Episode 157: Everyone Together Again

「Mmm, this is delicious!!」

As if to say her dessert stomach is a totally separate entity, Natsumi-senpai has six types of cakes lined up in front of her. I like sweets too, but eating that much would probably make me feel sick halfway through…

「Sigh… Natsumi is so lucky. Even just eating one cake makes me nervous.」

「I’m in the sports club, you know. I’ll burn it off at practice tomorrow, so it’s fine!!」

Nishikawa-san lets out a mutter mixed with a sigh while looking at Natsumi-senpai enviously.

Is it just because I’m a guy that I think she doesn’t really need to worry about that?

「Yuzuki-san, you really make that look tasty,」Yuji comments, but I’m sure everyone else is thinking the same thing.

Natsumi-senpai blinks, looks at the cake on her fork, and for some reason holds it out to Yuji.

「Hm? This is really good. Want a bite, Tachibana-kun? Here, say ahh.」

「Eh!? No way!?」

Now that’s a rare sight!

To see the great Yuji looking so embarrassed and panicked!

「Hmm~? What’s the matter? You saying you can’t eat my cake~?」

Natsumi-senpai, who is clearly just teasing Yuji, looks like she’s having a blast.

She gradually brings the fork closer to Yuji, her face stuck in a permanent smirk.

On the other hand, Yuji is totally overwhelmed, looking like he’s debating whether he should actually open his mouth or not.

「Sara… that’s the first time I’ve ever seen Natsumi do something like that. Is there something going on between those two?」

「Well, for now… Ah, don’t move, okay? …I’ve been curious about that since the other day, too…」

Wipe, wipe.

「Maybe we should ask them next time… Okay, say ahh.」

Chomp… chew, chew.

Yeah, this cake really is amazing.

「Ugh… you’re just waiting for someone to call you out, aren’t you? Even while I’m talking to you… Takanashi-san, how can you just naturally let Sara wipe your mouth and feed you like that?」

「Eh!?」

Habit is a scary thing…

I only realized it once she pointed out how I was accepting Sara-san’s actions as if they were totally normal.

「What’s the harm? I’m doing it because I want to. Kazunari-san, I’d hate for you to hold back, you know?」

「Y-yes.」

Sara-san appeals to me with a sad「I’d hate it!」This is her basically telling me that this makes both of us happy, so of course I’m not going to stop!!

I answer with a smile instead of words, and Sara-san gives a happy smile back.

「Next is this cake. Here, say ahh.」

Chomp… chew, chew.

「What is with this cake? I can’t even taste the sweetness.」

「Eh, there’s no way…」

「Even if I leave them alone, I still take damage. It’s annoying, so I’m jumping in.」

「Ah, so that’s why…」

Just as I thought she was muttering something to Yoko, Hanako-san picked up her plate of cake and suddenly stood up.

She’s definitely planning to mess with Takanashi-kun.

Hanako-san says all sorts of things, but she really does try to involve herself with Takanashi-kun, doesn’t she? I wonder if she likes him? But she must know he’s glued to Satsukawa-senpai, and she did say she took a liking to him before… maybe just as a friend?

「Todo-san.」

The one who spoke to me was Yokogawa-kun.

I think that was the first time he’s called my name?

「Yeah? What’s up?」

「Thanks for earlier. It made me happy.」

Yokogawa-kun flashes his usual handsome-guy smile. Mmm… I can kind of see why so many girls become his fans after seeing that.

「No, it was nothing big. Are you feeling better?」

「Yeah, thanks to you. More importantly, would you mind if we talked for a bit?」

Talk?

I haven’t really talked to guys much, so I hope I can find a topic.

「Sure, okay. But it might not be very fun talking to me, you know?」

「It’ll be fine. If you’ll excuse me, then.」

Tap, tap…

?

I felt a tap on my shoulder and turned around to find Hanako-san standing there, holding out a fork with cake on it.

What’s this?

「Ahh.」

Chomp.

Before I could think, I opened my mouth a little and she half-forcibly stuffed the cake in, so I just ended up eating it.

Chew, chew… swallow.

「I couldn’t taste any sweetness. How about you, Takanashi-kun?」

「No, it was normally delicious.」

Not being able to taste sweetness? Can that even happen with cake?

Ah, maybe it’s possible if you ate something even sweeter right before it.

I stared at Hanako-san, not quite catching the true meaning behind her mysterious question, when she suddenly smirked.

「…Kazunari-san?」

!?

Could it be, this pattern again…

Feeling the panic that was becoming a regular occurrence, I hurried to turn around, but surprisingly, Sara-san looked normal.

「Is something wrong? Oh, honestly, Kazunari-san, don’t move, okay?」

Wipe, wipe.

Apparently, since the cake was shoved in pretty aggressively, I’d made a mess again.

As Sara-san started wiping around my mouth again, she shot a quick look toward Hanako-san.

「Hanako-san, I don’t mind since you’re friends, but it’d be bad if Kazunari-san choked, so please don’t be so forceful, okay? …There, that’s better.」

Sara-san, who finished with just a light warning to Hanako-san, gave a smile after she finished wiping my mouth. It was a smile that felt like it had plenty of composure.

「!? S-so this is the composure of the main wife… I lost…」

Hanako-san wore a shocked expression as if saying「Gasp!」and plodded back to her seat.

I mean,「main wife」…

「Um… Sara-san?」

「It’s okay. Hanako-san is a friend, after all. If I’m too noisy even with your friends, it’ll just cause trouble for you, Kazunari-san…」

I see. She’s just making it look like she has composure; she’s definitely holding back to some degree.

Well, I’d definitely be jealous if the roles were reversed.

「…However, if you get unnecessarily close to other women… I won’t like it.」

Sara-san, who secretly pinched my sleeve and gave it a little tug, was so cute I had to struggle to keep from smirking.

「Well, good work today, everyone.」

Once everyone was in their seats, Nishikawa-san began her final greeting, as if to declare that today’s schedule was officially over.

The only thing left of this incredibly long and dense day was the drive home.

Unlike the trip here, we’re dropping Yuji and the others off at the station first before heading back to the station where we gathered this morning.

「Now, Takanashi-san, could you give the final greeting?」

I totally thought she’d just handle it herself, but for some reason, the talk got tossed my way.

Looking at Nishikawa-san, she was staring at me as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

「This group is gathered entirely around you, Takanashi-san, isn’t it? So, the final greeting is naturally your role.」

…It’s true that everything started with the history between me and those two.

I’m nervous since all eyes are on me, but I want to say thanks, so I’ll do my best.

「Um… first, let me say thank you. Thanks to everyone, the Yamazaki situation is dealt with, and while Yuzuha was a shame, I think we’ve reached a resolution for now. There’s no doubt I only made it this far because of all of you. Thank you so much.」

When I bowed, for some reason, everyone else bowed too.

I suppressed the urge to laugh, and it seemed everyone else felt the same. When our eyes met one by one, they all gave me smiles in return.

Nishikawa-san, Hanako-san, Tachikawa-san, Todo-san, Hayato, Yuji, Natsumi-senpai… and Sara-san.

I never thought that someone as isolated as me could make such wonderful friends.

「Even when I hesitated, thank you for teaching me that it’s okay if we share the load… as friends. I was really happy. If my past self saw this scene, I definitely wouldn’t have believed it could happen. That’s why I want to treasure this connection. I don’t want to think it ends here. So, let’s definitely meet again. In the future, I’d be happy if we could gather just to have fun together. Of course, it’s fine if someone’s in trouble, too. So, instead of goodbye, let’s end today with ‘see you next time’!!」

I gave that greeting with everything I had.

Everyone listened to my words with serious faces.

And when I finished…

Clap clap clap clap clap clap!!!

As if my words had struck a chord, everyone stood up at once, welcoming me with dazzling smiles and applause.

「Truly, I’m grateful to you, Takanashi-san. Not just for the Yamazaki matter, but I’m so happy to have had the chance for such a wonderful meeting. I’d definitely like to keep this connection going.」

「Next time, I want to go on a trip or something!!」

Natsumi-senpai’s comment in response to Nishikawa-san seemed to pique everyone’s interest.

「That sounds great!」

「Yeah, since we have this connection, we should do something even more fun.」

「I want to go somewhere.」

Tachikawa-san, Todo-san, and Hanako-san immediately reacted with voices of agreement.

「That sounds good. It looks like it’d be fun to go anywhere with this group.」

「I’d definitely like to plan that.」

Hayato and Yuji agreed with Natsumi-senpai, too.

「I’m in, too. I want to plan it as soon as possible!!」

「I’ll follow wherever Kazunari-san goes.」

I’m in, and Sara-san is the same as always.

「Well, if you’re okay with a resort from the Nishikawa Group, I can reserve one, so should we try planning it?」

Agreed!!!!!

Even though the detailed plans aren’t set yet, everyone’s faces already show how much they’re looking forward to it. Of course, I am, too.

And so, with everyone’s voices of agreement, the long day came to a close.