If You're Nervous, You Can't Get It Up...

Afterwards, despite attempting to perform the routine, Takumi’s Takumi ended up being completely useless. He tried everything to rouse it, but his body acted in inverse proportion to his desires, shrinking away all the more. Kotori gave a bittersweet smile with an indescribable look on her face.

“I-It was so sudden, after all.”

“B-Boys need time to get mentally prepared too.”

“I-If only I had been a slightly more appetizing dish served up on a platter…”

Takumi received such comforting words from Kotori. As they parted ways, she also said, “I’ll try working a bit harder on my own.” Even though she herself was stretched to her limit and desperately wanted help, she ended up showing concern for his complete impotence.

Although he had carried out the routine countless times before, something like this had never happened.

He never imagined that simply being in a different location would render him useless from nervousness.

Takumi’s confidence as a man came crashing down.

“…”

Lunch break was still ongoing.

However, he was in no mood to eat lunch at all.

As if escaping from the noise, he walked aimlessly down the hallway with plodding steps.

His heart was filled with self-pity, embarrassment, and self-loathing.

To gloss over those feelings and at least try to be of use to Kotori, he used his smartphone to search for ways for shy people to initiate conversations with strangers.

However, the results were all about expanding conversations—such as finding common topics like the weather, using questions as a springboard, or asking about the other person’s belongings.

He couldn’t find anything suited for severe cases of social anxiety like Kotori and himself, who stumbled at the very step of saying hello.

A sigh laden with complex emotions involuntarily escaped his lips.

“Haa… Huh?”

Before he realized it, he had arrived in front of the library. Perhaps it was out of recent habit.

He cast his eyes down at the smartphone in his hand. Searching online only brought up the same kinds of results.

Thinking that there might be a helpful book inside the library, he stepped indoors.

Being lunch break, the library was quiet.

Only a tiny handful of people were reading books or studying on their own. Nobody paid any attention to him. That was another aspect of the library he liked.

Now, where would the book he was looking for be? Usually he only browsed the light novel section, so he didn’t really know.

He aimlessly walked around inspecting the bookshelves.

There were various illustrated encyclopedias, specialized books on astronomy and science, photo books capturing mountains and stars from around the world, and surprisingly, even magazines and newspapers.

In addition, there was a rich selection of paperbacks containing essays by famous figures and works by literary giants whose names he had only heard of before, making him think it might be nice to borrow something from this section next time.

However, whether due to his poor searching skills or lack of luck, he couldn’t find a promising book, let alone a genre that clicked.

Asking a student library committee member or the teacher-librarian might yield answers, but initiating a conversation was a high hurdle for Takumi to begin with, and perhaps because it was lunch break, there was no such person around.

Standing on the spot with folded arms and a troubled look, Takumi stared bitterly and blankly at the cluster of bookshelves. Just as his shoulders sagged with a face full of resignation, he was slapped on the back with a thwack.

“Hey there! Are you looking for something?”

“Gah… Ikoma-senpai?”

Turning around, he saw Aki standing there.

Being the third time, he wasn’t particularly surprised, but having a senior girl beam at him so adorably still made him blush. Reflexively shifting his gaze out of embarrassment, he noticed her pushing a small trolley resembling a mobile bookshelf.

As Takumi stared at it with curiosity, Aki explained with a triumphant look.

“This is called a book truck. You see them at bookstores sometimes, right?”

“Huh, is that so? I had no idea. Are you helping out the library committee, Ikoma-senpai?”

“Yup! I’m returning checked-out books back to their original spots.”

“You’re always doing some kind of volunteer work, Ikoma-senpai.”

“Well, I am in the Volunteer Club after all! I’ll go anywhere if requested~”

“I see, a club activity.”

When he asked about what had been puzzling him, Aki answered while puffing out her flat chest proudly.

As usual, conversations with her flowed effortlessly. The title of the Angel of Assistance wasn’t just for show.

Just as Takumi felt satisfied, Aki composed herself and turned her round, bright eyes toward him.

“So, Hashio-kun, if you’re looking for something, I can help out!”

“Umm…”

Because it concerned Kotori rather than himself, and because he lacked experience in relying on or consulting others, Takumi hesitated.

A frustrating silence ensued. However, rather than rushing him, Aki waited smilingly for him to feel ready to speak.

She was undoubtedly offering out of goodwill.

Moreover, it was a fact that he was at a dead end, so he decided to accept Aki’s kindness.

“Actually—”

Prefacing that he was bad at explaining, he vaguely blurred the details regarding Kotori while explaining that she got so nervous trying to greet strangers for the first time that she couldn’t say anything.

After listening to the whole story, Aki placed a hand on her chin and pondered for a moment. Eventually, she nodded slightly with a soft “Hmm,” wore a smirk, and held up her index finger.

“Yep, if that’s the case, I have a secret method!”

“Really, Ikoma-senpai?!”

“However, there is one condition.”

“A condition…”

Takumi leaned forward at Aki’s claim of a brilliant idea, but flinched when a reciprocal condition was presented.

As he shrank back, thinking the only thing he could offer was money and wondering how much he had in his wallet, Aki—with a slightly stern expression—poked the tip of his nose with her index finger.

“Not Ikoma, but Aki!”

“Aki… eh?”

“L-i-k-e I s-a-i-d, call me by my given name, Aki, instead of my last name! It’s way cuter, and I really like my own name~”

Saying so, Aki winked with playful mischief.

Taken aback by such a ridiculously simple condition, Takumi opened his mouth with a dumbfounded look.

“Ah… so Aki-senpai, then.”

“Mm, good.”

When Takumi called her by her given name, she placed her hands on her hips and gave a big, satisfied nod.

A wave of embarrassment washed over him a moment later at calling a girl other than Kotori by her given name for the first time, but he made a conscious effort not to let it show on his face and steered the conversation back.

“So, what is this secret method?”

“To put it simply, you don’t have to converse!”

“…Huh?”