“And that’s why, Takuto-kun!”
Erina-san points sharply! She points her finger at me with the hand holding her shake.
“Yes!”
“I want you to listen to Erina’s consultation!”
Just as I thought.
In the first place, I was called out to this McDonald’s in Kichijoji today just to hear this.
“Did you say something about amane finding out or something like that...?”
“That’s right!”
Erina-san slumps onto the table, saying, “I’m in trouble!”
“What is about to be found out?”
“...That Erina likes Kenji.”
“Eh, is that so!?”
Erina-san jumps and covers her ears.
“Wait, your voice is too loud!”
“S-Sorry...”
I clear my throat.
“It was about the time the two of us went to Yo-chika the day before yesterday...”
＊ ＊ ＊
“It’s actually rare for just the two of us to hang out, isn’t it?”
“I-I guess so...”
Ugh, for Erina, it feels like we do it quite often, but maybe that’s because Erina remembers each and every date over and over again by herself.
Even recently, we had a uniform date where we ate ice cream together... Oh, I just talked about how that was already two months ago.
In those two months, the number of times I went to Mac with a certain someone was way higher.
That certain someone asked, ‘The fact that we’re going to Mac, it’s not a date... right?’
I mean, what was that!? Why did he go out of his way to confirm something like that!? Is he an idiot!? Is he Takuto-kun!?
Recalling it makes me a bit angry, but whatever, it doesn’t matter. It seems that certain someone thinks it doesn’t matter either. So annoying...!
“What do you want to eat? Hamburgers?”
Kenji asks with a refreshing face as Erina groans at the entrance of Yo-chika.
“H-Hamburgers!? That’s pretty heavy... I won’t be able to eat dinner, you know?”
“Ah, I see. Normally I’d think ‘isn’t that for your second stomach?’, but Erina is a girl, after all.”
Uwaa... the double combo of being treated like a girl casually and the cuteness of a growing boy’s appetite...!
“Yeah...”
Since looking at him makes me feel all floaty, Erina looks at the floor while nodding.
“Then, how about crepes?”
There it is! The assumption that ‘Girls like sweets!’ Geez! I love that simple side of him! And Erina loves sweets! Especially chocolate! Especially chocolate!
“Crepes sound good! Oh, but crepes are also quite filling...”
“Then let’s share one!”
“S-S-Share!?”
What, what, does that kind of service even come included!?
Without thinking, Erina touched her forehead, chest, left shoulder, and right shoulder with her right hand, just as she had been taught since she was little.
“Erina, what are you doing?”
“I’m crossing myself... It’s gratitude to God...”
“Hee! I don’t really get it, but okay!”
Ah, that’s right. I have to thank God and one other dull boy...
“So, what do you want?”
“Erina wants a chocolate banana crepe!”
“Okay! I’ll treat you.”
“Eh, it’s fine, I’ll pay half.”
“No way, I can’t let a girl pay.”
“No, let me share the cost?”
“...O-Oh, then let’s split the bill in half...!”
“Yes!! ...Kenji, your face is red?”
“S-Shut up, no it’s not!”
“I wonder...?”
“Hey, don’t peek into my face! Your face is well-proportioned, so be careful about doing things like that!”
“Hmm? What do you mean...?”
“Erina-san, can I have a moment!!”
＊ ＊ ＊
“...Wait, Takuto-kun, could you please not interrupt while someone is talking?”
Erina-san, whose flow was interrupted, glares at me grumpily.
“No no no no, Erina-san, what have I been listening to for so long?”
“Eh? A consultation for my worries?”
Erina-san tilts her head with a blank look.
“Eh, what are you worried about? I mean, are you even worried about anything? It sounds like nothing but boasting about a sweet ‘more than friends, less than lovers’ couple...?”
“Oh, ‘more than friends, less than lovers’...”
Erina-san puts her hands to her cheeks and squirms happily.
“No, I wasn’t exactly complimenting you!”
This person, could it be she came here to brag under the guise of a consultation!?
When I retort, Erina-san pouts and looks at me.
“I don’t think it’s that different from what you’re always doing, Takuto-kun...?”
“What are you talking about!?”
“What do you mean ‘what’, the whole thing is like that from the start.”
“What are you talking about!?”
“Like I said...”
“What are you talking about!?”
“Never mind...”
That was close. I finally ended up using the new skill «Tautology» (The reading is way too forced...)!
“A-Anyway, fast forward! If you really have a problem, fast forward to the main point! If you want to brag, just say so! I’ll listen to everything properly if that’s the case!”
“You’ll even listen to me bragging...?”
After grinning with a ‘nihihi’,
“But I really do have a problem. Even if I don’t fast forward, I was just about to talk about it now!”
＊ ＊ ＊
“If you look at Konuma like that, I bet Konuma would fall for Erina right away.”
Kenji tells me that.
I think Erina was a bit carried away by the date with just Kenji and the fun conversation.
That’s why I made a big mistake there.
“Eh? Why Takuto-kun?”
“Huh?”
Kenji freezes, Erina freezes.
“What do you mean ‘why’? Erina, you like Konuma, don’t you?”
“...Ah! That’s right!”
“How can you forget the guy you like!”
“Ah, ahaha!”
Thinking back, I feel like my plan was almost exposed to Takuto-kun by a similar mistake before...
I thought I managed to get through that moment with the ‘laugh and dodge’ strategy, but then Kenji started saying something strange.
“On the first night of the training camp, I recommended Erina to Konuma in a roundabout way!”
“Umm... in what way?”
“I asked, ‘Is a cheerful and cute class representative your type?’”
Hmm...? It’s not my place to say, but Kenji, aren’t you bad at this?
I’ll forgive him because it’s cute how he’s puffing out his chest like ‘I did a good job!’, but...
“So, what did Takuto-kun say...?”
“Hmm, he said something I didn’t quite understand. Let’s see, what was it... He asked me back, ‘Do you like someone who acts like a fool but is actually incredibly honest, very straightforward, seems calculated but can’t do things well for the person she truly likes, and whose troubled smile is cute?’”
“...!”
Erina inadvertently gasps.
Takuto-kun, that’s...
“Hmm? I mean, does that mean he threw back exactly what I was trying to do?”
Is Kenji, who is about as dense as a certain someone, noticing something...!?
“E-Eh!? I-I wonder!?”
It’s hot! Shouldn’t we turn up the air conditioning!? I’ll drop a note in the customer feedback box at Ito-Yokado later, okay!?
“I mean, thinking about it now, that sounds like someone like Erina... Wait, uh, Erina? You like Konuma... right?”
“Kenji! Crepes! Let’s buy crepes!!”
“O-Oh...?”
＊ ＊ ＊
“Umm, so, how did things go after that...?”
Changing completely from before, I am now sitting with both hands on my knees, politely inquiring... I’m Konuma.
“For now, I hit Kenji on the back, lined up at the crepe shop, and then went home while making sure not to talk about that topic anymore...”
Erina-san ponders with a ‘mu-mu’ and looks at me intently.
“...Doesn't it seem like he’s a bit suspicious?”
“I’m sorry!!”
I lowered my head with such force that my forehead almost hit the table.
“Eh? ‘I’m sorry’, is he turning down a confession? A love triangle?” “For real, why is he dumping such a cute girl?” “Wait, the guy, isn’t he that extremely ordinary guy who was with an angelically cute girl the day before yesterday?” “Whoa, seriously. Today’s girl is a little-devil type beauty.” “The beauties around him are quite diverse.” “True. Let’s call him Taki-kun. His name is...”
Are those guys here again...! And they’re talking too much on the side lines...!
“Wait, why are you apologizing...?”
“No, because I said something unnecessary, he’s becoming suspicious...!”
I was a bit annoyed that night, or rather, I said it in the heat of the moment, but thinking about it now, I might have ruined Erina-san’s plan...
“Erina isn’t mad about that at all, you know?”
“Eh, really...?”
When I raise my head, there is Erina-san, tilting her head like a little devil.
“Yeah, not at all. Erina was really, reaaaally happy about what Takuto-kun said and did!”
It was a smile so angelic that I spaced out, combined with the feeling of relief from being forgiven.
“Even so, if he’s suspicious, what should I do... While Erina is worrying, the key person Sakoshu is kissing Takuto-kun...”
Leaving me in my daze, Erina-san continues the conversation.
“Ah, no, um...”
After everything that happened, I’ve ended up in the ultimate state of incoherence. Lame...
“But, Erina might have figured it out!”
Erina-san claps her hands.
“W-What...?”
“In this situation, whether it’s ‘love’ or ‘affection’, isn’t it the ultimate strongest if Kenji falls for Erina!?”
Looking at Erina-san, who looks like she made the discovery of the century,
“I guess so...”
That’s all I could say.
I find myself constantly admiring Erina-san.
It was said that Erina-san is the only one relying on me, but I am learning a great deal from her.
“I mean, Erina-san, you always come up with the answer yourself properly, so maybe there was no need for me to listen.”
Not out of self-deprecation, but with respect, I say this while laughing.
“No, there is a meaning!”
Erina-san replies with an even more angelic smile.
“Because Erina wanted to talk to Takuto-kun!”