Source
https://kakuyomu.jp/works/16818093079507847550/episodes/16818093081358521760
Kurihara Teppei was suspended from school for one week due to violent behavior.
Meanwhile, no one knows yet what will happen to Kurihara and the other club members’ future activities in the club, as the punishment from the Japan High School Baseball Federation has not yet been handed down.
Amamiya Takaaki’s parents, who are on an overseas business trip, were also to be contacted, but due to a busy period of time, they were unable to return to Japan, and the correspondence ended with only a phone call.
If anything has changed, it is that he is now the center of attention in class.
In neither a good nor a bad way, Amamiya became more distanced than before, although they sympathized with him, he inevitably became more lonely.
(Not so different from before ……?)
It wasn’t like he had a lot of friends close enough to strike up a conversation with, so it was rather business as usual and easy to go about his day.
Kumatani was drinking watermelon juice instead of orange and it tasted bad, and Karina still talks to him in class.
But he has grown up in his own way and has started to speak at a lower volume of voice.
Thanks to this, he has reduced the attention for the teacher to half, which is not good at all.
Amamiya, who was able to enjoy a surprisingly fulfilling high school life, decided to go out to eat with the seniors of the game research club on her way home. Rather, at Karina’s suggestion, they decided to have a “celebration for joining the club” and “Takaaki’s survival.”
Amamiya, who had lost consciousness in a fight with Kurihara the other day, woke up in the infirmary and was invited by a blushing Karina.
[I …… (Like)suki …… (Like) suki, I want to eat sukiyaki! I thought,……!]
“Oh ……oh?”
For a moment he was excited, thinking that he was going to be confessed, but then, by no chance, she decided to eat sukiyaki.
When he told this to the seniors, Amane-senpai said, “We didn’t celebrate your joining the club, so we’ll join you,” and the mood was celebratory.
The restaurant was an all-you-can-eat shabu-shabu restaurant.
The meat is ordered on a tablet device, and the rice and salad bar are on the line.
At 4pm on a weekday, it’s pretty empty, so they are guided to a seat near the drink bar, Amamiya and Kenmochi are sitting across, Karina and Amane are sitting across from them, and they sit down, separated by gender, and order the same course.
“Oh, then I’ll go for the most expensive beef tongue. Sukiyaki for the hot pot.”
“Amane-senpai! That’s too expensive!?”
Amamiya tried to stop Amane from deciding on the course without asking the opinions of the others, but the order was confirmed too late.
“The beef tongue course costs nearly 4,000 yen. And you even ordered a drink bar. ……!”
Amamiya’s face turned pale as he snatched the tablet from Amane’s hand and looked at the order history.
It’s an amount he doesn’t know if he can pay because he hasn’t checked how much money he has
Seeing Amamiya’s pitiful appearance as he hurriedly took out his wallet, Amane raised her hand in shock.
“What are you in such a hurry for? Even though I’m trying to buy you a treat, I’m so sad~”
“Heee ……?”
“Amamiya, this is a celebration for you and Karina joining the club. You don’t have to worry about money. This time we’ll pay for it.”
“”EEeeeh!?””
Amamiya and Karina, whose voices harmonize.
It was the first time they had heard of it.
“No, but as expected!”
“Yes, yes! I wouldn’t mind if it was a cheap place, but I don’t feel comfortable being treated to such an expensive one. ……”
“Haha, then there’s no need to worry. If it’s money, it’s wasted.”
Kenmochi looked at the two innocent juniors with a smile and said in a calm tone.
Yes, these two are professional gamers.
And they are active in the world.
Amamiya remembered that Amane had boasted to him before that they had won several tournaments and had a sponsorship contract with a sponsor.
“”Thanks for the food.””
Amamiya and Karina’s voices were in sync again.
They had no reason to hold back anymore.
“Tongue is delicious! Takaaki kun, beef tongue is delicious! It tastes even better with lemon on it!”
Karina, who ate more lusciously than expected, had the air of a foreigner who came to Japan for the first time. She eats with a happy face, and he wants her to eat more.
“Ou, Karina chan, are you a gluttonous girl? You’ll turn into a cow if you eat too much.~”
“You too, that’s your twentieth plate. You’ll turn into a pig.”
“Oh? you’re going to do it? Ora? Kenmochi! Hey!”
Amane teased Karina, but Kenmochi calmly retorted
It’s a mystery how all the meat fits into that small body.
“Also…hey, wipe your mouth properly. It’s dirty with juice and rice grains.”
“I have my hands full. Wipe it”
Amane was in a dual-wielding state, holding chopsticks in one hand and one for eating raw meat.
“Really…..:
Sighing, Kenmochi wiped Amane’s mouth with a hand towel.
Even though they are the same age, they look more like father and daughter than lovers because of their height difference
“How nice…..”
Karina blurted out as she looked enviously at the unreserved distance between the two.
For some reason, she even glanced sideways at Amamiya.
“Takaaki-kun,…… is my mouth dirty?”
Karina takes bold action that is easy to understand.
Amane next to her grins as if she senses this and surprisingly calls for air and looks on.
Kenmochi also tried to give Amamiya a new hand towel,
“No, nothing. As usual, you’re clean (Beautifull), though?”
Amamiya then drank some oolong tea.
What an insensitive man, the two seniors were disappointed.
However, Karina, on the contrary, looked extremely happy when she received his words.
“B-Bbbbbeautifull…… so, that’s how you thought of me …….”
Amane and Kenmochi are convinced that that’s the case.
Amemiya, on the other hand, was silent and looking down.
A large amount of sweat was dripping down his forehead as if he had a stomachache, and he was muttering something under his breath.
“What Am I talking about? saying beautiful for a girl… I’m too creepy (note: whispering).”
Amane and Kenmochi are convinced that this is how it is.
Unlike the two seniors who are very close, Amamiya and Karina are manufacturing preciousness at this distance.
Amane chugged her ginger ale
“After all, Amami kyun was a disaster, wasn’t he? The baseball boy beat you to a pulp, didn’t he? It’s all over the news among the third-year students.”
An hour later.
Perhaps feeling full, Amane started devouring her dessert and brought up the recent violent incident.
“I haven’t been hit that hard. It’s only a minor injury.”
“But there was blood.”
Karina looked miffed.
She somehow seemed more pissed off than the victim, Amamiya, when it came to this topic.
‘Oh, well, …… it’s just a little chafed up, okay? (I can’t tell her that I squashed a pimple.)”
“He’s a member of the baseball club, an idiot for getting into a violent incident. It’s not just one’s own fault, it’s the joint responsibility of the entire club, so if you’re banned from playing external games at this time of the year, you’re done right?”
“Our high school is a regular participant in this tournament, you know. I don’t think a boy who commits a violent incident will be able to lead a normal high school life.”
The unusually stern tone of Kenmochi’s voice.
Are they silently angry that the unrelated club members who have worked hard up until now will not be able to participate in the tournament because of one irresponsible person?
“a natural consequence of the violence he has inflicted on Takaaki kun, an innocent boy. It is retribution for cause and effect. Suspension alone is not enough……”
Karina was in a salty mode for the first time in a long time.
The two of them, Kenmochi and Amane, who witnessed her cold-blooded gaze for the first time, pulled back too much coldness.
“I’m scared, Karina-chan☆.”
“Oh, I’m sorry. When it comes to Takaaki-kun, I forget…… Not that! It is natural to be angry when your partner is hurt! Isn’t that right, Rein san!”
“Why did you suddenly call me by my game name!?”
“You are too upset!”
Amane was smiling and giggling in a funny way.
The time is 19:30.
Even though summer was approaching, it was still dark at this time of night.
Not wanting to leave the kids alone, the senpais were so considerate that they escorted Amamiya and Karina back to the station, where they were to disperse.
“Aaah, I’m so full!”
“I also …… feel bad that I didn’t give them a penny even though I ate so much, but someday I’ll do well enough to repay the seniors and buy them yakiniku.”
“Fufu, maybe I’ll do that too.”
The station was full of businessmen on their way home and beautiful men and women with high face deviation levels who were probably going to work at night.
The station was noisy because it was a fairly large station.
“Hey, Kurihara-kun, why did he violate Takaaki-kun ……?”
Karina suddenly asked him just a few steps away from the station’s ticket gate.
It was not her usual cheerful voice, but a serious voice.
Amamiya was not sure whether to answer or not and fell silent for a few moments.
Amamiya was flustered by the mutual silence, which made him feel awkward for the first time in a long time, but Karina didn’t seem to mind and was quietly waiting for his answer.
But, after all
“It’s nothing that concerns Karina.”
Amamiya couldn’t say.
Amamiya couldn’t say that Kurihara had hit him because he was jealous that he and Karina were getting along.
“Why ……?”
Her voice was small and cold.
Amamiya gulped, feeling a little anger mixed in.
“Why? Because …… it’s my problem.”
“Yes, I see. As an outsider, this is not a problem for me to get into. But I can’t stand the fact that Takaaki-kun has been subjected to such unreasonable violence…”
He could see her hands trembling as she gripped the bag slung over her shoulder.
She was seriously worried about Amamiya and was angry with Kurihara.
“As my partner, I want to protect Takaaki-kun. I thought that if I knew why this happened, I might be able to do something to help you. Still, no…?”
The recent violent incident was due to Kurihara’s distorted favoritism toward Karina.
Fundamentally speaking, she is not an outsider.
The teachers who saw the video Kumatani took also know about it but have not informed her.
They don’t want Karina to get hurt either.
“Yeah, it’s better if you don’t know. Even if you know, it won’t do you any good, and it’s fine in a game, but in real life one is not protected…”
Amamiya had intended to soften the atmosphere that was becoming heavy.
Since he said it in his usual tone, there shouldn’t be any problem.
It was such a naive idea.
But…
“I see, that’s right. Amamiya and I are partners in the game, but not in …… reality.”
It was the same reply as usual.
But something was different.
It wasn’t angry, and it didn’t sound accusatory.
“Sorry, I was trying to get involved when I had nothing to do with ……”
But it was obvious that she was trying to keep a level head.
Karina and he had become friends in real life through the game.
However, Amamiya spoke words that seemed to deny that.
—I’m your partner and your personal wizard, Rein! You, on your part, call on me anytime you need help! No matter what happens, I will always come running!
Offline, he was the one who said that…….
But it was too late.
Karina’s expressionless face, which had been pretending to be calm, was beginning to break down.
She had tears in her eyes and looked as if she was about to cry.
“No, I didn’t mean that ……!”
“I’m not different, am I? I can’t help you, Amamiya-kun, and I’m not your partner…right?”
At last, she couldn’t hold back her tears and spilled them.
Holding her hand over her mouth, her voice was trembling.
Karina is an honest girl, that’s why she’s not good at holding back her emotions.
He should have known that, but he made her cry.
“Good-bye.”
—See you later, partner.
With that, Karina turned her back
Wiping her tears with a handkerchief she took out of her pocket, she headed for the ticket gate.
He had to stop her, Amamiya thought, but his feet wouldn’t move.
His words had created a rift between him and her.
He was afraid that he might make it even bigger, so he couldn’t move his feet.
“Kari–….”
Karina’s figure finally disappeared from sight in the crowd.
Amamiya stood still, clenching his fists and looking down.
He had intended not to tell her the truth about the violence that had been done to him in order not to hurt her, but it had hurt her in the opposite way.
Karina just wanted to help.
He was a jerk for shunned her for that.
“I know that disqualifies me from being a …… partner …….”
It was already too late to regret it.
“Takaaki,……, what are you crying about?”
The voice sounded familiar from behind him, and Amamiya turned around.
There was Tojo standing there with a supremely unhappy look on her face.
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Alright, dropped. I was finding a decent amount of amusement from this novel until now, but that was such an unbelievably stupid move on MC’s part. He drove best girl out of his life at the exact moment the human waste saw, so now she’s gonna get to come back into it. Maybe they’ll (Karina and MC) will get back together at some point, but I ain’t gonna stick around to see it.