Source
https://kakuyomu.jp/works/16818622176550308690/episodes/16818622177062940358
After school.
As I was getting ready to go home alone, my neighbor, Renka, spoke to me.
“Hey, Akito…”
Her voice was quiet. Maybe she had a cold.
“What’s wrong, Renka? You don’t sound well.”
“Eh? No, it’s just…”
“If you’re not feeling well, maybe you should skip club activities today.”
“No, that’s not it. Actually, today is a day off anyway…”
“Oh, I see. Sorry for saying something unnecessary. See you next week.”
Tomorrow is Saturday. In other words, it’s a day off.
I wanted to finish my review as soon as possible and catch up with the current lessons. …Well, I’m also looking forward to playing Enfil as a break.
“Wait !”
And then—Renka grabbed my sleeve tightly.
When I turned around, she was looking at me with a worried expression. She was so cute that I couldn’t look her in the eye. I seriously thought she was an angel.
“Um, Akito…”
“Oh, yeah. What is it…?”
“Um, you see? I want to go home with Akito…”
Renka’s cherry-colored lips were about to say something.
“—Ayatacchi ! Hey, let’s go home together !”
A cheerful voice. A beautiful girl with blonde side-tail hair, Suzukita Miyuki, waved her hand at me.
At the same time, Koiuta looked away from me and let go of my sleeve.
“Huh. Perhaps Renren has something to do with Ayatacchi?”
“Eh? Me?”
“Yeah, Renren. Were you tryna go home with Ayatacchi?”
“What…n-no way ! Why would I have to invite that stupid Akito…!”
Renka’s face turned red, and she puffed out her cheeks. …She’s so cute, seriously.
Well, I guess Renka didn’t want to go to and from school with me after all. It seems like my choice was the right one, so I’m relieved for now.
Then, Suzukita san smiled so brightly it was almost blinding, and said,
“Then I’ll take Ayatacchi home ! See ya later, Renren !”
When Suzukita-san said that, Koiuta looked stunned,
“…Huh?”
It must have been quite a shock for her that the beautiful classmate had become my friend. Renka’s mouth twitched, and sweat even appeared on her forehead.
I waved lightly at Renka,
“That’s how it is. See you next week, Renka.”
“………”
Renka didn’t say anything back.
Maybe she doesn’t want to talk to me anymore. If that’s the case, maybe I should keep my distance from Renka even more than I already do.
Thinking about that, I left school with Suzukita san.
I felt like Renka was trying to say something at the end, but…well, that’s probably not the case.
◇◇◇
Night. After dinner and a bath, I was studying, which was unusual for me.
After studying for about two hours, my smartphone beeped.
I looked at it and saw that I had received a notification on RING, a popular messaging app.
“…Oh, it’s Suzukita san.”
We exchanged contact information when we became friends today.
It seemed that Suzukita san had already sent me a message.
The content was a screenshot of the Anfil gacha results. It simply said, “Look” with a peace sign emoji attached.
“Oh, Suzukita san, you pulled the Garyusha gacha. Well, you said you were a fan of the count, so I guess you like this kind of cool older guy character.”
I replied to Suzukita san with just “Like” and sent a stamp that seemed appropriate.
And immediately, Suzukita san replied again.
[(Miyuki) Speaking of which.]
[(Miyuki) I have something I wanna tell Ayatacchi.]
Something she wants to say? … What could it be? This is a little scary.
If she suddenly says, “There’s no way someone like you, a social outcast, could be my friend, haha,” I probably won’t be able to recover for a while.
[(Akito) What?]
[(Miyuki) Ayatacchi is a fan of Sana chan, right?]
[(Miyuki) And then I suddenly thought…]
What is it really? I’m getting more and more scared.
If she suddenly said, “You’re such a loser, and you’re a fan of Sana-chan, you’re so obvious and creepy, haha” I probably wouldn’t be able to go to school for a while.
[(Miyuki) Sana chan, you know.]
[(Miyuki) Well, kind of, but really.]
[(Miyuki) Doesn’t she look like Renren?]
Ugh—this girl is attacking me from an unexpected angle.
Sana is a beauty. She has brown hair, a semi-long style, a kind personality, and is very considerate.
Plus, she’s the protagonist’s childhood friend.
I hadn’t noticed it before, but now that you mention it, they have a lot in common.
But from my perspective…
[(Akito) They don’t look alike.]
[(Miyuki) Huh? Really?]
[(Akito) Sana’s biggest charm is her tsundere personality.]
[(Akito) But Renka isn’t like that, is she?]
That’s right. That’s exactly it.
Sana is the typical tsundere character. She seems harsh toward the protagonist, but in reality, she loves him deeply and occasionally shows her cute, affectionate side, which is irresistible.
On the other hand, Renka is far from being tsundere.
She’s kind to everyone, so she doesn’t have that tsundere attitude to begin with. Well, she is harsh toward me, but she never shows any affection toward me either.
Because Renka simply dislikes me.
[(Miyuki) Hmm.]
[(Miyuki) Is Ayatacchi the clueless type of protagonist?]
[(Akito) What are you talking about?]
[(Miyuki) By the way, about the next event.]
After inserting a message that made no sense, Suzukita san casually brought the topic back to Anfil.
…In the end, I couldn’t get back to studying and ended up engrossed in talking with Suzukita san until late at night.
Around 10 PM, Suzukita san suddenly cut off the conversation with, “I’m going to sleep.” As expected of a gal, she must be careful about her sleep time for beauty reasons.
(Somehow…I might be able to get along with Suzukita san after all.)
I never imagined that I would be able to interact with her like this before.
My heart, which should have been wounded by my unrequited love for Koiuta, had somehow become a little better.
[(Miyuki) Let’s talk again sometime.]
[(Miyuki) Good night, Ayatacchi.]
[(Akito) Got it. Good night.]
I turned off my phone and lay down on the bed. Maybe I should try going to bed early and waking up early sometimes.
Looking up at the white ceiling of my room, which had stains here and there, I—
(…This is okay, right?)
I closed my eyes.
In this moment, I couldn’t help but see Renka’s smile behind my eyelids.
I closed my eyes and let myself fall asleep, but it was several hours before I actually fell asleep.
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