Episode 299: Uesaka-san’s Fine Play.

Yuuji’s POV.

Well now… things are starting to get pretty interesting, aren’t they…?

If I said it like that out loud, Natsumi would probably scold me again.

Still, watching from the sidelines like this, it feels like things are going better than what Hayato described.

He used to say self-deprecating things like how his standing might even be lower than Kazunari’s… but judging from Marina’s demeanor, it doesn’t seem quite that bleak.

Since we go to different schools, I don’t actually interact with Marina that much on a personal level. But we chat normally in the RAIN group, and even from the limited contact we’ve had so far, I can tell she’s a genuinely kind-hearted and pleasant girl.

Everything else I know about her mostly comes second-hand from what Youko’s told me… so yeah, as fellow group members, I’d like to get to know her a little better someday.

That said… for Natsumi and Hayato’s sake, I’m not going to be too obvious about it.

Anyway, I’ll leave that side to Hayato’s efforts for now.

Right now, I need to focus on our own situation.

According to Natsumi, she prepared a separate bento just for me today. But so far, I haven’t seen anything that looks like it.

It’s painfully obvious she’s aware of me, yet she also seems kind of flustered… so who knows what’s going on inside her head right now.

Normally she’s so big-sisterly and cheerful, but when it comes to romance she turns into a pure maiden… well, that’s exactly what makes her cute… wait, now I’m sounding just like Kazunari.

Maybe I’ve been poisoned too (lol).

In any case, with the bento situation and all, maybe I should make a move myself…

***

For some reason radiating urgency, Natsumi-senpai called out to Yuuji.

Her face looked flushed—unusually so—and displaying such a rare expression naturally drew everyone’s attention.

Which meant, of course, that the people who didn’t know the situation reacted the loudest.

“H-Hai!?”

Yuuji himself looked startled at suddenly hearing his name.

“Um, uh… th-this, here…”

Natsumi-senpai rummaged through her Boston bag in a flurry—wait, didn’t I just see something similar a moment ago?—and quickly pulled something out.

It was wrapped in a drawstring pouch and shaped vaguely like a box…

Ah. I get it now.

“Natsumi-san, what’s this?”

“Uuu… y-you already know even if I don’t say it, right!?”

Receiving Yuuji’s slightly exaggerated reaction, Natsumi-senpai finally turned bright crimson.

Yeah… that’s adorable. Textbook maiden mode.

The gap from her usual self is still insane; even I feel like teasing her and calling her calculatedly cute.

But she’s clearly not doing it on purpose, so saying that would just be picking a fight.

“…Thank you.”

“U-Um… I did my best…”

Yuuji was still acting calm on the surface… but I could tell.

That was the face of someone desperately fighting back a goofy grin. His mouth was even twitching.

Come on… if you’re happy, just be happy about it.

“…Yu-Yuuji…? Nat…sumi-san…?”

Ah… this might be bad.

Maybe she sensed something off in the exchange between those two… because Eri’s expression slowly began to darken.

“…She finally made a move. Honestly, getting so timid when it’s about herself is one of Natsumi’s worst habits.”

“…Sara-san?”

“Fufu… let’s watch over those two for a little while, shall we?”

“…Understood.”

It felt a bit loaded, but Sara-san is probably just looking out for Natsumi-senpai in her own way.

Still, personally, I was more worried about Eri right now.

With this development, Yuuji and Natsumi-senpai would have no choice but to report their relationship—and depending on how Eri reacted when she found out…

Would she be okay?

In every sense of the word…

“Ah, so Yuzuki-senpai made a bento for Tachibana-kun too. Same reason as Marina… wait, but Tachibana-kun goes to a different school…”

“…Natsumi… don’t tell me…?”

Daichi seemed to pick up on Natsumi-senpai’s change instantly and cut straight to the point.

A faint smile on his lips, he stared directly into her eyes as if confirming something.

Natsumi-senpai returned a slightly embarrassed smile and gave a tiny nod.

“I see… so you beat me to it after all. But congratulations, Natsumi.”

“Yeah… thanks, Daichi.”

There was a gentle current flowing between them that felt somehow unique.

Too warm to be just friends, yet not quite the atmosphere of lovers… it carried a certain weight.

Probably the kind of deep bond that only comes from being childhood friends who’ve known each other forever…

Childhood friends, huh.

“Um… so, uh… Eririn, actually…”

Natsumi-senpai hesitated, looking incredibly embarrassed.

Eri, surprisingly, seemed to take it calmly—at least on the surface. Though maybe her expression was just a little stiff…?

“E-Ehhh!? Wait—does that mean Tachibana-kun and Yuzuki-senpai are dating!?”

“Y-Yeah…”

Natsumi-senpai nodded, face beet-red. Yuuji watched her intently too, and when their eyes met she quickly looked down.

Maiden. Natsumi-senpai was peak maiden right now.

“Waaah!! Amazing!! Congratulations!! Wait—since when!?”

“That’s what I want to know. Keeping something this important from your kindergarten bestie feels a little cold, don’t you think?”

“Right!? And Tachibana-kun and the others aren’t even surprised—Marina didn’t react at all either. Wait, did everyone already know!?”

“Ah, sorry—that was my request. It was important to me, so I asked them to let me say it myself.”

Before any of us could cover for her, Natsumi-senpai explained the truth herself.

Though… I’m pretty sure I wasn’t the only one thinking “You were just too embarrassed, weren’t you?”

“I see. Sorry, Marina.”

“No, I’m the one who’s sorry… it ended up feeling like I was leaving you out, Youko.”

“Honestly… because Natsumi took forever to say anything, her kouhai ended up feeling awkward.”

“S-Sorry! But I can’t just blurt things out like you do!!”

“Is there really any need to hold back when you’re getting along with someone important to you?”

“You need to care a little more about how it looks!! And hold back!!”

At Natsumi-senpai’s retort, everyone nodded in unison and turned to look at us.

Yeah… I’m well aware I’ve caused plenty of trouble myself, so I can’t exactly complain… but even so, I’m not planning to change anytime soon.

Why? Because it makes me happy, obviously. And besides…

“Isn’t that a strange thing to say? Why would I ever need to hold back when being close to Kazunari-san? If anything, being open and proud about it is the proper way.”

As expected, I completely agreed with Sara-san’s opinion.

But the looks everyone was giving us definitely screamed “These two are hopeless…”

“Well, leaving the idiot couple aside… anyway, once again—please take care of me.”

“Please take care of us.”

The two of them bowed together, and everyone—including me—burst into applause.

Sara-san gave a wry, “good grief” kind of smile while clapping, while Natsumi-senpai still looked bashful and kept her gaze slightly down.

But personally… what worried me most was Eri.

She didn’t seem particularly upset; from here she looked completely normal. Almost too normal—which somehow made it feel off…

…Wait. Was Eri even clapping?

Come to think of it… she hadn’t said a single word for a while now.

“R-Right! That’s enough of that!! Let’s finish eating our bentos!”

“Yes. Come on, Kazunari-san, let’s eat.”

“I still have some of mine left, so let’s continue the ahh~n.”

“Marina, thank you again—I’ll gladly accept.”

“U-Um, go ahead!”

“Natsumi-san, if I asked you to ahh~n for me…”

“No way!! Don’t get carried away!!”

Everyone else was chatting and laughing cheerfully, apparently oblivious to Eri’s change.

Or maybe Daichi noticed?

When I glanced over through Eri, he met my eyes with a troubled look of his own.

“Um, Nishikawa-san, are you okay?”

“N-Nishikawa-san?”

Even when I called out, and then Daichi followed, there was still no response from Eri.

This was starting to feel…

“S-Sara-san, Nishikawa-san is…”

“…Eri, what’s wrong?”

Even after Sara-san noticed thanks to my prompt and spoke to her, Eri remained unresponsive. Her eyes were open, but… now that I looked closer, her expression hadn’t shifted at all?

“E-Eririn? Hellooo~ Eriri~n!?”

“Nishikawa-san!!”

“Are you alright!?”

Finally realizing something was wrong, everyone started calling out to her.

But Eri showed absolutely no reaction.

Wait a second… don’t tell me…

“E-Eririn~!?”

Natsumi-senpai waved her hand frantically right in front of Eri’s face, then grabbed her shoulders and shook—

…Kakun.

Her head lolled.

“E-Eririiiiiiiiin!?!?!?”

Despite Natsumi-senpai’s scream, Eri slumped forward like a character who’d just finished a long, exhausting battle and finally run out of gas…

Wait… she was actually unconscious this whole time?

No wonder she didn’t react to such huge news at all.

Yeah… makes sense… wait, NO IT DOESN’T!!

“W-Wait, Nishikawa-san!?”

“Eri, stop joking… wait—you’re actually fainted!?”

Finally grasping the gravity, even the usually composed Sara-san started calling out in a panic.

And Eri still wasn’t reacting at all!?

This might actually be serious…

“Sigh… fine.”

But only one person—Hanako—remained perfectly calm. She sighed, stood up, circled behind Eri, gently pulled both her arms back, and assumed a very familiar stance…

Wait, isn’t this straight out of an anime or manga…?

With a cute little “Eii!” Hanako delivered a sharp strike to Eri’s back.

“Hah!?”

Eri’s head snapped up, eyes flying wide open.

“““EEEEEEEEHHHH!?!?”””

Wait—does that actually work in real life!?

This has to be a joke… right?

This is one of those “fiction only, kids don’t try this at home” things, isn’t it!?

Hanako really is a mystery…

“Wha… where am I…?”

“E-Eririn, are you okay!?”

“Nishikawa-san!?”

While I couldn’t help but mutter “Is this a gag manga!?” under my breath, Eri looked around in confusion, trying to piece things together.

“Eri, are you alright?”

“Sara…? Um, yeah… I think I was dreaming or something.”

“A… dream?”

“I dreamed that Natsumi started dating Tachibana-san. Fufu, what a ridiculous dream… yes… a dream… just a dream… a dream…”

Something about this gave me a very bad feeling…

Eri muttered “dream” over and over while looking down. Then her body began to tremble faintly… before her eyes suddenly snapped wide open and locked onto Natsumi-senpai.

Scary!?

““Hiiiiiiii!!””

Marina and Youko’s screams sounded straight out of a horror movie!!

If her mind started turning right now, we’d be in full-on Exorci—

By the way, Hanako had already evacuated and was now casually standing right beside me.

“W-Wait, Eririn, calm—calm down!! That face is scary!! That face!!”

“Natsumi… answer me. Did you really start dating Tachibana-san?”

“Y-Yeah, that’s right… b-but seriously, calm doooown!?”

Natsumi-senpai let out a scream that was half terror, half war cry. Just how much horror was saturating the air right now?

Is this seriously turning into a horror movie?

“…I see… so that’s how it is… Congratulations, Natsumi. I truly bless you from the bottom of my heart.”

“Eririn?”

“The feeling of happiness for you is real. My best friend found someone wonderful and is bound to him—that’s something beautiful. But…”

“E-Eririn… w-wait…?”

“But… that’s that, and this is this.”

Eri spoke in a flat, emotionless tone. And around her… around her…?

No, no—this has to be an illusion. There’s no way.

And yet… and yet… I swear I can see it.

Something pitch-black and massive was rising from Eri, enveloping her entire body… something…!

“Wh…”

“Wha…?”

“Why is it always just meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!”

“Eririiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiin!!?!?!?”

Eri’s wail and Natsumi-senpai’s scream echoed into the sky. For a moment it felt like the clear blue day had suddenly plunged into midnight darkness… or maybe not…?

…Am I half-asleep or something?

***

“Anyway… anyway, someone like me… eventually… an arranged marriage… some random guy who comes sniffing around when it’s convenient…”

Eri was in full self-deprecating—er, full dark-fallen mode. Honestly, I had no idea what to even say.

She’d dropped some ominous hints before too… maybe something happened again (probably guy-related or arranged-marriage stuff)…

“Eririn, it’s just been bad luck so far. You’ll definitely be fine—you’re you!”

“Exactly, Nishikawa-san is such an amazing woman—there’s no way people would leave you alone! And if you keep talking like that, what am I supposed to do?”

The girls were doing their best to comfort her… but she showed no sign of snapping out of it.

Natsumi-senpai’s voice in particular felt like it might be having the opposite effect right now.

Sara-san seemed to understand that too, so she simply watched over Eri in silence, worried.

“…Haa… Kazunari-san can’t eat like this…”

“…Wife, I get how you feel, but your true thoughts are leaking.”

Uh… you are worried about her… right?

“Um… is this a good time?”

Just then, an unexpected voice cut through—and every head turned.

It was the special guest of the day: former student council president, Daichi Uesaka.

He’d been going with the flow of the group until now, so why speak up suddenly?

“I think I more or less understand what’s going on… but I’d like to tell Nishikawa-san what I felt today, since I’m probably the only one here who could see it clearly.”

“…Uesaka-san?”

Even Eri seemed curious enough to pull back slightly from full darkness mode.

And personally, I was extremely interested in what he had to say.

“Unlike everyone else here, I didn’t have any real prior connection to you—so maybe that’s why I noticed. Over the course of today, my image of Nishikawa-san changed in a really good way.”

“Your… image?”

“Yeah. Before today, I thought you seemed friendly on the surface, but there was this… wall. Not like Sara-san’s kind of distance, but something that made you feel hard to approach.”

Hmm… I can’t really relate to what Daichi’s saying.

Personally, I’ve never once felt any kind of wall from Eri. My basic impression of her has always been cheerful, sociable, dependable big-sister type… no barriers at all.

“…Looks like no one else felt that way. Which is honestly kind of… never mind. Anyway, that was my impression. But after seeing so many different sides of you today, that image shattered. You became way more approachable—almost like a completely different person in the best way.”

“………”

Eri listened silently, looking faintly surprised. Maybe because she’d never realized it herself… or because he’d hit the nail on the head… or maybe…

“Sorry—I’m not even sure I’m explaining this right. But to me, Nishikawa-san has always been noble, dependable, someone worthy of respect… and incredibly charming. Yet a little hard to get close to. I wanted to become friends, but I didn’t know how. Today, though—you felt so much more open, so much more… human. I bet this is how you always are with people you’re really close to, right?”

“…I’ve never really been aware of doing that myself.”

Assuming what Daichi said was true…

If our connection came through her best friends Sara-san and Natsumi-senpai, then maybe that’s why she accepted us so easily. Simple, but it makes sense. Just a hypothesis, though.

Regardless—the one thing that felt undeniably true was that Daichi now genuinely found Eri far more approachable.

How could I tell?

Because the way he spoke to her had changed.

He used to address her formally. Now he was talking to her the same way he talked to the rest of us.

That shift was proof his mental image of her had changed.

“I think it was unconscious. That’s why I find you even more attractive now. Even the slightly airheaded parts feel cute.”

“C-Cute!? R-Really?”

For the first time, a clear “embarrassed” expression appeared on Eri’s usually mask-like face. And that black aura seemed to thin out… or maybe I was just imagining it?

By the way, Natsumi-senpai was grinning like crazy while staring at Daichi… please stop, this was finally going well…

“So basically… what I’m trying to say is that Nishikawa-san’s charm really shines the longer someone spends time with you…”

“W-Wait, Uesaka-san?”

“At the very least, I think you’re an incredibly attractive woman. So please don’t be so pessimistic…”

“O-Okay, okay—I get it! That’s enough…!”

“Eh…? Ah—!?”

At Eri’s embarrassed words, Daichi finally stopped talking… and his face screamed “I messed up.”

“Wow… Daichi… that was quite the passionate speech, huh?”

“N-No, I just—”

“No no, it was hotter than your student council speeches. Right, Eririn?”

“N-Natsumi, that’s enough. Uesaka-san was being considerate toward me. And… Uesaka-san, thank you. I’ve never really been told something like that before, so… I’m happy.”

I wasn’t sure exactly how Eri took it, but she clearly didn’t hate it.

At the very least, the dark aura had vanished.

Though knowing her, she might just be playing it off out of embarrassment… who knows?

“Uh… no, I’m the one who should apologize—I got carried away…”

“Fufu… I never pictured you as the passionate type, so it surprised me. But really… thank you. I was happy. And Natsumi—sorry. Congratulations again.”

Whatever the case, thanks to Daichi, Eri seemed to have returned to her usual self. The mood around the group felt lighter too.

Honestly… I was grateful.

“Now then, let’s continue lunch. Uesaka-san, please try some of my bento too, okay?”

“Ah… sure. I’ll gladly accept.”

And maybe—just maybe—Eri’s attitude toward Daichi had softened a little…?

We’d have to see.