Takanashi-san appeared to have hit it off with Natsumi without any trouble.
Natsumi was naturally sociable, so I had expected them to become friends quickly. It was heartening to see my friends get along so well.
"Then, would Natsumi-senpai be alright?"
……Eh… I…
"Ah, Natsumi-senpai, sorry it took so long to ask, but—"
Natsumi-senpai…… Natsumi-senpai…
What was this? The two of them seemed to have become very close all of a sudden.
……I was the one who knew him first…
What was I thinking? They were just friends, weren’t they? To care about such a thing was so narrow-minded of me… so narrow… so narrow………
…I was only ever called Senpai.
But only Natsumi got to be…
No… the way one chose to address another differed from person to person, did it not? To even consider such things was…
I felt those "well-unknown feelings" of mine bubbling up once more.
This would not do. Thinking about such things was not like me at all. I had to be careful.
Their conversation seemed to have reached a natural lull. Takanashi-san turned his gaze toward me.
"Then, Senpai, shall we go… Senpai?"
……What was it?
"Um… Senpai? Did I… really do something to upset you…?"
……I did not do anything, you know. ……But…… it was…… unfair.
"Senpai?"
Natsumi was the only one being unfair!
Puff
……Eh?
Senpai… Senpai was pouting!
Wait, what? What was this? Was she cute? Was she actually this cute? No, wait—was she angry? Why so suddenly?
Wait, what!?
Why was this girl sulking?
I had known her for quite a while, but I had never seen her make a face like that before. I was honestly shocked that she was capable of such a childish gesture.
Let’s see… she had never made a face like that toward me. That meant it definitely had to be related to Takanashi-kun.
So, you actually got to see this side of her when Takanashi-kun was involved? This was incredible. If Sara's Fan Club ever found out about this, wouldn't they weep tears of blood?
Oops, focus. More importantly, what was it that she didn't like?
Takanashi-kun hadn't really done anything unusual, so it probably wasn't his actions. Which meant… did he say something?
Takanashi-kun and I had just introduced ourselves, then we talked about the rooftop, then about Takanashi-kun dropping the formal speech… then calling me Natsumi…
Ah!
Right before she started sulking, Takanashi-kun called her "Senpai" again, didn't he?
No way… Seriously? Sara, are you actually jealous?
Um, what should I do? She looked adorable, but I couldn't just leave her like this.
I wondered if Natsumi-senpai knew what was going on… wait, what?
She was holding up her smartphone, and a single word was filled the entire screen. N… A… M… E? …Name?
She was pointing at Senpai. Did she mean Senpai’s name? Was she telling me to call Senpai by her name?
"Satsukawa-senpai?"
No reaction. If anything, did her mood just get even worse?
But the name… wait, could she mean her first name? But Natsumi-senpai was her best friend, so was it really okay for me to…
"Sara… senpai?"
Senpai’s eyes widened in surprise.
Did it work? If so, I’d try it one more time.
"Um, Sara-senpai?"
"Yes! What is it?"
She was suddenly all smiles.
I guess that was the right answer. Natsumi-senpai was even giving me a silent round of applause in the background.
I see. Because I had started calling Natsumi-senpai by her first name, it must have felt like I was leaving Sara-senpai out. I felt terrible about that.
In that case, I should probably just ask to call her that from now on.
"Sorry, I should have asked first, but would it be alright if I called you Sara-senpai from now on?"
"Yes, of course. Hehe…"
I certainly got to see a new, cute side of Senpai today. I’d have to be more careful about that kind of thing in the future.
Looks like he found the right answer.
I see, I see… maybe I should poke around a bit and see what I can find out.
Takanashi-kun seemed to have at least some feelings for Sara as well, judging by how he acted the other day. Since Sara had been constantly harassed by men in the past, I had made it my mission to keep the creeps away as much as possible.
But after seeing that incident on the rooftop, I trusted him.
At that time, Takanashi-kun must have been under a lot of psychological stress because of his history with Sara, yet he pushed past it and fought desperately to protect her.
On top of that, he was someone who could draw out hidden sides of Sara that even I didn't know existed.
Depending on how Sara truly felt, I was more than willing to help them out.
This was starting to get interesting.