I Confessed My Sexual Preferences to My Online Game Best Friend, and the Person Who Showed Up at the Offline Meetup Was the Cute Girl from My Class - 30

Chapter 30: Having Lunch in the Courtyard

ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー

Monday morning. The moment I, Kazuma Sato, opened the classroom door, I realized that the “air” surrounding me had decisively changed from what it had been until yesterday.

…The stares hurt. They hurt like hell.

Normally, if a background guy like me walked into the classroom, no one would even glance my way. But today was different. The entire class’s attention pierced into me, filled with the shock of discovering some unknown cryptid and barely concealed jealousy. The reason was the massive time bomb Ichinose-san had dropped last night.

『Nihihi☆ A Secret Between the Three of Us.』

That group chat Ichinose-san had created without asking. And the three-person photo booth picture was uploaded there. My face was hidden behind a sticker, but our outfits made it painfully obvious who it was. Apparently that photo had spread through social media and the girls’ network, reaching the whole class in the blink of an eye.

“—Yo, Kazuma. Lend me your face for a minute.”

Kaito from the seat next to mine stopped me in a voice lower than I had ever heard. He was the basketball team’s ace candidate and a devout follower of Rin Shinonome. Right now, he wasn’t looking at me like a best friend anymore. He looked like an inquisitor.

“…Kaito. …Morning.”

“Don’t ‘morning’ me! Explain! Why the hell were you hanging out with Rin-rin and Saki-chan!? ‘Love advice counselor’? That’s a lie, right!? What dirty trick did you use!?”

Kaito leaned in like he was about to grab me by the collar. And then… 

“—Gooood morning! Kazucchi-kun, Kaito!”

A bursting, cheerful voice instantly repainted the heavy atmosphere of the classroom. Saki Ichinose walked in full of energy.

And right behind her came Rin Shinonome with black hair swaying smoothly. She was wrapped in an overwhelming aura yet wearing a friendly smile.

“Ichinose-san… you’re way too energetic for this early.”

“Hehe, it’s because yesterday was way too fun! Oh, Kazucchi-kun. That photo booth picture from yesterday? It’s my treasure now! Right, Rin-rin, you think so too, right?”

Ichinose-san tightly hugged Rin’s arm as they walked. Rin lowered her brows in mild embarrassment, then turned the most charming and perfect smile toward me. The kind that could make any guy fall instantly.

“Good morning, Sato-kun. Honestly, Saki’s been talking about that nonstop since morning. You’re troubling Sato-kun.”

“—!?”

Her tone wasn’t distant politeness. It was the bright, friendly, perfectly balanced tone of “Shinonome-san” that everyone admired. But in the depths of her eyes at an angle only I could see, she narrowed them mischievously with a nihehe smile.

“…Ah, good morning, Shinonome-san. …Thanks for yesterday.”

Thanks for yesterday? What did we do, work overtime?

“Hehe, thanks. I was worried we dragged you around because of Saki’s selfishness… but Sato-kun, you seemed to be enjoying yourself more than I expected.”

Shinonome-san lightly placed her fingertips on my desk and leaned a little closer. That same soap-like scent from yesterday drifted to my nose.

“…Well… It was a valuable experience.”

“Nihehe! ‘Valuable,’ he says! That’s great, Rin-rin! Oh, Kaito, if you’re worried about Sato-kun, do you want to hang out with us next time too?”

Ichinose-san dragged Kaito into it.

“Eh, me too!? Is that okay!?” 

Kaito was instantly disarmed, his executioner face melting back into that of a devoted follower.

…Terrifying. From the outside, it looked like Ichinose-san was dragging around her “fun favorite,” and Rin Shinonome was simply accompanying her. It was a peaceful, believable scenario. Was this the perfect camouflage crafted by strategist Saki Ichinose to make Rin and me “official”?

Only Ichinose knew.

＊＊＊＊＊＊

Lunch break. Just as I was about to head to the cafeteria with Kaito, Ichinose-san didn’t let me escape.

“Kazucchi-kun! Let’s eat lunch together! Rin-rin says she wants to hear more about Sato-kun too!”

“Eh!? Rin-rin wants to hear about Sato-kun!?”

Kaito shouted again. Rin approached with her lunchbox, smiling shyly.

“Saki, the way you say it… Well, I do enjoy Sato-kun’s game stories. Kaito-kun, want to join us?”

“I’m going! I’ll follow you anywhere!!”

In the end, the four of us sat on a bench in the courtyard. Kaito and I bought bread from the school store, while the two girls prepared their homemade lunches. While Kaito and Ichinose-san excitedly talked about how she had produced that pancake outing, Rin and I sat beside each other with just a little space between us. Because Kaito, the “male representative(?),” was present, no one suspected anything deeply about my relationship with Ichinose-san and Shinonome-san.

It was exactly as Ichinose-san calculated. Right in the center of the school’s attention, we were enjoying the safest kind of “shared secret.”

Just as planned, huh?

“…Haru. You’re overdoing it.”

I muttered quietly, blending into Kaito’s chatter. Shinonome-san froze mid-bite with her rice ball and whispered just loud enough for me to hear.

“(It’s fine. If we don’t do this, I can’t talk to you at school, Kazu.)”

“(You’re forgetting your school persona. Be more ladylike.)”

“(No. I don’t want to hold back when I’m with you. …Oh, right. Here.)”

She picked up one side dish from her lunchbox with her chopsticks.

“Sato-kun. I made a little too much… Do you want one?”

“—!? N-No, that’s…”

“It’s fine, here! Go on, take out your chopsticks.”

She placed the rolled omelet on the lid of her lunchbox and set it on my lap.

“Whaaaat!? Shinonome-san’s homemade cooking!? Kazuma, you bastard!!”

As expected, Kaito erupted. But Ichinose-san laughed it off with, “Ahaha! You guys are so close!” turning it into an innocent display of friendship for everyone around.

“…Thanks for the food.”

When I took a bite, Shinonome-san stared at me with eyes full of anticipation. Her face was confident but somewhere inside, she cared about my reaction more than anything. It was the face of my utterly unaware yet cunning partner.

“(Well? Is it good?)”

“(…Yeah. It’s the best in the world.)”

When I answered honestly, her face turned bright red in an instant. She quickly looked away and said in an unnaturally loud voice.

“…Hmph, obviously.”

The May sunlight was peering through the clouds.  Our lie of being “just partners” with Saki Ichinose as our accomplice, was repainted into the liveliest, least suspicious kind of “normal everyday life.”

＊＊＊＊＊＊

After we finished eating lunch and saw Kazucchi-kun and Kaito run off to buy drinks, I gently tapped the shoulder of my best friend, who was sipping her tea with a bright red face.

“Rin-rin. How many points would you give that?”

“…What are you talking about, you idiot, Saki? You suddenly started talking to him and even made him eat lunch with us…”

Rin-rin pouted. But her eyes were lingering wistfully on the spot where Kazucchi-kun had been sitting.

Nihehe. Rin-rin is way too easy to read! She still hasn’t realized how dependent she’s become on a boy named Kazuma Sato. In a suffocating place like school, just having him beside her softens her expression this much. A place where she can loosen the armor of “Perfect Rin Shinonome” and breathe as just a normal girl.

It wasn’t a whim that I mixed Kaito in and made it four people today. By doing this, we create the ultimate camouflage: “Sato-kun is a mutual friend of Saki Ichinose and Kaito Kadokura.” Then even if Rin-rin sat boldly next to Kazucchi-kun, no one would suspect a thing.

For Rin-rin, Kazucchi-kun is probably the only truly “equal partner.”

While looking forward to the day the two of them realize their own “specialness,” I decided to stir this lively, sweet everyday life that had begun rolling in my palm even more.

“Oh, welcome back! Kazucchi-kun, where’s Saki’s cola!?”

I waved energetically at the two returning boys with my brightest smile. The May wind carried our secret laughter high into the endless blue sky.

ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー