I’m an Introvert, but After Taking Care of the School’s Most Beautiful Girl Who Lives in an Apartment When She Was Sick, She Became Attached to Me and Started Inviting Me Over to Her Place! - Chapter 30

Chapter 30

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“Alright, looks like all the groups are decided now, so could everyone sit down for a moment~?”

Kaon, Kohaku, Tenma, Kaede, Saki, and Sorato.

Just a few minutes after the formation of a strange group with a perfect balance—three boys and three girls—it seemed that everyone in the class had successfully formed a group. The homeroom teacher, Tanaka-sensei, told everyone to return to their seats. Curious gazes gathered from all around.

Why does it turn out like this every single time…?

Every time he tried to avoid her, it felt like his involvement with her only grew stronger. The group Sorato had ended up in, having successfully merged in spectacular fashion, was the only mixed-gender group in the class, instantly making it the center of attention. While the room was still buzzing a little, Tanaka-sensei added a quick, “Listen up,” and began explaining the details of the off-campus field trip.

“On the day of the trip, meet at school at 8:00 a.m. We leave at 8:10, so don’t be late. It’ll be about an hour and a half by bus, and you’ll start your free activities at 9:30. There’s no specification on which attractions to ride, so decide freely among yourselves. Just don’t cause trouble for other guests. The reassembly time is 4:00 p.m. Make sure you’re on time.”

“Yes—!”

“…That should be about it for announcements. Alright, you can start deciding which attractions to ride and how you’ll spend the day in your groups. I’ve got to prepare materials for the next class, so keep the noise down enough that you don’t bother the other classes~”

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“Alright then, nice to meet you all again! …Since we’ve got the chance, let’s start with introductions!”

The desks were pushed together by group, and the long-awaited face-to-face meeting began. That said, everyone in this group except Sorato already knew each other, so it was practically just for his sake.

“I’ll start. I’m Kohaku Natani. Since we’re the only mixed-gender group, I wanna enjoy this trip to the fullest! Nice to meet you!”

“Then I guess I’m next? I’m Tenma Kudou. I’m glad we’re in the same group. Let’s have as much fun as we can. Nice to meet you.”

“Then I guess I’m next? …Umm, my name’s Sorato Suzuya. I’m meeting all of the girls here for the first time, so I hope we can slowly get to know each other… Ah, and of course, let’s have as much fun as we can.”

Following the example of the two before him, Sorato finished his introduction relatively smoothly and sat back down with a satisfied look. Honestly, compared to being grouped with a bunch of boys he barely interacted with, meeting girls for the first time made it easier for Sorato to build friendships. He gulped down some tea from his water bottle to moisten his throat, which had gone dry from tension.

“Alright, then it’s our turn! My name is Kaon Natsuki! What I like is… Egg porridge! Nice to meet you!”

“Ng—!? Cough, cough, cough!”

Just as Sorato had started chugging his tea, he heard Natsuki’s introduction and violently choked. The tea went down the wrong pipe, and he couldn’t breathe properly.

“Hey, hey, Sorato, don’t choke when Natsuki-san is in the middle of her introduction~”

“Are you okay? Drink slowly, alright?”

“O-oh. Thanks…”

“…Pfft… Huh…!”

You woman! What do you mean your favorite thing is egg porridge!? You totally did that on purpose, didn’t you!?

There was no way a current high school girl’s favorite food was egg porridge. Well, maybe there were people like that, but at least the girl in front of him had deliberately chosen “egg porridge” to provoke Sorato’s reaction. That much was obvious just by looking at her. Through his tear-blurred vision as he coughed, he could see Natsuki desperately holding back her laughter.

…She’s definitely enjoying making these ‘barely there’ comments on purpose, isn’t she…?

While Natsuki was still struggling to suppress her laughter, the black-haired girl beside her, who had been watching Sorato with slightly exasperated eyes, began her introduction without any preamble.

“I’m Kaede Mizotani. Tenma over there and I have been childhood friends since kindergarten. Nice to meet you.”

She delivered only the bare minimum of information, then went quiet, casting a sympathetic glance at Sorato that wouldn’t be noticed by the others. She was one of the few people who understood the strange relationship between those two, but since she had never been publicly involved, she had to maintain the pretense of meeting him for the first time. With nothing he could do, Sorato could only endure Natsuki’s teasing, making him look pitiful.

“Kaede-san, I think we talked a bit before when you were studying with Tenma at a family restaurant, right?”

“That’s right. I happened to run into you two studying at the family restaurant, and that was when I joined you.”

Without noticing the situation at all, Kohaku immediately went over to Kaede to deepen their acquaintance. Apparently, they had interacted before, and it didn’t take long for the stiffness in their conversation to fade.

“Then I guess I’m next? My name is Saki Hiiragi! Kohaku-kun and I have known each other since middle school, and I was hoping to take this chance to get along with everyone too! Nice to meet you~!”

“…Cough—weren’t you in the same class as me last year, Hiiragi-san?”

“Yeah! Suzuya-kun and I were in the same class last year! We didn’t really talk, though!”

Finally calming down enough to talk to others, Sorato unusually took the initiative and spoke to Saki after her introduction. In fact, she had been in the same class as Sorato since last year, and she was a girl who was easier to interact with in a different way than Natsuki. Back in their first year, Suzuya had spoken with her several times during pair work, and he remembered that their conversations flowed easily, without the usual struggle to keep things going.

“Alright, now that we’ve finished our initial introductions, let’s start looking up attractions and stuff right away!”

Kohaku clapped his hands together, taking charge of the group’s momentum.

“Yeah!!!”

With the atmosphere in the group finally starting to feel more comfortable, the full-fledged planning for the off-campus field trip began.

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