What's Wrong With Interfering With My Childhood Friend's Love?

Chapter 21 : Her Reluctance

After finishing lunch, we regrouped with Akito and the others. In the afternoon, we headed to the facility we had reserved for bowling.

On the way, I asked Akito about his date and he said it ended without any particular incident. According to the pamphlet, they could have also entered the adjacent forest area.

I thought they might have taken a stroll there, but since it would have taken too much time, they gave up on the idea. Instead, they ended up eating something like a couple’s parfait.

Hearing that, Shino held back her emotions with a firm grip. Well, it was just for an hour—was it really something to regret that much?

At the same time, Kozuka-san was blushing like a boiled octopus. Seeing that, I kind of understood how Shino must have felt.

That said, Kozuka-san goes to a different school, so any further development would be difficult. Given her personality, I didn’t expect to use her as a pawn, but it still had an effect.

It seemed that Suisei felt a sense of crisis—her fists clenched tightly. Maybe she sensed a similar shyness in Kozuka-san.

Compared to someone like Shino, who boldly pushes forward, Kozuka was an easier person to compare herself to.

In that sense, Kozuka might unexpectedly be useful to me…

“It’s here. We’ve finally arrived.”

The bowling alley had been reserved by Amagishi, so I only knew the location, but it seemed she had picked quite a spacious place.

Since it was the weekend, the place was naturally crowded. However, since we had a lane reserved, it didn’t seem like we’d have any issues with congestion.

“This might take a while.”

“Yeah.”

“How should we split the teams?”

“Hey, wouldn’t it be a hassle to split them up again?”

“It’s not really a hassle, but it’s a bit tricky.”

“Why don’t we just use the pairs from earlier and form teams that way?”

“You mean making two pairs into one team? I agree with that.”

It seemed like everyone was eager to start, fingers already gripping the bowling balls, so the conversation progressed smoothly. But I decided to interject here.

“It’d be boring to leave it up to luck again.”

“What, Riku? Do you want to be on a team with someone specific?”

“Yeah. I’d like to be on the same team as Chiya.”

“Eh? Riku, what are you suddenly saying…?”

I tried to take the initiative and invite her, hoping that things would naturally fall into place, but instead, she seemed worried.

Of course, deep down, I wanted to be on the same team as Suisei.

That’s why I claimed I wanted to be on Chiya’s team—since she was my pair.

There was no way I could outright say that I wanted to be on Suisei’s team right after confessing to her again. I didn’t have the guts to be that bold.

“Um, Riku-kun, it looks like Chiya-san is feeling a bit troubled.”

“Hmm… you don’t like that idea, Miumi?”

“No, but… there is no need to rush, right?”

Unexpectedly, Miumi intervened. I knew that Chiya would give in if I kept asking, so this was my chance. Yet, things weren’t going smoothly.

I found it odd that Miumi was opposing me, but then she lightly tugged at the hem of my shirt.

Judging from that reaction, she was seriously against it.

…Could it be that Miumi wanted to team up with Akito?

She hadn’t had a chance to talk with him in the morning, and like Kozuka, maybe she wanted an opportunity to get closer to him.

If that was the case, I couldn’t really blame her. I’d just have to endure it.

“I want to be on the same team as Riku.”

As I was struggling with my thoughts, Akito suddenly spoke up.

‘Akito wants to be on the same team as me…? No, he just wants to be on Miumi’s team.’

For a moment, I almost got emotional over my childhood friend’s loyalty, but of course, that wasn’t the case.

I was trying to be on Chiya’s team for the same reason, so I couldn’t believe I had even entertained the thought.

Still, I couldn’t help but think, “I really want to be on Suisei’s team…”

“Akimitsu-kun, can you think about the balance?”

“Balance?”

“That pairing is the least viable one.”

“Hey, it isn’t like you, Amagishi, to divide groups based on gender?”

“Hah… I’m talking about athletic ability. I never mentioned anything about gender.”

Although Akito argued back, Amagishi responded firmly.

Well, with only two guys here, it was natural for them to be split up.

Internally, though, Amagishi might have been separating us based on gender. But she had her pride, so she wouldn’t show it.

That pride, however, also meant that even she could make mistakes.

“If we’re talking about balance, Riku’s pair was dead last in the badminton win streak, wasn’t it?”

“…That’s true.”

Amagishi couldn’t refute it and ended up agreeing with Akito. This time, it seemed like he had the upper hand.

Honestly, Amagishi’s reasoning made sense. I had been slacking off during badminton, after all.

But results were results.

Based on that, Miumi and I could be considered the weakest pair here in terms of athletic ability.

Man, who would have thought that holding back during badminton would pay off like this? What a stroke of luck.

“Hmm, looks like we might argue forever, so why don’t we just use Kaori-san’s app to decide?”

“Huh? But then it’ll be left to chance again—”

“I think as long as we have fun, winning or losing doesn’t matter.”

Miumi’s words changed the flow of the conversation. Akito tried to object, but he restrained himself.

I guess everyone was hesitant to speak up because I initially said leaving it to chance wouldn’t be fun.

Creating a situation where personal opinions could dominate the decision-making had been a mistake.

“…Fine. If it’s decided by chance, I won’t complain.”

“Tch…”

In the end, it seemed like everyone just wanted to start bowling as soon as possible, so no one opposed it. Even Akito didn’t outright reject Miumi’s idea, probably to avoid unnecessary conflict.

So, Amagishi adjusted the settings in the app and randomly assigned the teams again.

And this time, the gods of randomness finally smiled upon me.

‘I ended up on the same team as Suisei… Haha…’

I struggled to keep my face from breaking into a grin. Meanwhile, Miumi didn’t seem happy about it—her cheeks puffed up in an obvious pout.

She said it was just about having fun, so what was with that expression?

Honestly, I could never figure out what she was really thinking.

☆☆☆☆☆☆

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TL : zenon_xt