Episode 189: The Next Event

「Morning, you two!」

「Good morning, Natsumi-senpai!」

「Good morning.」

Since second-year classes are starting back up today, I meet up with Natsumi-senpai at the convenience store like we always do.

We haven’t seen each other in over a week because of the school trip, but she looks the same as ever, which is good.

「Hmm? Is something on my face?」

「No, I just felt like it’s been a while… I’m glad to see you’re doing well.」

「Pfft… what’s that? But I guess it has been a while, hasn’t it? It doesn’t really feel like that to me, though.」

「Well, it’s only been a little over a week, so maybe I’m being dramatic.」

「That’s not what I meant~. Well, good luck, Takanashi-kun!」

「Wh-huh?」

Good luck with what? My part-time jobs are almost over, anyway.

She’s looking at me with a weird smirk, which makes me wonder if she’s up to something.

「Well, shall we head to school?」

「Yeah. Sigh… back to school starting today. That school trip I was looking forward to is already over before I knew it…」

「What’s the next event?」

「Let’s see. If we’re talking about something soon, I suppose it’s the school festival.」

Oh right, high schools have school festivals!

That’s an event we never had in middle school, and it’s one of those uniquely high school things to look forward to.

With my current class, I’m sure I’ll be able to enjoy it, and if I can enjoy it with Sara-san, I couldn’t ask for more!

「That’s right, I still have the school festival! It’s about time to decide on our class activities, isn’t it?」

「Yes, which means the student council is about to get busy. Kazunari-san, I’ll be counting on your help.」

「Of course. Supporting you is my job, Sara-san!」

「Fufu… even if the work is hard, I can do my best as long as you’re by my side, Kazunari-san.」

Sara-san is smiling happily.

Hearing her say that makes joining the student council feel worth it.

「Yeah, yeah, I’ve had enough of the sweetness. Anyway, I wonder if you’ll finally enter the Miss Contest this year?」

「The Miss Contest?」

I’ve heard of them in college, but I haven’t heard much about them in high school.

「Calling it a tradition might be an exaggeration, but our school festival has had a Miss Contest for a long time. Also, it’s customary for at least one person from the student council to be entered as a contestant.」

「Heh, is that so?」

「Last year, everyone was making a fuss saying Sara was the favorite to win and she even got entered. But she just ignored it and did her student council work on the day like usual. She acted like she couldn’t care less…」

「That’s only natural. I was entered without my consent, and if I had time to waste on something like that, I’d rather spend it doing patrols by myself.」

Well… that sounds like something Sara-san would say.

But a Miss Contest, huh… Sara-san would definitely win, but I’m not crazy about her being put on display like that. Part of me doesn’t want her to enter… but another part of me wants to see her looking her best.

「So that’s how it is. I think Sara should be free to choose whether she enters or not, but since she has a position now, people might start saying things if the Vice President ignores it for a second year in a row…」

「Sigh… I can’t argue with that. However, it hasn’t been decided that I’ll be entered…」

「Do you really think you won’t be?」

I don’t know how the system works, but is it because she’s a student council member that she gets entered automatically?

It’s a bit of a confusing way to do things.

「Is it really okay for them to just enter her without asking?」

「Ah, maybe I phrased that wrong. It’s an invitation slot from the executive committee. You get to skip the preliminaries and go straight to the finals. In Sara’s case, she gets requested for that plus the usual student council slot, so it’s like a double request.」

「I see… well, if Sara-san enters, it’ll definitely be a hit. There’s no doubt she’d win.」

An invitation slot.

I guess it’s no surprise that Sara-san would get one…

「Wait, our school has plenty of other pretty girls, right?」

「Eh, is that so?」

Are there really that many people who can rival Sara-san?

…Now that I think about it, I barely remember ever having「guy talk」like that. Discussing which senior is a beauty or which classmate is cute, the kind of stuff normal guys do, is something I’ve only started doing a little bit recently.

Either way, I’ve never had that kind of interest in anyone but Sara-san…

「……Are you serious? You aren’t interested at all?」

「Looking back, I’ve only ever had eyes for Sara-san from the start…」

(Softness…)

The person leaning her weight into my right arm is, of course, Sara-san.

When I look over, she’s staring straight at me with a smile on her slightly flushed cheeks.

「Kazunari-san… I’m so happy…」

Those words, just that one short sentence, felt like they were packed with all her feelings. It was a single phrase heavy with emotion.

「I only have you, Kazunari-san. As long as I have you, I…」

「Me too. As long as I have you, Sara-san, I don’t need anything else…」

「……And here we go again. Since we had the school trip in between, it feels like it’s been a while. Come on, stop flirting and let’s get moving!」

Natsumi-senpai’s voice snapped me back to reality…

There are currently five people at the flowerbed.

Sara-san, Natsumi-senpai, and I are here as usual. We’ve been joined by Hayato and Todo-san.

The two of them looked out for me every day while Sara-san was away. Spending time at the flowerbed was part of that, and it seems Todo-san started to enjoy it.

I was a bit surprised when they came to find me at lunch break.

「Um, we were wondering if it’d be okay if we joined you for lunch every now and then…」

I didn’t have any reason to say no, and I figured Sara-san would be fine with these two, so I brought them along.

I’d sent Sara-san a message on RAIN before leaving the classroom, so she wasn’t surprised.

As an aside, both Sara-san and Natsumi-senpai welcomed them, which made me feel relieved…

「I’d like to thank you both… thank you for looking after Kazunari-san while I was away.」

When Sara-san gave a polite bow, the two of them looked pretty flustered.

Well, I guess that makes sense…

「S-Satsukawa-senpai, please stop! It’s not something you need to thank us for!」

「Yokogawa-kun is right! Takanashi-kun is our friend, after all. But it makes me happy to hear that from you, Satsukawa-senpai.」

The two of them gave humble replies after receiving Sara-san’s formal thanks, but Todo-san, being who she is, had to add a little something extra.

「It feels strange being thanked by Satsukawa-senpai for something involving Takanashi-kun. It’s like you two are a married couple. That’s so nice…」

「Eh!?」

「Ah, well… I…」

At that moment, I think Sara-san and I both turned about the same shade of red. When I looked at her, our eyes met because she was looking at me too.

Sara-san shyly looked away and started fidgeting, swaying her body a bit. Seeing her act like that just made me feel even more bashful.

「Todo-san, don’t feed the idiot couple.」

「S-sorry, Natsumi-senpai.」

「W-well, I think it’s a bit late for that with these two.」

Hayato… that didn’t help at all.

「Here, say aahn.」

Chomp… Munch, munch…

「How is it, Kazunari-san?」

「It’s the best!」

Eating Sara-san’s bento like this really makes me realize that our everyday school life is back, and I’m happy about that.

「…And that’s why.」

「Heh~. I’d heard about the Miss Contest, but I didn’t know there was a story like that behind it.」

「I didn’t know that much either. If that’s the case, the executive committee must really want Satsukawa-senpai to enter.」

The three of them were ignoring us and talking about what I’d heard this morning. I’m not sure if Sara-san’s listening or not, but she’s looking at me happily as I eat the bento.

「Hey Sara, why don’t you just enter and get it over with?」

「Aahn… well… I’ll think about it when the time comes. I’m not really into it, though…」

「Munch, munch… gulp. Um, if you don’t want to, you don’t have to force yourself, right? If they try to force you, I’ll…」

If Sara-san has to enter even though she hates the idea, I wouldn’t mind putting a stop to it myself. Even if everyone else hates me for it, as long as Sara-san is by my side, that’s enough for me.

As I was thinking that, a gentle palm was placed against my cheek.

「Thank you, Kazunari-san. It really makes me happy that you’d get angry for my sake. It’s okay, so please calm down…」

Looking at Sara-san’s face as she smiles and meets my eyes, I feel my rising anger fade away as quickly as a receding tide.

「It’s true that I’m not interested. However, as the Vice President, I also have a desire to make the school festival more enjoyable. And if the festival is fun, it will add another beautiful memory to our time together, Kazunari-san.」

「Sara-san…」

「…And she lands right back there in the end.」

「…No matter what the topic is, Satsukawa-senpai’s actions always come back to Takanashi-kun.」

「…Well, that’s just how those two think. The other’s happiness is their own.」

I guess our friends understand us after all.

Though I’m not sure if that’s a compliment.

「Right, Sara, don’t forget to come with me after school today.」

Natsumi-senpai looks at me and confirms with Sara-san, as if she just remembered.

Of course, that’s because I’m the one who asked her to do it.

「Yes, I know. I’m sorry, Kazunari-san, I might be a little late today.」

「No, it’s fine. I have plans to go out with Hayato today anyway.」

「Sorry, Satsukawa-senpai. I’m borrowing Kazunari for a bit.」

Hayato goes along with my cover story.

After school today, I’m finally going to order the locket pendant.

It’s definitely the biggest present of my life so far, the first present I’m giving to a lover. I have plenty of budget, and the timing is fine.

I’ve coordinated with everyone, so there shouldn’t be any way the plan fails now.

「Time with friends is important too, so please go and have fun.」

(Sting…)

I feel a bit of a prick in my heart at Sara-san’s smile.

It’s a plan I started because I want her to be happy, but it’s a fact that I’m piling up lie after lie, even if they’re necessary.

I haven’t forgotten my promise not to lie to Sara-san, and I keep telling myself that this isn’t a guilty lie.

「Yeah, you have fun too, Sara-san.」

Just a little longer until Sara-san’s birthday.

I’ll tell her everything once it’s over. Until then…