My Tsundere Childhood Friend, Who Was Always Haughty, Suddenly Showing a Sharp Increase in Affection and Directing Intense, Heavy Emotions Toward Me - Chapter 10-11

Chapter 10: It Was Good It Wasn’t a School Day

The night passed, and the Golden Week finally began. This year, due to holidays overlapping with weekends, it was a maximum of four consecutive days off, so some people were apparently saying it felt insufficient.

But for me, four days off was plenty, so I had no complaints. Rather, the longer the holiday, the more assignments would pile up, which was obvious. Just thinking about summer vacation assignments already made me feel depressed.

“Man, it’s only five-thirty? I’ll sleep more.”

Realizing I woke up much earlier than expected, I decided to go back to sleep. I heard karaoke started at ten, so there was still plenty of time for a second nap.

While dozing off with such thoughts, I fell asleep before I knew it. When I woke up, I felt something odd with my left arm, so I sat up and looked to my left.

“…What!?”

To my surprise, there was Sana, sleeping next to me while holding my left arm. At first, I thought it was a dream, but it seemed to be reality. Then, the movement of me sitting up woke Sana.

“Haruto, good morning.”

“Good morning… No, wait, why were you sleeping next to me?”

“When I came to your room, you were still sleeping, so I thought about waking you up, but your bed looked so comfortable that I just got in.”

I see, she gave in to the temptation of the bed, lay down, and fell asleep as is. Waking up to find her sleeping next to me was seriously startling, so I wish she’d stop.

“Hm, you thought about waking me…?”

We were supposed to go to karaoke together today, so Sana came to pick me up, but did she think she had to wake me because I was sleeping that much?

Thinking that, I looked at the clock and finally realized I overslept way more than I thought. It was only twenty minutes until the meeting time.

“Hey, if we don’t leave now, we’ll be late!?”

“Oh, you’re right.”

I wondered why the alarm didn’t go off, but then I remembered I don’t usually set it on holidays. On top of that, if Sana, who tried to wake me, fell asleep, this was bound to happen.

But why was Sana so calm? At this rate, she’d be late with me. Thinking that, I hurriedly changed from pajamas, fixed my bedhead with spray at the bare minimum, and left the house with Sana.

“If we get to the karaoke place in front of Kurashiki Station smoothly, it feels like we’ll just barely make it.”

“It was good it wasn’t a school day, right?”

“Yeah, if I got a tardy and my grades dropped after being serious for the past month, it’d be the worst.”

Shortly after, we somehow arrived at the karaoke place in front of Kurashiki Station just before ten. Then, Akiya came up to me with a grin.

“Haruto coming just in time is rare. What exactly were you and Ibuki-san doing together to be this late?”

“Nothing like what you’re imagining, so relax.”

“Really? You two weren’t actually having some fun, were you?”

“Your brain’s way too pink; you should fix that.”

I brushed off Akiya, who was teasing me while emphasizing the word “what.” While we were having that exchange, the check-in process seemed to be done, and we started moving to the room.

Fifteen people were joining today’s karaoke, so it felt like nearly a third of our classmates were participating. Unfortunately, there wasn’t a room that could fit everyone, so we split into two groups. Akiya went to the other room, but Sana came with me, so we were together.

—

Chapter 11: You Don’t Have to Make That Face; I Won’t Take Kurosaki-kun

After entering the room, we started singing one by one while chatting. As for me, I was racking my brain over what song to sing.

The song I wanted to sing was pretty obscure, so most people probably didn’t know it. They’d likely not know how to react.

That said, I didn’t know many mainstream songs either. While I was thinking about what song to choose, Sana spoke to me.

“I’m thinking of singing this song, but want to join me, Haruto? I’m a bit nervous alone.”

“Oh, that one. I can only properly sing the chorus, but if that’s okay, I’m fine with it.”

“Then I’m counting on you.”

The song Sana suggested was the theme song of a drama that was popular a while ago, so most people must have heard it at least once. As the turns went on, our turn finally came.

Sana and I stood up with mics in hand and started singing together. I was a bit worried since I was shaky on parts other than the chorus, but Sana skillfully covered for me, so we managed to sing through without issues.

“Kurosaki-kun and Sana-chan, you two were totally in sync! I was so moved!”

“Haruto and I are childhood friends, so this is a piece of cake.”

Sana, who was addressed by an excited Shindo-san, had a smug expression. The other classmates also seemed somewhat impressed.

Still, I didn’t expect Sana to match my pace this well. The old Sana would never have tried to keep up with me like this.

“Oh right, you two are childhood friends, aren’t you? I don’t have one, so I’m a bit jealous.”

“…Even if Moene asked, I wouldn’t give Haruto to you.”

“You don’t have to make that face; I won’t take Kurosaki-kun.”

Sana, Shindo-san, and the other girls were getting excited over this topic. Seeing this exchange, the guys were grinning at me.

So, it was only natural that I felt embarrassed. As my embarrassment was about to reach its limit, I stood up and left the room.

For now, I planned to wait at the drink bar until things cooled down. Thinking that, I headed to the drink bar, but Akiya was there.

“Hey, Haruto. Did you get left out too?”

“No way. Wait, left out? What did you do, man?”

“Well, we got into a debate about whether childhood friends are losing heroines, and I got too into it, so it became awkward to stay in the room.”

“Ugh…”

I didn’t know how it came to that topic, but bringing up childhood friends in front of Akiya led to this kind of mess.

The classmates probably saw Akiya and were genuinely put off. So, mentioning the word “childhood friend” around him could flip a weird switch, and we needed to be careful.

“…By the way, what did you say?”

“Of course, I passionately argued that childhood friends aren’t losing heroines but winning heroines.”

Yeah, I knew it. In Akiya’s mind, childhood friends were winners and could never be losers. As I was thinking that, a third voice suddenly spoke up.

“Huh, Kawaguchi says something good for once. No matter what anyone says, the childhood friend is destined to win in the end.”

“See, Ibuki-san gets it. I was struggling because everyone else was saying childhood friends are losing heroines.”

Hearing Sana’s words, Akiya had the expression of someone who found a rare ally. It seemed Sana was also on the “childhood friends are winning heroines” side.