Well, I think Iâll go to the other group then.
With that in mind, I got up with my own glass and walked away from the on-going shuraba. [ED: war of love ? I think thatâs what it is.]
I wanted to talk to Sei-chan, but she was surrounded by various girls, so it was indeed pretty difficult to talk to her.
I always hang out with Yuuichi, but I usually talk to other boys as well.
Itâs not like I donât have any friends.
But it would be awkward to join any group right now.
âHisamura-ku~n, are you alone?â
âHmm?â
I heard a voice calling me out from behind me and so I turned to see four girls looking at me with a grin on their face.
Two of them if I remember correctly were the ones who talked to me after my match.
âWhy donât you join us then?â
âAm I really allowed to?â
I wondered if it was okay for me, a boy, to join a group where there were only girls present in.
âDonât worry, we were just talking about you, Hisamura-kun.â
âYou were talking about me?â
As I said this, I went over to the group and sat down.
It was the two girls who talked to me after the game. As well as two others who I werenât acquainted with.
â¦â¦To be honest, I really canât remember any of their names.
I asked Yuichi for the names of the two girls who spoke to me after the match. I think that they were⦠Sato and Ito.
I really canât tell which one is Sato and which one is Ito by just looking at them though.
âYou performed really well in baseball didnât you? That was really cool!â
âEspecially Goto-chan. She got really excited seeing you play.â
âHe-Hey!â
The last girl who looked like she was being teased was Goto-san.
âAnd Kato-chan said youâre cool, too.â
âSa-Sato-san said it as well.â
Hold up.
Why are you guysâ names all stuck up together⦠Sato, Ito, Goto, and Kato?
I heard everyoneâs name, but I will definitely remember it wrong and mix them up.
Iâm very likely to make a mistake if I try to call out their names here.
âYou were a good pitcher, did you used to play baseball?â
One of the girls who talked to me after the baseball game, I think itâs uh⦠Sato-san or Ito-san.
âYeah, I used to play it in elementary school.â
âI see, itâs surprising that Hisamura-kun is rather athletic.â
âIâd say thatâs about as good as it gets.â
âEhhh, thatâs not the case. You played extremely well.â
âIâd say Iâm pretty experienced at the game. There is a huge difference between an experienced player against an amateur. There are a few exceptions though.â
I said as I looked at Yuuichi.
Yuuichi was still eating whilst being surrounded by those two.
Sheesh, you really do eat a lot, donât you?
âHaha, Shigemoto-kun is a bit special though, isnât he?â
âShigemoto-kun, has he really never played baseball before?â
âHeâs so talented in every sport he plays.â
I donât think itâs possible for humans to be so talented, but I guess thatâs the protagonist of a manga for you.
âShigemoto-kun was amazing, but Hisamura-kun was really cool too!â
âIf it werenât for you, I donât think the boys would have won either.â
âA-Ah, thank you.â
Kato-san and Goto-san told me that, and I thanked them whilst being a little surprised at their praise.
âWe canât play sports with him at all.â
âYeah, I didnât even get to play a match.â
âWe won thanks to Shimada-san after all.â
As she said that she looked towards Sei-chan.
Sei-chan was still surrounded by the girls and seemed to be having a good time talking to them.
âShimada-san, you were really cool.â
âYeah, I really thought I was going to fall in love with you.â
âIf I were a girl, I would have fallen in love instantly.â
âYou are a girl.â
I said this as the girls looked at Sei-chan with a slightly smitten look in their eyes.
Eh? Letâs stop for a moment.
Iâm happy that you guys think sheâs awesome and cool, but it makes me nervous to see that you guys are in love with her.
With the way you blurted out âIt was so coolâ I feel like you were serious about it.
I want girls to NOT be a rival against me here.
As we were talking about this, the topic of our conversation changed again.
âHey, Hisamura-kun, is there someone you like?â
âHmm, someone I like?â
I thought while giving a troubled expression.
Of course there is.
When you ask that question to me, I canât think of anyone other than Sei-chan.
But what if I said that I like Sei-chan here?
They will definitely badger me for more details.
Itâs a secret that Sei-chan and I are dating so it would be annoying to let it out here.
But I donât know if I can answer that I donât like anyone here either.
âI guess soâ¦â
I decided to answer honestly.
I felt like it would be wrong to answer ânoâ here.
I said âI guessâ but I donât mean that lightly at all, I was serious as hell when I said that.
âEh! Really?!â
âI didnât expect Hisamura-kun to have someone you like.â
As I expected from a high school girl, she was very interested in other peopleâs love stories.
All of them rolled their eyes in surprise, and then at once, all their eyes lit up.
âEh?! Who?! Is it a girl from our class?!â
âA girl from another class? Or maybe a girl from the same club as you?â
I knew sheâd ask for more details.
I donât know what to do, but I canât honestly answer that itâs Sei-chan.
âIâm not in a club, soâ¦â
âOh really, so someone from our class?â
âHmmmâ¦Well, thatâs a secret.â
âEHHHH?!â
When I said it was a secret, the girls made a sound as if they were bored of my response, but their faces still lit up.
âYou canât just say that out of the blue!â
âBoo-! Boo-!â
âI wanted you to tell me that when you joined us.â
âFine, weâll guess. Tell us if we got it right then.â
When one of them said that, they all tried to guess who I liked.
I havenât even said if Iâd tell you if you got it right.
âGive me a hint!â
âArenât you asking for a hint too soon? No one even took any guesses yet.â
âItâs fine, hint, hint! Hisamura-kun give us a hint~!â
Even if itâs called a hintâ¦
âWell then, sheâs extremely cute.â
âEhhâ¦? Is that so? So youâre the type to go for looks?â
âNot really, Itâs just that the girl I happened to fall in love with happened to be the worldâs cutest girl.â
âKyaa~â
The girls who heard what I said let out a shriek.
âWhatâs wrong?!â
âYouâre serious? You like her that much, huh? Hisamura-kun.â
I couldnât help but express my true feelings out loud, and it was surprisingly exciting to let it out for once.
I could feel the stares coming from the people in the class around me.
Sei-chan wasâ¦
âHey, Shimada-san, whatâs wrong? Your face is getting really red.â
âShimada-san? Are you okay? Do you have a fever?â
âN-No⦠Itâs fine.â
The girls around her pointed out that her face was red.
I donât know whatâs going on but Iâm getting pretty worried too.
After all, after working so hard on a basketball game, youâd naturally get tired, right?
âWell, well, well. You didnât fall in love with her because of her looks then?â
âYeah, well. I like her face a lot too.â
âFufu~Â What a treat. Then, what kind of person is she?â
I didnât expect to be questioned so much.
It was either Sato-san or Ito-san who asked me that, but the other three seemed to want to hear my response too.
Hmmm, well I guess itâs okay, they wonât know that itâs Sei-chan anyways.
Iâll blurt out a little bit.
âWell, I guess the part where the person is incredibly friend-oriented?â
âReally? What part made you notice the trait?â
âItâs hard to explain. But, itâs like when sheâs willing to push aside her feelings for her friend and even muster a kind smile during tough times.â
âWow, I donât know who it is, but she must be incredibly nice.â
Yeah, itâs hard to explain when you must censor certain things out.
But the girls seemed to be satisfied with my answer and their eyes were still shining.
âShimada-san, whatâs wrong?â
âN-No⦠I-Itâs too much for me right now.â
âHuh?â
I glanced at Sei-chan, and for some reason, she was covering her face with her hands, probably to prevent me from seeing her face.
I wonder whatâs going on.
I was looking at Sei-chan with that in mind, when she peeked her eyes through the gap between her hands.
A moment later. Our eyes met.
ââ¦.!â
I could see her bright red face, and her moist eyes glared at me a little.
Sei-chan quickly hid her face again to remove the gaze.
âTh-That reactionâ¦â
Did you hear what I just said Sei-chan?
But the distance between me and Sei-chan is pretty far.
I donât think you should be able to actually hear from that distance.
I donât know anymore. I guess Sei-chan is just physically more capable than the rest of us.
I think she could hear us because she had better hearing or something.
But I canât be so sure here.
âHey, Hisamura-kun. Give us a few more hints.â
âHmm? Uh, I guess.â
âRather than a hint, I want to hear Hisamura-kunâs thoughts on that person!â
âYou changed the direction of the question, didnât you?â
Ehhh, what should I do?
While answering the girlsâ questions, Iâd like to see if Sei-chan can hear me, too.
âDo you guys have a sweet tooth?â
âI think almost every girl has a sweet tooth.â
âI guess youâre right. But I donât know, the person I like doesnât really look like she likes them. But she looks so cute when sheâs eating something sweet and delicious.â
âEhhhh, really?â
It didnât really seem to resonate well with them.
Maybe itâs because I love Sei-chan so much that I have a disease that makes me think anything is cute.
At any rate, I looked at Sei-chan and sawâ¦.
âI-I like salty food too!â
âShimada-san, why did you suddenly start eating the remaining potatoes?â
Could she actually hear me?
When I told them that she liked eating sweet things, she immediately started eating salty things.
I canât hear Sei-chanâs voice so I canât really tell, but I can see that her cheeks are a little red.
Iâm not sure if she can really hear me or not.
âI wonder who Hisamura-kun likes.â
âItâs hard to tell, even with all these clues.â
The girls were trying to guess who I liked after all those hints.
âJust so you know, even if you managed to get her name right, I wonât tell you if you got it.â
âEhhhhh? Why?â
âItâs⦠embarrassing.â
To be honest, Iâm not really that embarrassed about it.
Iâm not ashamed to tell people about my love for her after all.
But she doesnât like telling others that weâre dating so I guess itâs best to hold back for now.