The Case of Liking the Most Beautiful Girl in the School Even After Being Told Not to Like Her - Chapter 20 - Let's Go on a Date

Chapter 20 – Let’s Go on a Date

The rain was getting heavier and I checked to see if Mina-san had replied to my message asking her what she was going to do about the rain which I sent before I left the café.

No reply… She didn’t go home without an umbrella, did she? It’s no good lending someone your umbrella if you got wet yourself.

If I hadn’t borrowed it back then, none of this would have happened.

When I finally reached the station near the school, I stopped.

Hah~ Running in the rain takes more energy from me than it usually would.

Suddenly, looking in front of the ticket gates in front of the station, I noticed that there was a person similar to Mina-san.

That’s Mina-san, right?

Even from a distance, I could recognize her at a glance. Long beautiful hair, our school uniform. It was definitely Mina-san.

As I was going to her, I noticed Mina-san and one other person there. Is that Mori from our class?

Mina-san and Mori were talking happily under the umbrella. Mori had an umbrella in his hand and I understood why he was with Mina-san. I see, she didn’t have an umbrella, so she went with Moir.

Watching her from afar suddenly made her seem distant.

I knew Mina-san and Mori were close. They’re both in a group that seems to be in the upper caste, and they don’t have anything to do with someone like me. When Mina-san and I became a family, we talked more and more, and I felt a little closer to her, but she and I live in different worlds.

For some reason, I couldn’t look at Mina-san and Mori. I squeezed the handle of the umbrella, turned away and went back to the café.

＊＊＊

“Are you sure just here is okay?”

Mori-kun asked if it was okay at the station and I nodded.

“It’s close to home from here, so I’m fine here. Thanks, Mori-kun.”

“Well then, I’ll see you tomorrow at school.”

“Yeah, see you tomorrow.”

Mori-kun waved at me and I waved back.

Now, let’s relax at the cafe in front of the station until the rain stops.

I went into a café in front of the ticket gate and decided to kill some time until the rain stopped.

＊＊＊

“Ah, you’re back. Mina-chan, was she okay?”

When I returned to the café and returned the umbrella, Shirai-senpai asked me.

“Ah, yes… Thank you for the umbrella.”

Mina-san should be home by now. She went home with Mori…but why in front of the station?

I suddenly wondered why they were talking in front of the station. Mori doesn’t go to school by train, right? Then why…?

“Asai-kun, can you take care of the cash register?”

“Ah, yes.”

I answered Shirai-senpai belatedly because of my thoughts.

At 6pm, I was going home with Shirai-senpai as promised after our part-time job. It had stopped raining by then, so we didn’t need to use an umbrella. Shirai-senpai and I were going to the station together, so we decided to go home together.

We hadn’t spoken a word since we left the café, but when we stopped at the front of the station, Shirai-senpai suddenly asked me.

“Hey, Asai-kun, have you ever dated someone?”

“I haven’t…”

The sudden question made me wonder why Shirai-senpai-senpai was asking me this.

“I see… This is the reward I was talking about earlier. Do you want to go on a date with me?”

“Eh…?”

A date… She’s talking about a real date, right?

There’s no way Shirai-senpai has any interest in me, so I’m sure I heard it wrong.

“It’s a real date. Of course, if Asai-kun doesn’t want to, that’s fine, but I wanted to go and see this with you…”

Shirai-senpai took out two tickets from her pocket and showed them to me so that I could see them. I looked at the tickets and saw that the location was written on them and that it was an art museum.

“This is…”

“Asai-kun, you said before that you liked this person’s photos, right? I’ve grown to like them since then, too… And now there’s an exhibition of his photographs, so I was wondering if you’d like to join me.”

“T-Together?”

“You don’t want to?”

“N-No, that’s not what I meant… I was just wondering if it’s okay for you to be with me…”

“I want to go with Asai-kun. I told you it was a reward, didn’t I? This is a present from me.”

A ticket was handed to me, and I looked at it.

“Thank you very much.”

“Yeah. Well, I’ll let you know the day I’m going, but it’ll be after the test, of course.”

“Yes, I understand.”

＊＊＊

Hmm~ I’m tired~

I was doing a bit of studying at the café when I stood up and looked through the glass at the people passing in front of the store. When I realized people weren’t holding up umbrellas, I thought it was about time to go home, so I put the notebook I had on my desk into my bag.

I got up from my chair, threw my drink in the bin and left the café.

Now then, let’s go home.

As I was heading back towards home, a familiar face came into view.

That’s…Asai-kun and… Shirai-senpai from the other day…? Perhaps they went back together after their part-time job?

I wanted to speak to them, but seeing the two of them having fun talking made me feel uncomfortable talking to them.

It’s bad to get in the way…

Let’s just go home…

Leaving the station, I walked towards home.

I don’t know why, but I’ve been wondering about Asai-kun and Shirai-senpai for a while now. I wonder what they were talking about and what Asai-kun thinks about Shirai-senpai… Even so, it shouldn’t matter to me if Asai-kun likes Shirai-senpai…

But why do I care about him so much?