The story continues.
Sasaki slipped into the dog costume without a single complaint, wrapped in the warmth I had left behind. Just thinking about it sent a swarm of caterpillars racing up my spine. The crepes I’d eaten with Ichinose and the others were staging a full revolt in my stomach. I felt like I could start producing fresh cream from my mouth at any moment.
Sasaki, on the other hand, had completely ditched the gloomy expression he’d worn earlier. He was now flashing a bright smile, fully committed to his role as the shill for the Quiz Contest. The guy was only here as backup for the Cultural Festival Executive Committee, so why was he the most popular attraction? And why did the exact same costume look so much better on him? Why did he have to pull off the shepherd look better than me? Knock it off already.
There was no point complaining. I wanted to ask about Yuki-chan, but Sasaki’s hands were full with the performance. At least there was no chance of her bursting in on us in this situation, so we could finally breathe for a moment. If she did charge in, I’d have no choice but to tame the dragon.
The moment I changed back into my uniform and stepped into the hallway, my phone vibrated in my pocket.
【Found Yuki-chan.】
◆
Behind the East Building. After passing through a garden archway that wasn’t particularly well maintained and was overgrown with grass and flowers, the familiar gazebo came into view. Hey, Wife… you do realize this area is off-limits for certain reasons, right?
Pushing forward with a bitter feeling in my chest, I found three girls sitting on the circular bench: Yuki-chan, Ichinose, and Sasaki-san. A JC, a JK, and a JD all gathered in one place. All complete—wait, wrong joke.
Whether Sasaki-san counted as a D or not was beside the point… Three girls alone in a deserted spot behind the school building… Nice. It was a feast for the eyes. Maybe I should just stay hidden and watch…
“Ah! Sajou-senpai!”
“Ah.”
Busted.
There was no way I could have gotten close enough to hide anyway. Sasaki-san spotted me right as my footsteps would have reached them. Inside me, the urge to keep watching and the joy of being found so quickly were clashing violently… Please stop fighting over me.
“He’s back in his uniform…”
Ichinose, sitting between Sasaki-san and Yuki-chan, gently laid her hand over Yuki-chan’s and let out a relieved sigh when she saw me. She had been somewhat reserved toward Yuki-chan earlier, so what exactly had happened while I was gone…?
“Yuki-chan, did you meet up with Sasaki?”
“…Sajou-kun.”
When I tried speaking to her, Yuki-chan gave no response. Instead, Ichinose called my name with a slightly annoyed look. It was fine. For Yuki-chan, anything involving Sasaki was always a delicate subject. No matter when you brought it up, it only served as a detonator. Besides, we couldn’t move the conversation forward without asking her.
“…I didn’t meet him.”
Yuki-chan wasn’t looking down in depression. Instead, she stared sullenly at a spot on the ground a little ways ahead.
Yeah, this wasn’t normal. The Yuki-chan I knew was perpetually in a bad mood whenever Sasaki wasn’t around. She would have mercilessly shaken off Ichinose’s hand. The fact that she was sitting still in this place without her brother, not muttering “big brother, big brother, big brother” like some curse, felt incredibly off.
“Um… I found her walking alone…”
When I asked Sasaki-san, she explained that she had spotted Yuki-chan walking by herself. However, she had immediately noticed that something seemed strange. Come to think of it, the only version of Yuki-chan I had seen since we met was the “something’s strange” version. Was that just me? Where was the normal Yuki-chan?
“Then——hm?”
As I tried to continue the conversation, Sasaki-san moved. She scooted roughly one butt-width away from Yuki-chan, opening up enough space for one person between them. Still seated, she looked up at me as if to say, “Go ahead.”
…Wait, you want me to sit? There? You want me to sit in the order J-J-D-J from left to right?
This was bad… I had planned to move the conversation along quickly, but the situation had suddenly become extremely tense. There was one seat open, but it was still one seat. If I sat there, I would end up in extremely close proximity to the two girls on either side. Um, maybe we could all spread out a little more…?
Three girls sitting tightly pressed together was a very, very berry nice sight, but the courage required to jump into that gap was a bit too high for someone whose heart was already bald like mine. Well, I did want to jump in, though.
I once had the wish to be sandwiched between Natsukawa and Ashida’s yuri-pple formation, but I never imagined a similar chance would fall into my lap so unexpectedly.
If I may offer some wisdom as your senior in life, Sasaki-san, you should probably take Yuki-chan’s feelings into consideration.
“…What are you standing there for?”
“Ah, yes.”
What was I supposed to do? I’d just received the green light from both sides. Did the extra year I’d lived mean nothing? If anything, the fact that I was overthinking the distance between opposite sexes made me look like the lame one…
This wasn’t the time to be going through an “Sitting between girls is so embarrassing~” adolescent phase. From Yuki-chan’s perspective, even with the space between us, being stared at directly from the front seemed too much for her. Her sense of dread had apparently won out over my sense of shame.
Exchanging a glance with Sasaki-san, I sat down in the open gap. U-woahhh… I could feel this year’s luck being violently shaved away…!
“………”
“………”
“………”
“………”
A single beat of silence passed while we simply sat pressed close together. I was definitely not savoring this moment. It’s fine, I get it. If anyone was going to take the lead with this group of four, it had to be me. I couldn’t stay quiet.
“So? What happened?”
“………”
I asked while facing forward. I didn’t turn toward Yuki-chan. At this distance, I felt like something sharp would stab me in the thigh if I did. I couldn’t make any careless moves against Yuki-chan, the hidden-weapon user.
No answer came. I hadn’t expected her to answer honestly anyway, so that was fine. In that case, I would just make my own guesses until I hit the mark.
“You looked for Sasaki but didn’t meet him.”
“………”
“——But you did find him.”
“…!”
I became certain after seeing Yuki-chan’s reaction.
There was no other possible cause that could make Yuki-chan act this strangely in such a short time except for something involving Sasaki. Therefore, it was almost certain she had found him. What was strange, however, was why she wasn’t by his side despite having found him. Normally, Yuki-chan would have charged in without hesitation…
“…I had never seen it before.”
“…Huh?”
“Onii-chan’s… face like that.”
“………”
U-ugh… I couldn’t follow the story. For now, I understood that Sasaki had made some weird face. And seeing it had prevented Yuki-chan from approaching. Was it the kind of face he only showed when he was with a girl…? Was he grinning like an idiot or something? I’ll beat the crap out of that bastard.
“What kind of face was it?”
“Sajou-kun…!”
In terms of holding worries because she adored her brother, Ichinose was probably in a similar position. Perhaps because of their similar circumstances, it felt like Ichinose had completely taken Yuki-chan’s side.
But somehow, I felt like Yuki-chan’s issue was a different breed from Ichinose’s situation… Sorry to say it, but unlike Kuma-san-senpai, Sasaki was popular. From what I’d heard, it had been the same since middle school. Yuki-chan should already understand that her big brother was the type who attracted a lot of romance. If she was looking away from that truth, that was no good.
“He was confessed to by a vixen and turned bright red.”
“Wait a second.”
Did I mishear that? No, I probably didn’t.
I had instinctively hit the brakes on an unpleasant truth. Unless it was the sweet-and-sour story of an acquaintance I was somewhat close with, or some inside joke, I really didn’t want to hear it seriously.
“Sigh… So that’s what happened.”
“Yes…”
“W-why do you look depressed too, Sajou-senpai?”
“Don’t mind me.”
That bastard finally got himself confessed to, huh? And why the hell did he blush? You already have someone you like, you dense idiot. You’re the soccer club’s promising first-year, a handsome guy who’s popular with girls, so don’t go making such a pure and innocent reaction…! It leaves us unpopular guys with nowhere to stand…! Seriously, Tojinbo.
“More importantly, did you actually see that moment?”
“………”
“Yes… The three of us did.”
“Wait, you too, Sasaki-san?”
“We saw Yuki-chan heading toward the back of that building and followed her…”
“Ehh…”
So you were peeping. Plus, three girls going behind the school building is dangerous. Maybe it was careless of me to leave Ichinose and Sasaki-san alone. Next time I go out with these two, I should try not to stray too far… Well, it’s not like those kinds of days will come that often——no, please let them come.
———Please come!!!!!!