CH 12

I live in an apartment building that can be reached by a 10 minute walk in the direction of the train station from the school. And it takes about 15 minutes from my house to the station.

It is neither urban nor rural, but because of its convenience, there are many people using the station and the rent is high.

Incidentally, Keiichi commutes by train, so it takes less than 30 minutes from the station if he walks, but there are many buses in the morning, so he uses them.

“Hee, so both Saejima and Kohinata live around here, huh? Tell Tomoki if you know of any great places to eat or drink.”

Keiichi says to the two girls as he walks backward. Run into a telephone pole.

Currently, the two of us, Keiichi and I, are walking in front of them and the two girls are behind us. It was natural.

“Hmmm. But to be honest, I don’t know much about stores either. Sugino kun, I didn’t even know about the coffee shop you work…. Asuka too, right?”

Saejima asked Kohinata about it and she nodded her head.

“That place seems to be well hidden.”

“I just happened to see the flyer, I got lucky.”

I looked for a good place to work, not only through flyers and the Internet, but also with my own feet. I’m sure it’s better to work at one place for a long time if you can, and one of the reasons is that I wanted to see the atmosphere with my own eyes.

As I was walking around thinking about this, Keiichi made a grin.

“Whatever the case, you two seem to be close enough to Tomoki’s apartment that you can easily come and visit.”

He said this without seeming to take offense.

“Hey, hey, where’s the landlord’s opinion?”

“Because, Tomoki, you seem to be free every day after school.”

“It’s not wrong that I’m free, but these are girls, you know? It’s different from boys coming over to play. I have to take care of them, and I know they have their own reasons.”

As I said this in disgust, I was tugged from behind by the hem of my uniform with a tsuntsun.

I can only think of one person who would do this, so I didn’t even bother to check her face before turning around to ask, “What’s up, Kohinata?” She was shaking her head. I wondered what her intention was.

“…… hmmm …… you mean you’re fine with it?

When I confirmed this, Kohinata nodded again.

Ah …… I see. Kohinata doesn’t seem to be interested in romance or anything, and she probably doesn’t recognize me as much of a boy.

People of both genders come up to her, so there’s a good chance she counts me as one of them. She even comes to my part-time job, though, so maybe she thinks of me as special, at least a little bit.

☆ ☆☆☆☆

“I’m home.”

“Sorry to bother you.”

“………… (Pekori)”

Three of my classmates come into my house with three different greetings.

I mean, Keiichi, “I’m home” is just plain weird. But I’m not going to get into it.

Just a few minutes ago, I made the three of them wait in front of the entrance door for a few minutes and finished ventilating the room and checking the interior at high speed. So I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that, but as you can imagine, my heart rate rises with nervousness when I let the girls in the house. Even though I am not good at talking to girls, I am still a healthy male high school student.

“I’ll take the game console to the living room, so Keiichi, get some tea out of the fridge for the number of people.”

“Okay~. Can I use any of the cups?”

“Use whatever you like. Let’s see,……, can Kohinata and the others sit there? We’ll take care of the preparations.”

I said and urged the two girls to get into the kotatsu.

It is already warm enough for the season, so the power cord has been disconnected, but the kotatsu covers are still in place. The two girls did as I asked and sat down in front of the kotatsu, looking a little nervous.

I put my school bag in my room, put only my school uniform on a hanger, and headed for the living room where the three girls were waiting for me with the game console. Then I froze.

“So …… that’s how it’s going to be. ……’

I couldn’t help but mumble these words as I looked at the scene spread out before me.

In the apartment where I live, there is a long, horizontal kotatsu in the living room and a TV board with a flat-screen TV on it.

When the four of us play games together, we cannot use one side of the kotatsu, because that side is right in front of the TV set and is out of sight. This is because it is right in front of the TV, which is in the way of our view, and the direction of the TV is opposite to that of the kotatsu.

Therefore, when playing with my friends from elementary school, we used to play with one person on each side and two people on the front side of the kotatsu.

Today, however, we are two boys and two girls, which is the first time for me to play with this group. There are a lot of restrictions.

“I don’t mind, but is that arrangement okay with Kohinata and the others?”

The reason I asked that was because the only available space was next to Kohinata.

Keiichi is on the left side, Saejima is on the right side – and Kohinata is sitting on the right side of the front side of the room, on the horizontal side. Kohinata looked up at me from an angle and nodded.

“It’s easier to talk to Asuka here, and Sugino-kun is more comfortable talking to Asuka, too, right? If that’s the case, I thought this would be the best way.”

Saejima said smiling, “Ehehe,” and the three seemed to agree. The three of them seemed to be convinced, and if it was a result of their consideration for me, I felt bad to deny it.

However, however.

I tried to be cool and say, “I don’t mind,” but I was sitting right next to a girl – and not on a train seat, but on a kotatsu!　Do you understand? It’s a KOTATSU! Do you think I could keep a normal mind?

And the other girl was Kohinata, who was cute in appearance and behavior. I was a little sad to see that she didn’t seem to be aware of me as a man at all, but whether or not I was aware of her was a completely different matter.

“Oh, thanks for the tea, Keiichi.”

“–Pfft, kuku — don’t worry about it.”

As I put my feet under the kotatsu and try my best to keep my composure, Keiichi turns his face down and seems to be holding back a laugh.

Yes! He’s buying a special meal for me, and I’ve added it to the bill!

“I-Isn’t it a little cramped in here? Shall I pack a little more?”

I ask Kohinata next to me, muttering in my mind, “Normal Heart, Normal Heart, Normal Heart – that’s what I’m muttering in my mind. The distance between our bodies was only about five centimeters.

Kohinata shakes her head with her gaze down at the table. Then she glanced into my eyes for a moment, but quickly averted her gaze.

“..I-I see.”

I don’t think so, but I wonder if Kohinata, like Keiichi, has noticed that I am upset and is laughing in her heart,……? I feel like her ears are redder than usual, and I wonder if she is trying hard to hold in her laughter despite her expressionless face? If so, I feel sad. I hope I am mistaken.

If it wasn’t, I don’t know why after all.