“Finally, success!” Shido’s right hand was clenched and raised high to the sky, his haggard face alight with joy as he gazed at the happy ending CG displayed on the screen.
Since April tenth, Shido had been forced to embark on the intensive training Kotori and Reine had prepared for him, a regimen that had now lasted a full week.
Throughout that week, aside from attending school, returning home, and preparing meals for Kotori, Shido had been subjected to ceaseless, day-and-night training via the dating sims developed by Ratatoskr, even during his free time.
Consequently, Shido was not in the best state, yet despite everything, he had successfully cleared the game.
‘Though before this success, Shido couldn’t count how many old wounds had been reopened.’
“Hmm, it took quite a while, but for Shido’s intellectual capacity to clear it successfully, that’s truly commendable!”
“Indeed, collecting all the CGs roughly meets the passing standard. That being said, if little Shido truly wishes to successfully capture a Spirit, conversations with real-life women are absolutely essential!”
Behind Shido, Kotori and Reine, dressed in their Ratatoskr work uniforms, were discussing the next phase of his training.
“That’s simple enough, isn’t it? Just have Shido practice confessing to girls at school.”
“Er… wouldn’t that be a bit much for little Shido?”
“What’s wrong with it? If he fails, it’ll just be social suicide for Shido at school!”
“You two, don’t talk about such terrifying things with a straight face!”
Shido, who had been listening silently to their conversation, now had no choice but to interject and stop them.
Unfortunately, the two of them showed no signs of stopping.
“Oh, who would be the best choice for Onii-chan?”
“Hmm, I have the female student profiles from Raizen High School right here.”
Reine operated the console beside her, and soon, various profiles of girls Shido recognized appeared on the screen above the table.
“Could you two please listen to me?”
Shido yelled out, feeling, for some inexplicable reason, like his sister and mother were conspiring to find him a bride.
“…Right, how about we choose someone who won’t cause too many problems?”
Reine pointed at one of the girls, who was none other than Shido’s homeroom teacher—Teacher Tamae.
The moment she saw her, Kotori’s face broke into a wicked grin.
“Excellent, Shido! She’s the one!”
“Don’t act like you’re picking a Pokémon for battle.”
Shido raised an eyebrow. Having him undergo dating training with his teacher felt undeniably awkward!
“What? Shido, you don’t want to?” Kotori frowned, but quickly replaced it with an even more malicious smile.
“So, Shido doesn’t like the older woman type, huh? Reine, pick a female student…”
“Please, no!”
Shido quickly cut Kotori off. Practicing with a teacher could perhaps be brushed off as a student’s prank, but practicing with a female student…
Even though it hadn’t happened yet, a scene of his social suicide already played out in Shido’s mind.
‘Hey, I’m telling you guys, that Itsuka just confessed to me!’
‘Really? That Itsuka guy seemed completely uninterested in girls last semester, but this semester he’s attacking girls and confessing to them!’
‘No way!’
‘All the girls nearby would be drawn to the topic, and then it would spread like wildfire, until soon the entire school would know that Itsuka Shido had confessed to a girl. This semester, Shido would be forced to live under everyone’s strange gazes.’
‘…If something like that happened, Shido would be better off taking a leave of absence.’
“…Please, let the teacher be the practice subject.”
“Hmm, if that’s the case, why didn’t you just agree earlier?”
Kotori nodded, then suddenly delivered a swift kick to Shido’s backside.
“You dense idiot! Teacher Tamae is in the third-floor corridor, now hurry up and go!”
“Yes, my dear wife!”
Shido shuffled out listlessly, much like a cartoon wolf, having been chastised by his wife and sent off to catch sheep.
Then, a shoe came flying and struck him.
“Baka! Who’s your wife?!”
****
“Itsuka-kun, what are you doing?”
Okamine Tamae—the teacher affectionately known as Teacher Tamae by her students—despite her middle-schooler appearance, was in fact a twenty-nine-year-old single woman without a boyfriend.
She had just been stopped at a corridor corner by a student from her own class—Itsuka Shido.
“Um… um…”
Although it was Itsuka Shido who had stopped Teacher Tamae, his demeanor made it seem more as if he were the one being accosted and lectured.
“Baka Onii-chan, what are you still standing there for? Hurry up and try complimenting her outfit!”
Kotori’s voice came through his earpiece, clearly displeased with Shido’s performance.
“Got it!”
Shido responded in a hushed tone, then took a deep breath and delivered his lines.
“Teacher, you look very beautiful today!”
“R-really? Teacher is so happy, Itsuka-kun!”
Shido’s compliment seemed highly effective, as Teacher Tamae beamed with delight.
“Yes, not only is your outfit beautiful, Teacher, but your skirt, your stockings, your glasses, your hairstyle… in short, your entire self is beautiful!”
“Itsuka-kun?”
Shido had intended to strike while the iron was hot, but after his barrage of compliments, he ended up appearing like a very strange student in Teacher Tamae’s eyes.
“Baka! What are you doing, Shido? Say something to salvage this!”
Kotori’s dissatisfied voice echoed in his earpiece.
“Little Shido, you can say this…”
Reine, ever the composed woman, quickly offered a suggestion, and Shido promptly repeated it.
“I want to marry you, Teacher!”
“Really? Itsuka, you want to marry me, and perhaps even move into my home? You know, I’m already twenty-nine! If I wait until Itsuka-kun is old enough to marry, I’ll be over thirty. Even then, will Itsuka still be willing to marry me? Then I can talk to your parents and arrange for you to move into my home right after you graduate high school!”
As Teacher Tamae continued to enthusiastically fantasize about their future, Shido had no choice but to break free and flee.
“What on earth is going on? Why does she turn into a completely different person the moment marriage is mentioned?”
“Perhaps it’s the obsession with marriage that older single women develop.”
Reine stated this as if it were the most ordinary thing in the world.
“Really? But Miss Reine, you don’t seem to be married either, do you?”
Hearing Shido’s comment, Reine’s expression subtly shifted as she replied indifferently.
“There might have been someone I wanted to marry once, but perhaps there will never be anyone like that again.”
“Who was that… Ouch!”
Shido, engrossed in conversation with Reine, had forgotten to look ahead and accidentally bumped into someone.
It was soft, it was warm—undoubtedly, the sensation of a girl.
“I’m sorry… ngh!”
Shido opened his eyes, and the first thing he saw beneath a skirt were two slender, ivory-like legs forming an ‘M’ shape, and… pristine white panties.