Chapter 6 | Takeout

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“…This is the worst.”

I stood still in front of the karaoke place.

If it was spread around school that I had taken Reina Futaba home, I didn’t even want to imagine how many male students I would make my enemy.

“Then, will you take me to your place?”

Futaba said calmly as she leaned her full breasts against my arm and held on to it.

“There’s no way I’d take you there!”

In any case, I couldn’t go home right now.

There was a chance that Ria, who lives nearby, might be waiting in front of my house, or come to visit me, or even possibly be in my house without my permission.

In fact, I had a fight with Ria once during a phone call, and when I hung up the phone and blocked Ria, she came to my house to apologize even though it was late at night.

So, there was a very high chance that Ria would come to my house.

And, given that Ria had sent me a ton of messages, it was obvious that I was going to be hearing some flimsy excuses. I didn’t want that. It would just make me feel miserable.

I don’t know what Ria was thinking, but cheating is cheating. There’s no room for excuses.

Or rather, I don’t want to see Ria right now. What kind of face am I supposed to make when I see her?

I’m able to hold back my emotions now because I’m keeping my distance from Ria, but if I meet her directly, I don’t know what I might do in anger.

More than that, I might end up crying pathetically because of my sadness and pain.

It’s bad enough to feel miserable just from being cheated on, so I don’t want to cry in such an ugly manner.

Even so, I can’t keep running away from Ria forever.

I’m going to need an opportunity to talk to her someday, but I want to cool my head for now, or to be honest, I just don’t want to talk to her. She cheated, so we’re breaking up, and I don’t want to talk about anything more than that.

I think I’ll be able to have a conversation with Ria only after I calm down and become rational.

I want to avoid a confrontation with her right after I witnessed her cheating if I can.

So, for now, I want to disappear so that I don’t run into Ria.

I don’t even want to go to school tomorrow or the day after.

“Then, how about a hotel?”

“I’m not going to a hotel either… To begin with, I don’t have that much money… Ah, I forgot to pay for the karaoke!”

I ran out in a hurry and completely forgot.

Do I have to go back inside to pay?

Back to that place where there were two people who were hostile towards me?

“It’s fine. It seems like it’s Tanaka-san’s treat today.”

“Eh, is that so?”

Even though she’s the organizer, I feel bad about having the girl pay.

No, Tanaka should be doing well with Shō thanks to me taking Futaba away.

I can think of it as a reward.

“…Anyway, get off me already!”

“Why?”

“It’s embarrassing!”

Futaba’s full breasts are still pressing against my arm.

It feels good, and she smells sweet, so it’s not like I’m unhappy about it, but if this continues, I don’t think I’ll be able to suppress my reason.

Futaba is the most beautiful girl in school.

There’s no way that I can keep my composure when such an existence is so close to me.

When she kissed me, it was too sudden for my brain to process, but now my heart starts pounding just from remembering it.

“…I see, being with me is embarrassing…”

Futaba, who had made a weak and dejected voice, had teary eyes.

“N-No, I didn’t mean it like that…”

“Does Shinse… hate me?”

She called me by my first name all of a sudden.

And on top of that, she was looking up at me, which made Futaba look so incredibly cute right now.

There’s no man who wouldn’t feel good about being liked by a beauty like Futaba.

I feel that way too, but with the negative feelings I have from just being cheated on by Ria, and the complex feelings about Futaba’s overestimation of me, I didn’t know how to respond.

“I-It’s not that I hate you…”

“Then, you’ll take me home, right?”

“That’s… that’s not related…”

“Uu… Shinse is being mean to me…”

“I’m not being mean…”

I was in trouble. It seems that I’m very weak when a beautiful girl tries to get her way by crying.

“If you don’t take me home, you know what will happen at school tomorrow, right?”

Futaba suddenly became more forceful. This time, it was a simple threat. The force of her arm tightening around mine increased, and my arm was being compressed by her large breasts. It seems she was just faking her tears.

The fact that she didn’t say exactly what would happen at school made me use my imagination, which increased my fear even more.

If Futaba were to say those explosive things again at school, I don’t know what my position would be.

I feel that it’s already too late after what happened earlier, but I want to avoid any further damage.

“O-Okay, I get it. But, my house is impossible. I might run into Ria who lives nearby.”

Also, if Ria were to see me with Futaba, I don’t know what she would say.

Ria who cheated on me has no right to complain about the relationship between me and Futaba.

“To say the name of your ex in front of me, you have quite the nerve.”

“Even if you say that…”

It’s not like Futaba is my current girlfriend either.

The moment I thought that, an idea suddenly came to my mind.

I don’t have a girlfriend right now.

And, a beautiful girl like Futaba has feelings for me.

Isn’t this a perfect opportunity to start a new love?

I’ve been interested in Futaba to the point that I would follow her with my eyes.

Even though I had a girlfriend, the existence of a beautiful girl that I had no connection with was something that I would be curious about.

It was simple curiosity, without any romantic feelings mixed in.

It wouldn’t be bad to start a relationship with Futaba as friends.

Taking her home all of a sudden was too high of a hurdle for me.

Would a real social butterfly like Shō or Satō be able to take her home without hesitation?

I’m quite inexperienced when it comes to love.

Just because Futaba has fallen for me doesn’t mean I’d want to start dating her right away.

I’m the type that wants to slowly take things step by step when it comes to love.

Though since Futaba had already kissed me, it feels like there’s no steps at all…

Thinking about it that way, Futaba must be quite aggressive when it comes to love.

Actually, most men wouldn’t mind being liked and kissed by a beauty like Futaba.

If it weren’t for the Ria incident, I would have been over the moon.

Did Futaba realize that she was beautiful and act so boldly?

If that’s the case, then she might be a strategist who makes the most of her weapons.

She would say and do things that would put me in a bind when the moment calls for it.

Taking me home was probably part of Futaba’s plan.

But, as a wimp, there was no way that I could take her home.

“A-Anyway. My house is impossible, and I was thinking about staying at one of my friend’s house today. So, why don’t we do this another time?”

Actually, after the mixer, I was thinking of asking Shō or Satō to let me stay at their place.

But, the two of them were talking happily with Tanaka and Suzuki, so it wasn’t the right atmosphere to ask them. And with Futaba’s explosive remarks, it was completely impossible.

“Then, why don’t you come to my place?”

“…Eh?”

“If that happens, does that mean that I’m taking Shinse home? Fufu, that’s fine, too.”

Futaba had a creepy smile, “Fufufu…”

“Going to Futaba-san’s place… what about your parents? They wouldn’t allow a man to stay over, would they?”

“I live alone.”

“Oh, is that so.”

My escape route had been cut off in an instant.

“I believe you live with your younger sister, who is one year younger than you, right? I heard that your parents are working overseas.”

“Yeah, that’s right.”

I’m very curious about who Futaba heard my family situation from.

Come to think of it, she said that she was subtly gathering information about me.

But, I’ve never heard that Futaba was gathering information about me, so she must have done it in a way that it wouldn’t get found out.

I think that people would be suspicious if you were gathering information about someone that you have no connection with.

When men gather information about Futaba, it ends with “Oh, he must like Futaba,” but it’s not strange if people become suspicious or form strange assumptions when it’s the opposite.

I wonder if she had an accomplice gathering information about me.

“Your younger sister attends Shimizu Girls’ High School, right? I’d like to meet her sometime.”

“My younger sister is extremely shy, so that’s a bit…”

Well, it’s a lie. The truth is that I just don’t want them to meet.

“Oh, is that so? Well, maybe eventually… it seems like we digressed, but, Shinse, you are coming to my house, right?”

“Eh, well…”

“You are coming, right?”

Futaba smiled sweetly, but I could feel the pressure that she wouldn’t let me say no.

“Hey, why are you so fixated on taking me home?”

“Because at mixers, you’re supposed to take the person you like home.”

“That’s the first time I’ve heard that…”

But, I don’t know the details of what mixers are like.

This was my first time participating, and I didn’t know what the correct thing to do was after becoming close with someone.

I don’t really know if Futaba and I had become close or not, to be honest.

Taking home the person you like from a mixer… is that normal for social butterflies?

“If you refuse me, I’ll spread it at school tomorrow.”

“Wh-What are you going to spread?”

“That even though Shinse kissed me, he neglected me.”

“Wh-What…”

If she were to spread something like that at school, I would lose my place at school, and be socially dead.

Futaba was the one who kissed me, and I didn’t do anything wrong, but the majority of people would be on the side of the most beautiful girl in the school.

From Futaba’s perspective, who reigns at the top of the school’s caste system, my life is just like a candle flickering in the wind.

“If you don’t want that to happen, then you should just let me take you home. It’s not like I’m going to devour you or anything.”

“…Do you really want to take me home that much?”

“…Because, I like Shinse. Is it wrong to want to be with the person you like?”

That cute way of talking is really unfair…

I was unintentionally made to feel a flutter in my heart.

“It’s not wrong, but…”

“Then…”

“…Okay, I understand.”

As I nodded as if giving up, Futaba showed a full smile.

Futaba’s smile was, after all, cute.

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