＜Author's Comment＞
It's been a while.
The '3.5th Song' begins.
I plan to occasionally upload stories that aren't directly related to the main plot during the 3rd song.
Updates will be irregular, but I hope you enjoy them.
The after-school of the day after I got permission from Ichikawa to go to Mac with Erina-san.
『Tomorrow, let's go home together?』
Having made that promise over the phone last night as a 'reward for being well-behaved,' the two of us were now being swayed by a train headed toward Kichijoji.
After glancing at the well-defined profile of the girl sitting to my left, I crossed my arms and pondered.
If I take 'going home together' at face value, it means 'sharing the path home,' so one could consider the 'reward' already completed.
Of course, I wasn't being presumptuous enough to think, 'Look, I've done this much for you.'
I simply wanted to calmly analyze how much she expected and fulfill it without deficiency. Because, you know, maintaining a balance of feelings seems important...
If this was to make up for yesterday, then if Ichikawa's schedule was free, I felt like... well, how should I put it... we should do something like going to Mac for a shake, or rather, it was what I hoped for. While thinking I'd love to join her if she'd have me, I hadn't been able to bring it up smoothly, and our train journey—only two stops to Kichijoji—had already begun.
If I couldn't say anything until right before we got off, it might end up being a vague, "Ah, well then..." "Yeah... see you later" kind of situation. Last time, I ended up making Ichikawa invite me at that timing...
Yeah, if Ichikawa has plans, she has plans; if she doesn't want to go, she doesn't. I should just make that clear. It's just a confirmation process. It's not weird.
...I just cursed my own lameness for not being able to do something this simple.
But there's no use complaining. I need to be ambitious. Have courage, Takuto Konuma.
I took a deep breath and braced myself. ...Alright.
"Ah—... um, Ichikawa?"
"............"
"Oh..."
...After all that buildup, the courage and resolve I finally mustered fell flat; Ichikawa met me with silence.
She seemed to have heard me (well, you'd hear someone speaking from right next to you), as her right ear twitched, but she didn't turn toward me. Instead, she was tapping the tips of her other four fingers with her left thumb, seemingly checking their hardness.
Yeah, that's right, a guitarist's finger pads get hard... Also, the silence is her ignoring me on purpose...
No, I know. As an opening address, this apparently isn't allowed. She got angry and hung up on me once during our LINE call yesterday for that very reason...
"A... a..."
But we're still on the train. I've confirmed there are no Musashino International students around, but still...
"A..."
I couldn't help but hesitate to say the two characters that followed.
"A..."
"Geez, am I talking to Kaonashi-san...?"
After my fourth "A...", Ichikawa, seemingly unable to bear the pathetic display of the boy sitting next to her, spoke up in exasperation.
"Sorry... I was about to call you Chihiro."
"...So you call Chihiro-chan by her first name?"
"That's because she's not a real person..."
"If you say that, I'll make my existence disappear from reality for your sake, Konuma-kun?"
"Stop it, that's scary..."
While I was shuddering at her casual yandere remark, Ichikawa clapped her hands as if to reset the mood.
"Okay. Then, let's try our best so I can stay in reality? It's fine. Once you say it, it's just a breath, and once you get used to it, I'm sure you'll be able to say it more casually."
"What is that, medicine or something...?"
"Look, look, it's just going to get harder to say, right?"
She peered into my face with a smirk.
"You're enjoying this..."
"...I was really looking forward to my reward, you know?"
Being hit with such an unexpectedly expectant, yet slightly lonely and overly effective spoiled act, I finally had no place to run.
I took another deep breath.
...Alright.
As expected, I couldn't say it while looking at her face, so I shifted my gaze to my feet and whispered softly in as low a voice as possible.
"...Amane."
"...!"
Then, there was no response from beside me.
"...Hey?"
I just plucked up my courage, you know? Unable to bear the silence, I looked up to find Ichikawa wide-eyed and biting her lip, as if she had been struck by something incredible.
"...What's wrong?"
After another silence of about two seconds—
"...S-Sorry. Just... I was so happy, it felt like my breath stopped for a moment...!"
She hurriedly pressed her right hand near her blazer's breast pocket and took deep, steadying breaths.
"No, after you made me say it..."
"It's because you teased me so much, Konuma-kun...!"
"S-Sorry..."
I wasn't entirely sure if it was my fault, but since she had a point, I decided to apologize honestly for now.
"No, I'm sorry too...!"
Still leaning forward slightly, Ichikawa tucked her hair behind her ear with her right hand.
"S-So, what is it?" she asked.
"Ah... well... if you're free after this, or if you have something you want to do... is there anything?"
Man, I really have zero smoothness...
"Ah, that's right! I forgot to say, didn't I? I thought you'd be troubled, so I thought of something I want to do."
"Eh, really? Thanks... Sorry, I didn't think of anything..."
"Why? It's totally fine. It's a reward for me, after all."
An angel smiled at me. The sunlight streaming through the window softly illuminated that smile.
"So, what's the thing you want to do?"
"Yeah, I want to try going to a place called a manga cafe, how about it?"
I tilted my head at the unexpected proposal.
"A manga cafe...? That's fine, but why?"
"Yeah. I heard from a younger girl at the club presidents' meeting recently that a manga called 'Once More, I Fell in Love' is really interesting. I want to try reading it."
"Ah... Yuzu was reading that."
I felt like that was what she was reading yesterday while using me as a footrest.
As I thought that, Ichikawa was staring at me blankly.
"Yuzu-san... is your sister... right?"
"She's my sister, what's with that look...?"
"Okay, then that's good. Since it's you, Konuma-kun, I wondered what I'd do if it was a new rival."
"What do you think I am..."
When I asked with an exasperated look—
"I think you're a charming boy. ...That's why I'm saying it."
Ichikawa pouted her lips as if sulking.
"O-Oh..."
Embarrassed, I ended up scratching my cheek.
"A-Anyway, how about it? The manga cafe."
"Of course, it's fine..."
『We will soon arrive at Kichijoji, Kichijoji...』
Even though autumn had arrived, the heat I felt—was it because of the sunlight through the window at my back, the lukewarm stares from around the train car, or because the girl next to me had red cheeks...?
"...Konuma-kun, your body feels kind of hot?"
＜Author's Comment＞
With that, the manga cafe chapter will be uploaded soon!
Please look forward to it!