I Was Reincarnated as the Villain in an NTR Eroge, but Since I Don’t Actually Want to Be a Villain, I’m Just Going to Live Normally - 15

Chapter 15: Spoken To by a Close Junior (Kakeru’s POV)

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That afternoon after school, since it was a day for basketball club activities, I had been working hard during practice.

“Alright! Today’s practice is a bit early, but that’s it for today. Dismissed!”

“““Good work today!”””

After a while, basketball practice ended. It was lucky that practice finished earlier than usual today. That meant I could go home and play a ton of games right away!

“Ah, good work today, Kakeru-senpai!”

“Hmm? Oh, hey, good work, Shizuku.”

“Yes!”

A first-year girl approached me as I wiped the sweat off with my towel. She was Shizuku Sakurajima, a member of the girls’ basketball team. Since today’s practice was joint with the boys’ team, Shizuku had been practicing alongside us.

Shizuku was in the upper 150 cm range, and since she exercised daily, her body was toned and fit. She also had short black hair, which added to her cute appearance. Shizuku and I had gone to the same middle school, so we had known each other since then. We’d gotten along fairly well back in middle school.

Her personality was bright and energetic, just like it had been in middle school. Whenever she saw me, she would always come over with a cheerful expression and greet me. Because Shizuku had been such a lively, affectionate junior from middle school, I naturally treated her with care and affection as a senior. Honestly, having such a cute junior look up to me was genuinely flattering. Shizuku, like Moeka and the others, was incredibly cute, and being admired by someone like her was thrilling for a teenage boy like me.

“Good work today, Senpai! You really stood out during today’s practice game! As expected of you!”

“Ah, it was just luck. But I’m happy to be praised like that by you. Thanks, Shizuku.”

“Y-yes! It’s just that you really were amazing! Um, and…When you play basketball… You’re always so cool and… Uuh…”

Whoooosh!

“Huh? What did you say? Sorry, I didn’t catch that.”

“Huh? Ah, n-no! It’s nothing! Ah, haha!”

A sudden gust of wind hit the gym wall, making a loud noise inside, and I missed what Shizuku had said. I asked her to repeat it, but she hurriedly said it was nothing. Her face seemed a little red, though… Could it be true?

Hmm, well, if she says it’s nothing, I guess I shouldn’t worry about it.

If she said it was nothing, then it probably wasn’t anything important. No need to press further if I didn’t need to.

“I see. Then that’s fine. So… Why did you come to talk to me, Shizuku? Did you need something?”

“Ah, y-yes! Actually, there’s something I wanted to ask… Uum, Senpai, do you have any plans for this weekend?”

“This weekend? Oh, yeah! There’s a new game coming out today and I’ve planned to go all out online with my friends this weekend! I’m thinking of staying up for 48 hours straight, haha!”

“Oh… I-I see…”

I said it with high energy. I had been planning to spend this weekend diving deep into the newly released game with my friends. I was already excited just thinking about it. But for some reason, Shizuku’s expression seemed a bit downcast.

“Huh? What’s wrong, Shizuku? Why the long face… Aah!? W-wait, were you… Maybe you were trying to ask me to do something with you this weekend?”

“Huh…? Uh, um…N-no! That’s not it! Ah, haha… I was just curious about what Senpai would be doing this weekend!”

“Oh, I see. Haha, that’s a relief.”

“Y-yes. That’s right… Ah, haha…”

I panicked for a moment, thinking she might be suggesting we hang out alone, but that wasn’t the case.

Whew, that’s a relief. Almost accidentally broke a potential “flag” for my love life.

Logically, Shizuku wouldn’t suddenly ask me to hang out one-on-one. I had never hung out with her alone before. Of course, we’d hung out in groups with the club members a few times, but never just the two of us. But if she did invite me one-on-one… I’d totally go…

Some might say, “Then why don’t you just ask her?” But if I did, and she refused, the disappointment would be huge. I couldn’t risk it. Besides, nowadays, guys asking younger girls to hang out could get them labeled as creepy, which I saw a lot on social media. So I’d never do anything that might make Shizuku think I was a gross senpai. That would be devastating, since she looked up to me.

I had to keep being the kind, cool senior she admired. Well, for now, I had bigger priorities, like getting the game I’d preordered.

“Alright, I’ve got things to do, so I’ll head home first.”

“Ah, y-yes! Got it! Good work today, Kakeru-senpai!”

“Yeah, you too, Shizuku. See you.”

After saying goodbye to Shizuku, I changed from my gym uniform back into my school uniform and left the school quickly. On the way home, I picked up the preordered game from the electronics store and rushed back home. 

Alright, time for an all-night gaming marathon!!

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