Since no one in their right minds would return a book at this time, I would expect the librarian to assume that there's a problem with the data. People always look for a reason to explain such small and insignificant inconsistencies."

Maybe she's right. But I would never have guessed that she had this careless side to her.

"Please wait for a moment while I return the book."

Nogizaka-san concentrated on the computer in front of her after saying that.

I had nothing to do, so I couldn't help but look at Nogizaka-san, who had both eyes on the monitor.

Sleek, black hair, snowy white skin, under the weak light of the moon and the reflection of the light from the screen, her body was bathed in a bluish white light, making her look as mysterious as the Goddess of healing magic in legends. She's the beautiful, clever, dignified and musically talented 'Nuit Étoile'. But the string of compliments didn't seem to fit the girl standing in front of me.

Because my impression of Nogizaka-san isn't like this.

Before this, I had thought of Nogizaka-san as a calm and collected lady. And I'm sure the rest of my classmates would see her in the same way.

But right now, I finally understand why we can never judge a book by its cover.

Which daughter of a wealthy and powerful family would illegally infiltrate her own school just to return an otaku magazine?

And even crying while tripping over numerous things in front of another in the process, embarrassing herself by being extremely clumsy...

But, compared to the normally perfect Nogizaka-san, I felt that the Nogizaka-san that I was seeing right now was more 'human'. A much better feeling. But I guess I should keep such thoughts to myself! Because Nogizaka-san probably won't be happy with that, even if I thought this side of her was better.

"Nogizaka-san."

"Yes?"

Nogizaka-san didn't turn her gaze as she continued to operate the computer.

"Why did you start this hobby...I mean, how did you become an otaku?"

I finally asked that question! God, what have I said! I had already promised Nogizaka-san not to speak of this anymore.

"Hmm, how..."

Surprisingly, Nogizaka-san didn't seem to mind it at all as she answered my question.

"Actually, I'm not very sure myself, by the time I realized it, I was already an otaku. Just that...I'm quite sure that 'that' set off this whole hobby of mine."

She place a finger on the edge of her mouth as she thought about what 'that' was.

"This happened about six years ago. Because I quarreled with my parents over all the skills that I had to learn, I ran to a park near my house to cry. The reason for that quarrel should have been...I had promised some friends to go and play together, but it clashed with my Japanese dance class so I couldn't go. That was the first time anyone had invited me out to play, so I was extremely happy, but I had to reject their invitation because my parents had enrolled me in the Japanese dance classes...I was really upset, so I ran out to the park to cry my heart out. I ignored the stares of people passing by and just wailed. I think I probably wanted someone to come over and comfort me, but this world wasn't as caring as I had thought it was. More than a few people walked past me, but they all ignored me, since a crying kid is really annoying. But...there was one person, just one person came over to talk to me."

Nogizaka-san had a faraway look in her eyes, as though she was looking at a distant place.

"Although he was a bit rough about it, he tried his best to comfort me. I still remember what happened as though it was yesterday. At that time...He let me read the first edition of 「INNOCENT SMILE」."

Nogizaka-san continued in a slightly exaggerated tone.

"Before that, I had never read manga before, so it was a refreshing experience for me...In the flash of an eye, I was enraptured by the magazine. People who read manga would feel very happy, and I was probably deeply attracted to that kind of atmosphere...And in the end, I even asked that person to give that first edition to me."

Nogizaka-san laughed.

Wow! What a touching story! How did that guy even thought of using the 「INNOCENT SMILE」 to comfort a primary school girl! This guy was incredible.

"That's probably the beginning of my hobby. After that incident, whenever I thought of that happy atmosphere, I would hide and read manga...which is why, even till this day, 「INNOCENT SMILE」 has a special place in my heart."

So that's why she was willing to take the risk to return this book to the library. Even Nobunaga had said that old editions of 「INNOCENT SMILE」 were priceless books. I think I finally understand why Nobunaga would do anything to achieve his goals.

"Phew...I'm finally done."

I heard the sound of the ENTER key being depressed. Looks like our mission was complete.

Nogizaka-san finally noticed my gaze. Just as she stretched in front of the computer screen, she suddenly stopped moving, like an electric toy dog that had run out of batteries.

"What's wrong? Is there something on my face?"

Nogizaka-san's face was beet-red due to her embarrassment, a reaction that I would never see in the classroom.

"No...I just think that you're a strange daughter of a wealthy and powerful family."

I told her my honest opinion.

"Hmm...I think it's really rude to say that to the person in question..."

Though she said that, Nogizaka-san didn't look angry at all. On the contrary, I thought she looked rather happy.

"In my opinion...Ayase-kun's much stranger than me. Yes, you're so strange that I can guarantee you'll win any All-Japan weirdo competition that there is."

"Thank you for the compliment."

What kind of competition is that!

"..."

"..."

For a moment, all was quiet.

"...Hahahaha!"

"...Hahahaha!"

In the next moment, both of us looked at each other and laughed. At the stroke of midnight, male and female laughter coming out of the empty library! If anyone hears that, there'll probably be a new version of the seven mysteries of the school. That'll be 'The terrifying maniacal laughter of a spirit couple in the library at midnight'.

I don't long how long we stood there laughing.

After our laughter had subsided, Nogizaka-san suddenly spoke rather seriously.

"I had thought......that everything was over." She began to talk about such a thing abruptly.

"Everything was over?"

"Yes."

Nogizaka-san nodded her head furiously.

"At the time when Ayase-kun saw that I had borrowed 「INNOCENT SMILE」, and also saw me trip and fall...I thought that everyone would know that I have this kind of hobby, and then everyone will look at me with strange looks and make fun of me. I really thought that it was going to turn out like that."

She's right. Although I didn't do it because I come into contact with such material on a regular basis through Nobunaga, there are many people in society who look down on people with such hobbies. If anyone knew that the 'Nuit Étoile' was an otaku, that person would probably announce it to the whole school without hesitation.

Wait a minute, Nogizaka-san's tone seems to be suggesting that...

"Nogizaka-san, did you think that I would go around telling everyone that you're an otaku?"

Could it be that she thinks I'm that kind of person?

Nogizaka-san looked away embarrassedly.

"I'm...I'm really sorry! Because I didn't know what kind of person you are! So I couldn't deny that there was a definite possibility of that happening. And I've almost never talked to guys before...So I was a little afraid...of you."

"Never talked to..."

Nogizaka-san? The 'Nuit Étoile'? Now I would have never known that!

"For some reason, guys are always extremely stiff around me, unable to relax like they do around other girls. It seems that only Ayase-kun's able to talk to me normally."

I think it's because Nogizaka-san's too cute and perfect. But...I don't have to be like the other guys!

Nogizaka-san continued,

"Which is why I really thought that everything was over, so much so that I even thought about running away to a faraway place...But the truth has proven that I was wrong, because Ayase-kun kept his promise and didn't tell anyone about my hobby, and even after knowing about my hobby, you didn't make fun of me. You treated me like a normal person....and even helped me. If not for you, I really won't know what I would have done...I think I'm really despicable to doubt you in the first place, I really want to shout out how much of an idiot I am. I really......really want to thank you, Ayase-kun."

Nogizaka-san stood in front of me as she gave a curtsy to me to express her gratitude.

"Thank you......Thank you so much for everything you've done!"

That posture was extremely similar to one I had seen in a certain magazine a few days ago, but now that Nogizaka-san was the one doing it, it was probably the cutest pose of the century...

Just as I was about to lose all sense of reason...

Shuffle, shuffle!

"!?"

A sound came from behind the shelves.

"What...what was that......sound?"

Nogizaka-san grabbed me with lightning-quick reflexes. This kind of speed is the type that would only appear when one's caught in a fire...no, it should be an inhuman display of fleet-footedness, right? Whatever the reason as to Nogizaka-san's unnatural display of power, the point is, my arm came into contact with two soft orbs...

"It...It seems to have come from the other side of the shelves, could it be the 'dead book-reader'...

"Spirits don't exist in this world..."

They don't exist...Or rather, I hope they don't exist.

"What do we do?"

Nogizaka-san looked up at me anxiously. There are three courses of action available to me right now. One, under the influence of my considerable curiosity, I go over to check it out. Two, remain calm and run away. Three, pretend to be frightened and take advantage of the situation to hug Nogizaka-san. Personally, I hope to choose number three, but...No, it's merely my personal fantasy, and I could get charged for sexual harassment.

Logically, I should choose option two, since we've already done what we set out to do, there's no need to find out about anything that doesn't concern us.

"Ah, Ayase-kun..."

"I'll go and take a look, wait here for me."

She hugged me tightly around my waist.

"I'm going with you."

"But, you may see something scary..."

"I'll be even more afraid if I were to stay here by myself."

She's right.

"Then, let's go over together?"

"Al...Alright..."

The two of us started to walk towards the direction in which the strange sound had come from.

"I think...that sound came from the shelve with the music scores."

"Music scores?"

We even have music scores in our library? I only thought that it was weird they had 「INNOCENT SMILE」, but it shouldn't be much of a surprise if they had music scores as well.

"It's around here."

Under the guidance of Nogizaka-san, just as we neared the corner of the shelf in question...

Dangdangdang.......

We heard a different sound from just now.

Shuffle shuffle...

And then we heard the sound of a book dropping onto the floor.

"Kya..."

Nogizaka-san grabbed my hand while covering her ears with surprising agility.

"I think..."

She looked up at me with tears in her eyes.

"It must be the 'dead book-reader'...Ayase-kun! I think we should run!"

"No, wait a moment..."

The sound of books dropping onto the floor stopped, but another sound took its place. Dingdangdangdingdangdang...It sounded familiar. Ah...could it be 'that'!

"Ah, Ayase-kun!"

I went up to the shelf and saw my conjecture validated.

"...It's a cellphone."

There was a white object on the shelf with the music scores, the white object was vibrating as it knocked into the music scores on the shelf. Because it's a cellphone that's receiving a call.

"...I seem to have seen this somewhere."

There was a keychain on it with YUKARI spelled out in English. Ah! Didn't that person say that she lost her cellphone? It looked as though she left it here when she came to borrow music scores. She really knows how to create a stir! I decided to return it to her tomorrow as I turned off the power to cut off its annoying ringtone.

"Nogizaka-san, it's alright, I've found the source of the sounds."

I called out to the ashen-faced, shivering Nogizaka-san who was hiding behind the shelf. Probably because the strange sounds had disappeared, Nogizaka-san seemed to have relaxed a little as she slowly made her way towards me.

"You know what was causing those sounds?"

"Yes, this is the source of it all"

I showed the white cellphone that had the opposite color to its owner's heart to Nogizaka-san, as she slumped down onto the ground as though her soul had just been sucked away.

"Ah, I feel weak now that I've loosened up ."

Nogizaka-san seemed to have been scared witless. This was the first time I've seen someone who's been scared to that extent, and that person was the 'Nuit Étoile'...It was a scene straight from the world of slapstick comedy.

"Hah..."

I couldn't help but laugh. Seeing that I was laughing at her, Nogizaka-san puffed out her cheeks.

"What...What are you laughing about! What's so funny? It's not like I did it on purpose, it's because...because it was too terrifying!"

She was retaliating, but soon stopped.

"You're......really a strange person."

"Same to you to!"

And then we looked at each other and started laughing again, laughing so loudly that even the people staying beside the school would probably be able to hear us.

Maybe a new version of the seven mysteries of the school would be heard in school tomorrow?

==5==
We finally completed our mission.

As we walked out of the school gate, Nogizaka-san bowed deeply to me.

"Thank you so much for today, Ayase-kun, you saved my life. Maybe...Today's actions wasn't legal, but I was very happy."

It was fun. Yeah, that expression was pretty improper, but it wasn't without its merit. That's why I could respond with a large smile.

"You're welcome, I enjoyed myself too."

Those were my true feelings.

"You...can just call me Haruka."

Nogizaka-san requested timidly.

"I'm saying that, you can just call me by my name. It feels like I'm an outsider if you keep calling me Nogizaka-san. No, I am an outsider, ah, I don't mean it that way...sob, I'm really bad at this...anyway, I wish that you'll call me Haruka and not Nogizaka-san."

She was serious about that.

Hmm...I don't know why she would be so flustered, but since she was the one who requested me to call her by her name, I don't think there should be any problems. To be honest, I felt that it would be an honor to be able to call her by her name.

"I got it, so I'll just call you...Haruka."

"Yes!"

Nogizaka-san nodded her head happily...No, I should refer to her as Haruka now. Right now, Haruka looked extremely cute.

"Then you should also call me Yuuto, all my good friends call me that."

For some reason, I suddenly felt embarrassed then and I purposely looked away from her.

"Good friends..."

Haruka mumbled before smiling again, an honest smile straight from the heart that I've never seen before in the classroom.

"I got it, Yuuto, please take care of me from now on."

And thus, the relationship between Nogizaka Haruka and I began.

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| Forward to [[Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu:Volume1_Chapter2|Chapter 2]]
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Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu:Volume1 Chapter1

2010-12-29T18:53:51Z

3eee3: /* 1 */

===Chapter 1===
__NOTOC__
==1==
The lunch break on that day wasn't any different from the usual lunch breaks.

I was eating lunch and chatting with a few classmates whom I am close to (Nagai, Takenami, and Ogawa, more commonly known as the three idiots) in the 2-1 classroom of the private high school Hakujo Academy. The topic of conversation would probably induce suicidal thoughts in other people.

"That's why I think that the female sports uniform should have bloomers, anyone who wears [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bermuda_shorts Bermuda shorts] that reach down to the knees isn't human. Anyone who's opposed to this motion isn't a citizen of Japan."

"That's right, I think so too."

"You're absolutely right."

Ogawa and Takenami nodded their heads vigorously in agreement with Nagai's opinion.

"Yuuto, what do you think?"

"Hmm? Well, I'm alright with anything I guess."

I was really alright with anything that the girls wore, which was why I answered the way I did.

"Alright with anything? It's because of your sitting-on-the-fence attitude that Japan has been brought to its current state of affairs. You're always like this, not taking sides on anything."

"Ayase, that's what you are. You don't have your own opinion on anything, you always cross the bridge only when you bump into it. You'll be sorry one day if you continue like this."

"That's right, you can't carry on like this!"

The three of them took turns to take shots at me, but they were merely meddling in other people's affairs. I don't deny that I'm an irresponsible and insensitive guy (though it's rather embarrassing that I say that about myself), but even I don't want to hear such criticism from three guys who discuss bloomers with perfectly straight faces.

"Alright, let's do this! You can listen to our respective arguments before deciding which side you're on. We'll start with the visual impact of bloomers."

Gosh, they really are the 'three idiots'.

I sighed soundlessly while casually looking around the classroom. Everything was normal, students were eating their lunch while chatting with their friends, making up the familiar lunchtime scenery.

The spot in the classroom that attracted me the most was that seat next to the corridor. Because in the classroom that is so messy that it would make even the monkey enclosure look tidy, only that particular spot had a soothing and comforting aura around it.

Seated in that place, was a beautiful girl endowed with the nickname "Nuit Étoile".

She's my classmate, Nogizaka Haruka.

She had probably finished lunch already, as she leaned slightly backward and was concentrating on the book that she held in her left hand. The way she flipped the pages of her book with her fingers looked like a scene straight out of a painting. Colloquially, it means that she's too cute to be described. Or perhaps I should say that she's the very embodiment of a perfect and beautiful lady. Anyway, it seems as though all traces of corruption could be washed away just by looking at her.

[[Image:NHnH vol01 021.jpg|thumb]]

I stared, mesmerized, at Nogizaka Haruka with my mouth stuffed with bread (while completely ignoring the discussion between Nagai and the others). Yes, the psychological wound received a few moments ago had already been healed. The feeling of pure bliss would probably be something like this, right?

I immersed myself in the joy of watching her while fantasizing.

But after a few short minutes, this feeling of bliss was abruptly ended.

I heard a familiar voice coming from the other side of the corridor. It wasn't a very loud voice, but it would probably take up a lot of my time, since it's probably Nobunaga. I sighed soundlessly again; here comes another idiot.

"Is Yuuto here?"

Just as I expected, a familiar face appeared at the entrance of the classroom. He's a petite pretty boy with light brown hair whom others would mistake as a girl from afar. This fellow started shouting the moment he saw me.

"Ah! There you are! Yuuto, did you catch the anime that aired late last night? I recorded it as I watched because I feel that that's the best way to appreciate it."

The volume of his voice attracted some attention from the other students in class, but after everyone saw that it was from Nobunaga, they resumed whatever it was they were doing before immediately. I don't know how to put it, but anyway, my classmates have gotten used to his presence after he's been coming over to talk to me since the start of the school year.

"You didn't watch it? Yesterday's 「The Shy Triangle」 will air its last episode next week, and the climax of the entire series is when the good friend of the protagonist...Ah, the DVD seems to be going on sale soon, I'll definitely go and buy it, since it's going to be a limited edition and will come with a figurine of the protagonist 'Clumsy girl Aki-chan'..."

The guy who ran into my classroom and started talking about a topic that one would find it hard to associate with his appearance is Asakura Nobunaga. I've known him since kindergarten, which is why you could use the phrase 'hellish bonds of friendship' to describe our relationship, though he's still a good friend of mine, since he doesn't get me into any trouble. Honestly speaking, he's still quite a cheerful and sociable person, which is why he can strike up a conversation with almost anyone. His academic results are extremely good, with Physics and Mathematics being his best subjects. From his earlier actions, you can tell that his hobby is a rather extreme one, a form of otaku-ism...which is what we all know as the 'Akihabara clan'. The man whose name is a combination of the names of two imperial generals has a weak looking exterior and a hobby which neither fit the names of a warring general nor his appearance. In conclusion, he's a guy with complicated characteristics and is hard to place into any category.

"Yuuto, you've really missed out by not watching. This anime series was adapted from a manga, but its something like a tale prior to the story, explaining why the protagonist and his best friend turned against each other......"

"Ah------ I got that already!"

I had to do something to shut him up or he'll eat up my entire lunch break. I took this course of action precisely based on past experiences.

"It's not nice of you to be such a wet blanket when I was just getting into my rhythm!"

"It's not nice of you to suddenly run into someone else's classroom to spam him with your personal hobby!"

"Is that so? But doesn't everyone like to talk about these kind of things?"

"Please do not think that everyone is like you!"

"Hmm, but, you like these kind of things, don't you?"

"Don't I always say that I don't have any special inclination?"

I don't like it, but I don't hate it either. I don't agree with it, but I don't disagree with it either. This is my stance regarding this fellow, and the rest of the Akihabara clan. No, to be more precise, it's more of 'I don't really understand them'. In short, I'm still quite mystified regarding the age-old question of 'why are people at this age still so interested in cartoons', and even more surprisingly, I'm actually good friends with someone like this.

"Hmm...But I've always thought that you have the right attributes."

What kind of attributes?

"That's the highest level of praise that I'll give to anyone, you know. Hmm...let's not talk about this anymore. Yuuto, I've got big news for you!"

"Big news?"

I felt that what this fellow was going to say probably won't be anything serious and wholesome, but...

"I've been looking for a certain magazine all this while, haven't I? Our school's library finally bought this old issue! Our library's the best, I can import in any rare book that I want by just filling in an application form. The school can afford to buy all these books because of the extremely generous donations that they have been receiving. Their funds seem limitless. Money really makes the world go round indeed, yah~"

Nobunaga grinned widely as he babbled on and on about this big news.

Magazine? I seem to remember him asking me to help look for a magazine with an extremely strange name a while back. Looks like the school had approved his application form.

"......Wait a minute, did you fake an application form?"

I looked at him suspiciously.

"That's rude, I would never do something like that."

Nobunaga shook his head as he gave a "you're totally wrong" expression, and then answered with a perfectly straight face, "I merely threatened them."

That's even worse.

But that fellow completely ignored my reaction.

"「INNOCENT SMILE」 is an extremely famous magazine! The original manga of the anime that aired yesterday night was serialized in this magazine. It wasn't too long ago, so you probably should have some memory of it. It caused quite a stir when its first edition came out."

Just as Nobunaga went into his extremely long-winded debate mode, there was a huge noise in the classroom.

Our position was in the middle of the classroom, while the sound came from the opposite direction. To be more precise, it came from the second-last seat from the corridor, which was the place that held my attention before Nobunaga came in. From a certain perspective, that was the one place in class that would never be associated with loud and jarring noises.

But right now, Nogizaka-san was standing there with her eyes trained on the two of us, with a chair lying face-down, the source of that loud noise, beside her feet.

The classroom suddenly became extremely quiet. Nogizaka-san, who always wore an expression of peaceful serenity, now had a disturbed expression on her face.

"No...Nogizaka-san, what happened?"

"I...I don't know, we didn't do anything weird did we?"

"She seems to be looking at Ayase-kun..."

Murmurings were heard in the classroom.

Did we do something wrong?

Even though I felt that we hadn't done anything, the sharp gaze that Nogizaka-san threw at us was that of a policewoman who has just caught a molester in the act on a crowded train. Under a gaze of that nature, Nobunaga and I really looked like we had done something against the welfare of society, and the looks from the rest of the class seemed to ask the exact same question, 'What did the two of you do?'.

"Yuuto, what do we do? Everyone's looking at us."

"Ye......Yeah......"

I thought that the most probable reason would be that Nobunaga's voice was way too loud, disturbing Nogizaka-san's reading. Even though I was already used to it, Nobunaga's voice would naturally become extremely loud when he talked about his hobby. It wouldn't come as much of a surprise if that had disturbed Nogizaka-san.

Which would mean that we had really done something wrong. So we should probably apologize.

Under the watchful eyes of the rest of the class, I walked towards Nogizaka-san's seat.

"Erm......I'm sorry for disturbing you with our loud conversation."

I bowed deeply as an apology, Nogizaka-san then seemed to regain her usual expression.

"Ah, that's not it, you've misunderstood. I didn't mean to blame the two of you or anything, so you don't have to apologize to me."

"?"

But, weren't you glaring at the two of us just a few moments ago?

"It's nothing, so, it's nothing......I'm sorry for troubling everyone."

After saying that, Nogizaka-san politely bowed to the rest of the class as she righted her chair and sat down as though nothing had happened.

However, this left us extremely confused.

"What just happened?"

"I don't know...... Wasn't it because of the noise you were making?"

"I'm not noisy!"

I ignored Nobunaga's contradictory loud shout to defend his stance that he's not loud, but instead I stared at Nogizaka-san like someone who had been played around with by a fox spirit. On the regal face of the "Nuit Étoile", a trace of uneasiness could still be seen... there has to be some reason for that.

Deviating from the topic at hand, from the time when Nobunaga rushed into the classroom to when Nogizaka stared at us, Nagai and the other two were still heatedly debating on the topic of bloomers. Was that due to concentration, or just plain stupidity?

I think the correct answer should be the latter.

Actually, I didn't really care if they're idiots or not.

The fifth and sixth periods ended without incident. After class had ended, I walked towards the library only because that Nobunaga told me......

"Yuuto, I'm really sorry, but could you help me return this book to the library? Since you're free after school anyway, while I have to rush back to finish the map for WonFes--"

......Geez! I don't know what Wan Wan Fes. (Could it be a festival for dogs? But I recall that guy having a cat instead...). If it's like this, then he should have just returned it yesterday! But thoughts are just thoughts, and I agreed to help him, as he had often helped me out before (like him lending me textbooks when I forgot mine: helping me to repair my computer when it broke down......etc), oh well, I really had nothing to do after school anyway.

And this was why I came to the library, a place where I would normally almost never set foot in.

It was said that the rate of usage for our library was unbelievably low, because, the number of people, including yours truly, who've actually used the library could be counted on one hand. To increase the rate of usage of the library, the school even set up an electronic lending system, renovated the library to be an extremely comfortable place for reading, and had bought books of all genres. But to the modern generation of children who're far disposed from printed products, all these measures were for naught, as nothing had changed. But I have not used the library for anything other than for afternoon naps, so who am I to really say anything.

Anyway, because of the pitiful number of users, I shouldn't need much time to return a book.

I walked towards the computer terminal and started to tap the keyboard. One has to use the computer to borrow or return books, which was rather tedious (Nobunaga said that once you get used to it, computers would definitely be faster than human processing). Oh well, if I felt that something as simple as this was tedious, then I probably won't be able to survive in modern society. The man who doesn't work does not get to eat. I entered the reference code of the book and my student identification number......OK, that's it. I only have to return the book to its place on the shelf. (By the way, the title of the book is 「Pretty Girl Models Collection III --- The History of Ball Joints」. Our school really does buy everything). Mission accomplished, I can go home now.

Just as I was about to walk towards the exit.

"..."

I spotted a suspicious character.

How should I put this? Mm, it is an extremely suspicious character indeed.

Because this person is hiding her face with her schoolbag while attempting to move stealthily behind the bookshelves like a ninja or assassin, and its a female student to boot. Thus if this is not strange, then what is (sarcasm)... What is with that person? She seems to want to conceal her movements, but isn't this making it worse, and attracting more attention instead? Or, could it be that she actually wanted attention instead?

In any case, it would be better not to come into contact with someone like that. Troubles come about from the mouth, as long as you are not overly curious, even the cat could suffer an unexplained death. Just as I decided to pretend not to see anything and tried to get out of the library---

I saw the face of the suspicious character behind the bookshelf.

At that moment, I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me.

I thought I was hallucinating due to my brain's rejection reaction towards this library that I almost never step into.

"......"

Why would I think that way?

Because I was extremely familiar with that face.

"That's......"

Nogizaka-san?

As unbelievable as it sounds, that suspicious person really was Nogizaka Haruka. I would never miss that beautiful face of hers even if I was a mile away. But, why was she behaving so strangely?

I was bursting with questions, but Nogizaka-san didn't notice me as she ambled up to the computer terminal beside me, with the air of a 15-year old girl who's preparing to steal a motorcycle in the middle of the night, and began to type. I saw a magazine beside her, so she was probably planning to borrow it.

Tap, tap, I heard the sound of fingers on the keyboard.

She had probably finished borrowing the book, as Nogizaka-san lifted her head from the terminal with the smile of a German expert. Just as she prepared to walk towards the exit......

Our eyes met.

"..."

"..."

At that moment, time stopped.

"..."

"..."

"...Erm...What brings you here?"

That was what I wanted to ask her, but it wasn't surprising that Nogizaka-san would look at me as though she was looking at that legendary giant monster Uma, because the probability of meeting me in the library was lower than meeting a yeti.

"Since when have you been standing here?"

"For a while now."

"You...You saw it?"

"?"

Saw what?

"You...You saw the book that I borrowed..."

"No, I didn't see it..."

"Oh, is that so? Hoo!"

Nogizaka-san's expression was reminiscent of a middle-aged manager who just found out that he wasn't on the list of retrenched personnel. What's happening?

"?"

"Ah! It...It's nothing, Ayase-kun, please don't think about it, I'll be going now."

Nogizaka-san hurriedly nodded to me as she strode towards the exit. Maybe because she was disturbed by my presence, but she totally didn't notice that she was walking towards a reading table and chair set.

"Ah...Nogizaka-san, that's......"

"Hiiee!?"

And then!

Smash!

In the midst of the noise of falling furniture, Nogizaka-san, who'd tripped over a chair, fell onto her back. This was a breathtaking set of actions that one would be hard-pressed to produce.

"Ou...Ouch! Why would there be a chair here..."

Things were becoming stranger, those chairs have always been there, and the serenely-peaceful Nogizaka-san would actually do something out of character. Just what was happening? Perhaps this was what "even the most complete strategy could fail" was referring to?

Whatever the case, I couldn't possibly just leave her there, so I helped Nogizaka-san up. From a certain perspective, Nogizaka-san probably brought it upon herself! But it would have been ungentlemanly of me not to help a girl who has just fallen down in front of you (especially if that girl is Nogizaka Haruka), and I have a National Gentlemanly Conduct Grade 2 certificate......Even though I just made that up myself.

"Ah......Thank you! I'm so sorry!"

After helping up the almond-eyed Nogizaka-san, I turned my eyes to her personal belongings that were scattered all over the place.

It was really a mess, but just as I was going to help her pick up her things...

"No...You can't!"

That scream was unbelievably loud, the kind that you hear when a bedroom scene suddenly shows on the T.V. when you're eating with your family. I can't? What does she mean? Is she saying that I'm not allowed to touch her personal things with my dirty hands......? No, I don't think Nogizaka-san would think that way.

"?"

Although I didn't know why Nogizaka-san wanted to stop me, I still reached out to help her pick up the magazine.

"No, don't do it!"

Nogizaka-san reached out towards the magazine at my feet like a depraved bandit.

But...

"Ah?"

On the path of her trajectory, there was a mathematics notebook!

"Ah? This...!?"

She stepped onto that notebook with one hundred percent accuracy!!

"Ehhhhhhh!?"

The foot that had all the force of her body weight behind it, was set free from its contact with the ground by virtue of the friction (or lack thereof) between the notebook and the floor of the library!

"Kyaaaaaa!"

And then, her body flew into the air, while directly in front of her......was a bookshelf.

Smash! Boom!

In the midst of an even louder crash, the bookshelf toppled over from Nogizaka-san's spinning attack. And then, the toppled shelf hit the one beside it, and the one beside it toppled over onto another shelf......the bookshelves toppled one by one like dominoes.

In the space of a few short seconds, all the bookshelves had toppled over.

"..."

In a mere instant, the library had become ground zero.

Erm......

What just happened? I frantically tried to piece together the chronology of events.

What I see now is a library floor that's completely covered with books, making it look like a library from hell, and Nogizaka-san, who's never gotten into a fight her whole life, but had boldly smashed her way towards the bookshelf, plus her personal belongings that were spread out all over the floor.

What am I doing here?

Though I had blanked out for a moment there, I suddenly remembered what I was doing when I looked at all the things on the floor. That's right, I was trying to help Nogizaka-san pick up her personal belongings.

Nogizaka-san didn't seem to be hurt, so I wanted to help her pick everything up. And the first book that I picked up was that magazine by my feet!!!

---I finally found out the reason behind Nogizaka-san's panic.

"..."

"..."

There was an anime-style picture with a girl who had hair the color of the sky, something that could never be achieved through natural genetic inheritance, and a pair of biologically impossible large and sparkling eyes. The girl was smiling as she grabbed the hem of her skirt lightly with her fingers.

Below the picture was an overly photoshopped caption which read 「INNOCENT SMILE」 in bold and think yellow letters.

"This..."

I was speechless for a moment. This...was definitely the magazine that Nobunaga was talking about. But, why would Nogizaka-san want to borrow this book...

I had no time to continue my line of thought before a surprising voice entered my ears.

"Sob...sob...I've been seen, I've been seen!"

I only realized that the situation was serious when I saw that it was the sound of Nogizaka-san crying.

Due to the commotion, a few students from the art room had already gathered at the library.

"It's all over......sob..."

Nogizaka-san was still crying.

Actually, in this kind of situation, I felt that I should be the one that it was 'all over' for.

The stares from the surrounding students were sharp and piercing, turning the library into a much more dangerous place. Though there were only four or five students from the art room at the scene, their looks made me feel like I was the kind of contemptible man who extorted money from his girlfriend until she couldn't take it anymore and wanted a break-up, whereupon I bullied her until she cried. That kind of look was extremely uncomfortable to bear.

"What's happening? Aren't those two dating? -whisper whisper-"

"They are? But the guy looks like he doesn't really care about what's happening? -whisper whisper-"

"Was he the one who pushed down all the bookshelves? -whisper whisper-"

"Isn't he Ayase-kun of class 1? -whisper whisper-"

Listening to the contents of the whisperings, the only bright spot was that they hadn't realized that the crying girl was Nogizaka Haruka.

"The girl must have been begging him not to abandon her when he pushed her into the bookshelves."

"How could he! That's despicable!"

"Enemy of all women!"

"Detestable man!"

They were really going overboard here.

But from an objective point of view, it really did look like I had made Nogizaka-san cry, because that was practically the only possibility that could be inferred from the situation in the library, so I couldn't really blame the whispering students either.

In a nutshell, one thing was certain.

And that was, if I continued to stay at the scene of the crime, my bad reputation would be the talk of the entire school by tomorrow morning.

That's why...

With reference to the wisdom passed down by our ancestors, it was time to make a retreat! Therefore I picked up the stuff scattered all over the floor at breakneck speed, grabbed the hand of Nogizaka-san, who was still crying, and ran for our dear lives!! In truth...

We really were running for our lives!! From the library that is. From behind us...

"Ah! They've escaped!"

"He's kidnapping her?"

"They're eloping?"

"It should be the former, it's obvious that it's the former."

Those few lines were slightly better. But, why must they see me as the villain? I haven't done anything wrong.

Even I felt like crying, but when compared to a woman's tears that are like pearls, a man's tears are merely salt water. Other than the ability to melt slugs, salt water was practically useless.

But...why did it turn out like this?

I sighed deeply as I tried to look for a place where we wouldn't be seen. My feelings right now were heavier than a meat-cow that was being sent to the slaughterhouse.

Because of this...

I, who had been accused of breaking the law and of being a detestable man, finally made it out of the library with Nogizaka-san in tow, coming to a stop on the roof of the school. To someone without an exceptional  brain like me, this was the only place I could think of which could let us talk in peace and not be seen.

Nogizaka-san had already stopped crying...but right now, she still wore a blank expression as her shoulders continued to shiver, giving an impression that was completely different from the perfect 'Nuit Étoile', as she appeared to be infinitely delicate. I had never noticed that Nogizaka-san was actually so petite.

There was only one reason behind Nogizaka-san's panic.

And that was the copy of 「INNOCENT SMILE」 that I held in my left hand.

Because everything happened so fast, I had no time to organize my thoughts. But after calming down and thinking about it, I understood why she was in such a panic.

Which is to say...

"Nogizaka-san...You're an otaku..."

Nogizaka-san gave a start at my words. Bingo! Looks like I was right!

Which means that the incident at lunch break was only her reaction to Nobunaga's reference to 「INNOCENT SMILE」. But no, now is not the time to be analyzing her actions calmly.

Nogizaka-san was extremely depressed.

Looks like Nogizaka-san was extremely bothered by the fact that someone knew that she was an otaku, but it was indeed extremely surprising.

Normal people would be more condemning with regards to the different hobbies of a small group of people, but there were so many of such things in Nobunaga's room that it made you want to vomit (literally), so I don't really mind these kind of things.

"Erm, Nogizaka-san..."

I decided to move on.

"...Mm?"

A flash of fear suddenly cut across Nogizaka-san's dull-looking eyes.

"Erm...I've already forgotten everything that I saw today."

"Huh?"

Nogizaka-san, who was looking like a wilted flower, finally perked up a little.

"I'm not saying that I don't care about you......but you seem to be extremely disturbed about this incident, right? So I'll forget everything that has happened today, I won't tell anyone about this, and I won't mention it in front of you either, so you don't need to worry."

"..."

After listening to my long sentence, Nogizaka-san had a stunned expression on her face, looking like a deer that was going to be shot by a hunter. Did I say anything weird?

"..."

For a while, Nogizaka-san stopped moving. Hmm...this looks bad, and it could become even worse if I don't try to cheer her up. Just as I started to think of ways to do that...

"Ayase-kun, please do not take me for an idiot, and please do not look at me with such a strange gaze."

Nogizaka-san spoke.

"Strange gaze? What do you mean?"

"Well......Because......most people are openly disapproving of this kind of hobby. So..."

Maybe she had thought of something, which was why Nogizaka-san would say this kind of thing. Openly disapproving? Though there was some truth in that, but...

"I understand what you're trying to say, but...even if you have that kind of hobby, a normal person is still a normal person, a strange person is still a strange person. That's why I don't believe in judging a person by their hobbies."

Nobunaga is the best example. He's the perfect embodiment of an otaku, and though he is a bit...strange, he's definitely not a bad person, or I wouldn't have been his best friend for more than ten years.

"But...But..."

Nogizaka-san still had a worried look on her face. Hmm...How should I explain this?

"What I mean is, even if you have this kind of hobby, you're still you, right? That won't change, so you don't have to think about it so much."

"I'm...still myself?"

Nogizaka-san stuttered a reply.

"That's right! To be honest, being an otaku is just another hobby. In the end, I just think that it's an accompanying gift of a person's character. Because the nature of that gift differs from one person to the next, it's merely a small part of a person's character. A person's most important part shouldn't be here, should it? And..."

"...And what?"

"Hmm...I don't really know how to say this. But when I found out that you have a side that no one else knows about, I felt that it was really interesting..."

"Huh..."

"Or maybe I should say that I feel that I've gotten a little closer to you, so I'm happy..."

Nogizaka-san's face was beet-red.

Although my words seemed to be nonchalant, it was a true reflection of my feelings.

But Nogizaka-san seemed to be seriously listening to my words.

"You're probably the first person to say this to me."

Probably? If not for this chance encounter, I didn't think I'd say something like this to the 'Nuit Étoile' either.

"Anyway, that's how it is, so I don't think you need to be too bothered by it."

Seeing that Nogizaka-san had calmed down, I passed the magazine to her, patted her lightly on the shoulder, and left the roof of the school building. I walked down the stairs, changed shoes at the lobby, and walked out of the school gate, finally able to move freely again.

I lectured Nogizaka Haruka.

I actually lectured Nogizaka-san with a mountain of extremely weird talk. Something which I really regret doing now, because I actually lectured a classmate with whom I had barely exchanged two sentences with before. Looks like I'm the weird one here. But it was all over now, and there was no point thinking about how I regret doing it.

In conclusion, my relationship with Nogizaka Haruka should probably stop here shouldn't it?

No matter how you look at it, she's the prettiest girl in school, she's an extremely smart girl with brilliant academic results, and also the daughter of one of the wealthiest families in Japan, while I'm an average common citizen. Even if I do know that Nogizaka-san has her panicky moments, even if that has brought me closer to her, to be honest, we're still two people from completely different worlds. Today's incident was merely an accidental crossing of two parallel lines.

At least, that was what I had thought at that time.

==2==

Over the next few days, nothing of particular importance happened.

Nogizaka-san was still the school's most unattainable girl, while I continued to stumble through school. Rushing into class before the first bell rang, fighting against the sleep demon during lessons, chatting with Nagai and the others for a few minutes after lessons, either going to the arcade or listening to Nobunaga's endless fountain of otaku knowledge after school. I didn't have any goal in life, and I've never had a lifelong dream either. Though my everyday life was boring, it was extremely stable; it was the average life that I loved.

But within these unchanging days, I realized that one thing had changed.

And that was...

From that day onwards, the times which my gaze settled on Nogizaka-san has increased. In the classroom, I suddenly realized that I was staring at her. Hmm...Just what is happening?

"About that, I think that's called love."

"Argh!?"

Nobunaga's idiotic face suddenly appeared from the side.

"Yo! Yuuto! Let's eat lunch together!"

"When...When did you get here?"

I didn't feel his presence at all.

"Heh heh, stealth is one of my 48 special abilities!"

I've known this fellow for more than ten years, and still do not know everything about him...oh well, its not like I want to anyway.

Going back to the main topic.

"Love? Nobunaga, what do you mean?"

"Gaining and losing, unable to differentiate between what's true and what's not, that's a person in love."

I know that, but my situation's not like that.

"I would advise you not to have any ideas about the 'Nuit Étoile'."

Nobunaga ignored my response as he pulled up a chair from a neighboring table to sit in front of me while he began to speak.

"How should I put this...For someone like you, she's in another league. Hmm...it's just that your social statuses are different!"

"Hmm."

"Yuuto, I don't think you know this, but in the time span of a little more than a year that she has entered this school, the number of people who have confessed their love for the 'Nuit Étoile' was, 94 people in total, 78 guys and 16 girls, about 20% of our school's population, while the number of people who have been rejected was also 94, which means that there is a 100% chance of getting rejected. An extremely scary statistic isn't it!"

My god...I know that Nogizaka-san was popular, but 16 girls? What's the meaning of that? Girls! And why would this guy have such detailed information on his hands?

"This kind of information gathering is one of the mandatory skills required of the modern man. I could also tell you the basic personal information of the 'Nuit Étoile', hmm...Nogizaka Haruka, 16 years-old, born on the 20th of October, 155cm tall, excels at every subject, does not have a weak subject, has a grandfather, her parents, and a sister that's 3 years her junior in her immediate family..."

Nobunaga read off a notebook-like contraption that he fished out of his pocket...when did he become a stalker?

"Hey, don't look at me like I'm some kind of pervert, that's really rude of you! I'm not interested in real-life girls, for 2D girls are better, the most special of them being the cat-maid with a tail......"

I didn't even ask him about that kind of thing, as even if I were to retort, it would be obvious that we were on a different wavelength.

"And in such an information-laden time, anyone would be able to find out such information. This is a digitalized society, though there's a law regarding the protection of personal privacy, as long as one has the will, it's extremely easy to extract such information. Just tell me if you need information regarding other people. I know just about everything about everyone in school."

Nobunaga told me as he smiled generously.

...This person's dangerous! I've got to avoid having him as my enemy!

"This is just my personal opinion! It's lamentable, but if you were to attempt to woo the 'Nuit Étoile', I think your chance of failure is 99.9%. According to my sources, even the basketball team captain, Sasaoka-senpai, was one of the rejected. He's actually a man-made hunk who had gone for plastic surgery, so if even someone like him got rejected, you..."

"...Don't look at me with that glimmer of pity in your eyes!"

"No, I'm not saying that you're not good or anything, it's just that you've chosen the hardest opponent of all. I just wanted to warn you that the 'Nuit Étoile' is the strongest opponent in our school."

Nobunaga shrugged as he smiled,

"But, no matter what you decide to do, I'll support you since we're childhood friends."

It's really disgusting to be described as 'childhood friends' by another guy. No, that's not the point.

"...I've never thought of wooing Nogizaka-san."

"Really?"

What are you so suspicious about! I've never told anyone about this from the start.

"Since you said it, let's not talk about this anymore. But, have you heard this phrase before?"

Nobunaga had a wise expression on his face as he continued,

" 'To start to care is to start to fall in love!' BY Asakura Nobunaga."

Just where did he get that from! I've never heard that!

I don't know if it was the influence of Nobunaga's words, but the frequency with which I looked at Nogizaka-san actually increased after that conversation. During lessons, after lessons, after school, as long as I had the chance, I would look for her. This is bad, I seem to have contracted some serious disease.

A few more days passed after that.

This incident happened one morning two weeks after that day.

==3==
"We're going to conduct a check on personal belongings now, so please take out everything from your bag!"

The form teacher's, Tanabe Shigeo (38 years-old, male, single), words caused a stir in the classroom. While it was a mandatory check, it was understandable that the students were still unhappy about it.

"Be quiet! I'll be checking the guys, while Kamishiro-sensei will be checking the girls."

Kamishiro-sensei is our assistant-form teacher, and a light music teacher who had only just graduated from an all-girls university last year. She didn't put on any airs, was well-liked by her students, and was also extremely pretty. She's pretty, cute, and her figure's......Hmm? I seem to have deviated from the main topic.

Speaking of which, I immediately thought of one thing when I heard that there was going to be a check.

It can't be that much of a coincidence can it? Nogizaka-san can't be holding that book right now, right?

The time limit for borrowing a book from our school library was two weeks. If she had really held the book until the last day, then she would have to return it today. No, she can't be that unlucky!!

I nonchalantly looked behind me, and saw that Nogizaka-san's face had gone ashen, looking as though she was the victim of a murder.

....Ah, she must be holding the book right now.

"Please endure the check for a while more, it's finishing soon."

As per the instructions of Kamishiro-sensei, the female students began to place their personal belongings on their desks, as Nogizaka-san could only do the same with a helpless look in her eyes. I seemed to have caught a glimpse of the magazine that I had seen two weeks ago hidden among the textbooks and music scores on her table.

What should I do?

I thought about it, and I shouldn't do anything, since it's not like I'm not obliged to help her or anything.

But...

The image of Nogizaka-san crying from two weeks ago suddenly flashed across my mind. Even though I've already seen her uncontrollable sobbing, if that were to repeat itself in front of the entire class, just what kind of situation would it result in? Hmm...I didn't even dare to imagine it, but I know that it wouldn't be pretty for the pampered daughter of a wealthy family like Nogizaka-san to react to this kind of sudden event. She probably wouldn't even know what to do.

Was there really no way around it? No matter if it was a mud boat or the Titanic, she had already boarded the vessel, so I should be doing something to help her. But just as I realized that the opponent was Kamishiro-sensei, I couldn't think of any plan of attack. Two negatives make a positive, there must be a way, I can't miss this opportunity!

God, why is my brain so slow to react in the morning!

I raised my hand to speak.

"I...My stomach really hurts, may I make a trip to the washroom?"

"What's wrong? Did you eat too much for breakfast? Never mind, since you've passed the check already, you may go."

The 38 year-old Tanabe Shigeo obnoxiously said something which implied that he didn't care about his students at all. As he made his way around the desks of his students, I thought that the reason behind the fact that he still hasn't gotten married was due to his character...Oh well, it's not like it's any business of mine. I pretended to be in pain as I slanted my body while walking towards the exit of the classroom, passing by Nogizaka-san's seat in the process.

"I'm sorry."

"Huh?"

After saying that to Nogizaka-san, who was on the verge of tears, I pretended to trip on a bag on the floor as I deliberately fell towards her table.

"Eh? Ah!"

The table fell over as the textbooks, scores and other stuff that were on it flew onto the floor as well. Together with Nogizaka-san's low scream, her surroundings descended into chaos.

"Nogizaka-san, are you alright?"

"Ayase, get lost!"

"All you do is to get in the way of others! You better get away from Nogizaka-san this instant!"

My classmates started shouting at me from all corners of the classroom. How could it be that not even one of them cared about my condition?

"Ayase-kun. What are you doing!?"

Kamishiro-sensei walked over. She probably didn't see it.

"Sorry, I was trying to get to the washroom as soon as possible when I tripped."

"You're always so rash. Alright, just carry on and leave this to me."

"Sorry to trouble you."

I nodded towards Kamishiro-sensei, who had a conspiratorial smile on her face, and hurried out of the classroom.

I walked along the corridor to the washroom, clutching my stomach with one hand.

There shouldn't be a stalker hiding in the men's toilet right now, but for the sake of secrecy, I confirmed that there wasn't anyone else in the washroom before taking out a rectangular object from the inside of my uniform. No prizes for guessing the correct answer, of course it was the 「INNOCENT SMILE」. The blue-haired girl on the cover was still smiling happily. Phew, at least I successfully smuggled it out!

"This is..."

Just as I was congratulating myself, I suddenly realized that there was something else beneath the magazine, an expensive-looking green book. This is a book of musical scores, one of those that was on Nogizaka-san's table. Looks like in my hurry to smuggle the magazine out of the classroom, I had taken something else out along with it.

"Composed by Franz Liszt. Erster Mephisto-Walzer No. 1, S514"

Such a resounding name for a piece. The Waltz of Mephisto. I flipped the book open, only to find that its interior was covered with musical symbols which I didn't understand. Wow.

She's too brilliant! I don't know anything about playing the piano. But in that moment, I already knew that this wasn't a piece that an average high school student could play. Which was why I could only stand there in awe of Nogizaka-san's piano prowess.

I carefully closed the thick score that once again reminded me of how perfect Nogizaka-san is.

At that moment, something strange loomed up in the corner of my vision.

"..."

This is a drawing right? A horrific-looking villain with the eyes of a bloodthirsty bear was drawn in one corner of the piano score. He was holding a conductor's baton in one hand, while in a speech bubble beside him contained, 'please remember not to play at too fast a tempo at this part♪', written in pink ink. In the stark contrast between the picture and the contents of the speech bubble, the reminder appeared to be extremely impish.

But the bear really wasn't drawn very nicely, as it also looked like a man-eating wolf, or a large bloodhound, or a failed clone of Godzilla. As for the object that it held in its hand, it looked like a saber, a police baton, or even an ill-designed lightsaber.

To be honest, that drawing was extremely bad. So bad that a kindergarten kid with a little bit of talent in the arts would be able to draw something better.

"...I'll just pretend that I didn't see it!"

After mulling it over, I felt that this was the wisest course of action. There are a lot of things in the world that are best left hidden and not known to mankind. See no evil.

After looking at it for a while more, I quietly closed the score.

After school, Kamishiro-sensei called me to the office.

She seemed to have seen through my act in the morning.

"You hid something at that time didn't you?"

Kamishiro-sensei crossed her legs in a way that would desolate the eyes of innocent youths as she asked. Against this sort of opponent, that the ill-conceived trick would be seen through shouldn't be much of a surprise. So I thought about how best to answer the question.

"Hmm...I admit that I hid something, but I assure you, it wasn't anything contraband. It was an object that would bring great distress to a teenage girl, which was why I took such a drastic and rash measure to solve the problem.

I just gave an answer that even I didn't understand, but Kamishiro-sensei gave a devilish smile as though I just sold my soul to her.

"I believe you. You were trying to protect Haruka, right?"

"No, about this..."

"Am I wrong?"

"Ugh..."

It seems like...she's seen through everything. It's true that aged ginger is more pungent, so I should just keep my mouth shut for now.

"Alright you don't have to give me the details, so let's just put this matter behind us. Mm...it must be nice to be young and so full of energy. The exuberant youthfulness of the E generation, if only I was five years younger!"

Kamishiro-sensei's eyes sparkled with an unearthly light, she seemed to be rather happy. Though she seemed to have misunderstood something, but any attempts to explain the situation would probably fall on deaf ears, so I decided not to act rashly.

"It's true that one should experience every type of situation while one's still young, like dating two girls at once or a triangular relationship, anything goes! If you don't play your cards properly, you could even get into a 6-way relationship..."

And this was how I spent the next five minutes.

After Kamishiro-sensei finally snapped out of her own world, she uncrossed and crossed her legs again before continuing our conversation.

"Hmm, I don't have anything else to say to you, you can go now...Ah, wait a moment, I remembered something. Yuu-chan, do you know where my cellphone is? I lost it after I went to borrow some music scores during lunch break."

"How would I know the location of your cellphone..."

"Really? Actually, I was thinking that you had hidden it! Good boys also have times when they want to play bad, it's the special psychology of teenage boys..."

"I categorically deny that."

"If you say it so seriously, onee-san will be sad you know..."

"..."

I retorted softly.

"Ah, such a cruel retort, but I'm not bluffing...I really forgot where I put it, it's really strange. Oh well, I'll just continue looking for it, I'll think of something else if I really can't find it."

"You really do know how to act blur..."

Though I'm hardly one to say that, but,

"Really? Hmm! Haruka and you...To be honest, the two of you are a surprising couple."

"No, we're not dating..."

I retorted immediately, she really had misunderstood our relationship.

"It's alright, there's no point hiding it, onee-chan knows everything already."

[[Image:NHnH vol01 060.jpg|thumb]]

"It's not a question of hiding it or not...she's the 'Nuit Étoile'! I'm not good enough for her, so this is all just a misunderstanding."

However.

"An inter-caste love relationship! So touching..."

God, this person isn't absorbing anything I'm telling her.

"...You haven't changed one bit, Yukari."

As expected of my sister's friend, for people who aren't dense enough will never be able to make friends with my sister...But why am I surrounded by such dense people! Nobunaga, the three idiots, Yukari, and my sister. Is this what they call 'birds of a feather flock together'? I really don't want to go down that line of thought.

"Hey, please call me Kamishiro-sensei when in school."

In that moment, I remembered that I had the habit of calling other people by their given names.

"I'm alright with anything, Sen---sei."

Under the influence of the pleading brown-colored eyes of Kamishiro-sensei, I lost the power to retort. Oh well, since this incident's over, I can go back to the classroom. But just as I prepared to walk back to my classroom, Yukari suddenly put on an expression that middle-aged obasan's have when they're preparing to sexually harass their female colleagues and happily told me,

"Saito-sensei's out on official business today, and the bed in the infirmary is empty! Work hard! Young man!"

I just walked out of the teacher's office when I saw Nogizaka-san standing there.

She stood there quietly, like the only lily in a garden full of tulips, though a little conservative, but still different from the rest.

"Ah..."

Nogizaka-san fiddled with her white hairband when she saw me as she stepped forward, looking as though she had something to say.

She stood there for a while before finally making up her mind,

"Umm...Ayase-kun..."

Her pink lips parted to say something, but...

"Ah! Isn't that the 'Nuit Étoile'?"

A voice rudely interrupted her.

"Where?"

"Look! There!"

On the other end of the corridor, there were a few guys who were pointing in our direction and talking among themselves.

"It's true, and some guy is trying to flirt with her."

"What!? A guy?"

One of the guys gave a murderous shout.

To be honest, after so much had happened, I had almost forgotten that Nogizaka-san was a famous person in school. A famous person like her talking face to face with a serious-looking guy (me) outside the teacher's office was extremely noticeable.

"What!? The 'Nuit Étoile'?"

"And a guy?"

"What's the matter? Just what is happening?'

Other than the loud voices of the group of guys, even the other students who were passing by had stopped and were looking at us curiously, some even moving closer to get a better look. In a few moments, the two of us had been completely surrounded by people.

Hmm...

The popularity of the 'Nuit Étoile' was extremely scary, so much so that we couldn't even hold a conversation in peace in public.

For the first time in my life, I realized that personal privacy was actually so worthless and meaningless. Though it's not my place to give out such lamentations,

Because 120% of those guys' interest was on Nogizaka-san and not on me.

Just as I was thinking about that, more and more people started to arrive. I looked around me...about twenty or even thirty people had already gathered, just where did all these people come from?

Anyway, it would be suicide to continue staying here. Under the watchful eyes of so many people, we won't be able to speak to each other properly.

Since it has come down to this, there was only one way of resolving this.

"Nogizaka-san, let's go."

"Ah?"

I pulled Nogizaka-san, who had a dazed expression on her face like a duckling who has just been born, away from the scene. It's so strange! Why am I always running whenever I'm together with Nogizaka-san?

"Hey, that fellow actually dared to flirtatiously drag the 'Nuit Étoile' by her hand!"

"What!? By her hand?"

Just as we ran through the layers of human walls around us to escape, angry shouts sounded from the surrounding crowd.

"Damn! Don't run away!"

"Unforgivable..."

"Damn it, I've remembered his face! The next time I see him, I'll tie him up and hang him upside down from the roof!"

My god, those are such extreme words, I even started to hallucinate, as I thought I saw a group of people putting on red headbands that read 'Protect Haruka-sama~ The Nuit Étoile Protection Force~'.

......Those should be the hallucinations generated by my own mind.

Once again, we came to the rooftop.

The only difference was that this time, Nogizaka-san wasn't the one crying, though I felt like I was going to. Looks like the legendary secret fan club really exists, I should get Nobunaga to dig up some information on them. I do not want to be the public enemy number one of these people, for if I don't take the appropriate actions, I might really be hung upside down from the rooftop.

As I thought about the fanclub members, all of whom had looked at me murderously, I felt extremely depressed.

I finally understood the extent of Nogizaka-san's popularity. It was rumored that Nogizaka-san's fan club membership was a three digit value, and it looked to be true. In the context of our school population, a three digit value would be equal to roughly a quarter of the entire school population. In other words (including girls), of every four students in our school, one is a supporter of Nogizaka-san. That's a bit too terrifying isn't it?

Nogizaka-san was panting loudly beside me due to fatigue, which wasn't a surprise, given the long distance that we ran to get here.

After Nogizaka-san's breathing had become more even, I opened my mouth to speak.

"Did......Did you have something to say to me?"

Actually I could already guess what Nogizaka-san would want to say.

"Yes I do, about this morning's incident......"

After she stopped panting, Nogizaka-san finally lifted up her head.

As I expected! That would be the only reason why Nogizaka-san would come looking for me.

Even though it's a bit sad to say that, but......

"Ah, I'm really sorry for lunging at you so suddenly in the morning."

As I said that, Nogizaka-san became a little nervous.

"Eh? That......That was very nice......No! It wasn't nice, but......"

So was it nice or was it not nice?

Nogizaka-san suddenly lowered her head like a dove, her slightly messy hair moving along with the movement of her head. At this point in time, the soft and silky fragrance of her hair was blown over.

"I'm really grateful to you. That time.....You were helping me, weren't you?"

"It's nothing!"

You could say that I was helping her, or you could say that I just couldn't leave her like that, because I know Nogizaka-san's secret!

Nogizaka-san giggled.

"Ayase-kun, you're a really nice guy."

"Nice guy..."

Normally, by saying that the guy is a nice guy, the girl usually means 'you're a hopeless nice guy', so it wasn't anything to be happy about. But since it came from Nogizaka-san, she probably doesn't mean it that way!

"Anyway, I want to thank you for helping me. I'm grateful for you helping me keep the fact that I borrowed the 「INNOCENT SMILE」 a secret...And I'm really sorry......Because of me, you got called to the teacher's office."

She bowed her head in apology again.

"It's nothing, don't think too much about it. It was Kamishiro-sensei who called me to the office, so it's nothing!"

"But..."

"It's alright, I wasn't scolded or anything!"

Finally convinced after my repeated explanations, Nogizaka-san finally raised her head again.

"Ayase-kun, thank you for all your help."

Nogizaka-san gave me a shy smile. Hmm......If she continues in this vein, I'll start to feel embarrassed too.

Which was why I decided to change the topic.

"Oh right, I gotta return this to you."

After checking to make sure that no one was around, I took out 「INNOCENT SMILE」 and the music score.

"Ah, Ayase-kun, you even took away the music score."

"I used too much force when I was trying to hide 「INNOCENT SMILE」! This piece of music looks really difficult, are you able to play it?"

I asked Nogizaka-san who was for an instant slightly embarrassed.

"Yes... it's the piece I'm currently practicing, so I'm almost able to play the entire piece."

I nodded. So she can play it after all. As the name of the piece, 「The Waltz of Mephisto」 suggests, this wasn't a piece that normal people would be able to play, but she could.

Just as I was filled with awe at her piano prowess, Nogizaka-san suddenly thought of something, and abruptly looked up at me...

"So......could it be that you looked inside?"

Nogizaka-san's voice carried a tinge of uneasiness, as though saying that I saw something.

"I......Didn't I drew a lot of drawings in it?"

She looked up at me.

"Ah......That's right......"

That man-eating bear who looked like it just killed two of three people! Because the visual impact was too jarring, I remembered that drawing in exquisite detail, the drawing which would bring at least three days of nightmares to anyone who looks at it.

"I'm sorry, but I saw it...or rather, it ran into my line of sight, I merely glanced at it."

"S..so, you saw it?"

Nogizaka-san lowered her head. Hmm...that really was something that I shouldn't have seen, it was forbidden fruit! Just as I was frantically trying to think of a way to get over this awkward atmosphere, Nogizaka-san surprised me with her next sentence.

"What do you think of it?"

"Huh?"

What do you mean?

"That is......it's quite nice isn't it? It's the first time anyone has seen my drawings"

Nogizaka-san's eyes sparkled when she said that, her expression showing the confidence she had in her drawing skills. Don't tell me......that she's asking for my opinion? I never thought that things would turn out like this.

'The main source of nourishment of that bear seems to be humans'...That doesn't sound like a compliment. 'The bear's eyes make it look like it's sniffing drugs'...that's definitely not a compliment. 'If we were to put that bear into a hot pot, it'll probably be very delicious'...I really didn't how I should phrase my answer.

After mulling it over...

"The bear's gaze is extremely evil...no, or rather, it's very piercing. Everyone's perspective is different, so I suppose some people would find it very cute..."

In the end, my polite and invincible compliment was shattered by Nogizaka-san's response.

"...Hmm? Bear? But that's a cat!"

Nogizaka-san tilted her head as though asking, just what are you talking about.

"..."

"..."

"...Ah, you're absolutely right, it's a cat."

A cat?

I honestly didn't knew that it was a cat. Because a normal cat wouldn't have fangs would it?

"Umm...Uh...It's really creative to let the cat hold a conductor's baton!!"

"...It's supposed to be a cat toy!"

"..."

"..."

"Ah, that's right, it's a cat toy."

The book is a music score, and adding those two things sure add a new perspective.

Luckily, Nogizaka-san didn't seem to have heard my soundless murmurings.

"It's embarrassing to say it myself, but I'm rather confident about that piece of art!"

Nogizaka-san continued.

"..."

Is she serious?

I stared at Nogizaka-san.

The look in her eyes was extremely serious.

There was no look in the world that could be more serious than that.

"..."

Well, no point picking out her faults, no one's perfect after all!

"...Hmm, that's a really creative and outstanding piece of work, I like it! I think I see a hint of Picasso's 「Guernica」 in it."

I expressed my own opinions very tactfully, but this was already the best I could say.

"Really? I'm so happy!"

Looking at the joy expressed on Nogizaka-san's innocent face, I felt a sense of guilt weighing down on me. At least I wasn't lying.

"I'm really really happy! I'm glad I asked for your opinion!"

"Righ......Right......"

I'm glad she didn't ask somebody other than me.

"Well......then please take good care of me in the future!"

"?"

What?

"I think I'll improve faster if I show it to other people. I've always been practicing alone, but its hard to improve like this...Of course, only if you have the time..."

"..."

Was she planning to show me these satanic drawings that bring down nightmares and summon demons on a regular basis?

"What......What do you think?"

"...About this......"

"You don't want to?"

I didn't give an immediate answer and Nogizaka-san's expression immediately turned to one reminiscent of a puppy that had been abandoned by the roadside. That expression is a banned technique, for no one can reject the 'Nuit Étoile' or let the 'Nuit Étoile' put on such an expression. Furthermore, that Nogizaka-san would implore me like this is because I'm the only one who knows about this hobby of hers......I didn't have a choice, for I'm stuck between a rock and a hard place, and I really think that I've boarded the Titanic.

"If you don't mind, I'm willing to discuss it with you anytime."

I deliberately pitched my voice higher so as to impress upon my sincerity.

"Really!"

Nogizaka-san gave a blissful smile. God, I think I'll lose a hundred days of my life everytime I see this smile in the future...oh well, no point thinking about that now.

After that, for a long period of time (at least 30 minutes), I was listening to Nogizaka-san talk about her passion for drawing.

"I have to go now, thank you very much for today. After I finish some new drawings, I'll show them to you again. I'll be going first."

Because of her piano lesson, Nogizaka-san left first. She was in extremely high spirits, humming the tune of 「Für Elise」 as she walked.

Looking at her receding figure, I couldn't help but mutter to myself.

"...Have I acted too rashly...?"

==4==
That night, I was studying in my room when an exaggeratedly loud voice came from downstairs.

"Hey! Yuuto! You've got a call!"

I was slightly miffed at being interrupted just as I was getting into the rhythm of my English-Japanese translation homework, but my sister was in a worser mood, ready to explode at any moment.

"I said, you've got a call!!!"

She kicked the door to my room open!! She even took down one of the door hinges along with her kick!! And then she stomped into my room.

The tall person who entered my room.

"Ruko..."

My sister (A karate second-dan holder, but often abuses her martial arts skills. In the Ayase household where my parents are rarely at home, she has the highest authority) appeared to be extremely unhappy, like an Asian black bear woken up from its slumber during winter time.

She only wore a white shirt on top of her underwear, such a disgraceful appearance.

"How could she wake me up from my sweet slumber! I don't know who she is, but you better teach her a lesson and tell her not to call in the middle of the night!"

Middle of the night? It's only ten! Though it wasn't early, but it wasn't that late either. And what did she mean by 'teach her a lesson'? Shouldn't she say lecture or something!

I knew that retorting was useless, but I still gave it a try.

"Whatever makes you happy, since both mean 'input' in one way or another."

Those two phrases are completely different! They have totally different meanings!

But to Ruko, who was even lazier and more perfunctory than me, those two phrases really weren't that different. She gave an irritated expression as she glared at me.

"...You're really annoying! Just answer the phone will you! I'm so sleepy.......I'm going to sleep now, so you better remember to unplug the phone after you finish your conversation! "

Ruko threw the phone over to me before going through the door that was swinging on only one of its hinges.

For the love of God! Who'd have believed that she's actually the secretary for the CEO of a top-class firm, which goes to show that anything can happen in this society of ours. It was indeed the state of affairs that beautiful women would always have their way. Though my sister is pretty, I don't really want to comment on her character. For a society that is perpetually harping on equality, we're extremely unfair.

I thought of all this as I answered the phone.

"Hello?"

And then...

"Ah, hello? Is this Ayase-kun? It's Nogizaka."

A surprising voice came from the other end of the line, the female voice that had the power to calm anyone who hears it, one that I've been hearing quite a lot of recently. But right now, this voice sounded extremely serious, nothing like the cheerful one I had heard in the day. Something must have happened.

"I'm really sorry to disturb you at such a late hour. Umm...I would like to ask for a favor from you, Ayase-kun..."

A favor? My heart beat really fast at that word.

"...I'm really embarrassed to say this right now. But I know I'll regret it for life if I don't say it now."

The seriousness in that voice was mixed with a heavy dose of embarrassment. Could it be that? No, Nogizaka-san would never ask me to do something as absurd as imitating the way crickets walk upside-down.

"Erm......Are you listening?"

"Ah, of, of course I'm listening."

I had no reason not to be listening.

"That's great...Ayase-kun, could you come out and meet me now?"

"Huh..."

After a second of lightning-quick analysis......

"Meet up...just the two of us?'

"That's right."

To meet up at this time......She can't be planning to have a secret date with me can she? The two of us sitting on a bench in the park. Time has stopped, and then the two of us......No, I can't continue fantasizing! I'll start to think about contents similar to the plot in a third-grade novel if I continue fantasizing.

I shook my heard violently. Got to stay calm, got to stay calm, I have to keep my cool.

To return my heartbeat to normal, healthy levels, I mentally recited the multiplication table. At this time, Nogizaka-san continued,

"Actually...I would like you to accompany me to school."

"School?"

The school in question...would obviously be the Hakujo Academy that we both attend. Why would she pick such a time to go to school when there wasn't a late night dare challenge of any kind going on......

"......The magazine...I forgot to return it."

The soft and hesitant voice cut off my line of thought.

"I had planned to return it after meeting Ayase-kun, but as I was feeling extremely happy after our conversation, I felt that I could return it a bit later......and I forgot to return in the end."

"You're talking about......that magazine?"

「INNOCENT SMILE」

"......Yes."

"..."

The situation......was really serious. The basic rules of our school were rather loose, but our school was extremely strict regarding the usage of school facilities. If a book that was borrowed from the library wasn't returned by the due date, the school would publicly remind the student through the PA system.

Of course, the public reminder would also include the student's name, year, and the name of the borrowed book.

"If I'm mentioned, I'll...sob..."

Probably thinking about what would happen if the book that she borrowed was publicly announced to the entire school, Nogizaka-san was whimpering slightly.

"Th, that's why I thought I'd go return it instead. *sniff* Bu, but going alone to school when it's this late...it's scary. So, I thought I'd ask somebody to go with me...B, but..."

Nogizaka-san said in a tearful voice.

So that's how it is. About this, I was the only one whom she could turn to for help. Because if she was to look for someone else, she'd have to show them 「INNOCENT SMILE」, bringing her hobby to the knowledge of one more person.

"Sob......Is it too much to ask? I'm really sorry to always bother you like this, but..."

It wasn't her fault. And......only a demented man would abandon a crying Nogizaka-san, right?

Therefore.

"Hmm...Let's just meet up at school now, alright?"

"Sob...Ah...?"

A surprised exclamation came from the other side of the line.

"You're willing......to go with me?"

"Yup, since I've got nothing to do right now anyway."

It was decided. Though I haven't finished my English homework, that's not important at a moment like this! I would like to avoid both Nogizaka-san's tears and the scolding given by my English teacher (forty-two years old, characteristic: Extremely annoying), but I don't have the time to deliberate any further on this.

"Thank you......sob......Thank you so much"

And that was how I decided to sneak into school at such an unearthly hour.

The campus was extremely creepy at night.

The thirty-something year-old white cement campus looked as thought it was floating in the sky in the dark, and from an angle, it really looked like an abandoned mansion, giving any observers a severe case of the goosebumps. This atmosphere was like the one in the supernatural shows on television where the spiritually-inclined guest appears and declares to the audience that 'an extremely evil aura can be felt here', whereupon the audience painfully wrestles with their inner-selves whether to continue watching or not. Nogizaka-san, who was standing next to me, was looking at the campus with exactly the same expression on her face, looking as though she was about to burst into tears any moment.

Now, how should we go about infiltrating the campus?

Of course the main gate wouldn't be open at this time, so perhaps we should try going by the staff entrance. Since it's the staff entrance, it should be near the teachers' office. But we'd have to be extremely careful if we were to go in by the staff entrance so as to avoid getting caught by a patrolling teacher. Or should we break a window and reach in to take the key, use a power tool to break the lock of the main gate, or just smash our way through the gate with a metal pole. Just that...all the above-mentioned methods were illegal.

Isn't there any way that's quieter? (Even though no matter how quiet an act of infiltration is, it's still an illegal act) Just as I was trying to come up with a better idea...

"Ayase-kun, this way."

Nogizaka-san pulled on my arm.

"We can get in by the back gate."

"Back gate......why?"

"Because I have a backup key."

"A backup key?"

Why would she have something like that?

"The key was in my father's study, so I just borrowed it for a while, because I thought it might come in handy!"

So it was from her father's study...I seem to have understood something, but why would her father have a backup key of the school?

"I'm not very sure about the specifics...but it seems like my father donated a large amount of money to the school, and to prepare for emergencies, he asked for a backup of all the keys in the school."

Investment...Right, I've heard this before. Ever since Nogizaka-san came to study at this school, ninety percent of all the money donated to Hakujo Academy came from the Nogizaka family. So it probably wouldn't be surprising if Nogizaka-san had a backup copy of all the keys in the school......right?

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing......"

Now's not the time to voice my questions, but since she had the backup copies to all the keys in the school, she'd surely have the key to the main gate. Wouldn't it be much better to just go in by the main gate? But I didn't say that out loud.

"Let's go!"

"Yes!'

Because the library was on the second story, we walked in the direction of the stairs.

Not surprisingly, the interior of the school was also empty, and as silent as a cemetery.

"It's really creepy..."

Nogizaka-san said as she looked around the deserted corridor. She gripped the sleeve of my shirt tightly, not daring to let go for even a second.

"If this was a game, a zombie should be jumping out from this corner."

"Ah!!!"

I had played this game where you had to fight off hordes of zombies, giant spiders and other monstrosities while attempting to escape from a western-style building. For the first ten minutes of the game, you would probably feel like you're about to be devoured by two of three zombies, but...

Never mind, forget I said it, now's not the time to think about something like that.

"Ayase-kun, do you know about the seven mysteries of our school?"

As we neared the stairwell, Nogizaka-san suddenly mentioned that. The seven mysteries of the school, though I'm not exactly sure as to the actual number of the mysteries, but there should be quite a few of them. Like...

There's the 'Thirteen steps of death to the rooftop'.

As for the others, I only know of the 'Dancing human figure in the science classroom', 'The self-playing piano in the music room', 'The self-bouncing ball in the empty gym'.

"There's still 'Hanako-san, who lives in the toilet' 'The big mirror in the infirmary that reflects the death of the user', and...'the dead book-reader'."

Nogizaka-san filled in the gaps.

"..."

An extremely bad premonition filled the air after hearing such rumors.

This was my first time hearing about 'The dead book-reader'. Since it has to do with a book-reader, it should be connected to the library right? And we just had to be going to the library at this time.

"..."

Should we just head back?

"Don't...Don't leave me behind!"

[[Image:NHnH vol01 084.jpg|thumb]]

My arm was held in a vice-like grip by Nogizaka-san, who had tears rolling about in her eyes. Looks like I wouldn't be able to perform the 'great escape'.

During the time when I was struggling with myself about whether to run away or not, we reached the library in question. The wooden door that looked so normal in the day now looked like the gates to hell.

It was a really bad feeling.

"So...What's the story behind 'The dead book-reader'?"

I asked Nogizaka-san.

"A long long time ago, when the campus was still made of wood, there was a student who really liked to read. Because he was crazy about reading, so this student would go to the library every day, until one day, where he passed away after getting into an accident on his way to the library. But it's rumored that for the sake of reading, this student would still report to the library everyday, which is why in the dark and silent library, footsteps and the sound of a book dropping onto the ground can be heard, and the shadow of a reading figure can also be seen at the window."

"You really know a lot about that."

"We're going off track here, but I heard that someone really came down to the library in the middle of the night, and that book-reader really did appear in front of that person."

"..."

"I only heard this story the day before yesterday. So now......I kind of regret hearing it..."

Nogizaka-san lowered her head. Even if she regrets hearing that story, it was already too late...

"...It'll probably be even worse if this story was told to someone who's never heard of it before."

"You're right......It would be worse."

"I've never heard this story before."

"Huh...you..."

Nogizaka-san placed a finger at the edge of her mouth as she lapsed into deep thought.

"...So you're saying that...You just heard the story for the first time from me?"

"That's right."

"..."

"..."

The surroundings were deathly silent.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said all that."

Nogizaka-san apologized with a horrified expression on her face, just like a puppy who did something wrong and was getting scolded by its master. I believe that no one would be able to grumble even a word more after seeing her like this.

"Ah, it's alright, since you didn't do it on purpose."

And I was the one who was asked for the details in the first place.

"But, if you meet the dead book-reader and get murdered by him because of my words..."

Nogizaka-san's face was terribly pale as she fervently prayed that I would not become the victim of a supernatural murder!

"It'll be alright! The dead book-reader won't run out just because of your story! And my only redeeming feature is that I'm really tough, so I'd probably be able to survive a supernatural attack without much effort."

Because I have been forced to accept Ruko's rigorous training since I was young.

"But...the attack of a spirit...isn't a physical attack, but a mental one, like curses..."

"That's alright too."

Regarding mental attacks, besides Ruko's training, I've also been on the receiving end of a lot of training from Yukari. So my defensive ability against mental attacks would probably be even higher than my defensive ability against physical attacks. I'm not proud of this inhuman defensive capabilities of mine, but it's the unfortunate truth.

Nogizaka-san smiled as she squinted slightly, probably hinting that she accepts my answer?

"......You're really kind."

"No......I'm not that kind......"

Why would she suddenly say something like this?"

"Hehe!"

"No...That's..."

I wanted to deny it, but couldn't find the right words. To mask the fact that I was blushing, I turned my gaze to the direction of the library.

"Cough, though I can't deny that this library's really creepy...we still have to go in don't we?"

Once I said that, Nogizaka-san immediately nodded her head furiously with a serious expression on her face.

"Let's...Let's go!"

Even though Nogizaka-san was the one calling for us to go, she didn't move at all as she looked at me as if trying to send me some kind of telepathic message...she probably wants me to lead the way. Alright, let's do it!

I pushed open the gigantic wooden door to the library, the wooden frame creaking under the force exerted by my hands before it opened. On the other side of the door was...an empty library. If this was a horror film, then at the exact moment where the door was opened, we would have gone face to face with 'the dead book-reader', a worst-case scenario that I wanted to avoid at all costs. The atmosphere in the empty room seemed to be extremely sinister, as though a ghoulish white face would appear from behind the black-painted shelves any moment.

"You can't leave me. Please don't leave me alone, I'm begging you."

Nogizaka-san grabbed my arm tightly as she whimpered, a flowery smell making its way to my nostrils. In fact, she needn't have been so worried, since she was grabbing me so tightly that I wasn't even able to move.

"Ah, I'm sorry."

Nogizaka-san hurriedly let go of me, my body finally regaining its freedom of movement. But for some reason, I suddenly felt a trace of regret.

"Let's just maintain this position. Please don't leave me alone alright?"

Nogizaka-san looked up at me as she requested me to stay by her side while she held on to my arm. I nodded as we made our way towards the book-return counter.

It was about fifty meters to the counter, and we carefully made our way over.

During this short journey, Nogizaka-san's beautiful face almost touched mine a couple of time. Her alluring amber eyes, her exquisitely white skin, and her pink lips all made my heart beat faster after every close encounter...Is there a problem with the regularity of my heartbeat?

"Kya!"

Nogizaka-san seemed to have tripped over something...it should be the reading chair again, right? She lost her balance, but fortunately, she broke her fall just before her face was about to come into contact with the floor. That was close!

"Why is there a chair here..."

How could you say that when the chair's always been here, and you've already tripped over it once before already?

"I've embarrassed myself again, I'm so clumsy!"

She smiled embarrassingly before continuing to walk, but promptly tripped over another chair, and fell flat on the floor this time.

"..."

I was thinking, she can't be...

Nogizaka-san's a little...no, extremely dense.

"...I've been tripping over or running into things ever since I was young."

Nogizaka-san answered the question in my mind.

"I would be able to fall down even when walking on flat ground, and I've even walked into electrical poles and parked cars."

"You're not good at sports?"

But I had thought that she does quite well during physical education classes.

"Hmm......I don't think this has got anything to do with physical ability."

"...I think you're right."

Was she really like this? I've never seen her trip over something or knock into something at school though.

"I'm usually extremely careful...but maybe it's because Ayase-kun has already seen me trip over something that I probably subconsciously let my guard down, leading to me to trip over more things."

Nogizaka-san smiled abashedly. Looks like she's been putting in a lot of effort to maintain her public image.

"...Ah, what have I been saying! We should quickly return the book!"

The red-faced Nogizaka-san suddenly remembered our mission and walked towards the book-returning counter, this time not tripping over anything. After reaching the counter, Nogizaka-san immediately turned on the computer, which powered up with a whir as the monitor displayed the operating system.

"Hey, I suddenly thought of something."

"Thought of what?"

"Even if the book was returned now, won't the data be stored in the computer?"

It's a computer specially designed to handle the borrowing and returning of library books. Which is why the date and time of all transactions would definitely be recorded in the computer. To be more precise, in the hard-disk of the computer. It'll definitely show that on the twenty-second day of April, at 23:08, book number 1203 (INNOCENT SMILE) was returned to the library.

"..."

Nogizaka-san froze for five seconds.

"...I never thought of that."

Hey, Hey!

"Hmm...There's got to be a way. Let's think logically. Since no one in their right minds would return a book at this time, I would expect the librarian to assume that there's a problem with the data. People always look for a reason to explain such small and insignificant inconsistencies."

Maybe she's right. But I would never have guessed that she had this careless side to her.

"Please wait for a moment while I return the book."

Nogizaka-san concentrated on the computer in front of her after saying that.

I had nothing to do, so I couldn't help but look at Nogizaka-san, who had both eyes on the monitor.

Sleek, black hair, snowy white skin, under the weak light of the moon and the reflection of the light from the screen, her body was bathed in a bluish white light, making her look as mysterious as the Goddess of healing magic in legends. She's the beautiful, clever, dignified and musically talented 'Nuit Étoile'. But the string of compliments didn't seem to fit the girl standing in front of me.

Because my impression of Nogizaka-san isn't like this.

Before this, I had thought of Nogizaka-san as a calm and collected lady. And I'm sure the rest of my classmates would see her in the same way.

But right now, I finally understand why we can never judge a book by its cover.

Which daughter of a wealthy and powerful family would illegally infiltrate her own school just to return an otaku magazine?

And even crying while tripping over numerous things in front of another in the process, embarrassing herself by being extremely clumsy...

But, compared to the normally perfect Nogizaka-san, I felt that the Nogizaka-san that I was seeing right now was more 'human'. A much better feeling. But I guess I should keep such thoughts to myself! Because Nogizaka-san probably won't be happy with that, even if I thought this side of her was better.

"Nogizaka-san."

"Yes?"

Nogizaka-san didn't turn her gaze as she continued to operate the computer.

"Why did you start this hobby...I mean, how did you become an otaku?"

I finally asked that question! God, what have I said! I had already promised Nogizaka-san not to speak of this anymore.

"Hmm, how..."

Surprisingly, Nogizaka-san didn't seem to mind it at all as she answered my question.

"Actually, I'm not very sure myself, by the time I realized it, I was already an otaku. Just that...I'm quite sure that 'that' set off this whole hobby of mine."

She place a finger on the edge of her mouth as she thought about what 'that' was.

"This happened about six years ago. Because I quarreled with my parents over all the skills that I had to learn, I ran to a park near my house to cry. The reason for that quarrel should have been...I had promised some friends to go and play together, but it clashed with my Japanese dance class so I couldn't go. That was the first time anyone had invited me out to play, so I was extremely happy, but I had to reject their invitation because my parents had enrolled me in the Japanese dance classes...I was really upset, so I ran out to the park to cry my heart out. I ignored the stares of people passing by and just wailed. I think I probably wanted someone to come over and comfort me, but this world wasn't as caring as I had thought it was. More than a few people walked past me, but they all ignored me, since a crying kid is really annoying. But...there was one person, just one person came over to talk to me."

Nogizaka-san had a faraway look in her eyes, as though she was looking at a distant place.

"Although he was a bit rough about it, he tried his best to comfort me. I still remember what happened as though it was yesterday. At that time...He let me read the first edition of 「INNOCENT SMILE」."

Nogizaka-san continued in a slightly exaggerated tone.

"Before that, I had never read manga before, so it was a refreshing experience for me...In the flash of an eye, I was enraptured by the magazine. People who read manga would feel very happy, and I was probably deeply attracted to that kind of atmosphere...And in the end, I even asked that person to give that first edition to me."

Nogizaka-san laughed.

Wow! What a touching story! How did that guy even thought of using the 「INNOCENT SMILE」 to comfort a primary school girl! This guy was incredible.

"That's probably the beginning of my hobby. After that incident, whenever I thought of that happy atmosphere, I would hide and read manga...which is why, even till this day, 「INNOCENT SMILE」 has a special place in my heart."

So that's why she was willing to take the risk to return this book to the library. Even Nobunaga had said that old editions of 「INNOCENT SMILE」 were priceless books. I think I finally understand why Nobunaga would do anything to achieve his goals.

"Phew...I'm finally done."

I heard the sound of the ENTER key being depressed. Looks like our mission was complete.

Nogizaka-san finally noticed my gaze. Just as she stretched in front of the computer screen, she suddenly stopped moving, like an electric toy dog that had run out of batteries.

"What's wrong? Is there something on my face?"

Nogizaka-san's face was beet-red due to her embarrassment, a reaction that I would never see in the classroom.

"No...I just think that you're a strange daughter of a wealthy and powerful family."

I told her my honest opinion.

"Hmm...I think it's really rude to say that to the person in question..."

Though she said that, Nogizaka-san didn't look angry at all. On the contrary, I thought she looked rather happy.

"In my opinion...Ayase-kun's much stranger than me. Yes, you're so strange that I can guarantee you'll win any All-Japan weirdo competition that there is."

"Thank you for the compliment."

What kind of competition is that!

"..."

"..."

For a moment, all was quiet.

"...Hahahaha!"

"...Hahahaha!"

In the next moment, both of us looked at each other and laughed. At the stroke of midnight, male and female laughter coming out of the empty library! If anyone hears that, there'll probably be a new version of the seven mysteries of the school. That'll be 'The terrifying maniacal laughter of a spirit couple in the library at midnight'.

I don't long how long we stood there laughing.

After our laughter had subsided, Nogizaka-san suddenly spoke rather seriously.

"I had thought......that everything was over." She began to talk about such a thing abruptly.

"Everything was over?"

"Yes."

Nogizaka-san nodded her head furiously.

"At the time when Ayase-kun saw that I had borrowed 「INNOCENT SMILE」, and also saw me trip and fall...I thought that everyone would know that I have this kind of hobby, and then everyone will look at me with strange looks and make fun of me. I really thought that it was going to turn out like that."

She's right. Although I didn't do it because I come into contact with such material on a regular basis through Nobunaga, there are many people in society who look down on people with such hobbies. If anyone knew that the 'Nuit Étoile' was an otaku, that person would probably announce it to the whole school without hesitation.

Wait a minute, Nogizaka-san's tone seems to be suggesting that...

"Nogizaka-san, did you think that I would go around telling everyone that you're an otaku?"

Could it be that she thinks I'm that kind of person?

Nogizaka-san looked away embarrassedly.

"I'm...I'm really sorry! Because I didn't know what kind of person you are! So I couldn't deny that there was a definite possibility of that happening. And I've almost never talked to guys before...So I was a little afraid...of you."

"Never talked to..."

Nogizaka-san? The 'Nuit Étoile'? Now I would have never known that!

"For some reason, guys are always extremely stiff around me, unable to relax like they do around other girls. It seems that only Ayase-kun's able to talk to me normally."

I think it's because Nogizaka-san's too cute and perfect. But...I don't have to be like the other guys!

Nogizaka-san continued,

"Which is why I really thought that everything was over, so much so that I even thought about running away to a faraway place...But the truth has proven that I was wrong, because Ayase-kun kept his promise and didn't tell anyone about my hobby, and even after knowing about my hobby, you didn't make fun of me. You treated me like a normal person....and even helped me. If not for you, I really won't know what I would have done...I think I'm really despicable to doubt you in the first place, I really want to shout out how much of an idiot I am. I really......really want to thank you, Ayase-kun."

Nogizaka-san stood in front of me as she gave a curtsy to me to express her gratitude.

"Thank you......Thank you so much for everything you've done!"

That posture was extremely similar to one I had seen in a certain magazine a few days ago, but now that Nogizaka-san was the one doing it, it was probably the cutest pose of the century...

Just as I was about to lose all sense of reason...

Shuffle, shuffle!

"!?"

A sound came from behind the shelves.

"What...what was that......sound?"

Nogizaka-san grabbed me with lightning-quick reflexes. This kind of speed is the type that would only appear when one's caught in a fire...no, it should be an inhuman display of fleet-footedness, right? Whatever the reason as to Nogizaka-san's unnatural display of power, the point is, my arm came into contact with two soft orbs...

"It...It seems to have come from the other side of the shelves, could it be the 'dead book-reader'...

"Spirits don't exist in this world..."

They don't exist...Or rather, I hope they don't exist.

"What do we do?"

Nogizaka-san looked up at me anxiously. There are three courses of action available to me right now. One, under the influence of my considerable curiosity, I go over to check it out. Two, remain calm and run away. Three, pretend to be frightened and take advantage of the situation to hug Nogizaka-san. Personally, I hope to choose number three, but...No, it's merely my personal fantasy, and I could get charged for sexual harassment.

Logically, I should choose option two, since we've already done what we set out to do, there's no need to find out about anything that doesn't concern us.

"Ah, Ayase-kun..."

"I'll go and take a look, wait here for me."

She hugged me tightly around my waist.

"I'm going with you."

"But, you may see something scary..."

"I'll be even more afraid if I were to stay here by myself."

She's right.

"Then, let's go over together?"

"Al...Alright..."

The two of us started to walk towards the direction in which the strange sound had come from.

"I think...that sound came from the shelve with the music scores."

"Music scores?"

We even have music scores in our library? I only thought that it was weird they had 「INNOCENT SMILE」, but it shouldn't be much of a surprise if they had music scores as well.

"It's around here."

Under the guidance of Nogizaka-san, just as we neared the corner of the shelf in question...

Dangdangdang.......

We heard a different sound from just now.

Shuffle shuffle...

And then we heard the sound of a book dropping onto the floor.

"Kya..."

Nogizaka-san grabbed my hand while covering her ears with surprising agility.

"I think..."

She looked up at me with tears in her eyes.

"It must be the 'dead book-reader'...Ayase-kun! I think we should run!"

"No, wait a moment..."

The sound of books dropping onto the floor stopped, but another sound took its place. Dingdangdangdingdangdang...It sounded familiar. Ah...could it be 'that'!

"Ah, Ayase-kun!"

I went up to the shelf and saw my conjecture validated.

"...It's a cellphone."

There was a white object on the shelf with the music scores, the white object was vibrating as it knocked into the music scores on the shelf. Because it's a cellphone that's receiving a call.

"...I seem to have seen this somewhere."

There was a keychain on it with YUKARI spelled out in English. Ah! Didn't that person say that she lost her cellphone? It looked as though she left it here when she came to borrow music scores. She really knows how to create a stir! I decided to return it to her tomorrow as I turned off the power to cut off its annoying ringtone.

"Nogizaka-san, it's alright, I've found the source of the sounds."

I called out to the ashen-faced, shivering Nogizaka-san who was hiding behind the shelf. Probably because the strange sounds had disappeared, Nogizaka-san seemed to have relaxed a little as she slowly made her way towards me.

"You know what was causing those sounds?"

"Yes, this is the source of it all"

I showed the white cellphone that had the opposite color to its owner's heart to Nogizaka-san, as she slumped down onto the ground as though her soul had just been sucked away.

"Ah, I feel weak now that I've loosened up ."

Nogizaka-san seemed to have been scared witless. This was the first time I've seen someone who's been scared to that extent, and that person was the 'Nuit Étoile'...It was a scene straight from the world of slapstick comedy.

"Hah..."

I couldn't help but laugh. Seeing that I was laughing at her, Nogizaka-san puffed out her cheeks.

"What...What are you laughing about! What's so funny? It's not like I did it on purpose, it's because...because it was too terrifying!"

She was retaliating, but soon stopped.

"You're......really a strange person."

"Same to you to!"

And then we looked at each other and started laughing again, laughing so loudly that even the people staying beside the school would probably be able to hear us.

Maybe a new version of the seven mysteries of the school would be heard in school tomorrow?

==5==
We finally completed our mission.

As we walked out of the school gate, Nogizaka-san bowed deeply to me.

"Thank you so much for today, Ayase-kun, you saved my life. Maybe...Today's actions wasn't legal, but I was very happy."

It was fun. Yeah, that expression was pretty improper, but it wasn't without its merit. That's why I could respond with a large smile.

"You're welcome, I enjoyed myself too."

Those were my true feelings.

"You...can just call me Haruka."

Nogizaka-san requested timidly.

"I'm saying that, you can just call me by my name. It feels like I'm an outsider if you keep calling me Nogizaka-san. No, I am an outsider, ah, I don't mean it that way...sob, I'm really bad at this...anyway, I wish that you'll call me Haruka and not Nogizaka-san."

She was serious about that.

Hmm...I don't know why she would be so flustered, but since she was the one who requested me to call her by her name, I don't think there should be any problems. To be honest, I felt that it would be an honor to be able to call her by her name.

"I got it, so I'll just call you...Haruka."

"Yes!"

Nogizaka-san nodded her head happily...No, I should refer to her as Haruka now. Right now, Haruka looked extremely cute.

"Then you should also call me Yuuto, all my good friends call me that."

For some reason, I suddenly felt embarrassed then and I purposely looked away from her.

"Good friends..."

Haruka mumbled before smiling again, an honest smile straight from the heart that I've never seen before in the classroom.

"I got it, Yuuto, please take care of me from now on."

And thus, the relationship between Nogizaka Haruka and I began.

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| Forward to [[Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu:Volume1_Chapter2|Chapter 2]]
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