Kicked Out of the Bottom Soccer Team, I Found My Strength Thanks to My Beautiful Junior Manager. What Began as a Simple Act of Kindness Turned into Her Coming Over Every Day.

Chapter 10: Inviting the Beautiful Junior Manager Inside Again.

“Shirayuki. What’s up? Did you forget your key again?”

“No. My parents aren’t home yet anyway, so I wanted to hear how practice went and decided to wait!”

Kana scratched her cheek with an embarrassed “ehehe.”

But she quickly pulled her smile back in and asked in a lowered voice,

“So… how was practice today? I know you were trying a lot of new things, so it must have been difficult, but…”

Her hesitant tone came from carefully choosing her words so as not to hurt him.

Takumi’s lips curved into a natural smile as he gave a big nod.

“It went better than I expected. I felt really good about it, and the coach actually praised me.”

“Coach Kawabata? That’s amazing! Congratulations!”

Her worried expression instantly brightened into a radiant smile.

“It’s all thanks to you, Shirayuki. Thank you.”

“What are you saying? It was just the result of all the hard work you’ve put in until now.”

Kana narrowed her eyes and smiled gently.

“…Yeah. Thank you.”

Takumi let out a small breath and smiled. To his embarrassment, the corners of his eyes had grown a little warm.

“—But senpai, that and this are two different matters.”

Kana suddenly turned serious and pointed a finger at him sharply.

“Eh? What do you mean?”

“Making a junior girl wait in front of your house isn’t very gentlemanly. I took a shower and everything, but I ended up sweating again because of you.”

When Kana fanned her chest with her hand, a sweet scent of shampoo wafted gently toward him. Because of their height difference, any bad timing could lead to an accident, so Takumi quickly averted his gaze.

“Sorry about that… but you could’ve waited inside, you know?”

“I wanted to surprise you! I thought you’d be back around the time I finished showering… Did you stop by the supermarket?”

Kana’s eyes shifted to the shopping bag in Takumi’s hand.

“Yeah. Just picked up some ingredients.”

“Hmm… Since you’re properly cooking for yourself, I’ll forgive you this time.”

Kana crossed her arms and gave a little huff through her nose.

Takumi’s expression softened.

“Thanks. By the way, I was planning to take a bath now. What about you, Shirayuki?”

“Ah, right… Then, can I come back later?”

“Of course. But if you want, you can just wait here. Going back and forth in this heat would be a hassle, right?”

Takumi opened the door to his apartment to show her.

Even though they lived in the same building, he didn’t want to make her walk outside again in the heat.

“Eh, that’s too much trouble for you…”

“You stayed over the day before yesterday too. Besides, just like how you trust me, I trust that you’re not the kind of person who would do anything weird.”

At his words, Kana’s eyes widened for a moment, then her cheeks gradually flushed pink.

“Geez… Why do you say things like that so casually…”

She muttered something under her breath.

“Did you say something?”

“N-No, nothing. But… are you really okay with it?”

“Of course. Come on, it’s hot. Let’s go inside.”

“Okay… Pardon the intrusion. Ah, senpai—you’re about to take a bath, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Then, can I dry your hair again?”

Her eyes sparkled like a child who had just spotted a new toy.

“…You don’t feel obligated, right?”

“Of course not! I just genuinely want to touch your hair!”

Seeing Kana wiggle her fingers eagerly, Takumi couldn’t help but laugh.

“Then I’ll take you up on that.”

“Yay! I’ll be waiting excitedly!”

Kana gave a crisp salute.

(She really is like a bundle of energy…)

Takumi narrowed his eyes fondly. Her smile might genuinely have the power to fully restore someone’s HP.

“Still, senpai, your place looks a lot cleaner than the first time I came. Very impressive.”

“Shirayuki, house.”

“Yes!”

With a delighted expression, Kana bounded into the living room.

“…This isn’t your house, you know.”

“What’s yours is mine, senpai.”

“Thinking of transferring to the baseball club?”

“Hey, Takumi-senpai… let’s play soccer!”

“Pretty sure those are mixed up.”

“I couldn’t hold it back.”

Kana stuck her tongue out with an “ehehe.”

Takumi thought to himself that being with this girl never got boring.

After putting the laundry into the dryer-equipped washing machine and starting it, he boiled some water. Even though a shower would suffice, the difference in fatigue recovery between soaking in the bath and not was massive.

“Quality of life improvements are worth spending money on.” Those were the words of his father, Daiki. Takumi could only feel grateful for the slightly generous allowance his father sent him as a high school student.

“Sorry to keep you waiting, Shirayuki.”

“Yes!”

The moment Takumi appeared in the living room, Kana pattered over excitedly.

“Now then, senpai, it’s long-awaited dryer time!”

A gentle stream of warm air touched Takumi’s hair as he sat in the chair.

“Kuuu… This is it!”

Kana let out a happy little sound.

“Sounds like a salaryman stopping for a drink after work.”

“Right now, I’ll forgive anything you say~”

She was clearly in an excellent mood.

“Thinking of becoming a hairstylist in the future?”

“No thanks.”

Takumi had asked half-seriously, but the answer came instantly.

“So that’s a no.”

“Because the only hair I want to touch is yours, senpai. I’m not interested in other people’s, and I don’t know how clean they are.”

“I see. So my hair type is right in your strike zone.”

“…I’ll let you think that for now.”

“Eh? Did you say something?”

The noise from the dryer made it hard to hear normal volume.

“Noooothing at all~”

Kana deliberately stretched out the end of her sentence. Takumi wondered if she seemed slightly displeased, or if it was just his imagination.

“This time I went with a mash style!”

“Oh, it looks good.”

The parting ended right around the end of his right eyebrow, with the hair on the right side flowing right and the left side flowing left.

“You look like a trendy college student.”

“Right? Well, with your cute face, senpai, it still gives off the feeling of a high schooler trying to look a bit more mature!”

“……”

Takumi stared at Kana intently.

“W-What is it…?”

Kana’s gaze wandered as her cheeks turned pink.

“Nothing… I was just thinking that you have a baby face too.”

“Is that supposed to be a compliment?”

“…I won’t deny it, but it feels a bit off somehow.”

Even though it was the same word, Takumi felt it carried a negative nuance for him, while Kana took it positively.

“In the end, ‘gender equality’ is just pretty words.”

“Yeah, pretty much.”

Takumi stood up.

“Thanks for drying my hair, Shirayuki. It felt really good.”

“Really?!”

Kana’s eyes sparkled brightly.

“Yeah. I even got a little sleepy.”

“That much? Then, next time after your bath, you can call me anytime, okay?”

Kana grinned mischievously. Takumi interpreted this as her teasing him.

“I’m not going to treat you like a servant.”

While indirectly declining, he secretly thought that if the chance came up again, he might ask her himself next time.

(No, this is probably just her way of showing skinship as a junior…)

In the end, Takumi decided he would only ask when she offered.

“By the way, senpai—”

When they returned to the living room, Kana suddenly spoke in a serious tone.

“Hm?”

“Why did you lie to Kagari-senpai this morning and say we just happened to meet?”

It was about the encounter with Seiji on the way to school.

(Now that I think about it, she did look a little unhappy…)

From Takumi’s perspective, that had been a quick lie meant to protect Kana.

“I didn’t want any misunderstandings. When a guy and a girl walk to school together, people will definitely say things like ‘Are you dating?’… You wouldn’t like that, right?”

“No, if it’s with you, senpai, I don’t mind at all. Actually, doesn’t lying make it seem more suspicious?”

She had a point.

But if word spread that they lived in the same building, the risk of jealousy and harassment toward Takumi would increase. He had to be careful.

“Besides… um…”

Kana hesitated, clearly finding it difficult to say.

“What is it?”

“…Well, I was thinking… I’d like to walk to school with you sometimes from now on. Of course, only if you’re okay with it. But if we do that, it’ll be hard to keep making excuses forever… Is that not okay?”

Kana looked up at him timidly with slightly upturned eyes.

Takumi’s eyes widened just a little.

“I don’t mind.”

“Eh, really?!”

“Yeah.”

Seeing her face light up with a brilliant smile, Takumi nodded, trying to stay composed.

(Of course people would misunderstand if she looks at me like that…)

He smiled wryly to himself. If he didn’t know about her passionate, soccer-obsessed side, even he might have misunderstood.

Kana probably wanted to walk to school with him so they could talk about soccer with the same level of enthusiasm. For such a sincere junior’s feelings, accepting a little jealousy was only natural.

“Then let’s stop making excuses from now on. I’ll tell Seiji myself.”

“Yes, please do!”

Kana gave another crisp salute.

“Are you really into that?”

“It’s my current obsession.”

With her hand still pressed to her forehead, Kana smiled shyly.