Extra Chapter: The Reason I Started Calling Her “Ojou”

——This all happened one night.

“Ojou. Here are the books you requested.”

“Thank you.”

She thanked me, but remained completely focused on her computer screen, her fingers tapping endlessly on the keyboard. The screen itself was filled with a bizarre and complex array of letters and numbers that I couldn’t comprehend… it was probably code.

“It’s fine to be engrossed in your development, but pushing yourself too hard is bad for your health, you know.”

“I’m almost at a good stopping point.”

“…Understood. I’ll leave the books on the table, then.”

The Tendou family’s underground library houses books from every genre from all over the world.

It’s said to be a paradise that some researchers would pay a fortune to enter, as it also holds valuable research materials not available to the public.

Because of that, the security is tight, and the books are bulky; as their number increases, they get heavy. That’s why, from time to time, I go to the library to fetch the books Ojou needs.

And on those occasions, Ojou is usually engrossed in some kind of research or development.

Ojou is multi-talented and a hard worker, but what’s most frightening isn’t that she’s merely a genius, but the sheer breadth of the fields her talents cover.

Of course, she excels in typical student pursuits like academics and sports, but her talents also extend to mechanical and biological engineering, app and system development, menu creation for restaurants, theme park attraction design, and even provides advice on attracting customers. Furthermore, she has shown her genius in the field of art, achieving spectacular results in all of them.

The latest electric car released by a Tendou Group affiliate, which set record sales, and the rocket that was recently in the news for its successful launch—both use technology patented by Ojou.

It’s no exaggeration to say that Ojou is a person who moves the world. Being able to serve someone like that is truly a matter of pride. Of course, I would respect her even without such achievements, but I don’t want to deny the track record she has built with her talent and effort, and I want to offer her my wholehearted praise.

“Honestly… What are you so absorbed in making this time?”

It must be something amazing, something an ordinary person like me could never even imagine.

“A Lucky-Pervert-Incident-Inducing Device.”

“What in the world are you making with that genius brain of yours!?”

“It’s my ultimate weapon, for my personal use, of course. After dispersing special particles that I developed myself within a certain area, it generates, interferes with, and controls the kinetic energy of any target object via those particles, which then induces a ‘lucky pervert’ event in just the right way.”

“For a device with such a stupid name, what’s with that needlessly grandiose gimmick…!”

“And whose fault do you think it is that I have to build something so needlessly grandiose!? I’m so cornered that I feel like I have to resort to this!”

“Why am I the one getting yelled at…?”

There was no way I could have imagined she was making something like this.

“Listen, Eito. I’m serious. The development of this device has been my dearest wish for many years.”

“If the researchers at the Tendou Group found out your incredible talent was being spent on making that for years, they would weep with grief.”

“You think so? Let me tell you, even the attitude control program used in the Tendou Group rocket that launched the other day was something I created based on a program born from the development process of the Lucky-Pervert-Incident-Inducing Device, you know?”

“That’s information I never wanted to know!”

I knew, of course, that Ojou was involved in that rocket’s development, but I never would have imagined that was how she was involved.

“——Phew… I suppose it’s time for a break.”

With a soft tap on a key, Ojou stretched while still sitting in her chair.

At that exact moment, I placed a freshly brewed cup of tea before her. Since it was nighttime, I chose her favorite decaffeinated tea.

“Thanks. …Your tea really is the best. It blows all my fatigue away in an instant.”

“For me, that’s the highest praise, but after hearing what you’ve been working on to the point of exhaustion, I feel a little… no, quite conflicted. And what’s with that name, ‘Lucky-Pervert-Incident-Inducing Device’? That’s not a name a proper young lady should be saying.”

“It’s easy to understand, so it’s fine, isn’t it? …And let me tell you, the Tendou Group grew significantly thanks to the profits brought in by the technology born from this device’s development process.”

“That’s more information… I didn’t want to know…”

More and more things I never wanted to know are coming to light.

“Still… for you to be spending so much time developing it, it must be a pretty large-scale device for something with that name, huh.”

“Well, I suppose. When you’re trying to install an AI, the learning process takes time, you see…”

That was close. I almost collapsed to my knees.

An AI. An artificial intelligence in a ridiculous device called the ‘Lucky-Pervert-Incident-Inducing Device’.

“…Wait a minute. That AI the Tendou family poured a massive budget into developing on their own… could it be…”

“I provided them with the program for the AI that’s scheduled to be installed in my Lucky-Pervert-Incident-Inducing Device. If this device is ever completed, it’ll be a sister to the Tendou family’s AI.”

“A flood of truths I never wanted to know is pouring in…!”

“Listen… When I provided that program, everyone on the Tendou family’s development team was all, ‘As expected of Ojou-sama!’ They worshipped and praised me like I was a goddess…”

——And with that, Ojou suddenly stopped talking.

“…Hey, Eito. There’s something I’ve been wondering about for a while.”

“What might that be?”

“Why do you call me ‘Ojou’? The other servants and the people from the group call me ‘Hoshine-sama’ or ‘Ojou-sama’.”

“Ah, about that… There’s no particular reason…”

“I want to hear it, even if it’s not a big deal. …Fufu. You know, to be honest, I quite like it. The way you call me that.”

“You do?”

“Yes. It feels… ‘special.’ But I realized I never knew why.”

So she’s gotten curious, huh.

“Understood. It’s not something worth hiding, so I’ll tell you. …Although, it’s not much of a story.”

“Anything you tell me is a big deal to me.”

That’s Ojou for you. She’s probably trying to put me at ease to make it easier for me to talk.

“…It happened after you took me in, when I had decided to serve you.”

☆

To become a servant of the Tendou family, one must undergo various kinds of training.

The maids in the mansion may look like ordinary maids at first glance, but they are all specialists who have undergone extensive training and possess unique skills. So, the common trope in fiction of someone disguising themselves as a servant to infiltrate… is pretty much impossible. It’s not a position one can attain so easily. I, too, was training hard to be able to serve Ojou as soon as possible.

…How nostalgic. Back then, the Master trained me strictly every day. Thanks to him, I’ve now acquired the skill to be hit by something as large as a truck and deflect the impact without a scratch. Though, if a rocket were to crash into me, I might still get a bruise.

Fortunately, I seemed to have a talent for it, and my physical training went smoothly. I put in the effort, too. Thanks to that, I’m now able to stay by Ojou’s side. …If anything, the hardest part was the classroom studies. As someone who serves the Tendou family—and above all, as someone who serves by Ojou’s side—there were a countless number of things to learn.

Since this was purely a matter of volume, I desperately crammed knowledge into my head during every spare moment of my day. What helped me then were the video materials the Master had prepared for me.

☆

“Video materials?”

“Yes. It was a DVD he created with the Mistress, and it was truly amazing. The knowledge needed for my studies was presented in an easy-to-understand way, designed for quick learning. It helped me a great deal, and it has now even been adopted into the Tendou family’s servant training curriculum.”

“Hmph. To think those two made something like that… And they never prepared anything of the sort for me.”

“It is strictly for knowledge necessary for the Tendou family’s servants… Besides, in your case, Ojou, you possess such a brilliant mind that you have no need for such things.”

“Fine, whatever… So, what do those video materials have to do with you starting to call me ‘Ojou’?”

“………The truth is, a certain other video had been mixed in with that DVD.”

“A certain other video?”

“Yes. The video I saw by chance… Looking back, that was the beginning of everything——”

☆

The video material DVDs were made to match the progress of my curriculum, and the one I played that day was about the proper conduct for someone serving by Ojou’s side. The very thing I was aiming for, what I wanted to become. Because it was so relevant, I was focused on the screen more than usual.

Projected there was the way of life of a certain man. In the middle of a heavy snowfall, he protected the ‘Ojou,’ the granddaughter of the yakuza boss, to the very end. His final moments as he died in her arms were deeply engraved in my heart. I had learned. This is what a man who protects his master looks like.

And that referring to one’s master as ‘Ojou’ was the normal way of things in the Tendou family!

By the way, when I passionately told the Master and Mistress my thoughts on it later, it came to light that they had accidentally given me a completely unrelated DVD, but still, I had learned!

☆

“………………Um. So, you’re saying you were influenced by watching a yakuza movie that got mixed in with your study materials by mistake?”

“That about sums it up.”

“That reason is far more pathetic than I was expecting.”

“I really don’t want to hear that from you, of all people!?”

Especially not from the person building something as pathetic as a ‘Lucky-Pervert-Incident-Inducing Device.’

“The Master and Mistress found it amusing and said, ‘It’s fine as it is,’ so it just stuck… If it displeases you, however, I will make an effort to correct it immediately.”

“No, you absolutely can’t change it. I won’t allow it, nor will I permit it. You will keep calling me that.”

“I appreciate that, but may I ask why?”

“Because you’re the only one who calls me ‘Ojou,’ Eito. And I’m the only one you call ‘Ojou,’ right?”

“Yes, of course.”

“That’s why.”

Ojou smiled, looking to be in a very good mood.

“A special name that only you use for me… it’s just so wonderful.”

Afterword

To those of you I’m meeting for the first time, it’s a pleasure.

To those it’s been a while for, it’s been a while. I’m Hidari Ryu.

Whether you’re about to read this or have already finished, thank you for choosing this work.

This work, “Ever Since I Got Confessed To, Something’s Been Off About the Young Lady,” is the recipient of an award in the 3rd HJ Novels Grand Prize (First Half) “Let’s Become a Novelist” category. By the way, the title at the time was, “When I Told the Young Lady I Serve, ‘Another Girl Confessed to Me,’ She Started Getting Super Flustered.” It’s not… that I changed the title for publication. During the selection process, I just kind of thought, “This title’s a bit of a mess… guess I’ll change it,” so I did. I think the current title is a lot more put-together.

I might have written this somewhere before, but this work is composed of three points:

・ I want to write about a romance-klutz, blonde, young lady heroine.

・ I want to write about a good-lookin’ guy who calls her ‘Ojou.’

・ I want to write a bright and fun rom-com.

That’s about it. By the way, the “bright and fun rom-com” part can be substituted with “a ridiculously stupid rom-com.”

Anyway, it was a lot of fun writing about Ojou, a.k.a. Hoshine.

It’s just fun watching a cute, long-haired, blonde young lady go full-on comedy mode, spin her wheels, and get shot down in return, isn’t it?

For this volume, the illustrator, Takehana Note-sama, gave Hoshine a little hair antenna when designing the character. I didn’t particularly envision Hoshine having a hair antenna during the writing stage, but I think it’s a perfect fit for a character who carries both the ‘romance’ and ‘comedy’ parts of ‘rom-com’ all on her own. Thank you so much, Takehana Note-sama.

Hoshine is the type of girl to let her top-tier specs go to complete waste, and I hope she continues to waste them more and more. I think she probably will.

She may be the heroine, but this work is also “a story about a young lady trying to capture a guy’s heart,” so she’s also the protagonist. Because of that, one might think, “Doesn’t that make the supposed protagonist, Kagehito, feel a little… overshadowed?” But Kagehito is both the protagonist and an impregnable, high-difficulty final boss, so I guess it’s fine. As for this protagonist of ours, I, Hidari Ryu, am from the generation that grew up consuming stories about “first-class flag architect” protagonists, so that influence comes through pretty strongly.

These days, one-on-one rom-coms with a single heroine are the mainstream, so this might feel like a rare throwback, and I think this work itself has become a Heisei-era rom-com that really feels like the Heisei era. But I still love that kind of stuff, so I’d like to carry on the power of Heisei.

And then there’s Habataki Otoha. She was introduced as the other heroine. To be a threat to Hoshine, she had to have the specs to match… and so, she’s a diva. With a different kind of energy and tempo from Hoshine, she was also fun to write. …Or so I thought, but she often gets dragged along by Hoshine’s energy, and I feel like she’s been “colored” by it, for better or worse. Both Hoshine and Otoha are such standout individuals that they don’t have many people they can call friends. They’re rivals challenging the same high-difficulty boss, but I think the two of them can become good friends.

And now for some acknowledgements!

First, to my editor, A-sama! Thank you so much! As someone who truly understood this work, you were an immense help!

To Takehana Note-sama, who was in charge of the illustrations! Thank you for the wonderful art! From the character designs to the cover, everything was just the best! I believe you used the power of your illustrations to elevate the cuteness of Hoshine—who spins her wheels with reckless abandon—beyond its limits!

And… to the many people who lent their strength to get this book published, and to all the readers who picked up this book, thank you.

I hope we can meet again.