And so, I was led by Erina-san to the front of a Mac.
There, Erina-san turned around and pouted her lips.
"Geez, it’s such a pain that the childhood friend-kun appeared at this timing."
"Huh? Eh?"
As usual, I could only give a pathetic, dazed response.
"Didn’t you feel something from that exchange earlier?"
"Something...?"
Erina-san glanced at me as I furrowed my brows and gave a light, exasperated sigh.
"Mmm, well, I guess that much alone was impossible after all."
"...What?"
When I repeated the question, Erina-san put on a mischievous smile.
"Well then, treat me to a shake!"
"Huh? Me? Why?"
"For everything!"
Without giving me time to refuse, I was dragged by Erina-san as she charged into the Mac.
Reluctantly, I thought that maybe this is just how it is when a guy and a girl enter a Mac together. I bought a chocolate shake for Erina-san and a hot coffee for myself, then we went up to the second floor and took a seat by the window.
"Konuma-kun, what’s that?"
"Eh, it’s coffee."
"Hee... you’re such an adult."
"No, not really."
"Well, setting that aside!"
Erina-san suddenly leaned forward to start the conversation.
"About what we were talking about earlier. About Kenji and Sakosh."
"Oh, yeah. The atmosphere between those two felt kind of bad."
"Sigh... You’re the one saying that?"
She gave an exaggerated sigh.
"Eh, is it my fault?"
"That’s right. Well, it’s not like Konuma-kun is doing anything wrong, though."
"What do you mean?"
It’s my fault but I’m not doing anything wrong? What does that even mean?
"Listen, I want you to keep this a secret, okay?"
"Nn?"
Having said that, Erina-san showed a gesture of checking her surroundings for a split second, then lowered her voice and whispered in my ear.
"Kenji is aiming for Sakosh, you see."
"...Ah, I see."
For some reason, I ended up responding in formal speech.
By 'aiming for,' she means in a romantic sense, right...?
"Actually, things were going pretty well with Sakosh. It's really hard to tell with Sakosh, but if you've been together for a long time, you can at least tell from the changes in her expression."
"Well, that's true."
"Ah, that’s right, you’re childhood friends after all. You’ve been together much, muuuuuch longer than Erina has."
She giggled.
I can’t quite read her expression, but she doesn’t seem like a bad person.
"But then, why haven't I seen Konuma-kun and Sakosh together until today...?"
Erina-san made a duck face and tilted her head slightly.
"No, well, there are various reasons for that... Rather, Erina...san, aren't you and Kenji...san dating?"
I asked while dodging her question slightly.
"Ehh!? We're not dating! Why? Do we look like it? In what way?"
She asked with an 'Erina is shocked!' kind of face. And for some reason, she seemed somewhat happy.
"Eh, no, because the two of you were eating ice cream in Kichijoji..."
"Ah, so that’s it... No, no, I’m returning those words right back at you. Kenji’s mood got bad because Sakosh and Konuma-kun were walking together, you know."
"Eh!? Eh? Sako and I aren't, re-re-re-really like that..."
I flustered. (Lame.)
"I know, you're not Konuma-kun's type anyway."