『Yuri invited Sako Hasu to the group "Project amane-sama."』
『Sako Hasu joined the group.』
That night, when I returned to my room after taking a bath, a LINE notification was waiting for me.
After school, a LINE notification... I'm not a loner anymore...!
It seems like since Sako already found out that Azuma is writing the lyrics, they decided to just put everyone together.
Sako Hasu: 『What's with this group name?』
Amane: 『Wawa, Yuri, change the group name before calling Sako-san!』
Yuri: 『Ah, sorry lol』
Some kind of conversation had already started.
As I watched, speech bubbles popped up one after another like soap bubbles.
Whoa, it feels so real-time...!
Yuri: 『What should we do? Have we decided on a band name?』
Amane: 『Ah— we haven't decided yet...』
Yuri: 『We should probably decide! What other bands are in the Rock Club?』
Amane: 『Cherry Boys, for example.』
Yuri: 『Cherry Boys!?』
Amane: 『That's Hazama-kun's band.』
Yuri: 『So Kenji's band had a name like that lol』
Sako Hasu: 『It's because they performed Spitz's "Cherry" during the first-year school festival.』
Yuri: 『Ah— I see. Amane, do you have any ideas?』
Amane: 『Hmm...』
I thought about saying something too, and while I was tapping away at the keyboard, the conversation kept moving forward.
Is this the speed of a girls' chat...?
Amane: 『Ah, sorry! I was told to go take a bath! I'll think about it in the tub!』
Yuri: 『Okey-dokey! I think I'll hop in too!』
Amane: 『I'm off!』
Yuri: 『Be right ba—』
Sako Hasu: 『Okay.』
The bath...!?
It's not like I'm seeing any footage of them in the bath (obviously), but my heart started racing for some reason.
Sako Hasu: 『Takuto? Are you watching?』
Whoa, the conversation was turned to me.
I'm grateful that Sako didn't forget my existence even in this flow...
Then, another bubble popped up.
Sako Hasu: 『If you're thinking about anything weird, I'll kill you.』
Scary!?
While I was going "hieee...", my phone vibrated again.
I wondered what it was, and when I looked—
Erina: 『Konuma-kun, thanks for today! Sorry for saying weird stuff!』
It was a message from Erina-san.
Erina: 『It's the first LINE from your girlfriend! Just kidding lol』
Don't "just kidding" me...
In the first place, I never said I would date her.
Erina-san's objective was this.
I recalled the scene at Mac from this evening.
＊ ＊ ＊
"Would it trouble you if I asked you to date Erina?"
"...Huh?"
I seriously didn't know what she was talking about.
"Hmm— maybe that's the wrong way to put it. Would it trouble you if people thought you were dating Erina?"
"Rather than being troubled, uh, Erina-san, you like Hazama, don't you?"
"That's right?"
Erina-san tilted her head.
I tilted my head at the same angle.
"...Copycat?"
"No, I don't understand the meaning of what you're saying at all."
"Aha, that makes sense. What Erina is thinking is really sneaky, after all."
"Hah...?"
After taking a long sip of her shake, Erina-san opened her mouth.
"You see, I want to get Kenji's attention."
"Hazama's attention?"
"Yep! Probably, Kenji thinks Erina will always be by his side, so he doesn't pay any attention to Erina at all."
"I see..."
"That's why!"
She held up her index finger and explained.
"If I show him that Erina is getting close to another boy, he'll realize, 'Wait? Is Erina actually the most important person to me...!?' That's the plan!"
"I see..."
"So, I was thinking, what if I showed off a bit of an atmosphere like that with Konuma-kun!"
She had a smile that practically said, "Ta-da!"
I let out a sigh.
"It doesn't click?"
"No, I understand what you're saying. But isn't that a bad move?"
"Akushu?" (Handshake?)
As she said that, Erina-san reached her hand out toward me.
"No, not a handshake... I'm saying it might be a 'bad move' (akushu)."
"Why?"
"Because, normally..."
I was about to say that if he just ends up congratulating us, it's over, but the words got stuck in my throat.
I noticed that Erina-san, who was smiling, was trembling slightly.
Even Erina-san was scared.
A risk that someone like me could think of, she must have already calculated it long ago.
Even so, she was making this proposal to me.
That's how much of a gamble this is for her.
"Normally, what?"
"...Wouldn't it be better if it wasn't someone like me?"
Half out of honesty and half to dodge the question, I finally said that.
"No, Konuma-kun is fine," Erina-san said firmly.
"Why?"
"If it's not Konuma-kun, it has no meaning."
Saying that, she reached out with her extended hand and forcefully grabbed my hand that was resting on the table.
"Please, I'm asking you?"
＊ ＊ ＊
Takuto Konuma: 『I'm not your boyfriend.』
I managed to reply that much.
Erina: 『Eh—? Was that so? lol』
She's using "lol," but what's so funny?
Erina: 『By the way, Konuma-kun, how do you read your first name? Takujin?』
Takujin... really?
Takuto Konuma: 『Takuto.』
Erina: 『Then, you're Takuto-kun!』
Takuto Konuma: 『Huh?』
Erina: 『I've decided to call you that! Well then, I'm going to take a bath!』
Takuto Konuma: 『Eh?』
Seriously, don't everyone go reporting their baths to me before they go.
Though it does make me a little happy, feeling like they've opened up to me.