About the Cool Beauty in My Class Declaring She Won’t Eat Anything Except My Bento - 16

Chapter 16: There’s Someone I Like

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This took place after Kirihara-san had smacked Aoi-san on the head.

“Good grief, Sota-kun really doesn’t know the first thing about being kind to girls…”

“I have to agree with you there.”

I invited Aoi-san, whose hairstyle had become a bit disheveled, into my room. Since she had put so much effort into styling her hair for the sports festival, it would have been a waste to go with it all messy. Besides, Kirihara-san might not have the tools I wanted to use at his place.

“Wait, what? Did you get hit with a slipper by Sota-kun too, Su-chan?”

“Of course not. In the first place, that was the first time I’ve ever seen Kirihara-san use such explicit violence.”

Poking, patting, or giving me a little chop—whenever Kirihara-san did those things, he was always very gentle. I had seen him do things like that to hide his embarrassment, but I had never seen him hit someone out of sheer panic.

『I-is this, you know… that thing people say? “You sure had fun last night”?』

…………!!

Thump

“Wait, why did I just get hit?”

“…For no reason at all.”

“Eeeeh! Oh man, you’re just too cute, Su-chan!! You little—!”

I poked and prodded Aoi-san’s back as if pushing her along. …Just imagining it made my face turn hot.

“Whoa, such high femininity… As expected…”

“Are you making fun of me…?”

Aoi-san spoke with a strained voice once we reached the washstand. Of course, I could tell from her nuance that she was complimenting me.

“No, no, not at all! How should I put it… I just thought the way everything is coordinated in white is very cute and very much like you, Su-chan. Ah, you are cute, Su-chan.”

“Why did you say it twice…? Thank you. I’m just an ordinary girl too, you know.”

“Ehehe, I’ve known that well ever since you started getting involved with Sota-kun.”

“You… you’re making fun of me, aren’t you?”

“I’m not making fun of you, okay? I just think you’re cute.”

“That’s exactly what I mean by making fun of me! Jeez!”

Aoi-san toyed with her hair while having a staring contest with the mirror. Considering how things were in middle school, having a classmate in my own home still felt very strange.

…I mustn’t. It was the long-awaited sports festival. This year, thanks to Kirihara-san, I was able to make friends I could truly open up to, like Kurata-san and Aoi-san. I should just forget about the past and…………

(But, someday…)

“Hey, Su-chan?”

“What is it?”

“There’s something I’ve beeeen wanting to ask for a while, and since we’re finally alone, can I ask?”

“Y-yes. What would it be?”

“Do you like Sota-kun?”

“Ngh…! Cough!”

A dry cough escaped me as if the air had vanished, and my throat felt tight.

“Wh… wha, wha—”

“Gosh! You’re way too surprised. It’s just girl talk! G-i-r-l t-a-l-k! Kyaa!”

She shifted her staring contest toward me and asked while acting out her own audience. Because she asked so suddenly, I couldn’t maintain my composure, and I felt my cheeks growing hot.

“So! How is it!!”

“Even if you ask me ‘how’ it is…………”

I didn’t think I had that kind of relationship with Kirihara-san. In the first place, even before considering him as the opposite sex, I couldn’t really trust other people much. I thought it was a matter of something that came before feeling “love” or things like that.

So… even if she asked me how it was…

But, certainly…

It was because I could trust him not to do anything that I could go to Kirihara-san’s house. Because he was a kind person, I could show a little bit of my true self. And when he touched me… I didn’t really hate it. It was nothing more and nothing less than th—

(─Wait.)

(I………… maybe I don’t hate the time I spend with Kirihara-san at all. If I did, I wouldn’t have spent all that time at his house. I don’t think cooking is the only reason. That is how much I trust him, rely on him, and feel at peace.)

My chest tightened with a faint ache. Even when I wanted to forget the past, I couldn’t escape it in the end. I felt safe with Kirihara-san, who got involved with me even though he knew it was meddling.

…..And eventually, I was the one reaching out to Kirihara-san.

“I don’t know.”

I still didn’t know what this emotion was. But if……. If this was what it meant to “like” someone, I felt like I could follow this feeling. That was how much Kirihara-san──

“Aaah! Su-chan, you’re so cute!”

“Fueh! Wait, A-Aoi-san! Mmph!”

I was hugged by Aoi-san, who was many centimeters taller than me, and I couldn’t breathe.

“We don’t have time for this!”

I managed to crouch down and slip away.

“Eeeh.”

“Don’t ‘eeeh’ me.”

“Did you hate it?”

“…If it’s some other time, it’s okay, I guess.”

“So… cu─…”

“M-more importantly, what about you, Aoi-san?”

Since I felt like I was being treated like a child, I forcibly changed the subject. It would be unfair if I were the only one being unilaterally tormented.

“Hm? What about me?”

“I mean, um, do you have someone you like?”

Asking it out loud was a bit embarrassing. This was the first time I had ever had this kind of conversation.

“─As for me, yeah, I do.”

“Eh.”

“Someone I like… In fact, there’s someone I’ve liked for a long time.”

Aoi-san told me straight, her eyes narrowing as a faint smile appeared on her face. I hadn’t expected there to actually be someone, so, um… err.

…Wait, but “for a long time”…?

“Is it… Kurata-san?”

When I asked hesitantly, she touched her bangs bashfully, but gave a firm, polite nod.

“I’ve always loved Shu-kun. I’ve been wanting you to know that, Su-chan!”

Aoi-san laughed in her usual energetic way. Her eyes didn’t look like those of someone not-so-subtly saying she didn’t want me to get close to Kurata-san. They were the straightforward eyes of a “girl who has been pining for the person she loves for a long time.”

“I-I’ll be rooting for you! Um, I really think you two look good together… and everything.”

“Oh? If Su-chan is rooting for me, I have no choice but to do my best!”

She was honest with her feelings and faced them head-on… 

(She’s so cool… So much more than someone like me, who is all surface.)

“Mm, I’m satisfied. Shall we go back then?”

“Yes!”

We shared another light hug and left my room. On the way back…

“I’m rooting for your path with Sota-kun too!”

“Heh!? U-um… it’s not like that!”

She said it without any hint of teasing, making me feel so hot I might have mistaken it for a fever. That heat didn’t subside even after we returned to Kirihara-san’s house.

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