I Got Dumped by My Childhood Friend Fiancée Who I Didn’t Even Like, I Thought I Could Finally Have a Peaceful School Life… But Then I Got Targeted by SS-Class Beautiful Young Ladies - Chapter 34

Chapter 34: [Ah~n] The Deep Blue Terrace and Three Spoons

The terrace cafe we were heading to was not too far from the noisy station front.

The moment we stepped inside, the stylish interior hit me so hard I felt a little intimidated. Then a waitress noticed us and hurried over.

“Welco… ah, um. Welcome.”

The cute waitress in her uniform did a perfect, way-too-beautiful quadruple take.

The three heiresses, me, the three of them again, and then me. Yeah, I guess this reaction was unavoidable. I was whatever, but the three beautiful girls in casual clothes stood out way too much.

Her eyes were darting all over the place, but she still managed to put on a professional smile.

That smile seemed to be aimed more at me, or at least it felt that way, but I couldn’t check for sure. Because Rei stepped right between the waitress and me, wrapped in a chilly, dangerous aura.

“Hello. We have a reservation under Minase.”

Her tone was… normal. Flat, like always. But her voice was just a tiny bit lower.

Did something bother her in that one second…? I was thinking that casually when the waitress gave a little shiver and spoke hesitantly.

“U-understood… I’ll show you to your reserved terrace seats…”

She started guiding us to the reserved table in a fluster, and we followed: Rei, Charlotte, Azusa, and me.

I was at the very back of the line, so I leaned toward Azusa behind me and whispered.

“…Hey, Azusa. Is Rei… mad?”

“Hm~? Why~?”

“I dunno… it just feels that way…”

When I mentioned the slight weird vibe I’d picked up, she thought for a second, then gave a mischievous little smile.

“Hm~… probably ’cause she sprinkled some insecticide so no weird bugs would swarm our Yoichi?”

“Insecticide? Wait, what do you mean?”

She said something that didn’t answer the question at all.

I tried to ask again, but Azusa didn’t give any more reply, so I climbed the stairs with my head full of questions.

*

The terrace seats we were led to were so perfectly done, both outside and in, that I actually caught my breath.

Wooden deck flooring, soft lantern lights, gentle indirect lighting all around, and the city lights twinkling in the distance.

And above all, the beautiful night sky spreading out overhead because it was a terrace.

The sky that had shown orange at dusk had slowly melted into a soft, pale deep blue. Faintly twinkling city stars and the gently shimmering crescent moon.

If I had to sum it all up in one word, it would be— the atmosphere is amazing. That’s it.

…I’ve never been to a place like this before…

Looking around at the other seats, there were groups of high school girls and couples giving off a really nice vibe. It was exactly that kind of spot.

Even in a place like this, the ones who stood out the most were the three mega-wealthy heiresses sitting in front of me.

“…Whew. I can’t settle down…”

I muttered that quietly, and Azusa, sitting right next to me, leaned her shoulder against mine while holding the strawberry latte that had already arrived.

“What’s got you unsettled~?”

“I mean… it’s just… someone like me being in a place like this…”

As soon as I said that, Rei on my other side leaned her shoulder in too, holding her matcha latte.

“Eh~ why? Yoichi fits in perfectly? If anything, it feels like the space was made for us?”

“Is that how it works?”

“Yeah yeah! That’s exactly it!”

Sandwiched from both sides with nowhere to escape, I let my eyes wander around, still not fully processing the situation.

Then Charlotte, sitting across from me, tilted her head a little.

“In that case… let’s prove it! Objectively!”

“…Prove it?”

“Yes. We’ll take a photo. A commemorative first group photo of the club members on our outing!”

She smoothly pulled out her phone as she spoke and continued.

“Right now, Yoichi doesn’t look out of place at all. Once you see the photo, you’ll understand naturally.”

The other two heiresses leaned forward with interest at her suggestion.

“Charlotte-chan, that’s a great idea!! Let’s take it right now!!”

“Yeah, yeah! Come on, Yoichi, strike a nice pose!”

“Wait! Too close, too close, too close!”

The distance was so tight and the soft pressure of their chests from both sides surprised me, so I tried to pull back for a second. But I was already wedged in and could barely move.

Rei naturally wrapped her arm around mine.

“Come on, Yoichi! Smile big!!”

“Are you treating me like a kindergartener…?”

“Yes! Okay, I’ll take it in three seconds~! Three, two, one!”

Charlotte’s calm countdown echoed through the lively space.

Then the shutter clicked.

On the screen were three beautiful girls making peace signs with big smiles, and me in the middle smiling a little awkwardly.

…Yeah… there’s no weird feeling… maybe? Actually, if anything…

“…It kinda looks like a date.”

The thought slipped out of my mouth.

They all froze for just a second when they heard it.

“It’s not ‘kinda’… this is a proper date, right?”

“Yoichi… why are you saying something so obvious now?”

“Yoichi is weird.”

“No, wait, wait. That’s not what I meant… and calling me straight-up weird…”

I was trying to take back the slip-up I’d accidentally said when—

“Sorry to keep you waiting.”

Right on cue, the ordered sweets arrived.

A parfait loaded with strawberries, a Japanese-style plate with matcha and black honey, and a sparkling fruit tart. All the colorful ones they’d ordered, except for me.

The sweet scent tickled my nose right away.

The heiresses let out bright voices and sweet little breaths while they took photos with their phones, clicking away.

…If you only looked at this one moment, they really seemed like ordinary high school girls…

Who would ever think that girls like this had the blood of some of the country’s top conglomerates running through their veins? No, nobody would even imagine it.

While I was watching the other high school girls and thinking that, Rei noticed my gaze and suddenly gave a mischievous smile.

“Hey, Yoichi!”

“…? What?”

“Here! Ah~n!”

She scooped up some matcha and cream on a spoon and held it out toward me.

“…Huh?”

“It’s thanks for what you said earlier!”

“For what?”

“You know, you said we were cute!”

Azusa, who had been listening, couldn’t hold it in and burst out laughing.

“Ahaha! That’s the reason? Then me too. Here, ah~n.”

Following the two of them, Charlotte picked up her spoon a little shyly.

“Then… I’ll give you some too! Just a little…”

Before I knew it, three spoons were floating right in front of my eyes.

I shook my head hard while looking at them.

“No no no!”

When I reflexively refused, Rei puffed out her cheeks.

“Why~… it’s a date and everything…”

“No, um… I’m happy you feel that way, but it’s seriously embarrassing… and people are watching…”

I said that in a rush, but Azusa cut off my escape route.

“What’s there to be embarrassed about now? Besides, look. Take a good look at the people around you that you’re worried about. Everyone’s doing stuff like this, right?”

“W-well… yeah…”

It was true. The couples around us were openly being lovey-dovey. Some were feeding each other, others were holding hands, and some were even close enough to kiss…

While I was looking around, Azusa gave a triumphant little shrug.

“See? It’s normal, right?”

“Yeah, it is…”

Maybe because the atmosphere of the place had gotten to me, it started to feel like I was the one saying something out of place.

The three spoons were still being held out from three directions.

First, Rei brought hers a little closer to my mouth.

“Here, Yoichi. Ah~n.”

“…!”

I gave in and opened my mouth.

Right then, a small stir rose from a few people sitting nearby. It seemed we were being watched more than I thought. Soft whispers mixed with the night breeze.

Then, following Rei, I took bites from Azusa’s spoon and Charlotte’s too.

I was just chewing the perfectly normal, delicious sweets, but the heiresses looked satisfied and were smiling happily.

…What is this.

It kinda felt like only my embarrassment was being used up one-sidedly… but whatever. I’ll forgive it for the sake of the sweets.

After each of them finished feeding me and looked satisfied, the heiresses got absorbed in their own orders for a while.

Once we’d finished eating and I was thinking it might be time to leave, their gazes suddenly overlapped.

They all gave tiny nods that were almost too small to notice. Then Azusa, who had just finished her drink in one go, looked at me.

“Hey, Yoichi. There’s something I want to ask you… is that okay?”

“Something you want to ask…? W-well… if it’s just listening…”

When I answered, she gathered up the three empty glasses that weren’t mine onto the tray and said,

“We want to stay a little longer. So could you go get us refills on the drinks? Oh, same ones for everyone is fine.”

“Refills…?”

I thought she’d ask for something crazy, but it was a surprisingly normal request. It was a bit of a hassle, but nothing worth refusing.

“Got it. Sure. Rei gets the matcha latte, Azusa the strawberry latte, and Charlotte the fruit au lait, right?”

They went quiet for a second, then nodded. That weird pause felt strangely off…

…Well… whatever.

I told myself that, took the tray, and stood up.

Three empty glasses. I had to be careful not to drop and break them.

When I left the table, I noticed three young guys sitting farther back staring hard at us, but I didn’t pay it any mind and just ignored it. They were probably just looking out of curiosity like everyone else.

There was no way that while I was gone, those guys would call out to the heiresses or anything—that kind of annoying development couldn’t possibly happen.