Chapter 177
What Kind of Person You Think She Is?
'Please help me, Sajou — you're the only one I've got!!!'
If I may say so myself, it was like a passionate confession. When Kei and I heard that, we both ran to the wall of the spiral staircase in the center of the connecting corridor. Was this the right decision? Inadvertently, we ended up hiding behind the wall. Although we could use the spiral staircase to evacuate to the lower floor, if we went down, the two of them would spot us on the way. We couldn't move in this situation.
Rather than thinking about such things, the most important thing for us right now was to calm down. My heart was pounding as I pondered Sasaki-kun's words in my mind. No doubt, they were good words, but no matter how much I rubbed my eyes, all I saw was Wataru there. He was a boy. This was a situation between two boys.
"E-Eh, what's going on...!?"
"I-I don't know...!"
Kei asked me in a low voice, her eyes wide. I think she woke up completely immediately after hearing those words. I also felt the same way. My eyes were wide open as if I had just woken up from my sleep a moment ago.
The sound of Sasaki-kun and Wataru's footsteps stopped at the spot where we had been sitting just now for a breath of fresh air. Kei was crawling to the edge of the wall, trying to peek at the other side carefully.
"Wait a minute...! That's...!"
"You're saying that even though Aichi herself was also about to peek, right...!?"
"Oh, u-um...!"
As I approached Kei to stop her, for some reason I ended up sticking diagonally to the wall above Kei. How strange... ...Without realizing it, I was already in this position. I shouldn't be a disrespectful big sis, for Airi's sake...
However, this position is tight. So, I would let my hands rest on Kei's back to make it a little easier to peek at them.
'What the heck...? ...Why am I the only one here? I was just about to go home, okay?'
'Just for a minute... ...It'll only take a minute!'
'D-Disgusting...!'
Wataru let go of his arm, rubbed his wrist while putting on a bitter face, and sat down on the concrete steps. Even though he was needed, Wataru's attitude was still cold. I wonder if this is a normal relationship between the two of them daily. Perhaps, Sasaki-kun cares about Wataru, so it might be good if he was more gentle with him...
Although I was complaining inwardly, I still couldn't accept this reality that was before my eyes. Putting aside the fact of the possibility that Sasaki-kun was into the same sex or not, I was somehow relieved that Wataru didn't say "What's wrong?" with a calm face. If that was the case, I probably wouldn't have been able to walk home safely.
"Sasaki-chi's serious face — Th-That's really about 'it', isn't it!? Isn't it!? Isn't it!?"
"Hey, be quiet, we can't hear their voices later...!"
We talked while whispering to each other. Kei's excitement was unstoppable, as if the sleepiness we felt earlier had disappeared somewhere. Fortunately, the sound of the wind splitting this wall seemed to muffle our voices to the point that it was not heard by Wataru and Sasaki-kun. I guess if the two of us were caught at this point, we wouldn't be able to hear anything from them at all.
After Sasaki-kun made sure that Wataru was sitting quietly, he took out a plastic bag from his bag and handed something to Wataru.
'Here, have some.'
'Oh — I see, it's just nutritional jelly...'
'It's still good, isn't it?
'Well, at least it's still cold, so it's still good.'
Wataru opened the lid of the nutritional jelly with a 'crack' sound while looking up as if he had remembered something. From the way he was sitting, it seemed like he had no intention of running away from Sasaki-kun anymore. I think, he only felt resistance to it just because he was dragged before.
No, come to think of it, I wonder, what should his attitude be? Even though there's a possibility of receiving a lifelong confession from a same-sex male friend, would straight boys be able to stay calm in a situation like this? If he were me, I would probably feel scared.
'Hey — Can I sit next to you?'
"...!"
'Why sit next to me!? Just sit in front of me!'
'No, for some reason, it feels like if we sit facing each other, the distance between us is a bit...'
'Oh? Oh... ...Well, I see... ...No, no need to ask permission, just sit next to me. Don't bother to ask me first...'
'I'm sorry, okay.'
Kei's back reacted as she flinched when she heard Sasaki-kun's words that sounded a bit nervous. I couldn't help but sigh in surprise as well, but Sasaki-kun seemed to have chosen to sit next to Wataru out of consideration of the large distance between them. Wataru returned Sasaki-kun's wry smile with a rather displeased face.
"Aichi... ...Eh, for some reason, doesn't this feel a bit off?"
"Eh? What...?"
"No, how do I say it, that feeling, you know..."
"Impossible..."
"Oh, no need to pull away."
Although I knew the meaning of BL, so far I had never respected its existence from a girl's perspective. However, Kei seemed to have seen something in the interaction between the two of them. I didn't really pull away, but I don't think it made my cheeks blush like Kei's. In my opinion, I felt happy because I saw that it was normal for two boys to get along with each other. But wait a minute, were the two of them really getting along? Eh?
Wataru scooted back, to the far end of our position, while Sasaki-kun sat at the end closest to our position. At my bottom, Kei let out a rather teasing "Haah~" sound. I think she felt something special from the distance between the two of them. Although it was only a little, but I felt that I understood somewhat. It's true, if seen within the scope of friendship...
'—So, what is it? Do you mean that there's something you want to consult me about?
"Eh?"
"Eh — Kya!"
Immediately, almost simultaneously with our reactions, Kei's back suddenly slumped. I managed to prevent Kei from falling by covering her back with both my hands. That's bad, just a little more and she would have tumbled forward.
After I fixed my position and moved away, Kei looked very disappointed. Maybe she had strong expectations of the relationship between the two of them.
"Huh, ~ Oh. There's something Sasaki-kun wants to consult him about..."
"Th-That's it huh? That's fine, isn't it...!?"
It would probably be much better if Kei's expectations didn't come true here. For me, I felt relieved after knowing that the possibility of Wataru and Sasaki-kun having that kind of relationship was almost zero.
'That's... ...Don't tell anyone, okay?'
'—Is this about Saitou-san confessed to you?'
'Wait—'
"!"
"!"
While hearing Wataru's words, Kei returned to her original position. As he said that, I also brought my ears as close as possible. This was a bad deed. Eavesdropping is one of the bad deeds. However, right now, unfortunately, we can't move just like that. Well, this was inevitably a situation that we could not avoid.
'H-How come you know about it!?'
'No, I already knew that you were asked out by a girl during our lunch break. I think I immediately guessed what you meant.'
'B-But, I haven't even said a single word about Saitou-san at all...!'
'That kind of thing I can tell by the atmosphere, you know."
'Ugh...'
I think, Wataru said so with a somewhat envious tone and sounded a bit rude to Sasaki-kun. While Sasaki-kun spoke with a low volume of voice, Wataru replied with a normal volume of voice and a harsh tone of voice. Perhaps... ...he could have been a bit more supportive of his friend...
(So, what happened earlier was about this...)
I remembered the moment I was invited out of the classroom and the moment I felt Wataru's hand on my back. Wataru said, "I read the atmosphere!". Although I didn't expect that it would happen, if he knew that his friend was called by a girl in the middle of this Cultural Festival, and it wasn't hard for him to predict that.
'...Yeah, that's it.'
Sasaki-kun nodded his head slowly as if admitting the truth. Although his face looked shy, I could see that there was something complicated about him. Saitou-san, who is a member of the Tea Ceremony Club, looks elegant and cute even among girls like me. Even so, why doesn't Sasaki-kun seem happy even though a girl like that has confessed to him?
"—I knew it. Could it be that Sasakichi is..."
"Eh?"
"...No, it's nothing, though."
Come to think of it, Kei had suddenly become quiet.
When Kei saw Sasaki-kun nodding his head, normally Kei would immediately get excited and whisper with excitement, but right now she was putting on a rather complicated face like Sasaki-kun. Kei did have a lot of friends, and maybe, she knew something about Sasaki-kun.
'—So, do you want to consult me on how to protect Saitou-san from Yuki-chan's evil hands?'
1"Eh...?"
'No, that's not it! What kind of person do you think my little sister is!?'
'A shy, yet aggressive girl.'
'That's not it— Well, that may not be completely wrong, but that's not it!'
I was almost surprised by the unexpected topic of consultation, but it didn't seem right. I knew that Sasaki-kun had a little sis who was very fond of her big bro because he had talked about her at the Cultural Festival Executive Committee. He said that he was having a hard time because his little sis wouldn't let go of him, but I wondered if that was the case. He was a bad big bro because he was having trouble with his little sis' signs of affection. If he were me, I would have welcomed her with open arms.
That's right, Airi doesn't need to leave me, her big sis, even if she grows up.
"A-Aichi...? My back... ...has a very strong force— Ouch!"
Oh, I'm sorry.
Author's Note: Double Spiral Palm Technique—
TL Note: Happy 79th Independence Day of the Republic of Indonesia!
TL: Reeze27
ED: Reeze27
PR: Reeze27
Support Us: https://ko-fi.com/ninjacross
Donations are very much appreciated.
Special Thanks to Our One and Only Monthly Supporter: Mr. Ads.
Follow Our Official WhatsApp Channel: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VaRa6nHCsU9OAB0U370F
Read in other languages:
Tags:
Yumemiru Danshi