CH 41

“You’re kidding me, right…?”

I muttered to myself about the current situation.

I’ve just had my hair styled by Kisaragi-sensei and arrived at the meeting place that Momoi and I had decided on.

The meeting time was set for 10:00 a.m., and right now, it’s 9:30 a.m.

Although it’s not a date, you can’t let the girl wait for you, so you have to arrive at the meeting place around ten minutes earlier.

…The truth is, this was another thing that my clumsy teacher told me to do.

To be honest with you, I’m not entirely convinced, as I’ve always wondered why I have to wait for 30 minutes in advance…

I thought it would be fine if I got there ten minutes early, but the clumsy teacher complained about it, so I reluctantly made sure I got there thirty minutes early.

And yet―

“Why are you here already, this person…”

Yes, for some reason Momoi was already at the meeting place, even before I arrived 30 minutes ago.

Although there’s a little bit of distance between us, I’m pretty sure it’s Momoi.

Or rather, the fact that all the eyes of the people in the vicinity were focused on her made me think that it could only be Momoi.

I don’t know if I should go and talk to a girl who has so many eyes on her…?

一What the h*ll is up with this punishment game…

Also, why is it that Momoi is the only one here?

Did she get separated from Sakura-chan?

However, Momoi doesn’t seem to be in a hurry…

For the time being, I can’t just leave her like this― but I also want to go home already…

I was astonished by the amount of stares that Momoi was getting as I tried to make up my mind to go and talk to her.

I’m not sure why I’ve encountered so many of these situations lately.

I can’t help but feel that it’s some kind of artificiality…

I was thinking about what I should do, but for now I decided to go and talk to Momoi.

“Good morning, sorry for making you wait.”

“Ah, good morning, Umi-kun!　No, I wasn’t waiting for too long!”

When I called out to her, Momoi replied with a smile like that.

This conversation is templated, but the roles of men and women are reversed…

一How long has Momoi been waiting for this ……?

I’m curious, but I stopped asking about it because I can imagine that if I asked her about it, she would just tell me a random time anyway, given that this is a template.

But instead―

“What happened to Sakura-chan?”

―and asked the other thing that had been bothering me earlier.

“Eh?”

“Eh?”

When Momoi tilted her head to the side in response to my question, I also tilted my head to the side in response.

Could it be… that this reaction is…

“Sakura is at home, you know?

I thought so…

I covered my eyes with my right hand at Momoi’s words.

This means that I’ll be going out with only Momoi for today…

This was an unexpected situation, as I had assumed that Sakura-chan would be playing along with us.

“Could it be, it’s Sakura you want to be with…?”

When Momoi looked at me, she asked in a low voice.

“N-no way! I never thought about that at all!”

To Momoi’s sudden change of mood, I quickly made up my mind to say so.

I’m not sure why I should be in such a hurry, though…?

I was not satisfied with the current situation, but I have learned that saying such a thing to Momoi right now is like stepping on a landmine yourself, so naturally I put a smile on my face here.

Or rather― Momoi looks so cute today…

Her top is a white, rough, loose shirt, and the bottom is a mini-skirt with a light blue tone.

And also, Momoi is wearing a thin layer of makeup right now.

The fashion itself was that of a normal girl, but perhaps it was because of the makeup that made Momoi look even cuter than usual.

Do I really get to play with such a girl alone today…

“―!”

The moment I realized that it was just the two of us, I couldn’t look directly at Momoi anymore.

What should I do here…

When I look at Momoi, my heart is pounding so much…

“Mou~…”

As I turned my head away from Momoi, for some reason she made a sulky voice.

“What’s wrong?”

I asked, looking at Momoi sideways.

I’m sorry, I just can’t look directly at you…

I apologize to Momoi in my heart.

Looking at Momoi head-on right now, I felt that my face would turn red.

“It’s nothing…”

Momoi replied in a sullen voice.

I knew this was a bad situation, but I’m not sure what I should do here.

“Oh, her boyfriend came over and gave him a great smile, but it looks like she’s about to start a fight!”

“Okay, I’ll do it! I’m going to go talk to her as soon as they break up!”

I can hear these voices coming from all around us…

I was annoyed by those voices.

I didn’t like the fact that our situation was being made a spectacle of, and that they were trying to mess with Momoi.

So I said―

“Sorry, let’s go for now.”

―I grabbed Momoi’s hand and started to walk away.

“Eh!? Ah, yes!”

Momoi, who had been sulking earlier, made a confused sound for a moment, but she obediently followed me as I pulled her along―.

Whoa, whoa, hands!

We’re holding hands!

I was delighted at the fact that I was now walking hand in hand with UmiKai-kun.

After all, I didn’t expect him to hold my hand!

I was feeling bewildered because Umi-kun didn’t compliment me at all, even though I came out all dressed up― He complimented Sakura so much when they were together, but now that I’m in this situation, those feelings are gone!

Or rather, the people around us just now were saying that Umi-kun was my boyfriend!

I didn’t like the fact that they were saying something like we should break up or something like that, but I guess that’s how people see us, right?

Uwaa―I’m so happy…

I couldn’t help but hold my cheek with my free right hand.

The cheek that I touched became very hot.

It just shows how excited I am right now.

But I can’t help it, okay?!

After all, being able to hold hands with the person you love is such a blissful feeling to have.

But, why isn’t Umi-kun looking at me…?

Could it be that… the dress I wore today doesn’t look good on me…?

Even though I bought a new dress just for today… Did I make a mistake in choosing it…?

Thinking about it made me anxious, so I looked at Umi-kun.

After all, it seems that he is deliberately shifting his gaze away from me.

…Somehow, it made me feel terrible.

Even if it doesn’t suit me, you don’t have to look away from me…

“Hey, Umi-kun.”

“What’s up?”

“My clothes for today, you think it doesn’t look good on me…?”

I was not satisfied with Umi-kun’s attitude, so I made up my mind to ask him.

“…It’s cute…”

He answered my question in a small voice and turned away again.

I gazed at his face from the side.

…Ah!

He’s embarrassed!

This person is embarrassed of me!

Umi-kun’s cheeks were red as he looked up from the side.

In other words, he thinks I’m really cute and turns his face away because he’s feeling embarrassed.

…Ehehe~.

Umi-kun is also conscious of me…

As I was enjoying on my current happy situation―

“Ah, Momoi-san!”

“It’s true, it’s Momoi-san!”

And then these pestering insects intruded…

“Aoyama-san, Kageyama-san, good morning.”

I immediately let go of the hand I had been holding with Umi-kun and put on a cold-hearted mask, just like at school.

Umi-kun was standing beside me, frowning slightly.

I heard Aoyama-san say something rude to Umi-kun the last time he came to my classroom, so I guess that’s why he looked at Aoyama-san and made a disgusted face.

“Good morning. Hey, hey, is this guy Momoi-san’s boyfriend?

Aoyama-san said so and looked up at Umi-kun from a close distance.

A-ahh… Umi’s face is drawn so close…

Aoyama-san is a bit close to you, isn’t she…?

Boyfriend is not the kind of relationship that Umi-kun and I have yet―I had an idea!

I came up with a good idea using Aoyama-san’s misunderstanding.

And then, I immediately reconnected my hands with Umi-kun.

Umi-kun looked at me with a surprised expression.

I guess he didn’t expect me to reconnect with his hand in this situation after I had initially let go of it earlier.

However, I pretended not to notice Umi’s gaze and told Aoyama-san and the others―

“Yeah, he’s my boyfriend. Doesn’t he look cool?”

I told them with a smile.

My words seemed to have convinced Umi-kun, and he didn’t look surprised anymore.

I was expecting him to make a surprised sound, so I was surprised at Umi-kun’s attitude.

Umi-kun is amazing after all.

I can’t believe he knows what I’m thinking just from this.

“Ah, so that’s why Momoi-san refused everyone’s confessions!”

“Yeah, it kind of makes sense now! If you have such a cool boyfriend, the boys at our school won’t stand a chance! I’ll leave both of you to it, and I’ll make sure to tell everyone that Momoi-san has a boyfriend so that the guys don’t try to woo him anymore!”

Just as I had hoped, Kageyama-san and Aoyama-san assumed that we were dating.

With this, I think I won’t be courted by the boys at school anymore.

…Maybe.

“But how nice, I wish I also have a cool boyfriend like him.”

With that said, Aoyama-san was looking up at Umi-kun from close distance once again.

Muu~… that’s a little too close…

And that’s the guy you’ve been making fun of, you know?

You don’t notice Umi-kun’s face at a relatively close distance?

“I think that’s enough.”

I didn’t like the way Aoyama-san was staring at Umi-kun from a very close distance, so I interfered by putting my body in between Umi-kun and Aoyama-san.

“Oh, my, Momoi-san got jealous.”

Aoyama-san chuckled at my attitude.

“Just now, that was Midori’s fault, okay? You shouldn’t stare so closely at someone else’s boyfriend.”

“Ouch!”

Kageyama-san cautioned, and then dropped a knocking gouge on Aoyama-san’s head.

By the way, Midori is Aoyama-san’s first name.

“Well, we’re done here.”

I said so, and left them.

“Yes, bye bye~! See you later, boyfriend-san~!”

“Bye bye, Momoi-san. Goodbye also, boyfriend-san.”

The two girls, Aoyama-san and Kageyama-san, smiled and waved at us as they walked in the direction we had come.

Aoyama-san, you told Umi-kun that you’ll see him again― Don’t tell me you’re thinking of seeing him again…?

Nah, I’m sure it was just a social call…

“I’m tired…”

“Ah!”

When I was thinking about Aoyama-san, Umi-kun took his hand away with a frown on his face.

Muu~, you didn’t have to let go of my hand…

I was going to say that, but Umi-kun was getting really tired, so I stopped being selfish―.