Hey, Best Friend. How About A Kiss Today Too? - Chapter 66: "Do you... want to do something... with me?"

“Do you… want to do something… with me?”

“See you tomorrow!”

I waved back at Yuzuru, who was waving vigorously with her small body, as I walked along the school route illuminated by the evening sun with Sagiri.

Hasegawa and Kusakabe from the part-time job group had already left, leaving behind the unusual trio of me, Sagiri, and Yuzuru to walk home a bit later. And now we had just parted ways with Yuzuru.

“I’m looking forward to the summer festival.”

“Yeah, me too. Although we’re on the staff side, so we won’t have much time to play though.”

“Even so, it’s fine!”

Sagiri, who had been cheerful since morning, continued to talk happily about the summer break activities, which were essentially a study session for discovering one’s self, well actually it’s just a bunch of volunteering activities.

There were mainly three major events scheduled for July.

First was the radio calisthenics held every weekday morning in the neighborhood square. Sagiri and I were in charge of this, being local residents.

Second was the riverbank cleanup activity scheduled for next Thursday on the outskirts of town. This task fell upon the members of the self-style study group, which consisted of me, Sagiri, Yuzuru, and Hasegawa.

And lastly, on the 31st of the month, there was the summer festival support staff duty at the shrine near the school. In addition to me, Sagiri, Yuzuru, and Hasegawa, Kusakabe was also assigned to this task.

Apart from these, there were also light meetings scheduled for next Wednesday and Saturday at the club room, but that was basically the gist of it.

Yuzuru and Hasegawa said we could skip the garbage collection since Sagiri and I had been assigned to a lot of activities already. But both Sagiri and I insisted that we were free and it was nearby, so it was okay. Reluctantly, Yuzuru agreed, saying she would do the August activities with Hasegawa instead, and urged us to have more fun.

I couldn’t help but wonder why Hasegawa seemed happier about it than us, but I hoped that perhaps this summer break would bring some progress to his otherwise stagnant situation.

Well, I couldn’t really say much about others either.

“Oh, there’s Yuzuru!”

“Hmm? Oh, the bus?”

As we walked along the main road, a bus passed us, presumably with Yuzuru on board, as Sagiri waved to it as it moved away.

I was a little worried about the lackluster voice Yuzuru had muttered during club activities, but now she seemed back to her usual self, even downing an extra juice with gusto for some mysterious reason.

“Taking the bus to school seems fun… Ah!?”

“What’s wrong, need to use the bathroom?”

“N-no! W-wait, why would you even suddenly ask something weird like that!”

“My bad, my bad. So, what’s up?”

“Oh, uh, I left something at the club room…”

Sagiri seemed awkward as he spoke, but I couldn’t see why that would be such a big deal.

“Good timing to remember. It’s still nearby, so you can go back quickly. Is it something urgent? We have school tomorrow because of the closing ceremony, you know?”

“I-it’s my lunchbox…”

“It’s better to go get it then.”

During club activities, there was a lunch party filled with lots of canned drinks and a lively atmosphere. It was during this time that Sagiri mentioned he had forgotten his lunchbox.

Even though it was empty now, leaving a lunchbox out in the summer heat was very dangerous.

“Alright, should we go back?”

“Huh? Renji, do you want to head back first, or wait for me at the usual park?”

“We haven’t walked much yet, so it’s fine, isn’t it?”

“But it was me who forgot it…”

Sagiri, looking apologetic, seemed to fluctuate more in mood than usual. It seemed like he was still bothered by something, so I had to say the magic words.

“Don’t worry about it. We’re best friends, after all.”

“………. Yeah, thanks.”

The effect of the magic words was immense, and his happy smile illuminated by the setting sun was so beautiful… It made my heart skip a beat.

So by the time we returned to the club room together, I had completely forgotten about it.

“Oh, there it is, the lunchbox. Isn’t it amazing how no one noticed it on the desk?”

“……….”

Just as I heard the sound of the lock clicking from behind…

“Huh? Whoa!!?”

When I turned around, I found myself being pushed down onto the desk by Sagiri, my upper body forced down by her.

“S-Sagiri!?”

“R-Renji…”

As Sagiri covered me with her hands on either side of my face, I finally remembered.

“Do you… want to do something… with me?”

“It’s you who’s wanting to do something!!”

The magic words of “best friends” were indeed powerful, but it seemed they could be too effective.