Do You Like Romantic-Comedy Protagonists? - Chapter 12: Do You Like Rom-Coms? 2

Chapter 12: Do You Like Rom-Coms? 2

“Close call, close call… Forgot something.”

Kanna, heading to the gymnasium for the student council president candidate speeches, muttered to herself as she returned to the staff room.

Rattling the key, Kanna unlocked and entered the staff room.

“Ecuse me~”

Muttering softly, Kanna stepped inside.

Perhaps because the lights were off, she kicked a bucket at the entrance, causing a loud clatter to echo through the room.

“Ouch~! Who left a bucket here!?”

Grumbling, Kanna set the bucket back in its place.

“Oh well… Now, where’s my forgotten thing~ Forgotten thing~”

Kanna hummed cheerfully, stepping lightly toward her desk.

※

“What’re you thinking, Sousuke!”

“Sorry… Really sorry…”

Startled by the loud noise of Kanna kicking the bucket, Sakurai and Hachiya hid inside a nearby locker room.

Huddled together, they pressed against the locker door to keep it shut.

“Hey, where’re you touching, Sousuke, you idiot!”

“S-Sorry, it’s so cramped in here!”

Hachiya and Sakurai whispered complaints. Sakurai fumbled, moving his hands to find a better position.

“H-Hey… Eek! Stop it, don’t move!”

“Keep it down! Someone’s here!”

So close their breaths mingled, both Sakurai and Hachiya’s faces flushed red.

“Oh, found it, found it.”

From inside the locker room, Hachiya and Sakurai caught Kanna’s voice and figure.

“Miho-nee… Thank god. If it’s Miho-nee, we might be fine if we’re caught.”

“No way it’s fine! Think about our situation!”

Hachiya snapped at Sakurai’s carefree attitude.

Perhaps because the locker room was near Kanna, she suddenly stopped moving.

“No, no, no, no, no, no!?”

Thinking Kanna had noticed them, Hachiya panicked, whispering in terror and embarrassment.

“Hey… Kyouko, don’t make a sound!”

Sakurai fumbled again, placing his hand over Hachiya’s mouth.

“Nn… Nnn!”

With Sakurai’s hand on her mouth, adding to her fear and shame, Hachiya grew even more flustered, her eyes spinning.

※

“Thought I heard something from the locker room…”

Kanna, who had paused, turned her gaze toward the locker room where Sakurai and Hachiya were hiding.

She stepped toward it.

“Maybe someone’s in there… Nah, right?”

Kanna reached for the locker room door.

“…!”

She opened it.

“…Hm, weird. Thought I heard something.”

Puzzled, Kanna closed the door—of the locker room next to the one Sakurai and Hachiya were in.

“Then maybe this one?”

Kanna reached for the door of their locker room.

“…!”

“…!”

As Kanna applied force to open it—

Ring-ring-ring-ring-ring!

Ring-ring-ring-ring-ring!

The staff room phone rang.

“Oh, phone, phone.”

Before looking inside, Kanna turned toward the sound and picked up the receiver.

Before Kanna could notice, Sakurai gently closed the locker room door from inside.

After the call, Kanna set the receiver down with a click and glanced at the clock.

“Oh, crap! The student council speeches are probably starting!”

Realizing she was late, Kanna rushed to the exit, locking the staff room door.

※

Seconds, tens of seconds, minutes of silence passed.

“Phew!”

“Hah, hah, hah, hah, hah.”

Sakurai and Hachiya, faces bright red, emerged from the locker room, breathing heavily.

Perhaps from being pressed together, Hachiya was red all over, steaming, while Sakurai’s face was also flushed.

The warm staff room and the cramped locker room had left them both overheated.

“That… was close, Sousuke…”

“Y-Yeah… Really close. Thought we were done for when the door opened… Hah… Hah…”

Sakurai and Hachiya looked at each other.

And then—

“Pfft…”

“Hahaha!”

They burst out laughing together.

The relief of surviving extreme tension and the absurdity of their close quarters in the locker room brought natural laughter.

“That was kinda fun…!”

“It wasn’t fun at all…”

Hachiya and Sakurai wiped tears from their eyes.

“Alright… Let’s go, Kyouko. The student council speeches are probably starting.”

“Y-Yeah.”

Sakurai extended his hand, and Hachiya, looking down slightly, took it.

Exhausted, the two walked closer together toward the gymnasium.