After I Confessed to My Childhood Friend and Got Rejected, I Threw a Game Offline Meetup to Cheer Myself Up, Only to Find Out My Long-Time Gaming Buddy Was Actually the Quiet, Silver-Haired Swedish Beauty Who's the Cutest Girl in School - Chapter 20: Princess Carry?

Chapter 20: Princess Carry?

One week had passed since the incident.

Tojo no longer came to visit the house or approached him at school to talk.

Amamiya still did not know if what he had said was right or what he should have done instead; he remained too immature for that.

Even so, all he could do was move forward toward a new daily life.

Amamiya woke up before his alarm went off and got out of bed.

He had two hours until school started.

He changed into his school jersey to do some morning exercise.

His little sister Anna was still asleep.

He left the house quietly so as not to wake her and headed to the nearby park.

It was a fairly large park, bustling with elderly people even in the morning.

Amamiya thoroughly warmed up his body with the stretches Kumagai had taught him and then started jogging.

It was only the fifth day since he began exercising.

Amamiya, who lacked stamina, kept getting passed one after another by the elderly folks.

“You’re still young, so keep at it!”

“Y-yeah!”

A muscular old man who caught up patted him on the shoulder and encouraged him, leaving Amamiya feeling a bit empty inside.

Sure enough, in a corner of the park, he ended up vomiting stomach acid into the convenience store bag he had brought.

He had not eaten anything yet, so that was all that came up.

“I’m home—I’m beat.”

“Welcome back! And good job!”

When he got home, Anna was in the living room in her pajamas, brushing her teeth while watching the news.

He had forty minutes until school.

On duty that morning, Amamiya hurriedly prepared breakfast for two.

He set slightly burned sausages, rolled omelet, and sliced bread on the table and started eating with Anna.

“You’re going out for exercise every morning, right? In that case, from now on, I’ll make breakfast, Anna. You look worn out and all.”

“I’m fine, I’m fine. If I don’t do something like this, I’ll slack off again. Lately, I’ve gotten hooked on cooking. When I look it up online, all these arrangement recipes pop up, and I want to try this and that.”

“Hmm, I see.”

“Hm? What’s up?”

Anna grinned slyly.

Not getting it, Amamiya swallowed the bite he had been chewing and asked.

“You’ve really changed, big bro. I was shocked when you said you were starting to work on yourself, but I’m glad it seems to be going well.”

“Eh, y-you think so…?”

It was recent that he had started seriously polishing himself based on Kumagai’s advice.

He had not expected changes up to that point, but objectively speaking, perhaps parts of him had changed without him noticing.

“If you get cool like this, you might be able to date Karina-san.”

Amamiya spat out the tea he had been drinking at Anna’s casual remark.

“Me and Karina? No way, no way. She’s just a gaming friend, and dating her would be…”

“You don’t do PVP training in your room every day just to pass the club entrance exam. That was…”

Anna floated a mischievous smile and whispered in his ear.

“She’s totally into you, big bro.”

Amamiya spaced out all the way to the school gate.

Anna’s words “she’s into you” would not leave his head.

Amamiya himself had, like the boys around him, once harbored feelings for Karina.

But he had never even considered that she might like him back.

No, it would be better to say he could not imagine it.

(How does that girl come up with stuff like that… Even as a joke, it’s bad for my heart.)

As he changed into his indoor shoes at the shoe lockers while thinking, someone suddenly poked his shoulder lightly.

When he turned around, a soft finger poked his cheek.

“Good morning, Takaaki-kun… yawning…”

There stood the silver-haired beauty Karina.

Amamiya tried to greet her back, but seeing how exhausted she looked, worry creased his brow.

“A-are you okay, Karina? You look like you’re about to collapse…”

“I was practicing PVP from when I got home until morning… so today I can win and join the Game Research Club… hehe…”

So she had trained alone all night.

That explained why she looked so sleepy.

Even for the sake of winning, ruining her body would defeat the purpose.

“I see. But you have to do it in moderation… okay?”

Looking back on his own past habits, he had no room to talk.

Amamiya admonished her haltingly.

Karina nodded faintly even as she dozed off.

“If Takaaki-kun says so… I guess I have no choice…”

This won’t do.

At this rate, she would really collapse.

Wondering how she had even made it to school, he approached, and Karina suddenly spread her arms wide.

“…Nn.”

“What?”

Not understanding, he asked, and Karina answered sleepily.

“If I stay like this, I might fall asleep in the hallway, so it’d make me happy if you carried me to the classroom…”

His mind went blank.

It was still time for students to arrive, and crowds of them filled the area.

Some had already noticed Karina and were glancing their way.

And yet, she wanted him to carry her?

To someone who was not even her boyfriend?

They might be friends, but the two of them were still opposite genders.

Was it okay to have that kind of physical contact so easily? Was that normal where she came from?

“You’re joking… right?”

He gambled on the chance she was teasing him like Anna, but.

“Hehe, you say the funniest things, Takaaki-kun. I only ever say what I really mean?”

That was true.

In the end, Amamiya found himself cornered.

He could not think of a reason to refuse, and if he left her like this, she really might sleep in the hallway.

Mindful of the stares around them, Amamiya touched Karina’s body, which still had her arms spread.

As expected, she felt slender and delicate.

Tormented by guilt over whether someone like him should even be touching her, he still lifted her up with ease.

“Eek…!”

Karina let out an odd squeak even though she was the one who had asked to be carried.

There was no turning back now.

He readjusted her into a position easier to carry and started walking toward the classroom.

“You okay? Not uncomfortable?”

“Mm… I’m fine.”

When Amamiya asked, Karina answered with a hint of dissatisfaction in her voice.

Assuming she was still sleepy, he quickened his pace to avoid the piercing stares from around them.

(This isn’t boyfriend-girlfriend or anything, but this totally looks like a couple…!)

(I wanted him to carry me more like lovers, in a princess carry…)

Amamiya hurried down the hallway with Karina on his back in an embarrassed piggyback.

While some students unexpectedly praised him as “the kind Amamiya-kun carrying the injured Karina-san,” others shot him gazes full of murderous intent.

The boy called a gloomy shut-in and the girl hailed as an unattainable flower on a high peak.

As the two of them carried on their amusing exchange, Kumagai watched over them with a fond smile, sipping from a can of juice.

(I really do dislike you, Amamiya…)

It felt just like looking at his old self, and Kumagai’s chest ached.