All Beautiful Girls Want to Stick with Me

”You mean Hibiki? Of course I know her. She’s not only my classmate, but also a good friend of mine. Back when we first entered school, she even invited me to join the Art Club and asked whether I was interested.”

When Momoka Mito heard Eiren Kanagawa mention the familiar name, she froze for a moment before answering honestly.

”Do you paint too, Mito?”

Eiren Kanagawa asked with a light smile. What did not show on her face was the happiness spreading through her heart. She had originally been wondering how she could learn more about Hibiki Naegi. After all, as things currently stood between her and Hibiki Naegi, calling them friends did not seem quite right, yet calling them lovers also seemed premature.

Eiren Kanagawa had been troubled by this for quite some time. Although she had experienced several relationships before, this was the first time she had ever fallen for a younger girl like Hibiki Naegi. Precisely because of the age difference between them, Eiren Kanagawa had never dared to be too aggressive when it came to romance, nor had she dared to casually reveal her feelings to Hibiki Naegi.

From the moment she realized she liked Hibiki Naegi until now, Eiren Kanagawa had always worked hard to keep their relationship suspended in an ambiguous atmosphere.

However, maintaining things like this for too long was inevitably somewhat exhausting. On top of that, Eiren Kanagawa was already an adult. She could slow down and enjoy the process of pursuing a girl, but she did not want that process to drag on for too long, much less spend all that time only to fail to obtain the result she wanted.

Right now, Eiren Kanagawa desperately hoped the feelings between herself and Hibiki Naegi could heat up more quickly and move into the next stage.

Although she and Hibiki Naegi had maintained a steady rhythm of chatting once every day, Eiren Kanagawa had previously been in Kyoto while Hibiki Naegi was in Chiba. The distance between them had been too great, leaving Eiren Kanagawa feeling that she still did not understand Hibiki Naegi well enough.

However, ever since she came to Chiba, Hibiki Naegi had changed at least somewhat.

At the very least, she had become more confident. Under Eiren Kanagawa’s careful guidance, the ceiling that had once obstructed further improvement in her painting skills had gradually begun to loosen.

What delighted Eiren Kanagawa even more was that previously, she had always been the one to initiate topics whenever they chatted. Now, however, Hibiki Naegi had started taking the initiative to find things to talk about herself.

Hibiki Naegi had no idea just how happy Eiren Kanagawa felt every time she received a message Hibiki had sent first.

”I’m not very good at drawing. It’s just that when we first enrolled, Hibiki thought joining club activities alone was a little boring, so she wanted me to participate with her because I hadn’t decided which club to join yet.

”But after accompanying Hibiki to Art Club activities for two weeks, I stopped going with her.

”First, she’d already gotten used to the Art Club and made plenty of new friends there. Even without me accompanying her, she wouldn’t feel lonely just because she’d only recently joined the club.

”Second, I’d also found the club I wanted to join—the Violin Club.”

As Momoka Mito said this, she slightly lifted the violin case she had been carrying in her hand, showing it to Eiren Kanagawa.

”Wow, so there’s a violin in your case. I was wondering what was inside just now. Although I’m fairly skilled at art, when it comes to musical instruments, I genuinely know nothing at all. My elementary school music teacher used to tease me all the time, asking, ’Did you put all your attention into art? Can’t you spare even a little of it for music?’

”That’s also why I’ve always admired people who can play musical instruments. I think being able to create music with an instrument is incredibly impressive and almost unbelievable.”

Faced with Eiren Kanagawa’s sincere words, Momoka Mito’s cheeks reddened slightly as she replied in embarrassment,

”Not at all. Really, as long as you decide which instrument you want to learn and practice seriously for a while, you’ll gradually get the hang of it.”

”You’re quite modest, Mito. You’re already the president of the Violin Club, yet you’re still so humble. Not bad, not bad. Humility leads to progress, while pride leads to regression. Personally, I think pride can also be an excellent quality for someone with genuine ability. But speaking as a teacher, the first thing I should naturally say is that humility is a good virtue.”

”Huh?! Ms. Kanagawa, how did you know I’m the president of the Violin Club? I don’t think I told you just now that I was the president, did I?”

After hearing Eiren Kanagawa’s praise, Momoka Mito felt far more surprised than pleased. After all, she had only said that the club she belonged to was the Violin Club. She had never mentioned being its president.

So how had Eiren Kanagawa immediately figured out that she was the Violin Club president?

”Haha, it was just a very simple deduction. There’s no need to be surprised. I guessed it after hearing you say that you belonged to the Violin Club. You’re currently carrying a violin case with a violin inside, and judging from the direction you’re taking on the stairs, your destination should be the music room on the fifth floor.

”Although I haven’t been at Sobu High School for long, the employee handbook lists the activity rooms assigned to every club, so naturally I know that the Violin Club uses the music room on the fifth floor.

”Every club activity room generally has two keys. One is kept by the faculty advisor, while the other is kept by the club president, preventing an awkward situation where the president accidentally loses the key and no one can enter the room.

”A student carrying a violin to the fifth-floor music room at this time of day, barring anything unusual, would almost certainly be the club president holding the key.”

After saying that, Eiren Kanagawa thoughtfully added,

”The reason I could tell your destination was the fifth-floor music room is because, back when I was in university, I took an elective course. I’ve already forgotten what the course was called, but I still clearly remember one point the professor taught us during one of the lectures.

”He said that when a person walks on stairs, they generally display two states. One is simply climbing up or going down normally. The other occurs when they’re nearing the floor they want to reach, at which point they gradually speed up or slow down. By observing whether someone’s pace changes while they’re climbing stairs, you can guess whether they’re almost at their intended floor.

”When some people speed up on the stairs, their field of attention unconsciously narrows. Most of their focus shifts toward watching how many steps are left before they reach the landing. In that state, it’s very easy for them to collide with someone approaching from the opposite direction.”

”Ms. Kanagawa, you’re amazing. Everything you said is exactly right,” Momoka Mito said in surprise. ”I always thought I already knew quite a lot, but after listening to you just now, I realized all of that was knowledge I’d never even heard of before.”

”Haha, that’s perfectly normal. After all, you’re only a second-year high school student right now, while I graduated from university many years ago. The education we’ve received and the knowledge we’ve learned simply aren’t on equal footing at the moment.

”As they say, learning has no end. There’s so much knowledge in this world that even if someone devoted their entire life to studying, it would still be difficult to learn everything. All we can do is never stop learning. Perhaps once you attend university in the future, the amount of knowledge you possess will gradually surpass mine.”

Eiren Kanagawa encouraged her, then added half-jokingly,

”For example, third period is about to begin. I suggest you don’t skip class just to practice violin in the music room. Be good and go back to your classroom. I happened to see Class 2-B’s timetable earlier. Your third period should be chemistry, right?”

Momoka Mito froze for a moment after hearing that, then chuckled softly.

”Ah... So Ms. Kanagawa was trying to remind me not to skip class. Thank you for worrying about me, but I’m a music-track student. According to the music program’s usual schedule, third period every morning is practice time in the music room.

”Normally, we actually practice in the music room during fourth period, but exams are coming up soon. To strengthen our preparation, Ms. Koishi said that anyone who wants an extra lesson can come to the music room during third period in the morning and find her there. No matter how many or how few people come, she’ll be waiting. Even if only one student shows up, she’ll spend the entire class helping them practice.”

Whenever she mentioned Ami Koishi, the corners of Momoka Mito’s lips unconsciously curved upward.

”Oh, I see. Then I suppose I’m the old-fashioned one. It’s been many years since I attended high school. I didn’t expect the training provided to students specializing in the arts to have changed so much over the years. It really is important to keep up with the times.”

Eiren Kanagawa sighed with emotion. At the same time, she developed a little interest in the Ms. Koishi whom Momoka Mito kept mentioning.

”From what you’re saying, I’m certain this Ms. Koishi must be an excellent and responsible music teacher. To tell the truth, teachers often want to enjoy some personal time too rather than revolve around their students twenty-four hours a day.

”But perhaps it’s a sense of responsibility, or, to put it more frankly, the desire for their students to achieve better grades so they can receive a slightly larger bonus. Either way, whenever exams approach, teachers tend to start thinking about which hours they have free, then give up that free time to tutor their students at no charge.”

When she heard someone praising Ami Koishi, Momoka Mito looked hundreds of times happier than if she herself had been praised and said enthusiastically,

”Exactly! Ms. Koishi’s name is Ami Koishi. She’s an incredibly wonderful music teacher. Although she hasn’t been teaching for very long and only graduated recently, so sometimes she seems a little clumsy and inexperienced.

”But whenever a student asks a question, she’ll teach them everything she knows again and again. After demonstrating how to perform a piece, if any student still can’t do it, she’ll demonstrate it again and teach them again, all the way until every student has mastered it.

”Before I met Ms. Koishi, I was still confused about whether choosing music as my specialty had been the right decision. But after meeting her, all of that uncertainty vanished. Now I only want to achieve the best possible score on the music arts entrance examination and make Ms. Koishi genuinely proud of me!”

Only after she finished did Momoka Mito realize that she had said far too much. She hurriedly apologized in embarrassment.

”S-Sorry, Ms. Kanagawa. I don’t even know what’s wrong with me. Whenever I start talking about Ms. Koishi, I just can’t stop myself from saying so much.”

”It’s fine.”

Eiren Kanagawa smiled.

”There are many fortunate things one can encounter in life, and meeting a good teacher is one of them. Just from the way you spoke about her, it’s easy to tell that Ms. Koishi is a good teacher. At the very least, to you, she must certainly be a very good teacher.”

Eiren Kanagawa deliberately—or perhaps unconsciously—placed a little extra emphasis on the end of that sentence.

However, Momoka Mito was still too inexperienced in the ways of the world to hear the implication. She merely took Eiren Kanagawa’s words as simple praise and immediately expressed her thanks.

”Thank you for the compliment, Ms. Kanagawa.”

”You’re welcome. Whether it’s a teacher praising a student or a student praising a teacher, both are things that can make each side happy,” Eiren Kanagawa said.

Ring, ring, ring...

While the two of them were chatting, the bell signaling the start of class rang.

”Ms. Kanagawa, third period is about to begin, so I’ll head to the music room first. It was very nice meeting you.”

After saying that, Momoka Mito was about to quicken her pace toward the music room. She was already impatient to see Ami Koishi as soon as possible.

”If you don’t mind, could you wait a moment? I’d like to add your contact information. Would that be all right?” Eiren Kanagawa asked with a light smile.

”Of course.”

Momoka Mito did not think much of it and immediately took out her phone, exchanging contact information with Eiren Kanagawa.

After they finished exchanging contact details, Momoka Mito took her leave first.

”Goodbye, Ms. Kanagawa!”

”Goodbye.”

Only after Momoka Mito had completely disappeared from her field of view did Eiren Kanagawa look down at Momoka Mito’s phone number with an amused smile and mutter to herself,

”If I wasn’t wrong just now, Momoka Mito and Ami Koishi should be lovers. Hehe, no wonder that girl’s steps were so hurried when she left. After all, when you’re eager to see your lover, you can never get there fast enough. Just like how I want to see Hibiki Naegi as soon as possible right now~

”For my first official day of work, things have gone pretty smoothly. I successfully introduced myself to the students of Class 1-F. I successfully managed to speak with Hibiki Naegi’s younger sister—Seiko Kirigiri—and left a clear impression on her.

”I made it to the rooftop without trouble and caught up with her, whom I hadn’t seen in so many years, talking about the past and saying what was in my heart.

”And I also successfully met Hibiki Naegi’s classmate and friend, Momoka Mito. That means I’ll be able to learn more about Hibiki Naegi from Momoka Mito in the future.

”She’s Hibiki Naegi’s friend, so she must know plenty of things about Hibiki, right?

”Hehe, what a smooth first day. I hope things can continue going this smoothly from now on.”

After finishing her quiet monologue, Eiren Kanagawa turned around and walked down the stairs, returning to the faculty office where she worked.

Ah... So Dengeki Bunko does have some sincerity after all.

During English class, Kotomi Izumi secretly played with her phone and logged into Twitter. When she saw the announcement Dengeki Bunko had been promoting heavily lately, her mood immediately brightened.

—A venue-exclusive edition of Sword Art Online Volume 1 is coming out!!!

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