Aren’t You Too Sweet Salt-God Sato-San?

[Sato-san, come with me.]

I lend my shoulder to the sobbing Sato-san while guiding her to the residential part attached to the cafe. In other words, my room.

[…Delicious.]

Sato-san is currently sitting on a chair. Narrowing her reddish eyes, she let out a sigh. In her hand is a steaming teacup.

[Earl Grey, I always drink this.]

I sit down on the opposite side of the bed and sip my own tea while saying that as the gorgeous scent of bergamot and the refreshing scent of citrus mingle in my nose.

Well, leaving aside the slightly complex details, the taste is so soothing that a sigh naturally comes out.

After that, Sato san sips the tea slowly, finally seeming to have sorted out the situation.

Bringing the tea cup to her mouth, she looks at me with apologetic and upturned eyes and asks,

[Oshio-kun… Do you know me…?]

[……]

I doubt there is anyone in the same grade as her at our high school who doesn’t know the famous “Salty Sato-san”.

[…I do. I was wondering if I should call you out or not, but seeing how Sato-san was looking into her smartphone so intently, I decided not to do so.]

The truth is, I was just afraid it would become apparent that she didn’t recognize my existence. However, I guess lying a little is just the way naïve high school boys are.

[What were you doing with that serious face earlier?]

[Ugh…]

I guess that’s not something she wants to be asked by others?

Sato-san blushes and starts fidgeting her fingers on the edge of the cup.

Seriously, is she really the “Salty Sato-san” I heard of?

[No, it’s not like I don’t want to say. It’s just…]

[…O-Oshio-kun! Can you look at this…?]

Looks like she finally made some decisions while twiddling her thumbs. With that, she pulls out her smartphone and places it in front of me.

The phone cover is a simple one that looks like it could be sold at a 100 yen store, with no decoration and plain to the extent that it’s hard to imagine it belongs to a highschool girl.

It looks much more “salty” than Sato-san herself.

[Is there something wrong with the smartphone?]

[That… This, this picture…]

Saying that, Sato-san timidly points at the display of her smartphone. There are several photo files lined up…

[Is it okay for me to see them?]

I won’t get charged for crime by looking through a high school girl’s photo folders, right?

Thinking that, I asked timidly, to which she turned beet-red while nodding her head repeatedly.

Hesitatingly, I looked on the display, and soon,

[…The hell is this.]

I shout in an unbelievable tone.

No, of course I understand what the images are about.

From one end of the screen to the other, the “photos of sweets” that she has taken so far are lined up.

Well, if it was only that then it would have been safe to say something like,

[Heee~ so you like sweets, it’s good, cute and definitely matches you.]

However…

[Sato san, you are really bad at taking pictures…]

The too-straightforward impression came out of my mouth unconsciously, and it dyed Sato-san’s face red to the tip of her ears.

If I have to say, frankly, they are bad to an unbelievable degree.

I can’t believe I’m saying this to a girl I’ve never spoken to, but she is bad at this to a hopeless degree.

They are full of faults before they can even begin to look good.

For example, in the photo of the cake, the whole thing was so dark that I couldn’t even recognize it as food at first and I couldn’t get the slightest feeling that it looked appetizing.

And it gets worse… This is a photo that I don’t understand.

Because of the backlighting, the whole picture is overexposed, not just the food. I’m not even sure what’s in the picture. In the first place, I can’t even figure out the subject of the photo.

Eh, what the hell is this? Did a meteorite fall the moment the shutter dropped?

As I think that and look carefully, I realize it’s the picture of the pancake Sato-san had ordered earlier.

It’s probably a joke, right?

The folder is buried from top to bottom with such impactful pictures.

As soon as I finish my monologue, Sato-san slowly opens her mouth, her shoulders trembling.

[It’s an embarrassing story, but I actually don’t have any friends…]

[What… I thought…]

I thought you didn’t have any interest in other people.

I was about to say that but then I quickly shut my mouth.

Close! That would have been too rude to say.

[Is that so? It’s really surprising.]

[I-I think it’s probably because my stories are boring that they just run away quickly.]

[……]

Wrong, you are wrong Oshio Sota.

It’s not like she is feigning ignorance, so you should definitely not play a tsukkomi here. (TN : Tsukkomi – playing the straight man in a two-man comedy act; a manzai.)

Sato-san is earnestly asking for help regarding her deepest worries right now.

[But, as a highschool girl, I also want to make friends, that’s why…]

[That’s why?]

[I thought If I become a Minstagrammar, I would be able to make friends…]

[……]

I tightly shut my mouth.

Don’t laugh. Definitely don’t laugh, Oshio Sota.

[…I like sweets, so I often go out after school or on weekends to eat sweets by myself. And I thought if I post that on Minsta, it’ll give me something to talk about with everyone… Something like that.]

[Mi-Minsta, yeah, all high school girls do it…]

…Now let me explain something here.

Minsta is the abbreviation for app Minstagram, which focuses on posting photos.

It’s used by high school girls and other celebrities all over the country. To put it simply, it’s an app that allows you to communicate with an unspecified number of people by sharing stylish photos.

And a Minstagrammer is the person who uses this app.

[That’s great! If you post a photo on Minstagram, it will change the way people look at Sato-san.]

That was the real intention.

That’s right, they’ll probably change their minds.

Because you know, that “salty Sato-san” goes around trendy cafés on her days off and posts pictures of sweets that look “minsta-worthy”?

If that happens, then the way they look at Sato-San will probably change, and soon she will have many friends around…

As I was thinking about that, Sato-san’s almost fading voice interrupted my thinking and said,

[But I am a little terrible at taking photos…]

A little… I wonder…

[I’m worried that I’ll be severely bullied the next day if I upload these pictures to Minsta… Like, what If my indoor shoes were hidden or if I was forced to write, I couldn’t even make an account when I thought about it…!]

Sato-san’s face turns pale while uttering that herself.

I thought Sato-san was one of the top students in her grade, but is she actually an idiot…?

But, well, understand the gist of it.

About Sato-san’s problems and that she’s not really the “salty Sato san” that everyone calls her.

And that she is earnestly trying to change.

[I’m borrowing it for a while.]

[Eh, it’s alright, but what for…]

I take her phone and launch the camera app.

Then, with a familiar hand, I tweak the brightness, select the filter, and with the shutter, bang, the photo is saved.

[Here you are.]

Sato-san is skeptical at first, but as soon as she sees the screen, her big eyes get even bigger——

[This…]