Finished with my lunch, I came to Erina’s lab with Alyssa and Iris.

  [Unnn? Ahh, the three of you are here~~]

  Erina, dressed in a lab coat, greeted us with a soft smile on her lips as she was reaching out for the lab equipment in front of her.

  [……You’re…… caramelizing something…… again.]

  [There are infinite possibilities in caramel after all~~]

  [No, I don’t think so…… You’re still the same as usual, aren’t you, Eri-chan-sensei?]

  Watching Erina making caramelized stuff again, Iris and Alyssa chuckled. Watching her add caramels to all the sweet she has, a thought suddenly popped out in my mind.

  [……Arehh? Where’s the baby castellas?]

  [Unnn? Baby castellas? Ahh, those sweets sold in festivals, right? They were tasty too…… I don’t get to eat them quite often though……. So, why did you mention baby castellas?]

  [Eh? No…… I wonder why?]

  [Ahaha, Kaito-kun, you weirdo.]

  That’s strange? Why did the word “baby castella” suddenly come up in my mind? For some reason, I imagined Erina heartily eating baby castellas, but I don’t remember seeing her like that.

  However, I somehow feel like her eating baby castellas strangely fit her…… Seriously, what in the world is going on?

  [Did the others arrive already? Like Riri-senpai or Liddy-senpai?]

  [Hmmm, those two still weren’t here yet. Fae-chan is already here though.]

  [Oya? Fae-san is here huh…… So, where is she?]

  [……Unnn, she’s sleeping in my nap bed.]

  [……I see…… I’ll go wake her up.]

  [I’m counting on you~~]

  The two senpais that Alyssa mentioned, Riri-senpai and Liddy-senpai, are senpais who belong to Erina’s lab.

  Saigyouji Ririka-senpai, the winner of the national kendo tournament, is a young woman of great talents, and Liddy Quanette-senpai, an archery master and an exchange student like Iris-san.

  Both of them are very kind and have helped me in many ways. I mean, Erina’s lab only has six members, so the members get along very well with each other.

  [……Come to think of it, I know it’s too late to ask this now, but why does our lab have so few members?]

  [Unnn? Ahh, there are lots of people who want to join but…… you see, I’m the youngest of all the professors. So, it would be a bit complicated if a novice had so many people in my lab. That’s why, I asked them to join other labs instead.]

  [Heehhh…… So there really is such a thing as power relations between cliques……]

  [Ahaha, they’re troublesome to deal with though~~. Well, for me, it’s better to have a small number of people so that I can keep an eye on everyone.]

  To put it bluntly, Erina is very popular in the university. She’s cute and kind, so it isn’t that surprising. However, as the youngest professors, she seems to have her own share of troubles, and she sometimes comes to my home to complain.

  Well, it may not exactly be the same as that saying where “the nail that sticks out gets hammered down”, but the young and talented Erina probably stands out in many ways.

  [……Rather, our laboratory is quite famous in the university, you know? After all, we have “Yumegaoka’s Three Great Beauties” and “Yumegaoka’s Three Great Cuties”. Anyway, come on now, Fae-san. Please wake up already.]

  [Umyuu…… Three…… years more……]

  [That’s way too long!]

  Alyssa came back, pulling a girl with light purple twin-tails, a laptop on her chest, and large-sized casual clothes…… Fae-san.

  [……Hello, Fae-san.]

  [Uwaaahh? Ahh, if it isn’t Kai-chan and Ai-tan. Yahhoooo~~……]

  After tepidly greeting with a sleepy expression on her face, Fae-san sat down on a chair in the lab…… or rather, Alyssa made her sit on it.

  At that moment, Iris-san slightly tilted her head and turned towards Alyssa.

  [……Alyssa…… That three somethings…… you said just now…… What was that?]

  [Oya? Iris-san haven’t heard about it? In our university…… here in Yumegaoka University, there are people who are called the Three Great Beauties and Cuties. Incidentally, the Three Great Beauties are Riri-senpai, Liddy-senpai…… and Iris-san.]

  [……Eh? ……Me?]

  [Yes. And the Three Great Cuties are Fae-san, Eri-chan-sensei…… and this cute me!]

  Iris-san tilted her head curiously when she saw Alyssa saying this with a smug look on her face. Well, Iris-san has a low self-esteem, so she’s probably thinking “Why me?”.

  Looking at it objectively though, there’s no reason why Iris-san shouldn’t be counted in it……]

  [……Everyone in it…… are members of the lab……]

  [That’s right, and my guess is that…… this is the reason why our lab is insanely popular, and we’re flooded with applicants. Well, Eri-chan-sensei refuses to accept those people with such evil intentions though.]

  [Hmmm, I don’t really like how they call me that though. I’m an adult, so I’d rather they call me a beauty…… Why is it that I’m not counted in the beauties?]

  [……No, well, it’s because Erina is small, isn’t it……]

  [……………….]

  [Ah, no, I mean……]

  When Erina slightly puffed up her cheeks as she spoke this, I quickly answered her, but I immediately regretted my mistake. Hearing what I said, Erina looked at me and gently smiled. However, knowing her for a long time, I understood that she was angry.

  [……Kaito-kun…… You’re getting twice the homework.]

  [……I’m sorry, but please don’t do that. Professor Kurosu is an attractive, mature woman after all.]

  [If you understand it, that’s good. I’ll still give you more homework though.]

  [……Eh?]

  The cost of my careless comment came back in the form of increased homework. It was a very severe punishment before the winter break came.

  [Ahaha, well, that’s why Kaito-san is quite the lucky guy. You don’t just have a flower in each hand, there are flowers all around you.]

  [……Well, I won’t deny it.]

  Indeed, as I’m the only man in this lab, I’m probably in an enviable position among my peers. Well, I can’t always keep up with the topics that only women can talk about, so it isn’t really all good……


  [Ahh, since we’re talking about aliases, Kaito-san also has a name like that.]

  [Eh? Seriously? I thought I was pretty ordinary though…… Heehh…… Is that so? I didn’t know that. By the way, what do they call me?]

  I don’t know why, but I’m a little nervous. I thought I was average-looking, my grades were above average, and there was nothing special about me…… but I also have an alias huh.

  That kinda makes me a bit happy……


  [……”Yumegaoka’s Scheduled Explosion”.]

  [That’s not a very nice name, isn’t it!?]

  I gained that alias because I’m completely resented by the same gender!?

  [Incidentally, regarding Kaito-san’s evaluation from the same gender…… 70% say that they want you “to go explode”, 20% of them say “Well, he’s a good guy, so I’ll spare him the personal punishment”…… and there’s 10% saying that “they want to go out with you”.]

  [Wait a freaking moment! That’s the evaluation of the “same gender”, right!? What the heck is with that last 10%!? Those were absurdly terrifying words, you know!?]

  [……In fact, one of them is a good friend of Kaito-san…… Whoa there, saying anything more than that would be uncouth of me.]

  [Don’t stop there! You’re making me really scared here!]

  I just heard a terrifying fact that I didn’t want to know. I wonder what kind of face I should make when I meet my male friends tomorrow?

  Geez, how should I say this…… I’m worried about the future.

  **********