When an Oblivious Handsome Older Man Went Back in Time and Was Building Harlem - Chapter 16

“Congratulations on being 4th in the class!!! Cheers!!!!!”

“Cheers!!!!!”

I pour the cola from the glass I raised for a toast down my throat, and I’m hit by a sensation of warmth spreading deep in my throat. I feel like having a beer, but I hold back. Today is the after-party for the sports festival, and we’re renting a space, ordering pizza, and having a great time.

“Cola’s great. Wow, the sports festival was so much fun. How about you, Aki-chan?”

“I feel like I could have run the 100 meters a bit faster.”

“Eh? Wasn’t Aki-chan in the first place? Oh well. Let’s eat pizza.”

I also went to get pizza with Midori and randomly picked about three slices. When it comes to pizza, Margherita is the classic, but I also think the corn pizza, which Italians might consider heretical, is delicious, so I chose that too. In the meantime, I caught a glimpse of Miwano-san, who was eating pizza alone by the wall like a rabbit. Miwano-san’s face turned red, and she quickly looked away.

(Did I do something weird?)

Since it’s a launch party, I want everyone to have fun, so I check on Midori’s condition.

“What is it?”

“I thought that since the sports festival was over, the preliminaries for the Inter-High would start soon.”

There was a brief pause, and then Midori let out a surprised exclamation.

“Huh, now!? You’re thinking about that during the launch!?”

“Well, maybe not right now.”

“I was so surprised!! But it really feels like something Aki would do.”

Is it really that surprising? When you become an adult, you can’t enjoy parties anymore, so maybe I’ve been thinking too realistically. But since it’s a club I’m a part of, I think it’s okay to think about it a bit more.

“What does ‘like me’ even mean?”

“Eh? Is it the part where you’re pretending to be cool for no reason?”

“I didn’t mean it that way.”

What does it mean to act cool? If a friend you know suddenly aged 20 years, you might think they’re acting cool. While I was absentmindedly staring into the air, thinking about such things, Midori looked at me and smirked.

“What’s up with that~! If you were watching, Miwano-san, just say so! I’ll make sure to get you two together!”

He said that in a low voice, and he ran towards Miwano-san.

“Hey, Midori…!”

When I rushed over to Midori, he was already saying something carefree like, “Why don’t you eat pizza together?”

“Oh, Aki’s here.”

I was slightly irritated when Midori turned to me and said it nonchalantly, but I calmed myself down, reminding myself that this was just how he always was.

“I’m sorry, Midori. But I was eating pizza by myself, so I thought it would be okay.”

“Actually, I was planning to join Yuzuha-chan today, but since Yuzuha-chan took a break… I felt lonely and ended up eating pizza by myself…”

For some reason, in the end, she was using polite language, and since she was looking down, I couldn’t see her face, but it seemed like she was blushing again.

“Then let’s eat together. Anyway, it wouldn’t be lively with just the two of us.”

“Like that?”

“Midori said so too… Did you not want to eat together?”

When I said that, Miwano-san shook her head vigorously as if her head might come off, denying it.

“Both of them are super popular with the girls, and it’s kind of intimidating to be around them…”

“Hahaha!! Are we really that popular!? Hey, did you hear that, Aki!? Isn’t that crazy!? But we don’t care about that. We’re doing what we love, and if you want to eat with us, just come along!”

“Midori, you’re noisy, I heard you.”

I was fed up with Midori’s noise, but I agreed with what he was saying.

“I agree with Midori too, so don’t worry about it.”

“Y-yeah.”

The two of us said that, but it seemed like the gaze of our classmates behind us was still scary, so we kept glancing back. Noticing this, Midori gave me a knowing look.

“Looks like it’s better to eat together after all. Then, who wants to eat pizza with me? Sign up!”

“Yay!”

I mostly heard deep voices coming from the falsetto, but there were a few girls here and there. With this, I think Miwano-san can calmly deepen her bonds with her classmates while eating pizza.

“Thank you both for me.”

“It’s fine, it’s fine.”

“If anything else comes up, let me know.”

After that, we were able to join the boys’ group, and Miwano-san was able to join the girls’ group. I was also able to deepen my relationships with the group I hadn’t gotten close to before, and I think it turned out to be a really good opportunity. Miwano-san was laughing happily, and I felt grateful to Midori.