Episode 63 – Half Hearted kindness suits

“S-So I ask you again, what did Arase do to you?”

After taking a seat at the table, I took a breath and again. Asagiri-senpai asked me the same question as before.

“umm, maybe you’re misunderstanding something, but senpai just helped me out when I was in trouble you know?”
“….. Is that so? You didn’t get hugged?”
“Yes, I wasn’t hugged.”

I didn’t understand why she was so concerned about whether or not I was hugged.

“Well, then, what happened with Ito-kun? Ito-kun, he was quite late for cleaning, so I was worried about what had happened.”
“Umm, I asked senpai to look for something important for me at the garbage dump together. It’s a bear key chain, and at the time, he almost shredded its arm because of all the things that had happened. I’m sorry for taking up your time.”
“Ah, it’s okay, it’s okay! I-It’s not like Ito-kun is mine or anything. ……! F-Fuehehe”
“Nanami ……?”

Sudden change in Kurase senpai’s behavior has me and of course Asagiri senpai were also puzzled.

“So, Arase brought Yuyuko chan home to fix it with a sewing machine.!”
“Yes,……, but can senpai do sewing?…”
“”……Well?””

The three of them tilted their heads at the same time, which made me uneasy.
I know you wouldn’t be so arrogant as to go out of your way to do it yourself if you can’t do it,…….

“But I think it’s going to be fine. Ito-kun, he’s quite handy.”
“Yes, that’s true. I can’t imagine much what Arase can’t do……”
“I see.”

Apparently, senpai is an all-around good person.

He didn’t look that handy, but I guess people are not what they seem.

“Oh, by the way. Yuyuko chan.”
“Yes?”
“Have you met me somewhere?”
“”…………””
“Hey, don’t look at me like that, both of you! There’s a reason for this!”

Asagiri-senpai gave Sasaoka-senpai a cold stare for reasons that sounded like something out of a novel.

“No, I just thought I’ve heard Yuyuko chan’s voice before!”
“……. Isn’t it just your imagination?”
“I guess so.”
“Sasamura kun, you can’t talk like that.”
“You’re so clueless.”
“Can you tell that to that guy? And Kurase. You misspelled my name again. ……”

For a moment, I thought that he was about to find out about my activities on YourTube. However, that would never happen.
I was relieved that the conversation flowed on without Sasaoka-senpai having any doubts.

“Sorry, here you go.”

And so, a short time later, Senpai returned.
In his hand hung a keychain of a bear that had been completely repaired.

“Wow…..!”
“I’m sorry to be an amateur at repairing things, but please give me a break on this.”
“It doesn’t …… look like an amateur’s at all. I didn’t expect it to be fixed so perfectly, so …… thank you!”
“You’re welcome …….”

Senpai said, exhaled deeply, and then brought one of the chairs from the seat next to him.
I wondered if it was okay, but since it seemed to be senpai’s house and the other guests were sparse, I decided not to worry about it.

“Oh, that’s the bear you cherished?”
“Yes, that’s it.”
“Hey, that’s a very unique …… bear.”
“Isn’t this the bear from the key place?”
“Do you know it, Yuri chan?”
“It’s a brand that was popular a while ago. And this is a limited edition keychain, right?”
“Yes…”

When I affirmed, Asagiri senpai’s eyes lit up.

“I knew it! This keychain was very popular at the time and only a limited number were produced. This unique design was so popular that it is still traded at high prices among enthusiasts.”

Suddenly, Senpai became very talkative. Senpai then looked at Asagiri senpai with curious eyes.

“……What’s with those eyes?”
“No, I just thought you were talking faster than usual.”
“…………! I-It’s fine right!? You’re just slow!”
“No, I’m not saying it’s bad. I mean, can you please stop saying things that I don’t understand?”
“……”

Asagiri-senpai stared at him with a red face and a pout.

“Or rather, wait. Was this really that high-end?”
”I didn’t know that much about it since it was given to me too, but from what …… Asagiri-senpai said, it seems so.”
“Uwaa! Some of these are going for 100,000 yen!”

Sasaoka-senpai was so excited that he looked it up on his phone and showed it around to everyone.

“It’s true That’s amazing! If Ito-kun had failed to do this, I wouldn’t have been able to even look him in the eye!”
“…… Kurase. Don’t say that. Now I’m starting to sweat funny.”

When senpai said that, they laughed.

I like it, I thought.
I was envious of such senpai’s situation here. I could feel that everyone adored senpai.
I don’t know about Kurase-senpai yet, but Asagiri-senpai seems to radiate affection.

Compared to that, I’m …….

“…………”

I tend to be sneaky.
I have tens of thousands of listeners. That should be enough. I was terribly envious of the scene in front of me.

“Yuyuko chan, is something wrong?”
“N, no, …… it’s nothing. …… Oh, it’s time for me to go home, so if you’ll excuse me. Thank you for fixing it, Senpai.”

I told the senpais what I wanted to say and ran out of the café.

◆

“Yuyuko chan, what’s wrong with her? ……”
“Did I do something wrong? ……”
“Didn’t she look pretty thoughtful?”

After Mitani-san left shortly before we could stop her, Asagiri and the others all looked at each other.
Just as sosuke said, there was something strange about the way Mitani san looked just now.　
If she was being harassed, did she remember something she didn’t like?

“Ito-kun, do you know anything?”
“… No.”

Although I knew, I wasn’t sure if I should tell her.
Mitani san’s personal problem, and if it were me, I wouldn’t feel comfortable talking about something I felt was painful in a place I didn’t know about.

“If you don’t want to, you don’t have to talk about it. It’s arase anyway, so you’re meddling again, aren’t you?”
“What’s that? It’s like I’m always meddling.”
“No?”
“…You’re not wrong”

I don’t really intend to meddle, but it seems to be the result of my meddling.

“I don’t know if arase is involved in her problems, but if you’re going to be involved halfway, you might as well not be.”
“What’s that?”
“Nothing. I just thought so. It’s that kind of half-heartedness that hurts the people involved the most.”
“…………”

When Asagiri tells me this, I can’t help but gulp.

It is true that I have had more opportunities to be involved with Mitani-san since before this. That’s why I’ve also seen her in distress.
Maybe the harassment from that girl in the same class is not everything, but at least it must be a source of distress.

Knowing this, I didn’t think of anything concrete to do about it.
However, it was true that I vaguely wanted to do something about it.

“Even if I told you that, I’m not close enough to her to actively resolve it from my side.”
“That’s fine. That kind of half-hearted kindness suits Arase:
“…………”

Is this a compliment? No, it’s more of a put-down.

“But I don’t hate that kind of Arase”
“Ha…..?”
“Because, for what it’s worth, I think Arase is going to help.”
“What do you mean by that?”

Like a prediction of the future, Asagiri’s comment made me ask her again.

“It means exactly what it says. Because …… it was the same for me, too, wasn’t it?”
“……”

My heart jumped when I saw Asagiri’s expression as she giggled.

“……Yeah! I’m sure Ito-kun is very kind. If he knew something was wrong with that girl, I’m sure he wouldn’t leave her like that.”
“Even Kurase says that?”
“Yeah, that’s how harems grow!”
“You shut up.”

I have a strong sense that Sosuke has ruined it, but I also don’t like this …… strange expectation.

“But, Ito-kun. Promise me. Don’t get hurt again like you did with Yuri-chan, okay?”
“Y-Yeah.”
“…………”

With that kind of cute little tilt of the head, there is nothing else to do but to do as she says.
And then for some reason Asagiri looked unhappy.

“What is it?”
“Nothing. You’ve stretched out your nose.”
“I didn’t.”
“You did!”

Well. Asagiri is Asagiri, after all.
In any case, I don’t think I’ll get hurt like I did the other day.
I don’t know why they are assuming I’m going to help her.

Then we talked about whatever we wanted to talk about and then disbanded .It wasn’t a good night, but I thought it wasn’t a bad idea to get together like this.