What's Wrong With Interfering With My Childhood Friend's Love? - Chapter 17 : Kaori Amagishi’s Bargaining

Chapter 17 : Kaori Amagishi’s Bargaining

After splitting into pairs, we played several doubles matches without setting any strict rules.

As expected, Akito had excellent athletic ability. Even though his experience with badminton was probably limited to gym class, he returned shots effortlessly.

That said, his partner, Kozuka-san, didn’t seem very good at it and made a lot of mistakes. Because of that, Akito’s team wasn’t completely dominant.

Miumi, on the other hand, had precise serves but struggled with rallies. Still, everyone was at a similar skill level, so the pairs seemed fairly balanced.

Once we had all warmed up, Chiya, looking somewhat listless, handed out drinks and made a suggestion.

“I think everyone’s gotten the hang of it by now. How about we play a proper match?”

“A proper match? What do you mean?”

“Let’s do a standard game—first to 21 points wins. The winning pair keeps playing.”

“No objections from me. How about the pair that is waiting for their turn to act as the referee?”

“Sounds good to me. The pair with the longest winning streak takes the championship.”

“Wait… Akito, we don’t have a prize for the winner.”

We hadn’t planned that far ahead, but I subtly guided the conversation to let Akito take the lead. At times like this, he tended to make straightforward choices.

“Yeah, that would be boring. Oh, right — there’s a couple’s area here, isn’t there?”

“Ah… yeah. You sure know a lot, Akito.”

“It costs extra, but I thought it looked fun. How about this? The winning pair gets to go on a one-hour date with the person of their choice.”

It was a bold suggestion, but not a bad one. Apart from Miumi and Kozuka-san, no one seemed outright opposed to it—or at least, that’s what I thought. But then, someone raised an objection.

“K-Kokaze is in favor—”

“Rejected! I refuse to go on a date with either Amitsu-kun or Kaidou-kun.”

“I wasn’t planning on picking Amagishi, though. Then what do you suggest, Amagishi?”

“Hmm… how about the pairs go on dates together?”

“K-Kaori-san…”

Kozuka-san visibly flinched. Even I was left surprised.

Amagishi Kaori always prioritized the girls. That was something I took as a given about her personality. But now she was making a suggestion that cornered Kozuka-san, who clearly wasn’t comfortable around guys. 

If Akito’s team won, Kozuka-san would have to be alone with him.

Since Akito’s partner wasn’t Suisei, I had no reason to object to Amagishi’s proposal. Still, something about it felt off. And if Miumi and I won, what then? Did Amagishi have some kind of secret strategy?

“From our practice matches, the pairs didn’t seem like bad combinations.”

“Hmm? Well, yeah, I guess so.”

“Then I don’t see a problem with them trying a date together.”

“…I guess not.”

Akito didn’t deny it. Why? No, knowing his personality, he couldn’t deny it. If he outright refused, it would be like saying he didn’t want to go on a date with Kozuka-san.

That kind of thing made Akito seem like a playboy, but I knew it was actually his kindness.

Did Amagishi understand that and deliberately propose making the dates pair-exclusive? If Kozuka-san really didn’t want to go on a date with Akito, she could always intentionally lose.

However, Amagishi overlooked one person who opposed even a pair-based date—Shino.

“Huh…? Kokaze is against this.”

“…I wouldn’t force my partner into something they dislike. Don’t worry.”

“T-That’s not what I meant… but, will we get something in return?”

“Of course. I’m quite generous, you know?”

Shino was probably against the idea itself. She hadn’t expected Akito to go along with Amagishi’s suggestion and panicked when she realized it was too late to object.

If she had supported Akito’s original proposal from the start, she should have spoken up properly. But she got intimidated by Amagishi.

“Then… Kokaze is fine with it too.”

And since no one else backed her up, she quickly gave in.

Amagishi must have noticed her discomfort, as she looked apologetic. That was probably why she offered a compromise in the first place.

“Suisei, let’s win and go on a date.”

“A date? Even though we’re both girls?”

Meanwhile, when I glanced at Suisei, Chiya was hyping her up.

“Come on, we have home dates all the time. This time, it’s just outside.”

“I-I’ll try my best… but I’m not very good. I’ll just be a burden.”

“Not at all. Just leave it to me.”

She sounded confident.

If anyone would have objected to not being able to go on a date with Akito, it would have been Chiya. But it seemed like she had no intention of losing.

Chiya had been strong in the practice matches. If I wanted to win, I’d have to face a tough fight.

…If I wanted to win. From my standpoint, letting my pair win would be problematic. I hadn’t thought we stood a chance, but now that Akito’s team had weakened, our odds had improved.

Most of all, Akito wouldn’t be happy about it. If he lost trust in me, that would be a problem.

So just this once… I’d take advantage of Miumi’s bad habit.

“Miumi, I don’t want to win this match.”

“…Understood.”

I whispered so only she could hear.

She responded in the same hushed tone.

It was the answer I expected. But she seemed a little annoyed. 

Maybe she felt like I was rejecting her. 

It wasn’t like she was competitive, so that was the only explanation.

“It’s not that I don’t want to go on a date with you.”

“…Huh?”

I only said it so she wouldn’t feel insecure, but Miumi reacted with surprise.

And unfortunately, this time, everyone heard it.

Now, all eyes were on me.

“Uh, I mean… I just meant we should enjoy the game even if we don’t win. Sorry, I mumbled.”

“Oh, is that what you meant? Let’s do our best!”

Miumi quickly covered for me.

She really was clumsy in some ways.

Just then, Akito approached us.

“Miumi, sorry about our Riku. He used to get nervous around girls he just met.”

“O-Oh, really?”

“Hey, Riku, be more careful, okay?”

“No, no, I don’t mind!”

“Yeah, I guess I wasn’t thinking. I’m not great at standing out, so I guess I messed up.”

What do you mean by ‘our Riku’?

For the record, I had no such problem. 

I wasn’t as smooth as Akito, but I could talk to new people just fine.

It seemed like Akito was trying to play the role of a reliable guy. But it wasn’t working.

And unfortunately for him, Miumi and I weren’t strangers. Meaning, she could probably tell Akito was lying. Her awkward smile was proof of that.

I’d have to cover for Akito later.

Since he was the type to believe my mom’s wild stories, I’d figure something out.

Though honestly… using Miumi’s innocence to my advantage made me feel a little guilty. I’d have to be careful not to take it too far.

☆☆☆☆☆☆

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TL : zenon_xt