Episode 62 – L-like, you know! He didn’t suddenly hug you or anything!?

I took Mitani san to the cafe where I was staying – Casablanca.

I had no intention of bringing her with me, especially not with my three classmates.
The only reason I had brought her here was to sew up the arm of a bear that was about to be torn off. I had sewing supplies in my room, and I could mend it.

But to get the sewing tools in my room, I had to go through the café space on the first floor.

In other words, I inevitably ran into Asagiri and the others.

“Umm….”

Mitani-san looked at me with a slightly puzzled and anxious look on her face.

“So, who is this girl? Did Arase do something to this girl that made you late?”
“Stop assuming I did something to her.”
“Hmmm, no?”
“……You’re not wrong”
“See, I knew it!”

I haven’t seen Asagiri’s signature face in a long time.

“Really. I knew it was something like that because it’s Arase!”

Patience, patience. I’m sure she’s gotten better lately, but if I talk back, we’ll end up in an argument.

“Mouu, Yuri-chan! Just a while ago, You were saying that Ito-kun was late, what if something happened, what if it was an accident?”
“Wait, Nanami!? I-I’m not! I didn’t say that!”

Asagiri desperately makes excuses with an impatient look on her face after Kurase’s comment.
Where in the world is the confidence that she had just shown? This was interesting to watch.

“I was worried too because you were so late. I didn’t hear from you, and you didn’t return my …… calls, but I’m glad you’re okay. Nothing happened……”
“Oh, you’re right. My bad.”

I was not looking at my phone at all and didn’t realize that Kurase and the others had contacted me.

“No. I’m so relieved that you came.”
“!”

Kurase smiles gently. I felt a little bit relieved, though I thought it was a bit exaggerated.
Is she an angel?

“Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey. Arase, I’m disappointed.”
“What, out of the blue?”

I was a little surprised to see him, but he was still there.

“You’re not satisfied with Asagiri, Kurase and the others, and you’ve come …… late to the party and it’s another girl! Are you trying to build some kind of harem kingdom!”
“I don’t get it.”

I pushed back Sosuke’s face as he excitedly moved closer to me.
But Sosuke said in a voice only I could hear.

“Well, I don’t really care. Aside from Asagiri, I don’t know about the other girls yet.”
“…… what are you talking about?”
“Really, you little stinker! You’re a jerk! You should at least be aware of that! You’ll regret it someday!”

For some reason, Sosuke’s eyes were not joking around like usual, but his eyes were extremely serious.
Can he even make a face like this, this guy ……?

“U-um,…… senpai.”

Mitani san, who had been watching our exchange from the sidelines, finally spoke up. Oh no. She had completely neglected …….

“Oh, I’m sorry. I’m going to go to my room and fix things with my sewing kit, so could you wait here for me?””

I asked Mitani san, remembering my original purpose.

“Here?”
“Yeah, you can sit anywhere you want, as long as it’s an empty seat. I’ll bring you something to drink. Are you okay with caffeine?”
“Eh, I’m fine.”
“Okay.”
“Eh, Um…”

I went straight into the kitchen space and started making drinks at random.
Ayako san was smiling at me again, but I didn’t care.

“That’s about right.”

The drink was an iced café latte, which we also serve at the restaurant.
As usual, Ayako-san is still smiling and laughing, but she doesn’t say anything.

“….. What?”
“That’s from the store~”
“Then, please take it out of my paycheck next time.”
“Well, that’s all right. Arase-kun is always working for me.”
“Then, what is it?”
“Well, Arase-kun, you get along with a lot of girls, I thought. It’s like youth~.”
“…………”

Not knowing what the heck I was going to say, I just ignored Ayako san and went to the table, this time handing Mitani san a café latte.

“This is …….”
“Iced latte. I’m going to go now. You guys can wait a little longer.”

I took the bear key chain and went up to my room without hearing any reply from Asagiri and the others.

◆

“Umm……”

I was handed an iced café latte, and being left behind, I looked around for somewhere to sit.

“Um, Mitani-san, is it? If you’re free until ARase gets back, you’re welcome to join us.”
“Eh, um, …….”

I was lost in thought when I was approached by one of the beautiful dark-haired female students who had been talking with senpai. I thought she seemed to have a bit of a harsh personality from her conversation with the older students earlier.
Beside her, another female student with cream-colored hair was also smiling and looking at me. On the contrary, this one seemed kind.

“Umm…….”
“Oh come on, two girls coming on to a younger girl would freak her out, wouldn’t it? We should go gentlemanly here. Miss, if you like, would you like to have tea with me here?”
“You don’t have to force yourself on him if you don’t want to, okay?”
“Yeah. But you know…… because you came here with Arase. You see, Arase also said earlier, if Arase did something to you, I have to ask you, ……?”
“What is ……?”
“L-like, you know! He didn’t suddenly hug you or anything!”
“He…… He didn’t do that to me! Isn’t that just perverted ……?”

I denied it desperately.
I think he’s a pretty dangerous guy, suddenly hugging me. If it were me, I’d sue him for molestation.

“I-If so,……, it’s okay.”

Then, for some reason, she looked relieved. It was a cute expression, different from the slightly harsh impression she had earlier.

“I’m sorry. My name is Asagiri Yuri. And this is…”
“I’m Kurase Nanami, nice to meet you. Um…….”
“My name is Mitani Yuyuko.”
“Yes, nice to meet you! yuyuko chan!”

…….I know it’s the first time we’ve met, so I can’t help but feel a little self-conscious,……, but I thought they didn’t seem to be bad people.
They are friends of senpai, so I’m sure they’ll be fine.

“So how’s it going? If you don’t like it, that’s fine. ……”

Come to think of it, I feel like it’s been a while since I’ve been spoken to favorably by a girl my age. Normally, I would have refused.

“It’s fine.”

But for some reason I didn’t turn down the advances of the Senpai girls.

“You’re totally ignoring me, aren’t you? ……”

The frivolous-looking and strange boy was crying in the back.
So I decided to wait for senpai at the same table as Asagiri senpai, who were senpai’s friends.

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