So, I’m not creepy to Natsukawa anymore... huh. Can I take that as a sign that she doesn’t feel any disgust toward me? Or is that a separate issue entirely? What does it all even mean?
“Even if I’m not creepy, why now of all times...? You were so adamant before, Natsukawa. You said you’d ‘never let me meet your sister.’ You were so intense about it that I figured it was because she’s your precious little sister. Lately, I’ve been so scared of that reaction that I’ve gone out of my way to avoid even bringing her up...”
“Wait, if that’s the case... —H-Hang on, Aichi, this is the first I’ve heard of this!”
“Ugh...”
Oh... the Goddess has returned! She has been resurrected! Her noble countenance, let me see her noble counte—whoa, she looks incredibly sour. Yeah, I’m definitely still creepy, aren’t I? She looks more distressed than I’ve ever seen her.
“B-But... Kei would definitely get mad...”
“Well, obviously! After you rejected the idea so many times, what’s with the sudden ‘I’ll let him meet her after all’?! What kind of contrarian are you!?”
“Ugh, ooh...”
O-Oh... I don’t really get it, but Ashida is really laying into Natsukawa today. It’s a rare sight. Usually, Ashida is the one sticking to Natsukawa and wagging her tail while Natsukawa pets her like a holy mother.
“I-I told you already...! I didn’t feel this way until just recently!”
“Hah?! Why am I the one getting snapped at!?”
“—Wait, hey, both of you, stop! You’re basically having a fight!”
Nuisance behavior: prohibited, absolutely. Look, the Female Clerk over there is staring—hey, why is she looking at me? This isn’t some messy lovers' quarrel or anything, okay? Why are you looking at me with those half-closed eyes like I’m total trash!?
I stood up to stop them as their voices grew louder. In Natsukawa’s case, it felt like she was acting out of pure desperation. It was a rare argument between the two of them. If I didn't step in, things might reach a point of no return. I managed to intervene and mediate from across the table.
“L-Look, I really don't care what people say about me! I’ll just sit quietly and listen to whatever you two decide!”
“R-Really...?”
“Really, really!”
“—Hmph.”
When I interjected with words so soft and conciliatory they wouldn't break even if you threw porcelain at them, Natsukawa turned a dizzyingly adorable face toward me with watery eyes. Meanwhile, Ashida snorted in dissatisfaction.
What is this? It’s like I’m the usual Ashida. Natsukawa is acting like me, and Ashida is acting like Natsukawa. It’s like every role has been swapped. I didn’t know things like this happened. So, am I the girl now? Tee-hee. Someone kill me.
No, but I was genuinely surprised. I didn’t know things like this were possible. To think Natsukawa held feelings toward me that weren’t negative... In terms of favorability, I thought I was at the absolute minimum, or even in the negatives. I was happy, but it didn't feel real yet.
“It might be a weird way to put it... but what brought this on? Did my level reach a certain point? Did I finally meet some kind of screening criteria?”
“W-What are you talking about... I’m not doing any screening.”
“It’s about whether you’re creepy or not, right? And since you thought he was creepy but it turns out he’s actually not, you decided to let him meet Ai-chan.”
Could you maybe stop saying “creepy” over and over again...? Even if it’s not being said directly to our faces, just hearing a girl say that word makes guys flinch. It’s seriously bad for the heart.
“I-It’s not like that.”
“It’s not like that?”
It wasn't like that? I was so shocked that my entire being went into full-on straight-man mode. Wait, so I am creepy? To give me hope like that and then do this to me—thank you very much. No, this is rough...
“Sigh...”
“Ugh...!”
Ashida let out a deliberate sigh. It was clearly pointed at Natsukawa. So this is what she meant by the conversation not moving forward.
In that case, I should just ask a pinpoint question that she can’t dodge. I had said something unnecessary earlier, after all.
“I’ll set aside the change of heart regarding not wanting us to meet until now. But what’s with ‘I want you to meet her’ instead of just ‘I’ll allow you to meet her’? Is there some special reason?”
“T-That’s...”
A-Ah...! Natsukawa’s face was turning red—ah, so cute! Super cute! Is she embarrassed!? Is Natsukawa-san actually embarrassed!? Is it just hard to answer because she’d asserted so firmly that she’d never let us meet!?
Stop making that face! My heart only just turned over a new leaf, but my temptations are—!
Just as I was about to break, the fries we ordered finally arrived. Couldn’t they have brought them out a bit sooner? It was already night and there weren’t many people in the place—ah, that clerk from before... Eek, she glared at me again.
“Well? What is it?”
“T-T-That’s...”
Though the momentum was nearly lost due to the clerk’s interruption, Ashida forcibly put the conversation back on track. I mean, the pressure was a bit much. Natsukawa-san wasn’t just embarrassed anymore; she looked like she was answering out of sheer terror. The color was draining from her face.
“—Because of... Sasaki-kun...”
“Eh...?”
“B-Because of Sasaki-kun...”
“Sasakin?”
“You call that guy ‘Sasakin’...?”
Sasaki... huh. I didn’t know why the name of our class’s resident handsome guy had come up, but hearing it from the person I liked didn’t feel great. Next time, I’m going to tell his sister, Yuki-chan, all sorts of made-up stories about him...
When I questioned the nickname, Ashida met me with a glare that said “Just shut up.” I couldn’t help it; Ashida, what on earth is your naming sense? I was stunned. Just so you know, my own nickname makes people go, “Wait, who?” Thinking about it normally, when someone hears “Sajocchi,” they’d wonder, “What kind of face does he have?”
“—Because Airi... took a liking to Sasaki-kun. And everyone else too...”
“…?”
“…?”
Isn't that a great thing? Was there something weird about it?
I recalled the photo with Airi-chan that Sasaki had shown me—or rather, bragged to me about—after he’d gone to Natsukawa’s house with the girls from our class. I’m sure the girls took plenty of photos while surrounding Airi-chan, too. It was a heartwarming sight. Yeah, seriously, Sasaki, go ahead and have your harem, you bastard.
“Wait, is it bad that she took a liking to them?”
“I-It’s not bad, but...”
“Come to think of it, Ai-chan was overwhelmed trying to remember everyone’s names, wasn’t she?”
“Heh.”
That was a story I could easily play back in my head. I could see Airi-chan being surrounded by everyone, being petted and adored while everyone tried to drill their names into her, looking all confused. How heartwarming. Sasaki, you get out of here.
The atmosphere completely shifted, becoming quite cozy. Such is the fearsome angelic power of Airi-chan; it seemed even the friction with Ashida was easily dissipating.
“And? What about it?”
“You’re really frustrated, aren’t you?”
“Shut up.”
Ow-ow-ow-ow...! This girl... she was accurately stomping on the tip of my toe! She seriously has a nasty personality!
“A-And then... I felt like it was ‘not right’...”
“Not right...?”
What wasn’t right? In this context, it meant she wasn’t satisfied with something, right? Natsukawa had originally said that meeting me would be “bad for her upbringing.” Does that mean Sasaki and the others were also like that? And since she’s at the point of tolerating me, does that mean they were even worse? What on earth did everyone do...?
“Do you mean you regret letting Shirai-san and the others, or Sasaki, meet Airi-chan? Like it felt like a bad influence...”
“N-No, that’s not it!”
“A-Oh, okay...”
If even the gentle-type Shirai-san was a no-go, that would be incredibly strict. I’d be at a level where I shouldn't even enter her field of vision. I was glad it wasn't because Shirai-san actually had a nasty personality. That would have had enough destructive power to make every boy fall to his knees.
“…………I see.”
“Eh.”
Eh...? You figured it out? Wait a second, Ashida. Don’t leave me behind. Why are you nodding with your arms crossed like you’ve reached some understanding all by yourself? Is it that thing men can’t understand? Is this what they call a maiden’s heart? A Corner-type Guy like me could never truly understand that...
As cold sweat dripped down my face, I made eye contact with Ashida. Realizing my expression was a story of total incomprehension, she let out a massive sigh toward me this time. Hey, wait, that really stings.
“—You couldn’t accept it, could you? The fact that Ai-chan was remembering all these other classmates while leaving out a certain someone who's actually the closest to her—and that certain someone wasn't even there.”
“…uugh.”
“…Come again?”
“So you ended up overlapping Sajocchi with Sasakin.”
“P-Please, stop already...”
……Huh?