Finished with my lunch, I came to Erina's lab with Alyssa and Iris.
[Unnn? Ahh, the three of you are here~~]
Erina, dressed in a lab coat, greeted us with a soft smile on her lips as
she was reaching out for the lab equipment in front of her.
[…You're… caramelizing something… again.]
[There are infinite possibilities in caramel after all~~]
[No, I don't think so… You're still the same as usual, aren't you, Erichan-sensei?]
Watching Erina making caramelized stuff again, Iris and Alyssa
chuckled. Watching her add caramels to all the sweet she has, a thought
suddenly popped out in my mind.
[…Arehh? Where's the baby castellas?]
[Unnn? Baby castellas? Ahh, those sweets sold in festivals, right? They
were tasty too… I don't get to eat them quite often though… So, why did
you mention baby castellas?]
[Eh? No… I wonder why?]
[Ahaha, Kaito-kun, you weirdo.]
That's strange? Why did the word "baby castella" suddenly come up in
my mind? For some reason, I imagined Erina heartily eating baby
castellas, but I don't remember seeing her like that.
However, I somehow feel like her eating baby castellas strangely fit
her… Seriously, what in the world is going on?
[Did the others arrive already? Like Riri-senpai or Liddy-senpai?]
[Hmmm, those two still weren't here yet. Fae-chan is already here
though.]
[Oya? Fae-san is here huh… So, where is she?]
[…Unnn, she's sleeping in my nap bed.]
[…I see… I'll go wake her up.]
[I'm counting on you~~]
The two senpais that Alyssa mentioned, Riri-senpai and Liddy-senpai,
are senpais who belong to Erina's lab.
Saigyouji Ririka-senpai, the winner of the national kendo tournament,
is a young woman of great talents, and Liddy Quanette-senpai, an
archery master and an exchange student like Iris-san.
Both of them are very kind and have helped me in many ways. I mean,
Erina's lab only has six members, so the members get along very well
with each other.
[…Come to think of it, I know it's too late to ask this now, but why does
our lab have so few members?]
[Unnn? Ahh, there are lots of people who want to join but… you see, I'm
the youngest of all the professors. So, it would be a bit complicated if a
novice had so many people in my lab. That's why, I asked them to join
other labs instead.]
[Heehhh… So there really is such a thing as power relations between
cliques…]
[Ahaha, they're troublesome to deal with though~~. Well, for me, it's
better to have a small number of people so that I can keep an eye on
everyone.]
To put it bluntly, Erina is very popular in the university. She's cute and
kind, so it isn't that surprising. However, as the youngest professors, she
seems to have her own share of troubles, and she sometimes comes to
my home to complain.
Well, it may not exactly be the same as that saying where "the nail that
sticks out gets hammered down", but the young and talented Erina
probably stands out in many ways.
[…Rather, our laboratory is quite famous in the university, you know?
After all, we have "Yumegaoka's Three Great Beauties" and
"Yumegaoka's Three Great Cuties". Anyway, come on now, Fae-san.
Please wake up already.]
[Umyuu… Three… years more…]
[That's way too long!]
Alyssa came back, pulling a girl with light purple twin-tails, a laptop on
her chest, and large-sized casual clothes… Fae-san.
[…Hello, Fae-san.]
[Uwaaahh? Ahh, if it isn't Kai-chan and Ai-tan. Yahhoooo~~…]
After tepidly greeting with a sleepy expression on her face, Fae-san sat
down on a chair in the lab… or rather, Alyssa made her sit on it.
At that moment, Iris-san slightly tilted her head and turned towards
Alyssa.
[…Alyssa… That three somethings… you said just now… What was
that?]
[Oya? Iris-san haven't heard about it? In our university… here in
Yumegaoka University, there are people who are called the Three Great
Beauties and Cuties. Incidentally, the Three Great Beauties are Ririsenpai, Liddy-senpai… and Iris-san.]
[…Eh?… Me?]
[Yes. And the Three Great Cuties are Fae-san, Eri-chan-sensei… and this
cute me!]
Iris-san tilted her head curiously when she saw Alyssa saying this with
a smug look on her face. Well, Iris-san has a low self-esteem, so she's
probably thinking "Why me?".
Looking at it objectively though, there's no reason why Iris-san
shouldn't be counted in it…]
[…Everyone in it… are members of the lab…]
[That's right, and my guess is that… this is the reason why our lab is
insanely popular, and we're flooded with applicants. Well, Eri-chansensei refuses to accept those people with such evil intentions though.]
[Hmmm, I don't really like how they call me that though. I'm an adult, so
I'd rather they call me a beauty… Why is it that I'm not counted in the
beauties?]
[…No, well, it's because Erina is small, isn't it…]
[...…]
[Ah, no, I mean…]
When Erina slightly puffed up her cheeks as she spoke this, I quickly
answered her, but I immediately regretted my mistake. Hearing what I
said, Erina looked at me and gently smiled. However, knowing her for a
long time, I understood that she was angry.
[…Kaito-kun… You're getting twice the homework.]
[…I'm sorry, but please don't do that. Professor Kurosu is an attractive,
mature woman after all.]
[If you understand it, that's good. I'll still give you more homework
though.]
[…Eh?]
The cost of my careless comment came back in the form of increased
homework. It was a very severe punishment before the winter break
came.
[Ahaha, well, that's why Kaito-san is quite the lucky guy. You don't just
have a flower in each hand, there are flowers all around you.]
[…Well, I won't deny it.]
Indeed, as I'm the only man in this lab, I'm probably in an enviable
position among my peers. Well, I can't always keep up with the topics
that only women can talk about, so it isn't really all good…
[Ahh, since we're talking about aliases, Kaito-san also has a name like
that.]
[Eh? Seriously? I thought I was pretty ordinary though… Heehh… Is that
so? I didn't know that. By the way, what do they call me?]
I don't know why, but I'm a little nervous. I thought I was averagelooking, my grades were above average, and there was nothing special
about me… but I also have an alias huh.
That kinda makes me a bit happy…
[…"Yumegaoka's Scheduled Explosion".]
[That's not a very nice name, isn't it!?]
I gained that alias because I'm completely resented by the same
gender!?
[Incidentally, regarding Kaito-san's evaluation from the same gender…
70% say that they want you "to go explode", 20% of them say "Well, he's
a good guy, so I'll spare him the personal punishment"… and there's
10% saying that "they want to go out with you".]
[Wait a freaking moment! That's the evaluation of the "same gender",
right!? What the heck is with that last 10%!? Those were absurdly
terrifying words, you know!?]
[…In fact, one of them is a good friend of Kaito-san… Whoa there, saying
anything more than that would be uncouth of me.]
[Don't stop there! You're making me really scared here!]
I just heard a terrifying fact that I didn't want to know. I wonder what
kind of face I should make when I meet my male friends tomorrow?
Geez, how should I say this… I'm worried about the future.