So You’re Telling Me I’m in My Popular Phase!? - Chapter 34 & 35 & 36 & 37

Chapter 34: An Unexpected Explanation & Introduction!?

“First, Machida-san will explain the reason why we ended up having a sleepover.”

Machida-san gave me a surprised look, probably thinking, Eh? Me?

I replied with my eyes, Yeah.

Machida-san slumped her shoulders and started talking.

“Um, first of all, hello, Aki-san.”

“Ah, yes, hello.”

The three of us watched their awkward conversation.

“I apologize for causing a disturbance.”

“N-no, not really.”

“Um, first is the reason for the sleepover, right?”

“Eh, ah, yes.”

“Um, it started when Ichikami-kun first invited Izumi-san, and by Izumi-san I mean—”

“Ah, it’s fine. I know her.”

“I-I see.”

Ah—watching this is getting me irked.

“Machida-san, that’s enough. I’ll explain.”

“Oh, thank you very much.”

I thought she’d tell me to do it from the start, but Machida-san seemed genuinely nervous, so she looked truly grateful.

Is her character changing?

“Actually, I ended up being home alone, and when I thought I’d ask Izumi to cook, it turned out Izumi wanted to have a sleepover too, so she invited Machida-san and the others.”

“Hmm.”

She’s not interested at all, but she’s cute, so I forgive her.

“So, until tomorrow at, um…”

“We plan to return home around 6 PM.”

“Thanks, Machida-san.”

“No problem.”

Aki is looking at us quietly.

“So, is that okay?”

“……”

“Well?”

“…………”

Well, what is it?!

“Do whatever you want.”

She’s half-pissed, but permission granted. Thank you very much!

“Since we’re at it, I’ll introduce them—this guy is Sunagawa Tomoya, and this person is Machida Toyomi.”

“Nice to meet you.”

“Pleased to meet you.”

“Ah, yes, pleased to meet you.”

The explanation and introductions finished without incident.

“Then, I’ll start making dinner soon.”

Izumi headed to the kitchen.

“Then, Aki-san, do you have a moment?”

Machida-san beckoned to Aki.

“What is it?”

Aki headed toward Machida-san, but… I have a bad feeling about this.

“Please tell me stories about Ichikami-kun—no, Ryu-san—at home.”

“Stop thaaaaat!”

“Since Onii-chan hates it—”

“Aki~, thank you.”

“—I’ll talk.”

“That’s the opposite reaction from what I was expecting!”

That’s cruel, Aki. Onii-chan is sad~.

But—

“Hehe.”

“Ahahaha.”

“Giggle.”

“Pfft, ahahaha.”

“This is kinda fun.”

“Yeah.”

“Yes, very.”

“It is.”

“Onii-chan has good friends, doesn’t he.”

“We aren’t friends, you know?”

Machida-san?

“That’s a lie, they’re all my beloved friends!”

“““““Ahahaha!”””””

This is fun.

I wondered what would happen when Aki came home, but it’s really fun.

Time spent laughing with everyone is truly wonderful.

Chapter 35: An Unexpected Thanks!?

That day ended after we ate dinner.

※

“Wake up, Onii-chan.”

“Nnn? Aki? You’re cute as always today.”

Today, I was woken up by Aki just like usual.

“Shut up. Sigh…”

Well, this is our usual routine, so I don’t mind.

“By the way, where’s Tomoya?”

Tomoya, who should be in the same room as me, isn’t here.

“He went to the living room first.”

“I see. Then let’s go too.”

“Wait. Do you have a second?”

“Hm? What is it?”

Aki, who always wants to go downstairs quickly, stopped me from going down… Just her saying that brings tears to my eyes.

“Why are you crying?”

“It’s nothing.”

“Ah, okay.”

I wiped my tears and urged Aki to continue.

“So, what is it?”

“Umm, about everyone…”

Is she talking about Machida-san and the others?

“What about them?”

“Yesterday, at first, I made a face like I hated them being here, right?”

Ah, true.

But she smiled right away after the introductions, and it was fun.

“What about that?”

Aki has a serious expression today, so I can’t joke around. Even though she’s so cute…

“You see, I felt like I did something bad back then.”

Is it really something to worry about that much?

“Just tell me what you’re thinking.”

“Actually, back then, I was scared because there were strangers in my house. Izumi-san talks to me a lot so she’s fine, but it was my first time meeting Machida-san and the other guy, so I was scared. I knew at a glance they were good people. But I was scared. But when Machida-san called me, her face was kind, it was lovely. I felt ashamed of myself for even thinking bad of them. So I laughed to cover it up. That was frustrating.”

Aki…

“Why are you being so negative? You know, right? Machida-san and Tomoya are good people. So they wouldn’t hold a grudge on you for thinking of them like that.”

“Yeah, thank you.”

“But I gotta ask—was that smile a lie or real, which one?”

“It was real, obviously!”

“Then good!”

Ah, it was fun. For me, for Aki, and surely—no, definitely for Izumi, Machida-san, and Tomoya too.

That fun time ends today though.

“Everyone’s waiting, so let’s hurry downstairs.”

“Yeah.”

We headed toward the living room.

“Hey, was the sleepover fun?”

“Yeah! More than I expected.”

More than expected, huh? Glad it was fun.

“Onii-chan.”

“Hm?”

“Thanks.”

“Sure.”

Glad your worries are resolved.

“If only Onii-chan acted like he did today all the time, he’d be my favorite cool Onii-chan.”

Aki muttered something under her breath.

“Did you say something?”

“Nothing.”

“I see.”

What was it? I’m curious.

“Well, I’m just glad my little sister was an angel today too.”

Finally said it!

Well, I’m expecting some harsh abuse after this…

“Annoying, gross. But thanks.”

Hm? Thanks?

I must have misheard.

I opened the living room door.

“Ichikami-kun, you’re finally up.”

“Ryu, mornin’.”

“Ryu-kun, you’re slow! Let’s eat quickly~.”

Yeah, it smells good.

“My bad.”

We enjoyed a delicious breakfast.

Chapter 36: The Unexpected Final Day!?

“What should we do?”

I asked everyone what they wanted to do today.

“That’s already been decided!”

Machida-san suddenly yelled.

Please stop doing that, you’re going to give me a heart attack.

“What are we doing?”

Izumi asked, eyes sparkling as she looked at Machida-san.

Don’t, Izumi. It’s nothing good anyway.

“Let’s turn Ichikami-kun’s house into a haunted house and play!”

“But Machida-san, aren’t you bad with ghosts?”

“Yes!”

Don’t give me an excited “yes”!

You’re scared of them!

“No, we can’t do that in our house…”

Aki stopped Machida-san. Nice save!

“Can’t we do something about that?”

“No way!”

Oh, me and Aki were perfectly in sync.

“Don’t say the same thing as me. Gross.”

Why!?

“Don’t mind it, Ryu-kun.”

“Funny—no, I mean, how pitiful, Ichikami-kun.”

“Ryu, pfft—haha.”

You guys…

“Don’t get carried away!”

“Ahahaha!”

Everyone burst out laughing.

Sniff… you guys are awful.

“So anyway, Aki-san.”

“No.”

Machida-san tried to butter up Aki, but failed.

“Hehe.”

“Don’t get too full of yourself.”

“Guh—!”

Machida-san came over and started choking me.

Crap, I’m losing consciousness. Someone… hey—don’t just ignore this!

※

A few minutes later.

Or rather, it only felt like that — it was actually about 30 seconds later when Machida-san finally let go of my neck.

“I thought I was gonna die…”

“Hmph. Be more careful from now on, okay?”

“Yes…”

After that, everyone decided to play video games, taking turns one by one.

After a while, Izumi went off to make lunch.

That reminded me — the food we bought for the three days was more than enough. Way more than we needed, actually.

“You went way overboard with the shopping!”

“What’s wrong?”

“No, nothing.”

Izumi looked worried for a second.

“Alright, let’s continue our match with the four of us!”

Tomoya’s all hyped up since he loves games.

But—

“Ahh! I lost again!”

“You’re way too strong!”

Since the games were all mine, Aki and I kept crushing them.

“Another round?”

“Of course!”

“You guys are high schoolers, right?”

Hey, Aki, don’t look at them with that pitying smile.

And so another round begins.

“I lost again—!”

“So frustrating! I was so close!“

“In what world was that even clo—”

“Yes?”

“It’s nothing! Sorry!”

Machida-san’s scary!

“Onii-chan, you’re weak.”

“Sorry but…”

It’s because Machida-san’s terrifying!

“Lunch is ready—”

This will be the last meal Izumi cooks for us.

“Let’s eat!”

Everyone enjoyed the meal together.

Even after eating, we went back to gaming.

Playing games on the final day… well, it’s fun, so who cares.

※

And then, the time came.

“Well then, it’s about time we head home.”

“Oka—ay.”

At Machida-san’s prompt, Tomoya and Izumi started packing up.

“Thank you so much, Ichikami-kun.”

“No, I had a lot of fun too.”

“Let’s do another sleepover sometime!”

“Sure, anywhere but my house.”

Machida-san gave a small bow.

“We’re ready.”

“Same here.”

Tomoya and Izumi were holding their bags, ready to go.

Everyone headed for the front door.

“Thanks, Ryu-kun.”

“See you tomorrow.”

“Thank you very much.”

“Yeah.”

Waving their hands, everyone left.

Haa… that was fun.

And now—

It’s just me and Aki!

Aki seems to have realized it too.

She went upstairs, but she’s taking her sweet time locking the door.

Alright, bathroom first, and then—

Click.

Huh?

“We’re home!”

Mom!?

And behind her—Dad!?

Noooooo!!!

※

Tomorrow, school starts again.

I’ll do my best.

Chapter 37: The Unexpectedly Pitiful Izumi!?

“Good morning, Ryu-kun!”

“Whoa—”

Zugogogo!

“That’s mean, Ryu-kun!”

“You’re the one who keeps trying to hug me first thing in the morning! Save that stuff for someone special!”

In the morning, I’d left the house and gone to meet Izumi at our usual spot.

As soon as she arrived, she lunged in for a hug again.

Seriously, what’s her deal?

“Humph. But Ryu-kun is someone special to me.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

If only Izumi didn’t say stuff like that, she’d be so much cuter. What a waste.

Well, she can’t hold a candle to Aki anyway.

No one could ever beat Aki’s level of cuteness.

Actually, no one should—because the world itself would faint.

Aki alone is dangerous enough. If anyone surpasses that, who knows what might happen…

We headed to school like always and finally arrived.

“Morning, Ryu. Still coming with Morikawa-san, huh? You two are always all lovey-dovey like a married couple.”

A classmate called out to me.

I get comments like that sometimes. Even though it’s totally wrong.

“How many times do I have to say it’s not like that? Right, Izumi?”

I asked Izumi for help.

“Ehehe, they said I’m married to Ryu-kun.”

Wait, huh? Izumi-san?

“See, even Morikawa-san agrees.”

“No, seriously, it’s not true.”

I turned to Izumi as I said it.

“She just likes being told we’re like family. She used to say she wanted us to be family all the time.”

“Right. So that means Morikawa-san and Ryu are husband and wife, right?”

“Huh? Why?”

What is she even talking about?

“Well, because you said she wanted to be family—”

“That means like, siblings, right?”

“Huh? You seriously think that?”

“Of course I do.”

What the hell’s your point then? How else could you even take that?

“Morikawa-san, sounds like you have it rough. Hang in there.”

“Yeah…”

Huh? Why does she look so sad all of a sudden?

“Well then, see ya.”

He walked off to join another group.

“Ah, Ryu, Izumi-chan! You guys finally made it!”

Tomoya spotted us and came running over.

“Yo, morning. You’re early today.”

“Morning, Tomoya-kun!”

Normally, Tomoya comes to school later than we do.

“Well, you know, since we all had that sleepover yesterday, I sorta couldn’t wait to get to school!”

“Sorry, but that didn’t happen to me at all.”

“Ehhh!?”

Even Izumi was shocked?

“Why? Why not?”

“Well, it’s not like anything special’s going to happen today or anything.”

Izumi’s eyes turned into dots as she protested.

“Come on, you came at the same time as me too!”

“That’s because I wanted to go with Ryu-kun!”

“Why though?”

If you wanted to go to school early, you could just go without me.

You don’t have to stick with me!

“Tomoya-kuuun!”

“Poor Izumi-chan.”

“Huh?”

What’s with that again…

“Speaking of that, there is an event happening today.”

Whoa! I jumped. It was Machida-san.

“Don’t just appear out of nowhere! You’ll give me a heart attack!”

“Ufufu.”

You’re having way too much fun with this!

“Ah, morning, Toyomi-chan.”

“Good morning, Toyomi-san.”

Why are they acting like it’s normal!?

“So, what’s this ‘event’ about?”

“Well, not exactly an event. More like a report—I found someone who seems willing to join.”

Seriously!?

Ah right, she mentioned she might’ve found someone good.

“The person you told us about before?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

I knew it! I wonder what kind of person they are.

“Can’t wait to meet them!”

“Yeah!”

Izumi and Tomoya were both excited.

“I’ll introduce them after school, so please wait in the classroom.”

“Okay.”

“Got it.”

“Roger~”

I can’t wait to see what kind of person they are.