Volume 5-3: Sasuke-kun suffers defeat from an Otome drama CD.

To get as many girls as possible to come to the school festival to visit.

That’s the mission of the whole school, and those who know someone in the local community.

–I don’t care if she has a pretty face or not. The point is, as long as it’s classified as a girl, it’s fine. Oh, yes, elementary school girls are fine, too. Kindergarten is a no-no.

I am considered to be a valuable recruiter.

　For me, Yoshimi Mukaishima has been like the Virgin Mary or the Goddess of Mercy, coming to visit me with her friends since I was in middle school.

　On this day, she was the first to show up at my class, accompanied by six members of the soft tennis team, of which she is the captain.

“It’s been a long time, Sasuke-kun. Have we only just met the other day?

Mukaishima waved and smiled at me in the backyard. When I met her at Kotono’s birthday party, she was wearing a modest dress, but today she was more active, wearing a hoodie and shorts. She wore high heeled sandals, her shoulder length hair fluffed up and lip gloss on.

“Did you just get here?　Did you meet my parents?　I was just about to leave.”

“I saw them there a while ago. Aunt complimented me on how pretty I’ve become again.”

The guys behind the scenes called out to Mukaishima, who smiled. Mukoujima, who brings the girls to the festival every year, is a familiar face to his classmates, and they are friendly enough to exchange a few casual words.

“Hey! Long time no see, Mukaishima-chan.”

“Did you bring a pretty girl with you?　I don’t care if it’s Mukaishima-chan. Are you free later today?

“Just get to work, I’ve brought six of them here. If you don’t turn the store around quickly, they’ll leave without waiting!”

I felt a little embarrassed because Mukoujima’s face looked cuter than usual as they battled it out. If you think about it, Mukoujima is the same age as Kotono, so she too is at the age when she starts to blossom.

When I was in elementary school, I had a strong impression that Mukaishima was more of a boy. Her hair was cut off at the neck, she never wore skirts, and wore a jeans or shorts all the time.

As mentioned above, Mukaishima did not belong to any particular group, which was unusual for a girl, but she was never resented or talked about behind her back. I think the reason for this was the relaxed atmosphere of Mukaishima, where she never flirted with boys or teachers.

Because of this, she had the presence of a male actor in Takarazuka, and was overwhelmingly popular with girls rather than boys. There is an old story that on Valentine’s Day in the sixth grade, Mukaishima received the most chocolates out of all the boys in the class.

Mukaishima’s mood gradually changed when he entered junior high school. She grew her hair longer, and her thin and frail body became rounder. She started wearing skirts and even started wearing light makeup.

Although we went to different schools, I saw Mukaishima on a lot of occasions like at Kotono’s birthday party, my school festival, the summer course at the prep school in front of the station, and even Mukaishima’s school festival, so her transformation was something to see. Every time I asked her if she had a boyfriend, she denied it with a laugh, saying, “No way.”

Even after entering high school, I still hadn’t heard that Mukaishima had found a boyfriend. This was the biggest mystery to me. If it were an all-girls high school It would make sense, But was a co-ed school. She has a pretty face, so I’m sure she gets a lot of confessions. Sometimes I wondered if Mukaishima was a lesbian who was not interested in men.

“Hey, Sasuke-kun, do you have any free time after this?”

I looked at my watch.

“Well, we’re going to take a break in about thirty minutes. Why?”

“Oh, you know. There’s someone I’d like you to come talk to.

Mukaishima’s cheeks colored unusually. Oh?　What’s this?　It’s a guy.

“Maybe it’s your boyfriend?”

Mukaishima’s cheeks turned bright red and he turned down.

“I’m still thinking about whether to go out with him or not. . I want you to meet him Sasuke-kun and see what he thinks. You know, a boy might be able to understand things that a girl can’t.”

What am I, your father? I smiled bitterly and scratched my head.

“So, how about forty minutes from now in the common room on the third floor?　You know where that is, right?

You know where it is, right?” “Yeah, I’ll be fine. I’ll see you there.

As soon as Mukaishima left the backyard, I went to get my order. I’m deeply moved by the thought that spring has finally arrived for Mukaishima, with a mixture of smiles and sadness. I wonder if this is what it’s like when your sister or brother gets a boyfriend. In any case, it was a happy occasion.

Thirty minutes later. I took a break to switch places with a classmate who was waiting for me. I took off my sweaty jacket, put it on a hanger, and put on a cool, half-dressed shirt.

The Harukawa residence was air-conditioned, so I didn’t feel it, but it was indeed too hot to be dressed like this in late June. I manage to keep myself warm with anti-perspirant spray and cooling goods, but I can only hope that no one collapses from the heat.

I bought some takoyaki and okonomiyaki from a food stall, held them in my hands, and with a plastic bottle of green tea under my arm, I headed for the third floor common room. This is a space that is open to the general public, and eating and drinking are allowed. In addition to me, there were people here and there spreading out food they had bought from the stalls on tables.

Mukaishima, who was sitting by the window, raised her hand to signal me. At the same time, the man sitting next to her looked at me, and I couldn’t help but peel my eyes away. He was a handsome man of a superb class that I rarely get to see. He was wearing a summer shirt and a vest, a simple but tasteful outfit that gave him an air of innocence.

　I nodded a little nervously and sat down across from Mukaishima.

“Well, it’s nice to meet you. I’m Atsui.”

　I opened the lid of the plastic case of okonomiyaki and takoyaki and held them out to him.

I opened the lid of the plastic case of okonomiyaki and takoyaki and presented them to him, “It’s lunchtime. I also got three pairs of chopsticks.

　The other person looked at the offered takoyaki and smiled dazzlingly. He looked like a model or a celebrity. And his smile was so refreshing and sincere. He seemed to be older than me, so I wondered if he was in the third year.

“No, thank you. No, thank you. Actually, I’m already full from all the food I ate earlier. But I’ll just take the sentiment.

　He was polite in his refusal. It was no wonder that the girls who came into the common room earlier were glancing at him. He has an aura of being different from others.

“Sasuke-kun, this is Minoya-san. He’s a senior at the same high school and is the head of the hard tennis club.”

“Nice to meet you. I heard about Sasuke-kun from Yoshimi …… Mukaishima-san.”

Huh, Yoshimi-chan, huh? I opened the cap of a plastic bottle of green tea and took a sip. I was thirsty from standing around all day.

“I’ve been nervous all morning because I heard that I’ m going to have an interview with a childhood friend. I’ve been nervous all morning because I heard that I can’t go out with her unless I get your approval.”

“No, no, I mean ……. Are you sure?”

I put my face close to Mukaishima’s to confirm. I’m going to take the role of Outo-san then.

“No, no way. You’re overreacting, Minoya-san!　You said it was fine if you just met him for a while.”

It was somewhat refreshing to see Mukaishima blushing and hurriedly protesting. After that, I ate takoyaki and okonomiyaki while chatting with Minoya-san about something casual. We talked about how he started playing hard tennis, where he went to elementary and junior high school, and so on.

“By the way, I heard that Atsui-kun works at Harukawa-san’s mansion, Is that true?”

I nodded in response to Minoya’s question and wiped the okonomiyaki mayonnaise from my hands with my handkerchief.

“My father used to work for Chuncheon Transportation, and I have met him several times at company events.My parents once took me to hear the young lady’s violin recital.”

“A recital?”

“Oh, I’m sorry. It was a long time ago. I was only in the third grade, so your young lady, Kotono-san, was in the second grade. I still remember her. She was very good at it, and more importantly, she was incredibly beautiful.”

After saying that, he smiled silently at Mukaishima next to him. His eyes must have been saying this.

–Don’t worry, you’re special to me. Don’t be jealous. I’ll give you lots of kisses later. ……

No, no, no. What kind of otome drama CD is this? I was about to be dragged into a fantasy, but I hurriedly pulled my thoughts back to reality.

“Is that right? I heard that she used to attend a lot of recitals.”

“To be honest, I think it’s a shame for a talent like her to be confined to her home.”

Mr. Minoya said absentmindedly.

“I’m really sorry about the accident. Sometimes I wish I could hear her play the violin on a big stage again. but I guess that’s impossible with the way things are now.

Suddenly.

　A silence fell, as dry as white brown paper. The hustle and bustle of the surroundings seemed to cling to my ears. As I was wondering if I should say something, Mukaishima let out an unnatural cough.

“Sasuke-kun, isn’t the break over?　Let’s get going.

“I’m sorry for taking up your break time. I hope you and Atsui can get along.”

　Mr. Minoya smiled at that.

　Maybe this person really likes Mukaishima. It was an open and charming smile that made me think that.

＊　＊　＊　＊

“I’m taking Sasuke-kun to class. You go ahead.”

　With that, Mukaishima walked with me. We stopped at the landing of the stairs leading down to the second floor.

“What do you think?”

　she asked with a sly look.

“No, it’s good. He’s really cool. And he’s got a good personality.”

I was more puzzled as to why Mukaishima was unsure.

　It was a man with a delicate appearance and personality, If I were a woman, I would have accepted in a heartbeat.

“If you’re confused, that means he told you already, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Let me ask you something weird. How are your grades?”

“I’m always in the top ten, so I think it’s good.”

He’s so smart, he’s perfect. This makes me even more confused about Mukaishima’s feelings.

“You seem to really like him, so why don’t you just go out with him?”

“Yeah. That’s what I thought. ……”

Mukaishima replied with a faraway look in her eyes. I could tell that her consciousness was drifting somewhere other than here. Every once in a while, people from the school would pass us on the landing and look at us with envy, teasing and protesting with their tongues that we weren’t flirting on the stairs.

　Mukaishima was pretty enough to attract the attention of the people around her, and she was smart enough too. Minoya-san couldn’t have been a better match for her.

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry for asking you to do something so strange. I’m going to try going out with him after all.”

Mukaishima smiled as she returned her wandering consciousness to her body.

“Oh. I’m not sure if he’s a pervert or not. Talk to me if anything happens.”

“Oh, God, don’t be weird.”

　Her cheeks flushed and her mouth agape.

“‘But thank you. I’ll text you later.”

“Thank you for coming, too. Give my regards to your aunt and uncle.”

　Mukaishima ran lightly down the stairs, turned around at the border between the stairs and the second floor, and waved. Then he went back to Minoya-san, who was waiting at the visitor’s entrance.

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