Source
https://kakuyomu.jp/works/822139845923627658/episodes/822139846477611653
The interior was calm and peaceful.
Apparently, the place was famous for its desserts, and most of the customers were women.
Amidst all that, Mashiro and I were sitting across from each other at a two-person table.
“Huh… I see… Hmm…”
Mashiro looked around the shop, her eyes darting here and there.
“So you really wanted to come here, huh?”
“Huh? …W-well, yeah. I won’t deny it.”
“But Mashiro, you’ve always been shy like that, haven’t you? You’re the type who gets too nervous to even walk into a new place.”
“?!”
……Oh, crap.
If I say something like that, she’s going to flip out…
“…Shut up. It can’t be helped, can it? There’s nothing I can do about it…”
Pouting slightly, Mashiro casts her gaze diagonally downward to her right.
“……Huh?”
“I mean, is being shy a bad thing?”
“No, it’s not bad, but…”
“Then it’s fine, right? …Seriously, you’re so annoying.”
With a small, sarcastic remark, Mashiro opens the menu.
I found myself completely taken aback.
As I thought, Mashiro isn’t a queen at all.
“Hmm… They all look good… I can’t decide…”
Mashiro gazed at the menu with sparkling eyes, looking almost innocent.
“Have you decided yet?”
“D-don’t rush me, okay? I’ve just narrowed it down to two options.”
“You’ve narrowed it down…”
“Hmph. Hmm…………”
“…………”
“…………”
“…………Uh, hey—”
“I told you not to rush me, didn’t I?”
“I wasn’t rushing you.”
“Then what was that?”
“Why don’t I just order one of the two you’re deciding between, and we can split it? I mean, Mashiro, you always make me do that, don’t you?”
Of course, without any discussion.
“W-well… I was planning to do that anyway, even without you saying so.”
“…You’re lying.”
“…………Shut up.”
Mashiro called over the server and placed her order.
“…………”
“…………”
A silence eventually settled in.
The silence snapped me—and surely Mashiro too—back to reality.
“(C-come to think of it, I woke up in the same bed this morning… with Mashiro. And that’s the second time, too…)”
I just couldn’t pretend nothing had happened.
Mashiro took a sip of her water, as if trying to cover something up.
She gently set the glass down on the table and glanced at me. Our eyes met.
“……W-what?”
“……N-nothing.”
“You were looking at me even though there was nothing there? H-huh… I see.”
“What’s with that evasive reaction?”
“‘Oh, really?’ I just thought exactly what I said. Could you please not assume that every word I say to Kensuke has some deeper meaning? I don’t go out of my way to be polite to Kensuke like that. Or rather, there’s no way I would.”
“I-I see.”
It seems her sharp wit is unmatched in any situation.
“S-so…”
Mashiro looks down and takes another sip of water.
“Um…”
Seeing Mashiro so restless makes me feel tense too.
As I wait patiently, Mashiro hesitates, then slowly opens her mouth.
“………………N-no, never mind.”
“……Huh?”
“It’s nothing. So don’t look at me.”
“No, no, saying ‘it’s nothing’ after what just happened means there’s definitely something.”
“H-huh? I don’t get what you mean.”
“I’m the one who doesn’t get it.”
“You’re so noisy… For Kensuke to raise an objection like this, you’re getting a big head.”
“Getting a big head, you say…”
This is hopeless. I don’t get it at all.
Even though I don’t get it, I’m starting to get a little annoyed.
“Aaah. Mashiro, you really do lose your nerve when it comes down to it, don’t you?”
“Huh!?”
Mashiro leans forward and glares at me.
“Oh, I didn’t just mean your words. Everything else too.”
“W-what are you talking about, Kensuke!?”
“It’s true, isn’t it? Right now, and last night too.”
“H-! W-well, that…”
“I figured it out yesterday. I realized that Mashiro’s tough act is just a suit of armor—a bluff to protect your fragile core. Well, I actually knew that from the very first time.”
“Huh!! K, Kensuke! We’re inside a store, so watch your language…! A-are you an idiot…⁉”
“Huh? What? What am I supposed to watch my language about?”
“W-well… that… um…”
“You’re not weak with your words when it really counts, are you? It’s not just a bluff, is it?”
“Huh!!! That’s why… Th-that was… um… s-so…!!”
Clutching her fists tightly, Mashiro spoke forcefully—though not exactly shouting.
Covering her face, she said in a faint voice.
“…………P-please, cut me some slack today… I beg you… please…………”
“…………Huh?”
Did she just say, “Go easy on me”?
And she said “please” to me?
That Mashiro? The one who acts like a queen?
“Sorry to keep you waiting. Here’s your blended coffee and… a, a customer?”
The clerk looked confused at Mashiro, who was covering her face and looking embarrassed.
I snapped back to my senses and said,
“Um… y-yeah, I’m fine. Probably.”
“P-probably?”
“…Ugh.”
Seeing Mashiro, who clearly wasn’t fine no matter how you looked at it, the clerk’s look of confusion deepened.
When we stepped outside the shop, the sun was already beginning to set.
“…………”
“I-I’m sorry.”
“…………”
“M-Mashiro.”
“…………”
Mashiro kept walking ahead of me.
It seemed I’d completely angered her with what happened earlier.
“I guess I just lost my head for a moment, or maybe it was payback for how she usually treats me… I never get to be the one taking the lead…”
“…………You’ve been coming on strong lately, though.”
“Huh?”
“Even last night, you were all over me…”
“Mashiro?”
“…………”
“I-I’m sorry. I won’t do it again.”
That said, I do plan to take the initiative when the time and place are right.
Just as I was thinking that, Mashiro suddenly stopped and glared at me.
Then she grabbed my tie, yanked me close like a delinquent, and said,
“Buy me as many convenience store sweets as my age.”
Y-yeah, she’s totally pissed off…
Maybe that’s why the phrase “convenience store sweets” didn’t really fit with her angry expression.
“……S-Setsubun beans?”
“Huh?”
“P-Please !”
“…………Hmph.”
She pushed me away and started walking again.
Judging by her profile, she seemed a little satisfied.
“Are you still eating? You already ate my share at the café.”
“Is that a problem?”
“It’s not bad. Actually, it’s the best.”
“……That’s creepy.”
That actually hurts my feelings…
“B-but seriously, Mashiro, you really do love sweets, don’t you? Have you always been like that?”
“……Not really. It’s not like I’ve always been this way.”
“H-huh. Is there some reason for it?”
When I asked casually, Mashiro turned away, looking annoyed.
Did I step on another landmine or something…? No good—I have no clue.
As I stood there confused, Mashiro muttered under her breath.
“It’s because you keep giving me nothing but sweets… you idiot.”
“Huh? What did you say?”
“Shut up. Go home.”
“Is that some rude old man’s heckling?”
“Huh?”
“Sorry, sorry.”
As usual, Mashiro wouldn’t meet my gaze.
But maybe because we’ve been close for so many years—I don’t know why, but I could tell her mood had improved a little.
And if I’m not mistaken, her cheeks seem a little red.
“(…No, maybe it’s just the sunset.)”
Looking back, it had been a long time since I’d walked home side by side with Mashiro like this.
▽ ▽ ▽
The next morning.
On my way to school, I bumped right into Mashiro just before entering the classroom.
Mashiro flinched at the sight of me, her shoulders trembling,
“W-what do you want?”
“Oh… good morning.”
“…………Yeah.”
Her usual cold response, but I could still sense a hint of softness.
Maybe it’s because she isn’t being mean… I thought to myself as I followed Mashiro into the classroom.
—And almost immediately, I noticed something off.
“Um… Huh?”
All eyes were on Mashiro and me.
If it had just been Mashiro, it would have been business as usual.
But now, with both Mashiro and me there—and, if anything, directed more at me—the entire classroom’s gaze was fixed on us.
“Wh-what’s going on with everyone?”
As I spoke, looking confused, the classroom began to buzz with murmurs.
Eventually, one of my classmates came over to us and asked, looking thoroughly intrigued.
“Are you and Kamikurokawa-san dating?”
“”‘…………Huh?’””
Caught off guard by the unexpected question, we both let out a gasp.
It was just something we’d been asked countless times since we were kids.
Just the other day, Mashiro had
‘There’s no way that’s true! Kensuke is just a lowly underling. An equal relationship like lovers—that’s impossible,’
she had cut him off bluntly.
“W-why?”
“Well, someone saw the two of you at a café yesterday… I didn’t know, but you two are childhood friends, right? And you’ve seemed pretty close lately…”
“Um…”
So I was sure Mashiro would brush it off just like she always did.
—But the Mashiro of that moment wasn’t the Mashiro I’d known before.
“T-That…….”
“M-Mashiro”
Mashiro trembled uncontrollably.
Mashiro’s eyes darted around, and she clenched her fists tightly, speaking as if forcing the words out.
“…………T-that’s impossible, right…? K-Kensuke and I… t-that’s… i-impossible… really, impossible…………”
Mashiro’s tiny voice echoed throughout the classroom.
Just like yesterday, a second wave of silence fell.
“Good morni~ng, everyone~… Wait, huh? What’s with this vibe?”
Hase, who had just arrived at school, was also confused.
Sure enough, the Mashiro right now wasn’t the same Mashiro as before.
I’d known that for a little while now.
…But to be honest, I didn’t really understand my own feelings right now.
Of course, I was just as surprised as everyone else.
But more than anything else.
It was completely different from her usual confident, aloof, queen-like aura.
She seemed flustered, with no trace of her usual composure—her reaction, her expression, were exactly like those of an ordinary young girl.
“(…………Wait, she’s actually kind of cute.)”
I’ve never seen her like this before… Ah, no. She’s cute.
My childhood friend… is somehow… cute.
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