Chapter 40: In the Gaps Between Events
The days pass as the sports festival ends and we transition straight into preparations for the culture festival.
Club activities, which had been on pause for sports festival week, have resud, and things are back to normal for a while.
Today, too, the basketball club is having practice.
I've gotten pretty used to the new team setup.
Since the captain wants to make use of his shooting skills, he's moving fluidly between the ga-making PG and the aggressive SG, so I've ended up as the second PG. I'm pretty much a substitute regular now.
So I'm consistently getting ti on the court during gas.
It really makes happy and excited to be able to play in matches.
Every day, I'm totally absorbed in chasing after and handling the ball!
Airi: "Stare."
Airi-senpai is the kind of person who'll actually say 'stare' out loud.
She's watching with eyes just a bit too humid...
Tomonaga: "...!"
Smile!
"...!"
Smile back.
Dressed in a long black wig and mask, wearing a sauna suit and moving around behind the gymnasium. When my eyes et Yukari-san's, we have a whole conversation just with our eyes, and I can't help but smile.
Did Airi-senpai notice that?
Laughing as she closes in on during break, Airi-senpai asks,
Airi: "Kousuke-kun? Did sothing happen with Tomonaga-san?"
"...No, not really."
Did sothing happen... or not...?
Airi: "The vibe feels different? Just girl's intuition, but? Sothing's off."
Airi-senpai folds her arms and thinks with a look that says she's not convinced.
With a difficult expression on her face, going "Hmm?", all the basketball club mbers are transfixed by her.
Apparently, as soon as the new sester started and Airi-senpai beca single, there was a wave of confessions.
She turned them all down, carefully and politely, and now Airi-senpai stands alone.
"You know, I want to beco a more ideal version of myself. ...Hehe! I'm such a hopeless girl. I want to switch gears and beco a dignified woman."
When the talk during break turned to how tough it must be to reject all those confessions, Airi-senpai murmured quietly.
Since the alumni match... Sahori-senpai hasn't shown up at all.
Apparently, he's embarrassed to show his face after being bested by a first-year, lol.
But he was absolutely crushed about losing to a first-year.
If he could turn that regret into motivation, with that kind of talent, he could have gone so much higher. It's really a sha.
An unpolished gem is just a stone. It's not just soone else's problem.
After that, Sahori-senpai was apparently seen by many people laughing it up, surrounded by college girls at his resort beach part-ti job, and when Airi-senpai heard about it, she gave him a cold stare.
Koji, moving like a rapper,
Airi seeks her ideal self♪
Sahori's always in resort mode♪
Oh?!
He got a cushion from the other club mbers for that one.
Even after club activities, Airi-senpai keeps pressing about it, but since nothing's really changed and nobody's confessed to , I just answer, "Not really?"
Airi: "Your eyes are different! Like, the way you look at each other is gentler? ...It's kind of nice, you know?"
With a smile that's both happy and a little lonely, Airi-senpai nods along.
After cleaning up and changing, I find Nagase-san waiting outside the locker room.
When she spots , Nagase-san gives a bright smile and says,
Nagase: "Kousuke-kun! Wanna go get so tea together?"
What should I do? I'm stopping by the film club today, so Yukari-san... she's late, and we're going ho separately.
Nagase: "Co on, co on! It's fine, isn't it?"
She pulls along to a nearby coffee shop.
As soon as Nagase-san sits down, she gets a serious look on her face.
Nagase: "Did you start going out with Tomonaga-san?"
"Pfft!!"
I almost spit out my coffee...!
"...No, we're not dating. You know that, right? I just broke up with my ex-girlfriend the other day..."
Nagase-san's beautiful face clouds over a little.
Nagase: "But it's already been more than three months, right? And with a breakup like that, you'd move on fast, wouldn't you? Nobody would bla you for dating soone else right away, you know?"
"..."
I'm still not over it, so I can't say anything.
I explain that the other day, I talked to Tomonaga-san to help her review her situation.
That's why Nagase-san knows all about the circumstances.
Well, since our seats are next to each other and we talk a lot, she ends up knowing a surprising amount about —it catches off guard sotis.
After club, with my shirt collar open, when I reach for my bag, my collarbone flashes...
(This girl! Be a little more careful!)
I can't help but think that!
Noticing I've looked away, she buttons up her blouse and ties her ribbon tightly. Too late, though.
Nagase-san is smart, and since she's also in the basketball club, we have a lot to talk about. We even go to the sa prep school regularly.
So we get along really well.
She's clever, cheerful, and knows lots of interesting stories.
I can't help but be impressed; no wonder she's so popular.
So we end up having a fun conversation for a while.
As long as I can keep this distance, my fear of girls doesn't kick in.
But for so reason, I start to feel guilty toward Yukari-san, and it gets uncomfortable, so I apologize and leave the shop first.
Nagase-san, her face shifting from cheerful to sulky,
Pouts and actually goes, "Boo boo."
Nagase: "Boo boo, couldn't we talk just a little bit longer...?"
It's not like anything, or anyone, is really wrong, and we're not even dating, and it's not like we were having a deep conversation. Even so, I apologized and left the shop.
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Nagase: "...That's so like you, Kousuke-kun... so earnest. I'm jealous of Mishima-san and Tomonaga-san..."
Nagase Aya is popular.
If she calls, all sorts of people co right away.
But no matter who cos, nobody is as much fun as Kousuke.
Anyone who knew her would be shocked to see the current Nagase Aya wearing an expression so soft and alluring—so unlike her usual cheerful and outgoing self.
That quiet, expressionless boy is Nagase Aya's absolute favorite.
☆ ☆ ☆
This is Aru, the author.
Yesterday, I reached 70,000 PVs.
Thank you as always.
I think a lot will happen, but I'd be happy if you stick with Kousuke-kun and .
I'll keep racking my brains so you can keep enjoying this. Thanks again going forward!
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