In the end, the place I chose to take Mikoto-san was the rooftop of the school building.

Well, it is still difficult to find a place with a good atmosphere in the school.

However, the rooftop of this school is basically closed, so it is a very rare experience to go there.

The winter wind blows through the rooftop.

Except for a fence to prevent falls and a few air-conditioning equipment, there is nothing on the rooftop.

However, the rooftop offers a panoramic view of the city and the wide river that separates the western side of the city.

The mountains beyond were covered with snow and looked beautiful.

And if you strained your eyes, you could even see the great Tomi mansion across the river.

Mikoto-san muttered, “Wow” and her face broke into a smile.

Then she walked to the front of the fence and looked back at me.

“It’s a nice view.”

“I’m glad you like it.”

“But how did you get the key to this place, Akihara-kun?”

At the end of the stairs leading to the rooftop, there was a door.

The key to the door is in my possession.

“Amane-nee-san gave it to me. She went to this high school.”

“I see.”

“Well, there’s a big difference between Amane-nee-san, who was an excellent student, and me, who was one step short of being a dropout.”

“Akihara-kun, you’re not very good at studying, are you?”

“I wish you wouldn’t say so…”

“The other day I was ranked second in the grade in a test.”

Mikoto-san said with a big smile on his face.

No need to declare such a thing, though I know it because she is famous.

The goddess is not only beautiful, but also has excellent grades.

But what Mikoto-san wanted to say was not to boast.

“So, I’ll teach Akihara-kun how to study.”

“Eh?”

“Isn’t that what high school boyfriends and girlfriends do, have study sessions?”

“I’m sure there are some people who do. But I don’t think Mikoto-san and I are boyfriend and girlfriend…”

“But since we are pretending to be boyfriend and girlfriend, we have to imitate that too.”

Is that what it is?

Come to think of it, Kaho helped me a lot when I took the high school entrance exam.

Thanks to her, I just barely made it into a good school, so I should be grateful to her.

Mikoto-san smiled.

“We can do it at home, right? We live in the same place.”

“I don’t think I could ever study at home.”

“Are you flirting or something?”

Mikoto-san looked up at me with her blue eyes.

I wanted to say that I would simply be lazy.

However, I think that since we are only pretending to be lovers, there is no need to worry about us flirting with each other and not getting any study done.

But then Mikoto-san’s cheeks turned a little red and she said.

“That might … be a good idea.”

“Is it?”

“Because we’re going to pretend to be boyfriend and girlfriend.”

“I’m not sure why you’d want to do that at home.”

The purpose of this is to avoid the trouble of having classmates gossip about us, so let’s just pretend that we are boyfriend and girlfriend.

If that’s the case, I don’t think we need to act like a couple at home.

Mikoto-san glared at me dissatisfied.

“If that’s the case, I’d like you to think of something that we can do outside the house that would be like a boyfriend-girlfriend relationship.”

“Something like that?”

I thought about it.

What could it be?

Something that would be like lovers.

Surprisingly difficult.

Kissing or something like that was out of the question.

Even though it was just a cover, Mikoto-san probably wouldn’t want to do such a thing.

“What about calling each other by our first names?”

“Eh?”

“I call you ‘Mikoto-san’ and you call me ‘Akihara-kun.’ But it would be more like lovers if we were more intimate.”

I thought it was a simple idea, but Mikoto-san clapped her hands.

“It’s a great idea!”

“Is this what you want?”

“Of course. I mean, I’m going to be talking about Akihara-kun, uh, Haruto…”

“Onii-chan?”

“We did that the other day, so I say that’s enough!”

Mikoto-san’s face turned red and she got angry.

The other day, Mikoto-san called me “Haruto Onii-chan” which is also true that she used to call me by my first name, but it seems to be a little bit wrong.

It’s a strange way to be misunderstood by classmates.

“Isn’t it just normal, Haruto-kun?”

“Well, that’s right.”

“Haruto-kun.”

When she said that, Mikoto-san looked a little embarrassed and turned her head down.

I was also a little embarrassed when she said that.

I tried to call her by her first name, but she stopped me.

When I wondered why and asked why, Mikoto-san replied.

“I think it will be all right if only I change the way I call Haruto-kun for now.”

“Is that so?”

“Yeah. Haruto-kun, it must be a little embarrassing for you to call me by my first name now, isn’t it?”

“Well, yes.”

“So, I think I would be happier if you called me ‘Rei’ when you really want to do so, Haruto-kun.”

Mikoto-san said so gently.

What kind of situation would be when I really wanted to call Mikoto-san by her name? 

For example, if Mikoto-san became my real girlfriend.

The other party is the goddess of the school.

I don’t think that would ever happen.

Mikoto-san held up her index finger and leaned forward.

“Now, when we get back to the classroom, we’ll have to show off our relationship in front of everyone. Right, <Haruto-kun>?”