Volume 1 Chapter 17 Hibiki Gets Found Out
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
TL summary:
Hirose and Rindou Hibiki go on their first public date, Hibiki notices Hirose has used his ‘Skill’ to improve his looks, their intimate cafe moment is interrupted by Hibiki’s popular friends (Himari and Kairi), and Hibiki is forced to confirm their dating status.
—
”Hirose!”
”Hibiki!”
It was around two in the afternoon, and the bustling commercial district was alive with people. Towering retail centers lined the street, and young people crisscrossed the intersections. It was in this energetic spot that the two of them were meeting.
Nearly three months had flown by since they first got together, and they were officially a couple, yet this was their first time ever going out on a public date. They’d always met up at one of their houses, and they’d both been perfectly happy with that arrangement—mostly because those meetings involved getting their bodies tangled up with each other. But today was different.
Hibiki was all wrapped up in a super-cute white coat, while Hirose had on his trusty, if unremarkable, down jacket. With Christmas right around the corner, they were finally going to enjoy their very first outing together.
”Wow…” Hirose breathed.
”Hehe, cute, right?” Hibiki giggled.
”It is.”
As soon as she reached the meeting spot, Hibiki immediately hooked her arm through Hirose’s, snuggling close. A sweet scent wafted off her in a soft cloud. Hibiki smelled even better than usual today. Perhaps it was her special outdoor perfume; it definitely made the moment feel extra special.
Their first stop was a clothing store. Hibiki had been meaning to do something about Hirose’s fashion sense for a while. So, today was going to begin with picking out some new clothes that actually suited him.
”Hey, wait… Hirose, your face is way clearer, isn’t it?” Hibiki asked, scrutinizing his face as they browsed a shop in the commercial center.
”Ah, you noticed?” Hirose replied.
”It’s, like, totally smooth, and not a single zit. I’ve never seen a guy with skin this good.”
”If you noticed that much, you know what I did, right?” Hirose murmured.
”Your skill, yeah?”
”Nailed it.”
Hirose had used his skill on his own face. Honestly, he’d always been completely indifferent to his own looks or beauty, but lately, he’d finally started to feel like he needed to sort himself out if he was gonna walk next to a girl as cute as Hibiki. The first thing he’d tried was ‘Skin Quality Improvement.’
”Mhm… Good! It’s really, really good! I mean, just having clean skin makes you look super put-together and way hotter, I think! I just wanna rub my face on you!”
”Really? That makes me happy… I wanna get even cooler for you, Hibiki.”
”Ehhh, I don’t know about that. If Hirose gets too hot, all the other girls will totally chase you.”
”Before that even happens, I’ve got Hibiki, and then Koharu, and Kirino—my hands are kinda full as it is, ya know.”
”Hahahaha, good point!”
Hearing him talk like that, that he wouldn’t even look at other girls, even if he did become popular, put Hibiki in an excellent mood.
After they bought the outfit Hibiki had chosen, it was getting late, so the two decided to slip into a café.
They settled down at a coffee shop inside the same commercial complex. The menu was filled with delicious-looking sweets, but Hibiki and Hirose each ordered a pancake plate. When the pancakes arrived, Hibiki’s eyes sparkled, and she eagerly snatched up her fork and knife.
”So good!” she exclaimed.
”It really is… I don’t usually eat things like this, so it feels new,” Hirose admitted.
”Inkyaku2~” Hibiki teased.
”Shut up. But, if you hadn’t been here, I probably never would have come,” he sighed.
”Then let’s do a bunch of stuff you’ve never done before, okay?”
Hibiki lifted a forkful of sliced pancake and brought it to Hirose’s mouth.
”Hirose, say ‘aahn’.”
”Aahn… thanks.” Hirose whispered, his face burning red ’cause of the other people around them. Hibiki didn’t care about the onlookers and made him take it anyway.
”My turn!” she demanded.
Hirose let out an exasperated, “Fine, fine,” and carried a piece of his own sliced pancake to her mouth.
”Here, aahn.”
”AAHHHHNNNN!?” Hibiki yelled in surprise just as she took the bite.
It happened in that very moment. Two girls had caught Hibiki’s attention, right at a table diagonally to her left. They were staring at Hibiki with shock in their eyes. The surprise made Hibiki choke on her mouthful of pancake.
”C-Cough, cough…”
”Hibiki…?” Hirose questioned, worriedly.
Those two girls were none other than—
”Hima and Umirin!?”
Hibiki’s close classmates: Motoya Himari and Ihara Kairi.
”Ah…”
Hirose noticed them a moment later, and his eyes met Himari’s and Kairi’s.
”Seriously… that’s Takanashi, right?” Himari stated.
”It is, Takanashi.” Kairi affirmed.
”Um… h-hello,” Hirose stammered out, giving a slightly awkward nod.
”Umirin!” Himari exclaimed.
”Right!?” Kairi chimed in.
Without needing to say anything more, the two girls had come to a shared conclusion. They stood up and marched right toward Hirose and Hibiki’s table.
”Hibiki? We are totally gonna need the whole story, got it?” Himari demanded.
”W-Wait, Hima!” Hibiki protested.
”Hey, Takanashi, if you could scooch over a little, please?” Kairi requested.
”Eh, ah…”
Himari moved to sit next to Hibiki, and Kairi took the spot next to Hirose, forcing the four of them onto the same sofa bench.
Motoya Himari was the tallest of the trio, a gorgeous girl with sharp, mature features and flowing orange hair. She had a ‘gyaru’ vibe but insisted she wasn’t one. Ihara Kairi had short, light-blue hair, with a subtle piercing visible on her well-shaped ear. She was also a beautiful girl, noted by the boys for her cute, unreserved smile.
These three, including Hibiki, were the caste top beauties of the class—the untouchable trio no inkyaku would dare approach.
(Hibiki, Hibiki! What are you gonna do!?) Hirose panicked mentally.
(There’s no getting out of this one, is there? I promise, I won’t mention the skill! Just relax.) Hibiki reassured him telepathically.
They exchanged this silent conversation, and Himari and Kairi noticed, saying, “What are you two communicating with just your eyes?”
”—So, to sum up, you two are a couple?” Himari asked, cutting to the chase.
”Yeah, we are. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner,” Hibiki confessed.
”No, no, you don’t have to apologize! But, yep, you totally had a boyfriend after all,” Himari observed.
”No, that’s not it. He just became my boyfriend recently… I can’t explain the catalyst, but we started getting close about three months ago.”
”Right about when Hibiki started bailing on us!” Kairi interjected.
”Yeah… And, after we kept meeting, I fell for him, and we finally started dating.”
Himari and Kairi exchanged a look. The way Hibiki explained it, blushing and looking every bit the woman in love, convinced them. This is for real, they both thought.
”Wait… now that I look closely, Takanashi’s kinda getting handsome, isn’t he?” Kairi pointed out.
”Oh, you’re right. I wonder what changed. I don’t usually pay attention to him, so I can’t tell the difference,” Himari replied, tilting her head.
Hirose wasn’t really an inkyaku, but he wasn’t a yanky (jock/popular kid) either; he was just… normal. He had no real defining features and nothing in his appearance to make girls swoon.
”I didn’t change anything about myself, really. Even the fact that Hibiki and I got close was purely by chance,” Hirose insisted.
”Huh. He can talk normally,” Himari noted.
”I thought he’d just mumble and never talk to us,” Kairi added.
(Maybe being around so many beauties has made me immune…) Hirose mused. Three months ago, he was terrified of even Hibiki. But, as they got closer, he naturally grew accustomed to her. Plus, he’d dealt with Koharu and Kirino. Hirose was definitely building up a tolerance to dealing with stunning girls.
”So, Takanashi isn’t secretly threatening Hibiki or coercing her into this, right?” Himari pressed.
”Hima! There’s a line, you know! Hirose isn’t that kind of person!” Hibiki snapped, furious at Himari’s suggestion.
”Sorry, Hibiki~… But look, you’d think the same thing if you were in our shoes, wouldn’t you?” Himari reasoned.
”Well… maybe. But Hirose and I are properly dating! There’s no coercion or threats involved!” Hibiki declared.
”Wow. You really do like Takanashi, don’t you?” Kairi observed.
”That’s why we’re dating!” Hibiki practically yelled.
Himari and Kairi were still a little skeptical about the two of them dating. The ‘I love him’ aura was definitely radiating off Hibiki, but they still had doubts. What possible element could make a girl as cute as Hibiki fall for Hirose?
Nice guys are everywhere, and guys with Hirose’s level of looks are dime-a-dozen. Yet, Hibiki chose Hirose out of all of them.
But by now, all the two friends could do was believe Hibiki’s words.
”Well, I guess that explains why you’re suddenly glowing. She’s practically reekin’ of ‘female pheromones’1 now, right?” Himari snickered.
”…Have you two, like, done it yet?” Kairi asked directly.
”Stop with the phrasing!” Hibiki cried.
(Done it? More like, we’re doing it all the time…) Hibiki thought. Their relationship had progressed way past what her friends could imagine. That’s why she decided it was best not to discuss their nights of passion.
”Still, that’s great. Hibiki, you’ve just been glowing with happy-couple-vibes lately.” Himari smiled.
”…Oh! That means you always wanted to greet Takanashi when you came into the classroom!” Kairi realized.
”Right! That’s why you always had that half-confused look on your face!” Himari chuckled.
”Well, yeah! When the person you like is in the same class, you wanna say ‘Good morning!’” Hibiki justified.
”So, why don’t you?” Kairi asked.
”Huh?”
”Just start tomorrow.”
Hibiki had refrained from greeting Hirose out of consideration for him. Hirose hadn’t planned on making their closeness public, but now that they were officially dating, he thought it might be okay to tell these two close friends.
”Hirose… what do you think?”
Hibiki looked at him with big, watery, doe eyes, shamelessly turning on the charm.
”If you want it that much, Hibiki, I guess I’m okay with it. But… I’ll be embarrassed,” Hirose admitted.
”We’re not saying you have to announce that you’re dating, we’re just saying you can say hello and talk normally, right?” Himari clarified.
”If that’s the case… I guess it’s fine. I didn’t realize you were holding back for me, Hibiki. Sorry for not noticing.”
”Hiroseeee!”
She let out a soft, affectionate sound, so happy at his concession. If they weren’t sitting side-by-side, she probably would have hugged him tight. Seeing Hibiki act like that, Himari and Kairi truly understood how close the two of them were.
And Hirose and Hibiki were relieved that the girls hadn’t started questioning them about Gifts or Skills.
* * *
The Next Day, At School
”Hey, hey, can I call you Hirose, too? You can call me Himari or Hima—whatever you want.” Himari pressed.
”I’m gonna call you Hirose! You can call me Umirin, okay?” Kairi added.
”Sigh. That’s fine for you, but I’m not sure I can suddenly start calling you guys by your first names,” Hirose confessed, still resisting.
It was morning, before homeroom, and Hirose was completely flanked by Himari and Kairi.
They had commandeered the desks of absent students, sitting to his right and directly behind him. Hirose’s friend, Kuzuhara Yamato, who sat in front of him, was openly gaping, his mouth trembling in confusion at the sight.
”Oi, Hirose! What did you do!? What is going on!?” Yamato sputtered.
”Stuff happened, okay?” Hirose sighed.
”And, seriously, you have changed lately. You’re kind of handsomer, I guess… though your vibe hasn’t really changed much.”
Yamato stared intensely at Hirose, but having seen him every day, the change wasn’t all that obvious to him. His skin was definitely cleaner, but that was about it.
”Kuzuhara, was it? You wanna talk to us, too?” Himari teased.
”Huh!?” Yamato yelped.
”Consider it a special perk, right? Aha!”
As Yamato tried to talk, Himari and Kairi slightly mocked him, laughing at his flustered reaction.
”Ugh! What are you doing!!”
Just then, Hibiki walked into the classroom. From the open door, she spotted Hirose being monopolized by her two friends. Hibiki had been so excited to greet Hirose and talk to him the minute she arrived.
But they had beaten her to it—
”Hima! Umirin! Why are you guys talking to Hirose first!?” Hibiki hollered, loud enough for the whole class to hear.
That loud declaration immediately caused a buzz among the classmates present.
”Takanashi…?”
”Takanashi and Rindou? And why are Motoya and Ihara there, too?”
”What did that guy do? He wasn’t like this last week.”
Seeing the obvious anomaly, all the classmates immediately turned their attention to Hirose’s desk. Hibiki, however, didn’t care about the attention.
”Well, you said we could talk to him!” Himari argued.
”Yeah. If Hibiki is gonna talk to him, we’re obviously gonna talk to him too,” Kairi agreed.
”Obviously, my butt! I wanted to talk to him first!” Hibiki whined.
”Ahahaha…” Hirose managed, giving a strained laugh at the three girls’ squabble.
”Kuzuhara-kun!” Hibiki called out.
”Y-Yes!?” Yamato stammered.
”Move over!”
”Huh!? E-Eh… okay.”
”Thanks!”
Yamato conceded, defeated by Hibiki’s overwhelming pressure, and vacated the seat. Hirose, who sat by the window, was now completely surrounded by the three girls.
”—Hirose. You don’t need to talk to these two, okay? Just talk to me,” Hibiki insisted possessively.
”Hold on, Hibiki~, we’re all classmates, you can’t hog him!” Himari protested.
”Yeah, we have the right to talk to him, too, you know?” Kairi affirmed.
”Just go back to your seats, both of you. Do you know how much I was looking forward to finally talking to Hirose in class!” Hibiki complained.
Shortly after this, the news that Hibiki and Hirose were dating quickly spread throughout the class. Everyone was asking, “Why Takanashi?” but no one in that classroom knew the true reason. Even Himari and Kairi were unaware of the real circumstances that led to the relationship.
This incident became the trigger. Hirose suddenly found himself catapulted to the top of the class hierarchy.3
—
1 ‘female pheromones’: A translation of the Japanese phrase mesu no nioi (メスの匂い, literally ‘the smell of a female [animal]’), often used in fiction, especially in a teasing or slightly aggressive way among female friends, to imply that the other girl is radiating a sexually or romantically charged aura, suggesting she’s ‘been getting it.’ ↩
2 Inkyaku: This is the Japanese term for ‘in-character’ or ‘introvert’ (inshitsu-kyara), which refers to the lowest social caste in the classroom—the quiet, uncool kids who are generally ignored. This term is popular on Japanese social media and in light novels.↩
3 Top of the class hierarchy: This refers to the caste system (kasuto) found in many modern Japanese school narratives, where students are ranked by popularity and social standing. By dating the ‘caste top’ girl, Hirose instantly skips the lower ranks, a common trope in romantic comedy manga and light novels ↩
Notes:
• Rindou Hibiki – Hirose’s cheerful, bold classmate who is the first to request his Beauty skill. Hibiki (F, pink bob hair, 158cm, F-cup) is outgoing, expressive about her interests, and quickly becomes Hirose’s girlfriend after an explicitly intimate scene. Her reactions help set the adult tone of the story.
• Kirino – Strikingly beautiful with blue long hair (F, 168cm), Kirino is gifted with ice magic and feels isolated because of her appearance. Hirose’s Beauty skill helps her improve her self-image and social comfort, directly affecting Kirino’s relationship with her family and classmates.
• Motoya Himari – Energetic classmate of Hibiki (F, 161cm, orange long hair, D-cup) who avoids the ‘gyaru’ label. Himari is lively and often envious or curious about developing romantic and physical relationships around her, seeking Hirose’s attention as the story progresses.
• Ihara Kairi – Short, pale blue hair and D-cup (F, 159cm), Kairi is Hibiki’s sharp-witted friend. She’s known for her cute smile but is frequently suspicious and inquisitive regarding her classmates’ secrets. Kairi’s interactions highlight Hirose’s growing circle and the effect of his skill.
• Kuzuhara Yamato – Hirose’s closest male friend (M, 172cm, black medium hair). Skilled in speed reading, he is supportive and shares Hirose’s adventurer dreams, but remains in the story as a steady background character, contrasting the chaos Hirose’s skill creates.
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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
Thanks for reading.
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