Mayuzumi Amami finally received the phone call she had been waiting for .


She had been looking forward to the agreed upon date, but now that it was here, she was so nervous that she was trembling and unsure of herself .


Should she contact him of her own volition or wait for him to contact her?


Just this question gave her over an entire hour’s worth of frustration . She called her cousin Rika Amami, but the only response she received from her cousin was "Just do whatever you like!"


"Are you a middle school girl that’s going out to have fun with a boy for the first time to get frustrated over such a small matter!?" scolded her older cousin when she heard of her 'dilemma . ' "By the way, even among middle school girls nowadays, it’s really rare to find one as shy as you . "


"Seiji Haruta is a good kid—just relax and be casual with him . "


Rika told Mayuzumi and went on saying similar stuff before she hung up .


Mayuzumi could only collapse listlessly on her bed .


She honestly didn’t have to courage to voluntarily call him first, so she chose to wait .


At noon, she received a call from his number .


"H-Haruta-kun . . . " she answered the call by speaking in a weak voice .


"Peach-sensei, it’s me . Long time no see . " A hearty male voice spoke up from the other end of the call . "Sorry that I took so long to contact you . I had to help out my class with their store earlier this morning, which is why I didn’t have any free time until now . "


"So how about you, Sensei? Do you have time to come over and have some fun?"


His words were so open and direct .


Just like the way he remained in her memories . . . this was only natural though, as only a few weeks had passed by .


Mayuzumi no longer felt as nervous when she recalled her previous meeting with him .


Just like Rika said, he was a trustworthy boy .


'I should just relax and be casual with him . '


"I-I’m free . "


"That's great . Shall I wait for you at school or come by to pick you up?"


"Er . . . " Mayuzumi was unable to respond immediately .


‘When was the last time I went outside by myself?’


Going outside by herself to an unfamiliar place? Just imagining it seemed really scary .


Let him come and pick her up? This also seemed a little . . .


A period of silence fell between them .


"I got it . " The voice on her cell phone spoke up again . "I’ll come over and pick you up, Sensei . What’s your address?"


"Er . . . this . . . troublesome . . . "


"It’s not troublesome at all—just tell me your address," he said in a steady tone .


In Mayuzumi's mind, Seiji's image instantly felt more reliable .


Mayuzumi blinked .


"Then . . . Sorry to trouble you . " She told him her address .


"Okay, got it . I’ll be there as soon as I can . "


Just like that, he hung up the phone call .


Mayuzumi stared at her cell phone for a long time as she rubbed her chest and released her breath that she had been holding .


It was great that their conversation proceeded smoothly .


She didn’t leave him with a bad impression of her . . . probably .


Mayuzumi put down her cell phone and curled up on her bed while hugging her pillow .


There was no logic to her androphobia . Even if she didn’t want to, she would still feel insecure and nervous when dealing with anyone male .


‘Can I do a good job? Can I face Haruta-kun? What if he hates me . . . No, no! I can’t think such thoughts . ’


All she could do now was continue to wait .


. . .


Seiji rang the doorbell to Mayuzumi Amami’s apartment .


He recalled the way she appeared from their last meeting .


He recalled the way she appeared from their last meeting .


She was probably dressed like that again? That seemed probable, or else she’d probably be wearing something like a full outfit of sportswear .


She was a manga author, after all; she didn’t need to care about her personal appearance .


Honestly speaking, Seiji felt that it was a bit of a waste . With Peach-sensei’s innate beauty, if she took better care of herself, she’d definitely be a great beauty .


But Seiji also believed that people were free to dress however they liked . Besides, Sensei had androphobia, so looking more beautiful would probably increase the risk for her .


Thoughts like these ran through Seiji's mind as he waited for the door to open .


A few moments later, the door opened .


"Haruta-kun . . . "


"Sensei . . . "


Seiji was on the verge of greeting her, but he paused in surprise when he saw her appearance .


Mayuzumi Amami’s brownish-grey hair was tied up in a ponytail, and her bangs were tied back neatly with a barrette to reveal her white and beautiful face . She was wearing a pair of black-rimmed glasses together with a woolen shirt and a small jacket on top, and a flower-patterned long skirt below . Although the overall style was plain, it was elegant in nature, and her protruding breasts gave her a womanly charismatic appeal .


While she wasn’t astonishingly beautiful, she still seemed like a nice classical beauty!


At least that was what Seiji believed .


This plain and normal style that displayed her mature, womanly appeal was right in the middle of Seiji’s strike zone and caused him to be stunned for several seconds .


" . . . Hello . "


"Hello . . . "


A period of silence fell between them .


"Er . . . Sensei, I feel that your current appearance . . . is quite nice . " Seiji gave her his honest praise .


It was definitely much better than last time!


"Thank you . . . " Mayuzumi lowered her head and clenched her hands .


Seiji didn’t know if she was being shy or anxious .


‘She’s probably nervous and anxious, since she has androphobia and I’m a male,’ Seiji thought to himself . ‘I need to be as considerate as I can . ’


"If you’re ready, let’s go . "


"Okay . . . "


"Okay . . . "


Seiji walked in front of Mayuzumi .


When he reached the elevator, Seiji turned around and instantly felt rather helpless .


She was literally walking four meters behind him!


This distance made it seem like they were perfect strangers .


"Sensei, could you walk a little closer? At this distance . . . we wouldn’t even be able to get on the same elevator . "


"S-Sorry . . . " Mayuzumi slowly walked closer .


She stopped at a distance of approximately one meter from him .


Was this the limit for her? Okay, this seemed fine .


The elevator arrived quickly .


When the elevator arrived, there was a jacket-wearing middle-aged man already inside .


Even one meter apart from her, Seiji noticed that Mayuzumi stiffened .


"Sensei . . . is it alright?"


‘Should we wait for the next elevator?’ He asked that question using his eyes .


"I-It’s fine . " Mayuzumi forced herself to say that even though her muscles were stiff and tensed .


‘Is everything really fine?’ Seiji was rather worried .


But since she herself said it was fine, they at least had to try .


He walked into the elevator .


Mayuzumi also slowly entered .


The jacket-wearing middle-aged man felt that something was a little strange and shot an inquisitive look towards her .


Mayuzumi instantly froze over completely!


‘So scary, so scary, so scary!’


She was about to tremble when she saw a tall figure block the middle-aged man’s line of sight .


It was Haruta-kun .


She was about to tremble when she saw a tall figure block the middle-aged man’s line of sight .


It was Haruta-kun .


"Sensei, it’s fine—just relax . "


Seiji figured out that this wasn’t good for her and instantly moved to block the middle-aged man’s line of sight as he talked as gently to her as possible .


"Mmm . . . Mmm . "


Mayuzumi nodded as she retreated into the elevator’s corner and did her best to loosen her tension .


The tall Haruta-kun not only blocked the other man’s line of sight, he even completely blocked out the other man’s body from her own line of vision .


This indeed helped her to relax .


Even though Haruta-kun was a boy as well . . . he was special!


Mayuzumi believed in this and made an effort to increase her belief in this point .


Otherwise, she would be unable to accept even his help .


The elevator stopped .


The jacket-wearing man exited rather quickly . Perhaps he was in a hurry to begin with, or maybe he felt that the boy and woman riding together in the same elevator were rather strange .


"Sensei, are you alright?"


"I-I’m fine . "


"That’s good, then . " Seiji flashed a gentle smile . "Sensei, you’re working hard . There's no need to rush—we can take things slowly . "


There was no helping it; after all, it was a legitimate phobia .


It was good that she wanted to conquer her fear, but there was no need to challenge herself too much either . Slow steps were fine .


As long as she made steady progress, it was certain that she would eventually overcome her phobia .


Seiji smiled in an attempt to transmit such a message .


Mayuzumi seemed to feel something from his smile as she also smiled back at him .


"Okay . . . "


The two of them exited the elevator and walked out of her apartment . It was a nice and sunny day .


Their date had begun .

"This translation was made by our team, to read more translated novels please visite www.readernovel.net"