Chapter 3: Do You Know Mafuyu Kirisu?
I knocked on Mahiru's door.
The sound of footsteps coming near the door was soon to be heard. When it swung open, I had a girl of my age standing before me.
She was reasonably petite for a girl of our age. Her blond hair was combed, well-groomed, and pristine. It was slightly shimmering. She had caramel-colored eyes, with a face sculpted in a way you would call cute, just about perfect. Unlike Hoshino, who gave off a radiant and bubbly aura, Mahiru had a peaceful and tranquil aura surrounding her.
"Do you need anything?" She asked in a slightly confused tone.
I wore a composed smile. "I wished to say hello to you. I just moved here yesterday, see, and thought I'd get to know the tenants of this apartment better. My name is Hirosha Yoshikawa."
She widened her eyes a bit.
It seemed that my action to get acquainted with new people here was not very common. I could've guessed that much.
Either way, Mahiru smiled lightly. "Then please to meet you, Yoshikawa-kun. I'm Shiina Mahiru."
"I hope for a great accompany with you in the future," I proceed to hold up the tray of cookies in my hand. Some of the ones Hoshino had given me were inside my room. I bought others after returning from the shopping. "Would you like one? I intend to give the rest to the others."
Mahiru eyed the cookies with interest before eventually nodding. "If you don't mind."
"You can take any kind of cookie."
At my words, she picked one in strawberry up with a gentle gesture.
I had thought of just giving some of Hoshino's to Mahiru, but then I remembered that Mahiru's nature wasn't very... clutz like Hoshino's. She would probably suspect me of doing this just to get close to her, which wouldn't be wrong, and while she might still accept the cookie, she'd potentially develop a bad impression of me in the end. [Also, it's rude to throw Hoshino's gift to other people] While it's her fault for not backing up her words-- to even keeping them all in her room, I still can't do it. It's just one of those unwritten rules, I guess.
Well, I intend to get to know the residents of this apartment better even without Quest or whatever. It's not really a loss.
"If you'll excuse me."
I bowed slightly--which Mahiru returned with a modest smile--before moving on to the next door. Then—
(Congratulations!)
I twitched. [Can you time it—]
(As a reward for changing Shiina Mahiru's Fate, you obtain Kirisu Mafuyu's Heroine Note...!)
[—nevermind]
As one might expect, a diary fell into my hands from practically out of nowhere.
I'm acting normally whether inside or outside. It wouldn't help to panic. As if whoever it was that sent me here would make it easy for me to know this System thingy.
I was focused more on the heroine in the diary.
[In the main story, she lives in an apartment, doesn't she?]
The door next to Mahiru's opened.
I stiffened before positioning the diary in my hand in a natural manner.
The identity of the person opening the door was, surprisingly, Kirisu Mafuyu, the person in question.
She was a slender woman with pink hair and green eyes, in short. For whatever reason, she always had a scowl on her face. What was it that angered her so much? Whatever the reason, she came across as unapproachable as a result, despite her cold beauty.
She was in a sportswear of some sort, covering most of her skin. In both of her hands were large, full plastics that emitted a not-so-good odor. They were probably trash, which she had been trying to dispose of. Nevertheless, she clearly had difficulty carrying them both at once.
In response to my greeting, she gave a slight nod, with her scowl seeming a little distressed. She tried to hide it but to no avail.
"I could give you a hand, uh..." I decided to offer help.
"I-I'm fine," she stammered, trying to take a step forward, "Hk?!" and fell forward.
"!" I caught her immediately.
There was no cliché incident where I touched her in a sensitive area, or got dragged down and into awkward positions and such.
I pulled her to a firm footing. "You certainly don't look all right," I commented.
"Ugh," when I tried to stare at her, she turned to the side, avoiding my gaze.
"I can take at least one with me," I continued. "Two if I put my stuff back in my room first."
"...Please for the help, then," she mumbled, looking a little sheepish.
I kindly replied. "Sure. Wait a moment, my room is only one door away from you."
"I can carry one for myself."
"Is that so? Then let's do it now."
I lifted one with my left hand only.
Mafuyu looked at it with a hint of surprise. "That's heavy, right?"
"...No, not really," I answered without any particular emotion. "It's not very heavy— is the proper word, I guess. Ah, my name is Hirosha Yoshikawa, by the way. You are?"
"Kirisu Mafuyu."
I decided to dig further. "Kirisu-san, huh...? What do you do for a living?"
She didn't seem to mind engaging in casual conversation.
"I work as a teacher at Chikura (Fiction) High School."
[I kind of expected this. Not only her, but probably all the girls my age or teachers from Anime, Manga, LN, and whatever that is would be in the same school as me.] I'm like the main character in this world. A pretty weird feeling.
"Looks like I'll have to change the honorific from san to sensei," I replied in passing. "I'm also about to enter that school, coincidentally."
"Is that so...? You have a fine attitude. I'm sure you'll find good friends at school later."
"I'm glad to hear that."
Kirisu-sensei only appeared cold, and unapproachable, when in reality she was just a klutz. She's not malicious. I think she's a pretty great heroine after reading Bokuben's story until her Route.
"What book are you holding?"
[It's scary,] I came to a realization.
[With all these diaries, I'm basically a creep.]
I didn't truly feel it until now because I saw all this interaction as a game or the like. I was thinking that Heroine's Diary in the form of a novel would be great before, but after noticing the potential of it expressing every little detail of the heroine's life, I don't think I want to read it very much now.
"It's just a diary," I answered truthfully, not saying that it was about her.
"I see," she didn't pursue it any further.
When the two of us had done that in front of the apartment, and were about to go back upstairs, I decided to give her the cookie.
"I intend to give this to you and the other residents of this apartment. You can accept it if you like."
She looked surprised, then composed herself quickly and nodded in gratitude. "Gratitude. I'll accept your gift with pleasure."
I briefly thought of going with her to the second floor, trying to find an opportunity to trigger another event. She oftentimes has a messy room, and I figured it could be used as a great opportunity.
[Yeah, no.]
I didn't do it in the end. There would still be other opportunities later on.
[Let's take it slow and steady— but not so slow because that'll be boring as hell]
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone