I Accidentally Triggered The Sociophobic Bookworm Route! (Part 4)

I race over to the student council room and immediately see a small crowd of girls waiting outside, once again gathered in front of a shut door.

Avoiding their attention, I slip in through a separate entrance.

When I arrive, there’s no sign of Haruki—only a couple other members who’ve shown up early.

“Psst, Tomoya. In here.”

Haruki’s whisper comes from the cart, his eyes poking out as he waits to be smuggled out again.

He sure is enthusiastic about this.

I lean down and hide him beneath the books once more.

“Let’s do this.”

I roll the cart out through the door I came in from. A few people glance my way, but I’m mostly ignored.

We take the same route as last time without any trouble.

By the time I reach the back of the library again, Komori is already there, waiting for us.

She’s reading a book, smiling quietly to herself.

Cute.

“Hi, Komori.”

She looks momentarily startled, but quickly calms down and waves at me with a smile.

“Hope you’re ready for some more studying.”

Her expression slowly turns confused as she looks around.

She uses two fingers to mimic the green strands of hair on top of Haruki’s head, then places a hand across her forehead in a searching motion before shrugging to indicate confusion.

“Ah. Prepare to be amazed.”

I remove a few books from the cart, and Haruki pops out with his arms spread wide.

“Ta-da!” he declares.

“Gapaaa!”

Komori gasps as she jolts back, not expecting the book cart to double as a Haruki delivery service.

She calms down, then gives a reluctant smile after taking a steady breath.

We all sit down and start pulling out our study materials—

“Funny running into you here, Ubakawa.”

I jolt at the sound of Shinomiya’s voice, then feel a hand firmly grip my left shoulder. I start to turn my head, only to freeze again as a second, smaller—but somehow stronger—hand clamps down on my other shoulder.

“I think you might have some explaining to do, Tomoya,” Yuka says, her voice biting.

I turn fully.

Behind them, a small crowd of girls stands gathered, all staring daggers at me.

Daina steps forward from the group, arms crossed and expression irritated.

“Yuka spotted Kojima leaving the library, and Shinomiya saw you pushing the cart of lost books away from it—the same cart you walked right past us with. You really think we don’t share information? It wasn’t exactly hard to put two and two together.”

She leans in, getting right up in my face.

“So. Anything you want to say for yourself, Ubakawa?”

I glance back at Haruki and Komori for support, but Haruki only offers an uncomfortable smile, while Komori fidgets nervously, eyes fixed on the floor.

All on my own, I steel myself and plead my case.

“We just wanted to study in peace for history class! How are you supposed to do that with a giant crowd in the library? Is it really so bad that I snuck him out!”

She tightly grips the top of my head, sending a jolt of pain through me.

“Ubakwa, didn’t your mother ever teach you that only selfish scumbags don’t know how to share?”

I force a smile.

“You know what? I think you’re right. How silly of me to forget. Deepest apologies—hopefully you can forgive my boorishness. Would any of you care to take a seat?”

She lets go of my head and pats my cheek a couple times.

“That’s more like it.”

And just like that, they all go to sit down—and my hopes and dreams are dashed.

Guess I should’ve known this was too good to be true.

***

We try to study, but even with the girls making an effort to be quiet, it’s a struggle. There’s still a constant back-and-forth of chatter, and after a while, I give up.

Sighing, I let my eyes drift across the room.

I glance at Komori. Head lowered, she looks extremely uncomfortable with the situation—more so, even, at how our plans fell apart.

I offer a small, reassuring smile and wave. She noticed, but doesn’t respond. Instead, she keeps her gaze fixed on the floor, overwhelmed by everything around her.

My eyes move next to Haruki—the center of attention—who, of course, is off in his own little world, smiling as his friends fawn over him.

I continue to look around—

Yuka’s staring right at me.

And I get the sense she’s been staring for a while.

I give a nervous wave.

She gives a flirty one back.

As I continue looking around the table from classmate to classmate, my eyes eventually stop at Shinomiya, sitting right next to me.

I don’t know how she’s able to study so unbothered by all the chaos. Her expression is locked in deep concentration—but even like this, there’s something consistently composed about her. A cool air that remains whether she’s putting on a show or not.

It only hits me now that her face looks…unexpectedly sharp when she’s like this, framed by that focus.

“Can I help you with something, Ubakawa?”

Her eyes remain fixed downward, engrossed in her notes—yet somehow, she still caught me staring.

…

“...Uh, Shinomiya?” I whisper.

“Yes?” she replies, still largely focused on her notetaking.

“I just wanted to say—I’m really sorry about earlier today, I was being stupid and I shouldn’t have—”

She closes her eyes and lets out a small sigh.

“You get a pass.”

“...What?”

“You get a pass. I know how hard you work and how much stress you’re under, so it was an understandable lapse in judgment. Besides, after all the ribbing I’ve thrown your way, it’d be hypocritical of me not to be able to take any myself—let alone hold a grudge over it.”

She looks over at me.

“What? What’s with that face? I’m not even doing anything to you.”

“It’s just…”

I glance away for a moment.

“…you’re being so mature about it.”

She smirks.

“Yeah, because I am mature, you didn’t know that already?”

“Sorry, I’ll pay more attention in the future.”

“You better,” she says, playfully bumping my shoulder.

“I’ll try, but if you keep acting like this, I might start getting the wrong idea.”

“Oh? And what idea would that be?”

“That you’re actually nice.”

Shinomiya lets out a small giggle as she adjusts her hair.

“Don’t get used to it.”

Heads turn at the sound of her voice again. Her giggle fades as she notices everyone looking at her. She covers her mouth, her gaze drifting away for a moment before she sends me an irritated glance.

“...I don’t suppose I’d get a pass on that one, would I?”

“No, you’re definitely paying for that later.”

“Fair enough.”

Haruki glances over at us, then catches Komori out of the corner of his eye. His expression shifts slightly, like he’s noticed the same discomfort I did.

“Komori, is everything alright?” Haruki asks without any tact.

The others turn toward her almost instantly.

Komori stiffens in her seat.

I watch as she tries to respond, but the longer it takes, the heavier the silence seems to press in on her.

Her shoulders tense. She pushes back from the table as if to stand—

—but Haruki quickly reaches out and catches her wrist.

“It’s okay, Komori. I know this can be overwhelming, but nobody’s going to judge you for it.”

He turns toward the group.

“Guys, if any of you haven’t met her yet, this is Komori, she’s a member of the library committee—she just struggles a bit with talking to people.”

The moment those words leave Haruki’s mouth, Komori’s expression freezes.

Dread spreads across her face. Her eyes start to well up with tears.

“It’s okay, you don’t have to be afraid of us,” Yuka says.

Komori jerks her arm back, tugging hard as she tries to pull away.

“Yeah, it’s nothing to be embarrassed about,” Daina adds.

The group’s continued attempts to put her at ease only make things worse.

Her breathing turns uneven, soft whimpers slipping out between breaths as panic begins to set in.

The moment nearby students start looking over, something in Komori snaps.

Her grip tightens on Haruki’s arm as she tries to pull away even harder, tears spilling freely now. Her voice breaks into small, panicked sounds as she struggles against the attention.

“Komori, you can talk to—”

Haruki doesn’t get to finish. She stumbles out of his grasp, loses her footing, and falls—then scrambles up and runs, sobbing as she flees.

“Wait, Komori!” Haruki calls after her.

He turns to me, urgency snapping into his expression.

“Tomoya, I need you to come with me. We have to go after her.”

One of the girls chimes in.

“We can come help too—”

“No,” Haruki interrupts. “She doesn’t know any of you. It’ll only upset her. Just me and Tomoya will go.”

Of course.

Another chance for us to be alone…

…that I know I can’t accept.

“No.”

I stand up. Haruki looks at me, confused.

“I get that you meant well, but after what just happened, if you try talking to her, it’ll only make her feel worse. I’ll go alone.”

“Oh…okay,” Haruki replies, caught off guard and visibly dejected.

Shinomiya pushes herself up.

“If he’s not going, then I am. No one understands a maiden’s heart better than I do, and I can’t just sit here and—”

“No. She doesn’t know you.”

I meet Shinomiya’s eyes and place a hand over my chest.

“Please. Trust me. I’ve got this.”

She stares at me for a moment, then closes her eyes with a sigh.

“Fine. But if you mess this up, I’m kicking your ass.”

I nod, quickly shove my things into my bag, and take off after her.

As I run, I can’t help but feel a strong sense of déjà vu.