Chapter 14: You Are No Ordinary Literary Girl
After Katsuragi Keima helped her take down the book, Shiina Hiyori lowered her head and looked at the volume in her hands. With a blissful smile on her face, she quickly pulled the book to her chest and shifted her gaze toward him.
"Thank you very much."
Shiina Hiyori's voice was incredibly gentle, like a drifting feather.
"You're very welcome!"
Beside them, Elsie smiled and nodded at Hiyori.
"You didn't help at all, though," Keima deadpanned, already having picked up his handheld to resume his game.
"Are you two also first-year students?" Hiyori asked.
"Mm."
"I am Shiina Hiyori from Class C. It's a pleasure to meet you."
"My name is—Elsie! Katsuragi Elsie! From Class D, and this is my Kam—I mean, my Nii-sama, Katsuragi Keima. Please treat us well!"
Elsie introduced herself to Hiyori with great enthusiasm.
While she didn't seem as outgoing and cheerful as Kushida Kikyo, the girl before them named Shiina Hiyori was much more soft-spoken, yet being around her gave off a very comfortable feeling.
"Elsie-san, do you... like reading?"
Hiyori noticed that Elsie was cradling quite a few books. However, due to the angle, she couldn't see the titles on the covers, so she asked out of curiosity.
"Today is my first time in a library! I don't usually read much, but at my Nii-sama's strong insistence, I came here to get in touch with various books. He said he wants me to increase my reading volume."
"I see!"
Hiyori tilted her head slightly, looking at Keima, who was already fully engrossed in his game.
'It seems Katsuragi Keima is actually someone who enjoys reading, which is why he encourages his sister to come to the library.'
"It's rare to find classmates who enjoy reading. I can't even find someone in Class C to talk about novels with... Elsie-san, do you have any books you like?"
"I haven't read much before, so I don't have anything I particularly like yet."
"In that case, I highly recommend Whose Body? to you. It's the first work in the Lord Peter Wimsey series."
She bent her knees slightly and leafed through a shelf, her skirt fluttering as she moved. Very quickly, she pulled out a book. Even though it was only the second day of school, Hiyori seemed to know the layout of the library like the back of her hand.
"Whose Body?!"
Hearing the title, Elsie froze.
'What? What? Whose body? Is this a book about claiming corpses? Do bodies need to be claimed in the human world?'
Elsie's understanding of human society was still shallow; the title sent her into a frantic brainstorm, and her curiosity grew.
"I'm sorry, did I bother you?"
Hiyori saw Elsie's dazed expression and hurriedly apologized, looking embarrassed.
"No, not at all! I was just curious about the content! I'm actually quite interested!"
Elsie took the book from Hiyori's hands, and a happy smile spread across the latter's face. When the topic turned to books, Hiyori seemed to change slightly, becoming more passionate.
"Nii-sama, why don't you come over and chat for a bit!"
Elsie turned to Keima and pouted slightly. Shiina Hiyori was clearly one of the mission targets, yet Keima seemed to have zero motivation.
At this moment, Keima's gaze hadn't shifted a millimeter from his screen.
'I'm already a bit tired of the library setting. In games, a "Literary Girl" who spawns at a fixed library location is a total staple, mostly because almost every school has one. Using it as a base limits the location and makes the story easy to write.'
'Nowadays, the Literary Girl is the battlefield of all battlefields in school romance games.'
'If she isn't an exceptionally outstanding character, I can't find a shred of motivation.'
Keima thought to himself. While completing the mission was a mandatory requirement, it shouldn't be an issue to put this girl named Shiina Hiyori at the very bottom of the priority list.
"It's alright," Hiyori said with a smile. She tilted her head slightly and glanced at Keima. "Everyone has something they love, and being able to focus on what you love is a very happy thing."
Hiyori lowered her head, seemingly hugging her book tighter.
"It's like within these books, I can find a more 'real' feeling. It's something that can't be replaced by anything else; it attracts me even more than the real world. Sometimes I get so focused on reading that I ignore everything around me, which is why I haven't made many friends in class even to this day... Your Nii-sama likely has similar thoughts, so I understand him."
"You're quite right. To me, games are the side that is far more beautiful."
Keima's voice sounded from the side. This was the first time he had actively moved his eyes away from the screen to look at the girl before him.
He could feel that Hiyori's words were very sincere; it wasn't just polite small talk, but her true feelings.
Keima's gaze swept over the nearby books. In his mind, books were the "worst" choice—low efficiency in information gathering, linear, lacking interactive choices, and a traditional narrative medium devoid of branching endings.
However, Hiyori had changed his perspective slightly. She seemed to have subtle differences compared to most of the "Literary Girl" characters he had encountered in games.
"Um... if it's okay, why don't we exchange contact information? If Elsie-san has anything she doesn't understand regarding books later, you can ask me."
"Mm."
"Great! Yes, please!"
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After staying in the library for quite a while, Keima and Elsie finally left.
"Divine Nii-sama, why were you so unmotivated at first?"
"Because I've seen too many Literary Girls. If they aren't outstanding enough, I have zero drive."
"But then why did you actively speak up later?"
"Because I felt that Shiina Hiyori is somewhat different from the characters in my games. In games, the Literary Girl type is basically always a librarian role—usually quiet, solitary, and to some extent, living in their own world. She is different; even if she isn't the social butterfly type, she is slightly more cheerful."
"So, can she be captured?"
"Even if she is different, Shiina is still a Literary Girl. There is an iron rule that applies to all of them—"