northernbook Chapter 277: The Unusual Every Day (2)
Chapter 277: The Unusual Every Day (2)
[Asanagi: Huh?]
[Nina: Y-Yuuchin?]
[Nozomu: Amami-san?]
Up until now, Amami-san had never refused an invitation to hang out together, regardless of the reason. That was why everyone seemed surprised by this development.
For a moment, I thought that she was trying to avoid Nitta-san for a while, but since she was supposed to be acting like usual (or at least trying to) to prevent Umi, Nozomu and I from worrying, there was no way that she’d be doing it so blatantly.
[Amami: Sorry, everyone.]
[Amami: Actually, I was thinking of asking my dad to help me study for the exam.]
[Asanagi: Your dad?]
[Asanagi: Isn’t he busy with work?]
[Amami: No, well there’s something called... No overtime? I think? Yeah, I think that’s what it's called. Anyway, there’s the no overtime thing in his office, so he could go home on time even when he’s busy.]
[Maehara: I see, no overtime, huh?]
[Nozomu: Something like that exists? Man, it would be nice if our club implements that. We’ve always been practicing until the sun was set lately...]
[Nina: ...Seki, shut it, we don’t need to know about what your baseball club is doing.]
Well, let’s forget about the baseball club, that started sounding more like a black company the more I heard about them, for a moment. Amami-san’s reason to not join our group’s study session was reasonable.
Since the parent-teacher interview was coming up, she probably felt the need to study harder than usual. Like Umi and I, she also wanted to continue her education at a university, so she had to study even harder than us.
...But, still...Updated from
[Asanagi: Well, that’s fine. But, at least you’ll go home with us, right, Yuu?]
[Nina: She’s right. Let’s go home together, Yuuchin~]
[Amami: Ah, yes, of course I will.]
[Maehara: Okay, let’s meet up at the school gate after school. You’re fine with that right, Nozomu?]
[Nozomu: Yessir.]
After that, we ended our conversation. We didn’t need to talk about everything over the phone since we’d meet up soon anyway.
Since I was in the same class as Amami-san, I’d definitely end up going to the gate together with her... It troubled me a little since I didn’t know what I should say to her... I mean, this was the first time I had to deal with something like this...
“Uh... Let’s go, Amami-san...”
“A-Ah... W-Well, let me say goodbye to Nagisa-chan first—”
However, when she turned around to look for Arae-san and her group, there was no one there.
It seemed like they had already left the room when we were talking.
“...Well, she isn’t here...”
“Ah, jeez... Nagisa-chan, you dummy!”
That was the first time I’ve ever heard her complaining about something Arae-san did.
In any case, just like what I was talking about with Umi this morning, Amami-san really acted unusually.
* * *
After leaving the classroom, we both headed towards our meeting place; the school gate. I was thinking of waiting for Umi, but it seemed like her class was still in the middle of Homeroom. She also texted me to go on ahead, so I did.
Usually, I’d still wait for her in front of her class anyway. Her classmates already knew about our relationship, so it wasn’t like I needed to sneak around. Also, Nakamura-san and the others were fun to talk to, so I enjoyed hanging around them for a while.
But it wasn’t the case this time. The reason? Because of a certain text from Umi.
[Amami: It’ll be cruel to Seki if we were to leave him alone with those two, so you really should go on ahead with her.]
That text convinced me.
Nozomu might have already noticed that there was something going on with those two, but he hadn’t felt the actual atmosphere that flew between them, something that I had directly felt at the mall the other day. That was why, it would be better if I were to be there with him so things wouldn’t become too awkward.
And so, I decided to go to the meeting place together with Amami-san. Which made me realize that it had been a while since I walked together with her.
“Let’s go.”
“I swear I’m going to hit you two. Look, it isn’t like I want to study either! But, you know, this time, our exam is a little different than usual, right...? I mean, after the exam... There’s the public execution event...”
“Ah, the parent-teacher interview? Are your parents really that strict, Nitta-san?”
“Very. Usually, I can just hide from them, but this time, I can’t! That’s why I want my grades to look decent at least...”
Personally, I didn’t think that it was such a big deal, but who am I to say?
Well, whatever her reason was, studying was still a good thing. As long as the teacher saw her efforts in studying, they wouldn’t be too harsh on her.
“Well, if that’s the case... Sure, I guess...”
“Thank you for understanding, Rep! As expected of our Rep! So helpful, caring and... Here~”
“...Huh?”
It was rare for Nitta-san to thank me, but that wasn’t the thing that surprised me.
...For some reason, she embraced my arm.
“W-W-Wha–”
“Hm? What’s wrong, Yuuchin? You’re looking at me weirdly. Is there a bug on my face?”
“No, there isn’t... There’s nothing in your face... Rather, what are you doing, Ninacchi?!”
“What am I doing? Oh, this. Well, I was too excited, so I did it without thinking, my bad. But, isn’t this a normal thing to do for friends, right, Rep?”
“No it isn’t? At least for me...”
We’ve been doing a lot of study sessions together and each time, I’ve been teaching Nitta-san to study. But this was the first time she actually thanked me out loud like this, not to mention embracing my arm...
Considering her usual attitude, this was something she wouldn’t do normally.
Even considering the fact that she needed my help, she only considered me as a friend at best. As someone who knew her true color, her actions made me feel a little uncomfortable...
Actually, it felt creepy...
“...Why do you look so unhappy?! I even gave you this kind of service!”
“...I don’t have any money to give you.”
“What kind of girl do you think I am?! Anyway, I’m just doing this to show my thanks, okay?”
“Fine, fine, I get it... Can you go away now?”
Even if Nitta-san didn’t mean anything by it, other people might still misunderstand the scene. I knew she was so excited and all, but I really wish she could refrain from doing something like that.
...See what I meant? Amami-san stared at us as if she was looking at a ghost.
“N-Ninacchi, you can’t do that! Maki-kun has a girlfriend! Don’t do anything that will cause misunderstandings”
“Misunderstandings? Oh, c’mon, I get it if there are a lot of people around, but we’re the only ones here, you know? Sure, I might have gone a little too far, but everyone here knows that there’s nothing going on between us.”
“T-That might be true, but... Y-You still can’t do it! R-Right, Maki-kun?!”
“U-Uh, well, yeah...”
Even if all five of us, including Umi, knew that there was nothing going on between me and Nitta-san, some of us would still be caught off guard if she were to do something like that out of nowhere. Case on point; Amami-san.
Nitta-san already told us that he had no feelings for both Nozomu and myself, but there was a possibility that she didn’t tell us the truth. Feelings could change at a moment's notice, after all.
That was the reason why I've been avoiding making too many contacts with girls aside from Umi, including Amami-san and Nitta-san. The only reason why I didn’t move out of her embrace was because I was too surprised to do so.
“...You know, Nitta, you seem a little... Different... From usual... Are you okay? You aren’t sick, are you? Maybe you should go home for today...”
“What? No, I’m acting like usual! Also, why don’t you go home instead? If you were there, I couldn’t keep Rep to myself! Of course, I’m talking about studying.”
“...Ugh...”
Seeing Nitta-san acting completely out of character like this, Amami-san puffed out her cheeks.
...Now my suspicion has been confirmed. The reason why she had done all this was to provoke Amami-san.
On the surface, they acted as if they were getting along, but it seemed like their fight was still ongoing.
And instead of Amami-san, it was Nitta-san who was out for blood this time.
Seriously, it has been a month since the fireworks festival... When would they make up with each other...?