The sun was starting to rise; the outside world was still fairly dark. The halls were fairly empty, contrasting its usual atmosphere, which is packed with people.

I guess I misread the time... well, that’s a waste of opportunity to go to sleep.

I felt a light tap on my shoulder. I turned around and saw a familiar black-haired girl. My feelings of frustration now turned into feelings of excitement and happiness.

“Chizuru-chan! What brings you here?”

She averted her gaze and scratched her nape. “I thought that I was running late, but I got to school a bit too early…”

I chuckled. “I misread the time too. Well, want me to give you a tour of the school since we can’t really do anything.”

“Sure”

“The place we’re in right now is the main entrance. Over there to the right leads to the elementary school building and parking. We’re not really allowed to go to the elementary school building for reasons that I don’t really know, and you’re gonna get punished for going there based on the student handbook.”

She nodded and continued listening without saying anything.

“While the right leads to the junior high school and high school building. Straight ahead leads to the main library of the school. Would you like to go to the high school buildings first or the main library? I forgot to mention that every building has a library of their own, but the main library has a wider selection, and the school documents and records can also be found there, but obviously, we’re not allowed to go to that area.”

“Ohhh, I guess I’d like to go to the main library first.”

“Well then, main library it is!”

We walked in a straight direction, towards the main library. After a few minutes, we eventually arrived at our destination. It was a massive dome-shaped building made out of wood. It had a traditional Japanese interior. Despite being fairly early, there were already quite a few students using the facility.

“This section contains all of the books that we can use. It ranges from magazines, mangas, novels, books for research, travel guides, to foreign books. You can find almost everything here.”

She gasped in surprise. Her eyes were wide open, which is a rare sight from her as she barely shows her emotions, let alone an extreme reaction. “I’ve never seen this many books in my life. This is almost as big as our high school building.”

"Well, that's the main library for you. That side over there is the reading area.”

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

She gasped even louder. “Is this entire area purely for reading?”

"Well, you can use it for research too, but mostly yes.”

“My old school cannot even compare to the size of this library.”

I laughed at her comment, my hands covering my mouth. “This library really is something, and we’re not even halfway through the library tour.”

Her eyes were wide open, like it’s going to pop off. “Wait, WHAT!?”

I left out a smirk. “Mhm”

“This place is… I don’t know what to say.”

I chuckled. "Well, that’s pretty understandable; it is big for a library, especially for a school library. Well anyways, over there is the computer section. You can use it for research and stuff, as students don’t usually bring their devices during lunch break. I mean, it’s a hassle to carry all the way down here, especially when you have a library this big.”

"Well, that’s true.”

“And that area over there are the conference rooms. You can use it when you need to meet up with your groupmates for a project. And then the area that takes up a third of this building is the restricted area over there that contains school documents and the area where the staff would usually stay. The place on the right of the restrooms is a cafe.”

“Wait, this library has a cafe??”

“Mhm”

“Now I wanna go to school early every single day. I can read all the shojo manga to my heart’s content without having to go to the bookstore and buy it, and I can also read it at school. And on top of all of that, it also has a cafe.” Her eyes were sparkling.

I guess going to school early isn’t too bad, now that Chizuru-chan’s here. Starting tomorrow, I’ll go to school at around the same time as today.

“I never thought that I would ever meet someone who also loves shojo manga as much as I do, although I prefer owning a copy of it and reading it at home.”

"Well, nothing can really compare to the comfort of your own home, huh.”

Comfort of your own home…… I guess that empty mansion counts as home…… Well, you did grow up in that place, Fuyuki, and that place is the home to an infinite supply of books that I enjoy reading. Well, it may lack the traditional warmth that you’d expect from a house, but you can do whatever you’d like there, so it’s not too bad.

I forced a smile and a chuckle. “I guess nothing beats the comfort of your home…”

Her eyes were as wide as they possibly could for a split second before returning to her usual blank expression. “O-oh well, I guess you can give me the tour of the high school building now.”

I forced another smile. “Well then, let’s go now!”

We left the library and walked towards the main entrance. The fairly dark outside world when we arrived has now changed to a fairly bright scenery. The school had also returned to its original, bustling atmosphere. I then gave Chizuru-chan a tour of our high school building, which is where we can find our classroom. Shortly after, I was able to give her the complete tour of the building, telling her where all of the offices and facilities can be found.

While we were walking around to kill time, I saw a familiar group of three girls engaging in friendly chatter. The brunette noticed me, and it didn’t take long for the others to notice me as well. They all rolled their eyes and continued their conversation like nothing happened. My heart sank at the sight of them.

Ah, they seem to be perfectly fine without me… Well, it isn’t exactly a bad thing, as being with them isn’t exactly fun, but it was an effective way to kill time. I mean, I would never really belong in their clique. I guess this setup isn’t exactly a bad thing… Besides, walking around the campus with Chizuru-chan, even if I hate walking just… it just feels amazing… Being with someone who actually acknowledges your presence… And patiently listens to everything you say… This feeling… this feeling is something that I would like to feel all the time…

I then looked up to my right, seeing the taller girl talking passionately. My heart warmed at the sight.

“Uhh Fuyuki?”

I snapped out of my gaze. I quickly composed myself before responding, “O-oh you can continue talking. Don’t mind me, ehe…”

She furrowed her eyebrows for a short moment before responding. “Uhh okay…? Well anyways.”

She then continued talking about shojo manga.

Oh no, I messed up! Fuyuki, why did you stare at her? What if she thinks that you’re some sort of weirdo now? Are you out of your mind? Just don’t do anything stupid or make her feel weirded out, got it, Fuyuki?