Can't We Skip Dating?

The car pulled up outside Sakura Dorm.

Akira narrowed his eyes at the old, worn-down apartment building, feeling a faint sense of being on a pilgrimage to a holy site.

Then he turned to look at Nanami, who had fallen asleep in the back seat, and felt a bit of a headache coming on.

Already half-dead from illness and overwhelmed with stress, Nanami had clearly reached her limit. 

After finishing her last sentence earlier, she leaned back in her seat to rest a little—and promptly dozed off.

"Can you press the doorbell?"

After trying to wake her with a couple of calls and getting no response, Akira opened the car door and stepped out. 

That comment was naturally directed at Utaha.

When he picked Nanami up from the back seat, she stirred slightly, hazily opening her eyes to look at Akira, not quite processing her situation yet.

"We're at Sakura Dorm now. Don't worry about it—just keep sleeping," Akira said.

Hearing that, Nanami instinctively tried to get out of the car, regaining a bit of awareness—only to suddenly realize something she had never experienced before.

She was being carried.

A few moments of confusion later, she finally grasped that shocking fact. In an instant, she became fully awake—only to nearly faint again from the realization.

Stiff with tension, she whispered in a voice as soft as a breeze:

"Pl-please put me down, Mr. Ogiwara… I can walk on my own…"

"Close your eyes and rest," Akira said gently and slowly. 

"You don't need to put on a brave face around me. We're the same kind of person. If you're really in need, it's okay to lean on someone a little."

That single sentence pierced right into the softest part of Nanami's heart.

She buried her face into Akira's chest to hide her embarrassment, while her body gradually relaxed, nearly greedy in how it embraced this unfamiliar warmth and care.

She was already sick, and after hearing something like that, maybe—just maybe—it was okay to act a little spoiled?

Ever since moving out for the sake of her voice acting dream, she had lived completely alone.

No matter what happened, she always had to find her own solution, relying on no one and complaining to no one. How long had she been living like that?

There was a faint smell of tobacco on his clothes, yet oddly enough, it didn't bother her. She had thought she hated the smell of cigarettes—and the people who smoked them.

But right now… it didn't smell so bad.

A few seconds after the doorbell rang, the apartment door opened to reveal a woman who looked to be around thirty.

"Ah, coming, coming. Who is—wait, Nanami? What's wrong with Nanami?"

Upon hearing the voice of her teacher from inside the dorm, Nanami's body tensed up slightly.

"Shh, she's asleep," Akira replied softly. "Could you open the door? Try not to make too much noise."

Yes, I'm asleep.

Nanami slowly relaxed her body, closed her eyes, and pretended to be a very obedient ostrich.

The teacher opened the door, slightly surprised as she looked at Akira and Utaha. "You two are… What happened to Nanami?"

"Sick. Working," Akira explained in just two words. 

"Could you please take me to her room?"

The teacher instantly looked as though she understood, silently turning around to lead them into the apartment. 

As they walked in, a lively girl popped out of a room. Just as she was about to scream upon seeing Nanami, the teacher raised a hand to shush her.

The girl covered her mouth tightly, swallowing her scream.

Though she didn't make a sound, her actions were anything but restrained—she immediately pulled everyone else out of their rooms. 

By the time Akira carried Nanami into her room and laid her on the bed, the doorway was already packed with people.

Akira glanced toward them, letting his eyes linger briefly on a small, animal-like blonde girl and a brown-haired boy who looked rather decent, before smiling slightly.

"Could I ask everyone to step outside for a moment? I want to leave a message for her."

That request was a bit suspicious—after all, Akira was a complete stranger here. 

But after a moment of hesitation, the teacher gently pushed the others back and closed the door.

"Huh? Teacher?" the brown-haired boy—Kanda Sorata—asked in surprise.

"He was the one who drove Nanami back. If he had ill intentions, he wouldn't have brought her here at all," the teacher whispered. 

"Let's wait in the living room for now. We can ask questions later."

After giving instructions to the group, she turned to the girl leaning against the wall—Utaha. "And you are…?"

"Don't mind me. I'll just wait here," Utaha replied coldly.

That was how she treated strangers—a coldness that stopped just short of being impolite.

Fortunately, everyone in Sakura Dorm was a bit of an oddball, so her unusual attitude didn't cause any commotion.

"Why don't you come with us, beautiful lady?" said a tall upperclassman named Jin, smiling.

"Even if he's just leaving a message, we'll want to ask about Nanami later too. It'd be rude not to serve you at least a cup of tea."

Utaha glanced once at the still-closed door, then nodded silently.

The group went to the living room. After they sat down, Jin placed a cup in front of Utaha and asked thoughtfully, "Now that I look at you… miss, have we met somewhere before?"

"Hey, Jin, that kind of pickup line is seriously outdated," the lively girl Misaki teased him.

Relying on a girl's intuition, Utaha picked up on the hint of jealousy in Misaki's voice—and began to guess at the relationship between the two.

"No, no, I really think I've seen you before."

Jin rubbed his chin, thought for a moment, then suddenly clapped his hands in realization.

"Kasumi—You're Kasumi Utako-sensei, aren't you?"

Utaha's eyes dimmed slightly.

Ever since she could no longer write under the pen name Kasumi Utako, this was the situation she most dreaded.

"No, you've got the wrong person," she said quietly, bowing her head and wrapping her hands around her teacup.

Jin was momentarily stunned. Though he didn't know the full story, he quickly laughed it off.

"Ah? Hahaha, my bad. Seems I really did mistake you for someone else. But you really are just as beautiful as Kasushi-sensei. If you're free sometime, may I treat you to a coffee?"

Though he covered it with laughter, his usual flirtatious tone came through in the end.

Utaha raised her eyes and gave him a cold smirk.

"The man in that room is quite interested in my body, but it seems he has no desire to claim it. If you're willing to risk your life testing that theory for me, I'd be delighted."

Jin recoiled in fear, taking a step back and shaking his head vigorously.

Never mind the obvious disparity between a high school girl and an adult man—just that moment earlier, when the man smiled at everyone while somehow seeming to ignore them completely… that overwhelming aura made it clear he was no ordinary person.

And more importantly, if someone like Kasumi Utako was following him around…

Then he had to be a monster even more terrifying than the collection of weirdos living in Sakura Dorm.

___

Read 20 Advanced Chapters on p@ tr eon (.) com/HalflingFics 

Also, please point out my mistakes in the comment, thank you!

Don't forget to leave a review too~ Actually, please leave one.

Check out the other translations too

___