v01_c10_Romance_Novel_-_1

GJ-Bu

Volume 01

Chapter 10

Romance Novel - 1

"Here you go, milk tea with lots of sugar."

Megumi gently placed the steaming cup in front of him.

As Kyouya tilted the cup to feel the aroma before tasting it, she brought her face closer to his.

"(This is unusual, isn't it? Shion-san reading a novel.)"

His eyes turned to the other side of the round table.

The long haired beauty was reading a paperback book. As they watched she flipped a page.

Oddly, Shion wasn't playing any games that day.
The book she read was a novel, a light novel on top of that.

"(That book is yours, isn't it, Shinomiya-kun?)"

"(Y-yes. That's right.)"

"(What kind of story is it?)"

"(Err...)"

Talking only in whispers, Megumi held her face way too close to his. Kyouya's face was red as he explained to her.

It was a story aimed at boys, but it wasn't a battle story or anything like that, it was a romance. Besides him, every member of the GJ club was a girl. He had imagined if it was something like this the girls might read it too.

"(That's why you left it there.)"

Megumi anticipated his explanation with a big nod.

Everybody ha brought several of their own personal belongings into the large clubroom, which had originaly been a classroom. For example, Megumi had her tea set and tea leaves collection and Shion had several game boards. The president's things looked like a bunch of rubbish, but she'd get angry if you touched them and she'd bite you if you threw them away. They were things like cicadas' cast-off skins or shiny and serrated ten yen coins. A bunch of pretty things she treasured. Kirara kept several animal bones she'd made pure white in a wooden box below the sofa. Who knew whether she kept as a memorial service to the animals or as treasure?

Kyouya would constantly bring in manga and light novels.

"(You're quite the scheming person, aren't you, Shinomiya-kun?)"

"(Scheming?)"

"(Shion-san fell right into your trap. She looks completely immersed already.)"

"(No, well... trap is kinda...)"

"(Ah, she just went back a page. She's reading the same part again. I wonder what part has got her so interested. She's already at the palm of your hand, isn't she? Before the trap you set up, even the genius of games becomes just like my sister when she got her blanket taken away from her.)"

Megumi wouldn't hear what he was saying. In this sense, she was just like the president. No, like her sister. On top of that, Kyouya couldn't make sense of that last comparison. If it was some inside joke of the Amatsuka family, she ought to properly explain it.

"(You said that book was a romance, but just what type of romance is it?)"

"(Eh?)"

Kyouya was at a loss for words at that question.

He'd never thought that there was something like different types in romance.

"(Well... it's the type where a boy has an encounter with a girl. In short, the one's they call boy meets girl in English.)"

"Then the part that got Shion-san so immersed must be the girl meets boy part."

Getting agitated over something, Megumi completely forgot to keep her voice low. She spoke with her normal voice.

Shion, who'd been concentrated in the book, noticed it, as expected.

"Cough."

She cleared her throat.

"Okay, understood, Shinomiya-kun. Next is lemon tea, right? Maybe I'll try putting in nilgiri."

Meugumi swiftly made her leave.

How unfair.

Left alone, Kyouya timidly turned to face Shion.

Then he saw something unexpected.

Shion faced the opposite way. Her earlobe that poked out through her long hair was deep red.

"I'm already done reading this so..."

She slid the book on top of the table, never letting her face meet Kyouya's.

He doubted it.

That was a lie. The part she kept going back and forth through just then was still at the beginning of the book.

The part where the boy and the girl meet each other. The boy meets girl part.

"If you'd like I c could lend it to you."

"No, I'm done reading it already."

"I'd be happy if you took it home and read it at ease. This is from my recommended selection after all."

"Y-yes, I understand. The book that was left here was a book you'd already read. This item you went to the trouble of bringing here is from your recommended selection. Logically, I am obliged to go along with this turn of events."

The game expert discreetly pulled into her hands the book that rested on the table, tightly holding it against her lap.

In the end, Shion was...

Until school was over, for several hours, she preciously held that book on her lap.