Chapter 4: After School

After school

　As I was getting ready to leave for my part-time job, I suddenly heard a loud voice from inside the classroom.

“Hey guys! Do you want to go to karaoke with the rest of the class afterwards?”

　The person who suddenly made such a suggestion was Kengo Niijima, the attractive guy of the class.

“That sounds great! Let’s go! Let’s go! Oh, can you go too, Saegusa-san?”

　The girls immediately agreed to Niijima’s invitation, as if they had been told to do so.

　–They were all in on it.

　It was honestly obvious that he really wanted to invite Saegusa-chan, a super idol from the same class, to play with him afterwards.

“Eh, what should I do ……?”

“I’m not saying you have to, but if you want, you can join us!”

“To be honest, we’d love to hear the Angel Girls’ songs live, haha.”

　The girls just leaked their true intentions toward to the troubled Saegusa.

　Well, I guess it’s only natural to want to hear her sing live, since we’re in the same class as a former idol who was active on stage until recently.

　Then, for some reason, Saegusa-san looked at me sideways and said, “Well, I don’t mind to sing…….” She seemed to be looking at me with a slightly red face.

“Oh, Takuya-san are you coming too …… Or do you have to work today??”

“I’ll pass on karaoke, so don’t worry about me and have fun with everyone.”

“Really, you’ve only been working part-time since you started high school, haven’t you? Well, okay, good luck.”

I’m sorry, Takayuki.

Unfortunately, I’m not going to participate in such events anyway.

　To be honest, getting together and doing karaoke is just a pain in the a*s, so just let the people who like that kind of thing enjoy themselves.

　–Well, I’m kinda interested to see Saegusa singing live too

　After the exchange with Takayuki, I suddenly felt a glance from next to me, and turned around to see Saegusa-san with her cheeks puffed up like a blowfish.

　–Hmm? No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. What!

　–Did I do something?!

　I was puzzled why I was getting such a look from Saegusa-san.

“I’m sorry, I forgot that I have plans for tonight, please ask me out again sometime!”

Saegusa replied with a puffy smile.

　As a result, the atmosphere in the classroom sank as soon as it became clear that Saegusa-san couldn’t come, as if the excitement of earlier had been a lie.

　I’m sorry to say that it’s none of my business, and I’m sorry to say that I’m going to be late for my part-time job if I relax too much, so I left the classroom as quickly as I could.

As I walked towards my part-time job, I remembered the scene in the classroom earlier.

　I’m sorry to say this to everyone in the class, but there was one thing that bothered me more than the karaoke.

　–Saegusa-san at that time, she was talking normally while puffing her cheeks, but how is that impossible!

　I made sure that there was no one else around and tried to mimic her, but I couldn’t do it. I remembered the sight of Saegusa-san talking dexterously while puffing, and I couldn’t help but give up.

　Seriously, how did you talk like that, Saegusa-san? Maybe I’ll ask you to teach me the trick next time–.

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　It was past eight at night when I heard the melody of a convenience store door opening.

　I responded to the sound and said “Irasshaimase” as usual.

　The person who opened the door and walked in was the same old Saegusa-san.

　As usual, she was wearing a mask, glasses and a scarf to hide her face.

　–There you are, Saegusa-san.

　I wondered what she was going to do today, and I was getting a little excited.

　Since there were no other customers, I followed her movements with my eyes.

　First, she went to the magazine corner and started flipping through the magazines.

　Oh, it’s a magazine deck today! When I looked at her, I noticed that she was immediately demonstrating her Saegusa-san quality.

　–Saegusa-san, the magazine is facing the wrong way.

　Yes, she had opened the magazine upside down and was flipping through the pages.

　I was relieved to see that Saegusa-san was doing well again today.

　When I looked closer, I realized that she was pretending to read the magazine and was looking at me sideways through her glasses.

　I was having fun guessing why she hadn’t noticed that the magazine was upside down.

　The magazine she had open had a huge picture of Ms. Saegusa as an idol, but she didn’t seem to notice the picture of herself at all.

　It was a little amusing to see the idol herself standing there reading the magazine.

　But why is Saegusa-san looking at me like that, it’s a mystery to me.

　I wondered if she was still unhappy about what happened after school. I thought of various possibilities, but I still don’t understand.

　After putting the magazine back on the shelf, she picked up her shopping basket and quickly put some tea, café au lait and yogurt into the basket and brought it to the cashier.

　I thought to myself, “All drinks today,” as I counted up the amount, pretending not to notice that it was Saegusa.

“That’ll be 426 yen.

　As I put the drinks in the bag, Saegusa-san took out a 1,000 yen bill from her wallet and presented it to me.

　Naturally, she didn’t give me any change today, so I took the bill and gave the remaining change back.

　When I handed her the change, she wrapped her hands around my hand and took the coins with care.

　　You do it every …… time, but what’s really going on down here?

　Could it be that Saegusa-san likes small changes? When I was thinking about it like an idiot, Saegusa-san opened his mouth unusually.

“Oh, um! Do you hate karaoke?”

“Eh?”

　Do I hate karaoke? That was unexpected

　I’m sure it was in response to what happened after school today. …… Anyway, Saegusa-san, you forgot that you’re wearing a disguise right now.

　I’m sure she said this because of today’s after-school incident. …… Anyway, Saegusa-san, you’re forgetting that you’re in disguise now, aren’t you?

“Do I like karaoke? I like it. I like to sing by myself, but I also like to listen to good singers at karaoke.”

　I replied with a sales smile and a smirk on my face.

　I also added that I liked people who could sing well, out of concern for Saegusa-san, a former idol.

　I wasn’t lying, because this was my true feelings as well.

　I like Saegusa-san’s singing voice to the extent that I listen to the Angel Girls’ songs with earphones while traveling.

　Then Saegusa-san blushed as she looked at me and said, “Thank you very much! She then bowed her head in thanks, and for some reason just walked out of the store.

　I still don’t know what’s going on, but she looked happy when she left, so I thought it was okay and went on with the rest of my day’s work.

　I still don’t understand her, but she looked happy as she left, so I thought it was okay and went on with the rest of my day’s work.

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