I Was Reincarnated as a Mob, and After I Kept Listening to the Losing Childhood-Friend Heroine’s Complaints, I Somehow Maxed Out Her Affection Rating - 20

Chapter 20: Two Roll Cakes

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Shouma’s POV

I handed over the sweets and fulfilled my mission, then went home and immediately booted up my game.

“Alright, I’m gonna grind the dungeon now!”

…Or at least that should have been the plan, but my phone rang.

On the screen was the name “Mio.”

“…What does she want?”

When I pressed the call button, the moment the line connected…

『Did you give it to her?』

“Y-Yeah. I gave it to her and came back.”

『So? Did you eat it together?』

“…Hah?”

『I’m asking! Did you eat it together with her!?』

“Oh… I forgot.”

『HAA!?』

My eardrums practically died through the phone.

『I bought two on purpose! I told you over and over that you’re supposed to eat them together… Are you serious right now!?』

“I’m sorry… I forgot…”

『Forgot!? I bought two so you’d “eat them with Kaede,” that was part of the whole set! The present isn’t complete unless you do the whole thing!』

“I’m really sorry…”

『Seriously, what are you doing!?』

Mio sometimes threw perfect logic at sonic speed, and it was terrifying.

『Listen! Go right now! Tell her, “Let’s eat this together.” Properly!』

“Huh? Right now? But I already got home.”

『Right now! GO!』

And just like that, she hung up on her own.

…What kind of forced event was this.

“Haah… fine, whatever.”

I stood up and walked outside still in my slippers. Once again, I stood in front of Kaede’s house. When I rang the intercom, the person who came out wasn’t Kaede, but her mother.

“Oh, Shouma-kun?”

“H-Hello. Um, is Kaede home?”

“Oh, she went out earlier.”

“She went out? Where?”

“She said she was going to a friend’s house to watch a movie together.”

“…You’re kidding.”

In that moment, my heart beat in some weird rhythm. A friend’s house. A movie.

…Wait, who?

“I see. Thank you very much.”

I bowed politely and left the entrance. The moment the door closed, my thoughts started getting jammed up. Even after getting home and turning my game back on, I couldn’t focus. I mashed buttons unconsciously during battle and friendly-fired my own party.

“Crap—died. Damn it, I can’t focus.”

Sinking into the sofa, I muttered.

“…Whose house is she at, anyway?”

A certain totally average face popped into my head.

Fujiwara.

“No way. I mean, those two aren’t like th—”

…Are they?

Even when I forced myself to continue the game, I couldn’t stop thinking about those two more than the enemies on screen.

“…Why am I even getting all worked up over this?”

In the end, I didn’t clear my game that day, and only my heart was left stuck. The event remained “unresolved” in my mind.

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Yuuta’s POV

“…I-I’m exhausted…”

I let out a voiceless cry and collapsed onto my bed. At the corner of my vision were the spoils of war I had been fighting earlier, rows of garbage bags. It looked like a pile of defeated bosses. The leftover cup noodle boxes were hidden in the kitchen, too. No way the kitchen would be seen anyway.

“…All that’s left… Is putting these out…”

Just saying it made my energy gauge drop close to zero. But I had a time limit. Not tomorrow. Today. And not long from now.

Ping. 

A notification rang. On the screen was a short message.

『I’m almost there~』

“—!!?”

My blood pressure shot up instantly.

Crap. Crap crap crap. Why now!? Why now of all times!?

I shot up from the bed and grabbed the garbage bags. Three in one arm, two in the other—five total. I was more like a garbage truck than a human.

“Damn it, just for today, I wanna reincarnate as a speed-type character!”

I dashed down the stairs, running out of breath, and hurried to the garbage station. After tossing the bags in, I was panting like crazy. A neighbor I passed looked at me worriedly, but I had no room to care. And then, a few minutes later, the intercom rang.

“…Haah, I made it… Somehow…”

When I opened the door, there stood Kaede in holiday mode. She held a small paper bag, smiling softly.

“I’m coming in—… Wait, what’s with that face?”

“No, it’s just… I kinda had to sprint at full power because of… Things…”

“I-I see…”

Kaede sighed, amused, took off her shoes, and stepped inside. She looked around the room and let out a small breath of admiration.

“I get it now…”

Sensing the situation, she gave a wry smile and handed me the paper bag. When I accepted it and peeked inside, there were two pink-wrapped packages.

“This… Roll cakes?”

“Yeah, strawberry ones. The ones I like. They’re the ones I got from Shouma-kun.”

“…For real?”

“Yep. There were two inside, so I thought I’d share one. It’d go bad if I kept both.”

Smiling, Kaede took out some plates and transferred the cakes. I looked at her profile and swallowed the word “no way” before it slipped out.

“Are you sure I can really eat this?”

“I can’t finish two anyway. Sweets actually have a pretty short lifespan.”

“Then… I’ll gladly accept them.”

I unwrapped the pink package and placed the roll cake on a plate. Still…The fact that she got these from Shouma bothered me. 

Two roll cakes…Don’t tell me… No, don’t overthink it.

I carried mine over to the sofa where Kaede sat, and she immediately picked up her fork. She took a bite of the soft sponge. Her expression instantly melted.

“It’s so good. The sponge is really moist, and the strawberry’s sweet and tart flavor really stands out.”

“It’s that good, huh…? Alright, I’m trying mine.”

Her happy expression was infectious, so I picked up my fork and took a bite. My mouth filled with the tart sweetness of strawberries and the smooth cream. Yeah, this was amazing.

“…Holy crap, this is good!”

“Right?”

“What is this? My mouth feels blessed.”

“Mm-hm. It’s sweet but not heavy.”

Kaede giggled and took another bite. Yep. Kaede-approved sweets were on another level. After chatting like that, we both finished our cakes. Once I cleaned up the plates, Kaede moved straight to the TV and started setting up the Blu-ray she brought.

“Alright, let’s start.”

“Yeah. Which one are we watching first?”

“Let’s see… We’ll start with this.”

She put a movie with a picture of a couple printed on it into the player. Then she naturally sat down beside me on the sofa, right at my side.

…Wait. Isn’t she kinda close?

Suddenly, my heartbeat was weirdly loud. Without noticing my internal panic, Kaede pressed play. The opening of a romance movie began to play across the screen. Soft BGM filled the room, along with the sweet scent of roll cake lingering in the air. Our shoulders were close enough to brush.

Am I even gonna survive until the movie ends?

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