Lie to an Innocent Young Maiden

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In the end, I didn't manage to see Aiko during recess.

It didn't really matter that much. I'd just have to try again later.

"...the atmosphere is filled with 'defective waves'. These waves are more commonly known as 'd-waves'. These waves are useless to you and can't be manipulated in any way. Think of them as a blank slate, something with no information attached to them."

Basically, for all of time, these 'd-waves' have filled the air. They did nothing and changed nothing. They're basically completely invisible and useless waves which simply existed.

The teacher continued to explain the Realisers.

"...you've probably all learnt a little bit when you were younger, but your Realisers convert nearby d-waves into useable EM-waves. Depending on your specific calculations, the EM-waves you make will be of a slightly different wavelength."

Technically, all that a Realiser did was convert d-waves into EM-waves. This meant that I, without a Realiser, was unable to do so. However, I did have an Interceptor.

"...your Interceptors control the vectors of nearby EM-waves. This is what actually expresses your ability. The EM-waves you control don't have to be your own, which means that if you're able to make the calculations, you can alter someone else's EM-waves."

This was why I was able to interfere with the abilities of other Espers. While I was unable to produce EM-waves, I was able to change the expression of nearby EM-waves, altering the power.

In the end, it was all pretty simple stuff.

This was just the theory behind the abilities of the Espers. I didn't really have much need to listen to this since I had already learnt it thoroughly. I mostly just stared off in the distance as I thought about how I'd deal with this Aiko situation.

The idea of making her fall in love with me felt extremely unlikely, especially within the span of a week. The two of us have barely talked to each other, and the headmaster thinks that she'll fall for me.

A few minutes later, the class ended, and we were shown to our next class.

The next class was a physical Esper test which I didn't take part in since I couldn't even use ESP. Instead, I sat in the library by myself, waiting until lunchtime.

To my absolute surprise, I saw that Aiko was sitting at a table in the middle of the library. She had a few of her friends around her, so she wasn't exactly available.

Ah, I didn't really have a choice here, did I?

Slowly, I made my way over.

"Hey, um, didn't expect to see you here, Aiko."

She turned around in shock.

"Ah, hi, Oliver."

"So, um, how are the others in the 21st regiment?"

"Oh, they're all recovering pretty well."

"That's good to hear."

Beside her, there were two other girls. They looked at me with a relatively scathing glare as I talked to their friend. I couldn't really let social pressure stop me. Otherwise, I'd never be able to complete this mission.

Uh, what was I meant to do now?

"Hey, Aiko, who's this weirdo?" one of them asked.

"He's in the 21st regiment."

"Seriously? This loser's in your regiment?"

Ouch.

"Yeah, I was pretty surprised when I saw him."

Eh.

This wasn't going very well.

Well, I didn't really have anything to lose, so I guess I'll go all out.

"Aiko, do you have any free time at lunch?" I asked.

"Yeah... I suppose so."

"Meet me behind the training stadium. There's something I need to tell you."

I made sure to keep my expression as cold as possible—which wasn't exactly that difficult. I needed her to second-guess herself as much as possible. If she knew that this was a confession of some sort, she wouldn't be caught off-guard. My only hope is that her mind will go blank in the heat of the moment.

With that, I looked over at the friends before making my way to another section of the library, out of their view.

Ah, let's see how this goes.

***

The bell rang, signalling the start of lunch.

I began making my way toward the designated meeting location.

In the near-silent area, the soft breeze brushed against my body. The stadium provided a large amount of shade, causing the entire place to seem like a dark alleyway.

I feel like I should be more anxious.

I guess it's not that bad when you don't really mean it.

Waiting for her to arrive, I stared at the leaves which were swaying on the trees.

A few minutes later, she arrived, looking over at me.

"So, what is it?" her voice was slightly shakey, but she still had her serious demeanour.

Ah, now what do I say?

"I can't tell you the reason for this, but hear me out."

I guess I was going with the mysterious vibe. I needed to be as convincing yet curiosity-inducing as possible. The only way I was going to make this work was by spending as much time as possible I could with her.

"Just get to the point."

She walked a little closer to me as if she was interested in what I was about to say.

"I need you to go on a date with me."

"Huh?!"

That seemed to have caused a larger reaction than I expected. All of a sudden, she didn't seem to be able to make eye contact with me, even though I looked down at her face. Her cheeks suddenly blushed with a slight tone of red. However, a few moments later, she seemed to have calmed down.

"Why... why me?"

"Erm, I can't tell you at the moment."

"I don't like how you have ulterior motives for this."

"Would you be more inclined if I said it was because I like you?"

"Eh...!?"

Well, this seemed to be working... to some extent. She was being shocked left and right, struggling to think straight.

"Aiko, I like you. Go on a date with me."

This better work.