“Muuu, Erina wanted to drink coffee!”
“Then should we go back to Mac?”
I walked briskly, brushing off the grumbling coming from behind me.
“Nooo, I wanted to drink the Tapioca Royal Milk Tea from Excelsior!”
“That’s not even coffee...”
I was currently heading toward the station, pulling along the bag of a certain devil who was wearing a smile full of mischief ever since she saw Azuma and Otomo-kun about to enter Excelsior Caffé and tried to tail them.
I mean, Otomo-kun, choosing Excelsior instead of Mac or Starbucks... that’s quite a sophisticated choice.
Azuma is quiet by nature and probably wouldn't let someone treat her to something expensive, so choosing a place where they wouldn't run into other students while keeping the burden on Azuma light felt like the best move. I don’t know much about it, but Starbucks is pretty expensive, right?
“Takuto-kun, are you perhaps in a bad mood? Is it because Yuri got a boyfriend~?”
“No way, what are you even saying?”
“It’s no way, huh...”
For some reason, Erina-san let out a slightly lonely-sounding voice.
“It’s not that, I just can’t let you cause trouble for Azuma. ...I mean, wait, he’s not her boyfriend, right? Probably, at least, not yet... Wait, is he? No way, really?”
“Ehehe, so you are curious...? Hmm, well, Erina doesn’t think so either.”
After making a pondering gesture, Erina-san suddenly looked up and peered into my eyes.
“Either way is fine, but,”
Looking at Erina-san’s expression, a small laugh escaped me.
Even though she had been wearing that devilish, spiteful face until just a moment ago,
“It would be nice if Yuri could properly become happy, wouldn't it?”
Because she suddenly smiled so kindly.
The reason I can’t bring myself to truly hate this person is probably because, somewhere in her core, she is always overflowing with affection.
I secretly prayed that such a kind person would spend the next two days with as little pain as possible, and if possible, be able to smile as much as she could when that time came two days later.
I returned home, finished dinner, and was now relaxing on the sofa with my younger sister.
Yuzu was lying down with her head on the armrest of the sofa reading a manga, her feet resting on my lap.
“What are you reading?”
“Nn.”
Without saying a word, she turned the cover toward me. The title read, 『I Fell in Love Once More.』
“Hmm. Is it interesting?”
“Shut up.”
“Sorry...”
It seemed she was so absorbed in it that being talked to by her footrest was annoying. Who are you calling a footrest?
While I was performing the high-level comedy of a mental straight-man routine, the smartphone I had left on the table vibrated.
“Uoh.”
“Nn? Let’s see... Is that read as ‘Amane-san’? The musician Takku used to be obsessed with back in the day had a name like that too, didn’t they?”
Yuzu shifted her gaze to my phone and read the name displayed on the screen.
“Hey, don’t just look at my screen. Read your manga.”
“I’m more interested in this.”
“Is that manga that boring?”
“Hah? It’s super interesting!”
I don’t think my phone screen has more entertainment value than that, though.
“Anyway, just answer it. Amane-san will get angry, you know?”
“O-Oh.”
I’d rather not have Amane-san get angry... As I tried to stand up to head back to my room,
“...Hey, your legs.”
“Nn?”
Yuzu put strength into the feet she had placed on my lap.
“Could you please move your feet?”
“You can just answer here. Right?”
She flashed a mischievous grin.
“No, I can't really do that...”
“Why? Is it bad if Yuzu hears? Your call with Amane-san. I mean, look, if you don’t answer quickly! LINE has a feature where if you don’t answer within 30 rings, it counts as a call rejection and automatically deletes the other person from your ‘Friends’ list, you know?”
“Seriously!?”
Thinking it was bad, I answered the phone which had likely already rung over a dozen times.
『Hello? Konuma-kun?』
A beautiful voice came through.
“You totally got tricked~!”
Yuzu snickered, hiding the lower half of her face with her manga. It was a lie...!
“O-Oh. Ichikawa. What’s up?”
『............』
Silence was the only response. Wait, we were connected just a second ago...
“What’s the matter...?”
『Does a phone call not qualify as “when we are alone”?』
“Ah...”
She was definitely rebuking me for how I addressed her. No, but...
“Umm, right now isn't a good time...”
『Hmph... fine then, I’m hanging up.』
“Ehh!?”
Since it’s a smartphone, it shouldn't have made such a sound, but the call cut off with a metaphorical click.
“Takku, did you actually get scolded...?”
Yuzu looked up at me with an expression that said, ‘And will Takku scold Yuzu too?’ Before I knew it, she had withdrawn her feet.
“I mean, could it be that Ichikawa Amane-san and Takku are...”
“I’m going back to my room.”
“Ah, okay...”
I looked at Yuzu, who shrugged as she watched me stand up.
“No, don’t worry about it. It’s not really Yuzu’s fault.”
I told her with a smile.
“Ah, yeah, thanks...”
Well, I mean, it *is* Yuzu’s fault, though...!