Then, the appointed day. In accordance with the compromise reached at that time on account of travelling all the way to Ikebukuro or Shinjuku being a bother, I arrived in the district boasted to be Japan's largest, Omiya. Incidentally, should the prefecture have discovered that I went to Ikebukuro even though my business could have been done in Omiya, I would have been executed as a traitor by the mascot of Saitama-ken, Kobaton. [1]
「Did I……Did I……make, you wait?」
「Not at all, I just got here.」
Even a Text To Speech program would have had more modulation. That was how monotone a reading voice it was with which she expressed her anger.
「I'm terribly sorry!」
Late by one minute.
「……Well at any rate, you were probably stuck there worrying『 I don't own single set of presentable clothes, but I should probably fix my appearance as much as possible so it won't be embarrassing』or something. So good-for-nothing.」
「……You've understood quite well.」
Having been seen through to this degree of unparallelled accuracy, I couldn't even stay depressed. That was just how spot on her evaluation had been.
「Well, at the offline meeting, you had the nerve to come looking like that, so I suppose you might have made a little progress.」
「Shut it.」
It was more to do with how big of a deal this『Walking alongside Hinami Aoi in the streets』situation was, though. Was this person aware of the magnitude of such an incident? It was more or less my way of being considerate.
「Well then, let's get going.」
「Just a moment. Today's objective, could you let me know what it is?」
I had only been told to meet here without knowing anything, after all.
「Hmm. ……To put it the other way around, what do you think it is? The reason for coming to Omiya, for the sake of becoming a riajuu.」
「Eh? A quiz?」
Think about it on your own, huh. I see. Hmmm.
As I thought about it, I continued looking at Hinami, who was standing in front of the rendezvous location, 『Mame no Ki』. [2]
──Still, was it usually possible to look this good when simply standing around like that? Was that a blue, long, and thin coat? And underneath it, a T-shirt resembling a one-piece dress? Such was the kind of clothing she was wearing, simple yet at the same time kind of eccentric. An appearance that could be described as cute, yet could also be described as beautiful. It was utterly incomprehensible to me as to whether this was due to her raw specs being good, or else, down to the wearing sense of her attire. At any rate, had I seen a celebrity live, this was probably how it would have felt. Such was the kind of aura I was taking in.
While thinking such things as I vacantly stared at Hinami, two university-student-like males who were waiting diagonally opposite us started going「Isn't that……Hinami……?」「……It really is……」, audibly whispering to each other while looking in our direction. Eh, could it be, although I was thinking it was like seeing a celebrity live, might this person actually be……? I mean, judging by her extremely high specifications, it wasn't completely impossible.
「……Hey, Hinami, might you by any chance be a celebrity?」
Dumbfounded, I whisperingly asked the aura's standing personification about it.
「What's that, so suddenly.」
「I mean, just now, diagonally to us……」 I explained.
「Ahh. ……Well, I'm not an celebrity, but I might be a public figure. Especially in the area around this neighborhood.」
「Public figure? What's the difference from being a celebrity?」[3]
「They aren't particularly engaged in public entertainment, but are famous nonetheless.」
「So how does that work in your case?」
「Well, I do frequently place first in the nationwide trial exams, and last year, participated a bit in the nationwide track and field events……coupled together with these looks, as a result my name is fairly well known.」
Be it ranking first in the nationwide trial exams or participating in the nationwide track and field events, the way in which a boast about something an ordinary human being would have spent countless hours of preparation to achieve could be said without hesitation in a single breath was a vertigo-inducing thought.
「Just a moment, please. I did think you were amazing, but to that extent?」
I had at the very least thought she was at the level of not losing to anyone in our school. But really, national constituency tier?
「Haven't I always said it? That I'm confident enough to not lose to anyone regardless of what field it is.」
This wasn't said in a boastful manner; rather, it was handled in a this is so troublesome tone of voice.
「……Just what do you do to be left with those kind of results, seriously.」
「Nothing in particular. I simply, in whatever field it may be, think just a little more than anyone else, and persevere for just a little bit longer than anyone else. That's enough on that subject, now hurry up and think.」
No, that's simple to say in words but that's really……
──I, was, possibly, working together with an individual who was a lot more unbelievable than I had imagined.
「The reason for coming all the way here……for me to……get used to crowds?」
「Really……you might be on a level much lower than I had anticipated……」
Hinami massaged her temples in exasperation.
Translator Notes:
[1] Kobato is a Japanese word for a (young) pigeon. Kobaton is simply the more endearing name given to Saitama-ken's mascot (Note: -ken = -prefecture). Image Search コバトン for further details.
[2] Mame no Ki is an actual meeting point inside Omiya station. Literal translation is along the lines of beanstalk. If you do an image search for 豆の木 大宮駅, you should find pictures of the metal sculpture.
[3] The original is 有名人 vs 芸能人 here, you can kind of see the slightly different nuance.