The Story Of How I, A Gloomy Guy, Ended Up Surrounded By the Top-Tier Beautiful Girls In Class After A Seat Change - Chapter 55-56

Chapter 55:

Despite taking a few detours, we eventually headed towards our original goal of collecting cardboard boxes… but.

“We went to the supermarket and convenience store… and this is all we gathered?”

From the supermarket, we got five folded long cardboard boxes tied together with a string, and from the convenience store, we got a small box that could fit in both hands.

I held the bundle of folded cardboard boxes under my arm, while Miyama held a small box in each hand.

(This is way too little… with just this, we can probably only make one tree in the background.)

“Are we totally falling behind?”

“It seems that way. Even though the cultural festival is still a while away, every class seems to be taking it very seriously…”

Near the high school, all the stores had already been taken over by other classes, and some classes had even negotiated with the stores to reserve a week’s worth of unnecessary cardboard boxes in advance.

Although today marks the official start of the cultural festival preparations, I knew that each class would start moving quickly, but I didn’t expect it to be this intense.

“Sorry, both of you? I got delayed because Airi was enjoying her popping candy ice cream.”

“It’s not Airi’s fault at all. If anything, it’s the fault of some guy trying to impress Airi with ice cream.”

“I-I’m not that kind of guy. Besides, you were eating ice cream too!”

“That’s because! Well, anyway! Just like with Snoto before, you’re trying to impress Airi by treating her, right!”

Regardless of the intention to impress, deep down, I couldn’t deny that I had a selfish desire to make Miyama’s chest even bigger by treating her to delicious food.

“Ryota, the pick-up artist.”

“That’s not what I—”

“Hey, listen…”

As Yuria and I were in a tense moment, Miyama suddenly interjected.

“I was thinking, Ryota and Yuria seem really close, don’t they?”

“Huh?”

“It feels like you’ve known each other for a long time, the way you’re so close.”

Did Miyama suspect something…?

Certainly, from Miyama’s perspective, who didn’t know about the incident at the arcade, Yuria and I were just a gal and an introvert sitting next to each other.

We weren’t even in a relationship where we’d have silly arguments!!

(This is bad, this is bad…!)

“If you say that, Airi seems close to Ryota too, right? They even went to Snoto together!”

“T-That’s, well… huh? Went together?”

Mid-conversation, Miyama seemed lost in thought, furrowing her brow.

What’s going on?

“A-Airi? What’s up all of a sudden?”

“With Ryota… together… that’s it!”

As if she had an idea, Miyama nodded and suddenly ran off somewhere.

“Airi, you’ve got something good in mind!”

—

Chapter 56:

While surprised by Miyama’s sudden actions, Yuria and I decided to follow her.

Miyama, with her ample bosom bouncing up and down, hurried ahead of us.

Unfortunately, we couldn’t get a good view of her chest bouncing… but what could Miyama’s “good idea” be?

(I wonder if she found a lead on collecting cardboard boxes…?)

I always seem to get caught up in Miyama’s “spontaneous ideas”…

In reality, Miyama’s ideas haven’t brought back good memories.

Previously, Miyama misunderstood that I liked Yuria because I was staring at her body (glancing at her chest and thighs from the side), which led to the arcade incident. Also, when she misunderstood that I liked Kuroki, she asked me to talk to Kuroki directly on Lime to progress our relationship, putting me in a tough spot as I had already been having risky exchanges with Kuroki on Lime.

Although I managed to cover it up back then, I almost revealed Kuroki’s secret.

Both incidents stemmed from Miyama’s whims, so I couldn’t shake off a bad feeling this time either.

(Could it be… Miyama is thinking of getting cardboard boxes from her part-time job!?)

Certainly, in the direction we were heading, there was Tatuya’s bookstore where Miyama works.

Tatuya probably has a lot of cardboard boxes, but if we ask there, it might expose that Miyama works there while talking to the manager.

I thought of calling out to Miyama as Tatuya approached, but Miyama ahead of us simply ignored Tatuya and headed somewhere else.

(Huh? Isn’t that Tatuya…?)

Later, Miyama turned into a familiar street and finally stopped in front of a certain store.

“Huff, huff… Th-This place! I thought no one had touched it.”

Miyama pointed at the store sign while catching her breath.

It was the candy store Miyama often mentioned from yesterday.

“A candy store? Do you come here often, Airi?”

“Yeah, I was here just yesterday… so.”

Miyama winked at me.

I felt a mysterious growth in her not explicitly saying “I came with him”… (That’s a relief).

“This place is far from the high school, and only elementary school kids usually come, so I thought it was a hidden gem.”

“Elementary school kids… I see. Airi is like an elementary school kid too, right?”

“Hey, Yuria! Airi is a respectable high school student! Right, Ryota?”

“…………”

“Muu! Stop being silent! Ryota’s a dummy!”

Setting aside Miyama’s thoughts about elementary school kids, suggesting this candy store was a nice idea.

For better or worse, this candy store was quiet, located off the main street leading to the station, making it easy to overlook.

As we entered the store, wind chimes tinkled, and an elderly man emerged from the back of the store.

“Welcome. Oh? Isn’t that Airi-chan? Are you here to buy Umeya sticks again?”

“Grandpa, I have a favor to ask today.”

“A favor?”

Miyama explained the need for cardboard boxes for the cultural festival and continued the conversation calmly.

Being a regular, it seemed Miyama had a good relationship with the elderly store owner.

“So, we need cardboard boxes—”

“Ah, I see. I have them, I have cardboard boxes.”

“Really!?”

“As you get older, it’s quite difficult to dispose of large cardboard boxes… Come to the back.”

The store owner stood up, led us to the veranda at the back of the store, where there was a spacious garden with a fairly large metal shed.

Taking out a key from his pocket, the store owner opened the shed door… and.

(W-Wow, there’s…!)

“Hey, wait! There are so many cardboard boxes!”

Yuria, who usually had sharp eyes, widened them at the sight of the mountain of cardboard boxes inside the shed.

Seeing the chaotic piles of cardboard boxes, we, including me, Yuria, and Miyama, were overwhelmed, making our earlier visits to the supermarket and convenience store seem insignificant.

With this amount, we might not need to worry about cardboard boxes anymore.

“Sometimes when my grandkids visit, they bundle them up with a string to throw away… but they haven’t been coming by lately. Lately, I’ve been folding cardboard boxes on the veranda and storing them in the shed.”

Despite the store owner sharing a somewhat lonely story, Miyama and Yuria rushed excitedly towards the treasure trove of cardboard boxes.

“Gramps! Can we take all of these?”

“Airi-chan, you’re always a favorite here, so of course, go ahead and take as many as you want.”

“Yay!”

In the end, we were saved by Miyama’s “good idea.”

☆☆

With too many cardboard boxes to carry together, we each held as many as we could under our arms and headed back to the high school.

“Even with all these, there’s still more. Airi did great!”

“Hehe, I get embarrassed when Yuria praises me.”

Miyama and Yuria both had satisfied smiles on their faces.

“Ryota, you also praise Airi, right?”

“Uh, um, well… thanks, Miyama.”

“Hehe. Ryota praised me too. Does this mean you’ll treat me to Snoto again?”

“Hey, Airi! Don’t tease Ryota like that!”

“Huh? I’m not teasing him.”

Before I could reflexively say, “Please treat me,” Yuria interjected.

I really want to go to Snoto right now and treat them…

“But if Airi can help everyone, that’s really great. Airi may not have the pressure of being the lead role, being a dwarf, but she wants to help Ryota, Yuria, and also Rui-chan who are working hard as the lead roles. Airi wants to do her best with what she can.”

“Airi… you’re really…”

As we waited at the traffic light, Yuria, who had set aside the cardboard box she was holding under her right arm, gently stroked Miyama’s head.

Before the light turned green, Yuria pinched my cheek, sensing my mind turning pink for a moment.

“Ouch! H-Hey! I’m not thinking anything weird this time!”

“You’re lying. You definitely were. And Airi, even though you say ‘anything,’ don’t say that to Ryota.”

“Huh? Airi really does her best at everything?”

“Nope!”

“Ow, Yuria… I-Ichinose-san…”

Under the sunset, Yuria pinched my cheek until the light turned green.