“I think we’re done here.”
As soon as we arrived at the courtyard, Erika sat down on a bench under the shade of a tree. ‘You’re not going to sit down?’ I sit down beside her after Erika tilted her head and asked me.
It was the first time for me to eat in the courtyard, but looking around, it was surprisingly spacious and there were many shaded areas, so it seemed to be comfortable. There were not many people there, so it might be a good place to eat.
I took a quick look around and saw that there was only one couple, a man and a woman, three girls, and us.
“Does Erika often eat in the courtyard?”
We quickly took the bread out of the bag and ate. I bought yakisoba bread and cream bread. I always buy the same thing. Sometimes I get melon bread instead of cream bread.
I looked at Erika next to me and it seemed that she only had one melon bread.
“Melon Bread is also tasty.”
“It is, right? I’ve only been to the store twice, and I bought melon bread like today.”
Erika might the repeating type, like me.
“But the cream buns were making me rethink. They both look delicious… Oh, by the way, if it’s okay with you, Etsuji, would you like to trade a bite of my melon bread?”
I was craving melon bread a bit too, so I decided to accept her suggestion.
Just as I was about to open the bag of the cream bread and shred a bite, the cream bun disappeared from my hand and I was holding a melon bun that Erika was about to eat.
I heard a “That was delicious.” from beside me.
“You don’t have to be so gutsy… It’s just bread, so why not just shred it?”
“Oh, I’m sorry. I kind of wanted to eat it as soon as possible… that’s okay, right?”
The cream bread in her hand had already been taken a bite out of.
“Since we’re friends. Are you conscious of it? In~di~rect ki~ss.”
Don’t say that… I’m a pure-hearted boy.
I didn’t dare to reply, but tore off the end of the melon bread and popped it into my mouth.
“Fu~n, well okay. Yes, thank you for the cream bread.”
The cream bread came back to my hand.
No, but it’s still an indirect kiss… is it okay?
I looked towards Erika, but wasn’t able to see her face.
I felt embarrassed that I was the only one who cared, so I decided to eat mindlessly.
It seemed sweeter than usual, but that was probably just my imagination.
“So, what was the actual topic you were talking to him on?”
“I told you, right? We went to elementary and junior high school together is what I told him about.”
I can feel her eyes as she sat next to me, but I looked at the sky and tried not to make eye contact.
“I’ll take a guess. He asked you to introduce him to Me and Sayuri, right? Since Etsuji-kun is kind, you tried to shake him off, it looks like.”
As expected of Erika, sharp indeed… I’ll feel sorry for Hayashi-kun if I admitted it here, so I left it at that. “Well,” I said evasively. I’m sure she knows at this point.
“Leaving that aside, do you have something to talk about with me?”
I changed the topic before it could be pursued any further.
“Why?”
“I thought there was something you wanted to talk about since you went to the trouble of inviting me.”
“It’s normal to eat with good friends, especially me and Etsuji-kun. I’ve been waiting for quite a long time for you to invite me though.”
Erika is considered by many to be a cool beauty, but she is a surprisingly playful girl that she sometimes jokes around with me. She doesn’t change her facial expression and has a bit of an “S” personality, which is bad for her.
People who have only known him for a short time may take him seriously and be pushed around, but when you’re my age, you’ve gotten used to it and can easily let it go. In the past, though, there were many times when I was flustered due to what she said.
This time as well, I didn’t take what she said seriously and said, “Oh, is that so?”
“You weren’t mistaken when you said we need to talk. It’s about the consultation you mentioned yesterday.”
“Now that you brought it up, I did talk about it. I’ll listen to what you say, but whatever help I can offer depends on your consultation.”
“…Well, okay. “Well, that’s the thing… when you’re in high school, you get asked out to karaoke a lot, right?”
”Yeah.” I said, though I hadn’t been asked yet.
“I’m not a very good singer. I’m not a very good singer, and I don’t follow the latest trends. I’m not very good at singing, and I’m not up on the latest trends, so I often turn people down when they ask me out… So I decided to practice, but it’s hard to go to karaoke alone, isn’t it? So I’d like you to come and practice with me, Etsuji.”
I understood and then gave her an answer.
“It’s better if you… don’t ask me.”
“Why?”
“Erika knows, right? I’m tone deaf.”
I’m a terrible singer. I didn’t get good grades in music, and I got through a choir competition by lip-synching. That’s why I don’t go to karaoke much. I don’t even get invited to karaoke very often…
“It doesn’t matter. Even if you’re not good, just coming along will make it easier for me to get into karaoke and help me choose songs.”
“Even so, wouldn’t it be better to have someone who is better than me?
I don’t want to. It’s embarrassing. For some reason, everyone around me thinks I can do everything.
Erika is a good student. She hasn’t gotten any grades in high school yet, but if you watch her in class, you’ll see that she is. In addition to that, she has good athletic skills, and more importantly, her good looks and demeanor make it no surprise that people think she is perfect.
You’re okay with me?! Being a little conscious of me is fine right…?
“You may not be a great singer, Etsuji, but you’re good at giving advice to others and you work hard at it. Besides, I know you. You used to go to karaoke with Sayuri and the others in junior high school.”
How do you know that? I’m sure I’ve been there, but… that’s when I realized that I’m not very good at…
When I looked at Erika, she is crossing her arms in front of her stomach as usual. This is something that Erika often does, but after being with her for a long time, I notice that she has a more subtle habit. It was a gesture of rubbing her left elbow while crossing her arms. It may be unconscious, but when Erika makes this gesture, she tends to be anxious, worried, or nervous. This is due to experience.
And she is doing that even now.
“Haah, I understand. I’ll help you. Just don’t get your hopes up, okay?”
“Fufu, that’s good. It’ll help me a lot.”
Erica clasped her hands together in front of her mouth and looked happy. I didn’t know that she was so worried about the song. The look on her face was different from her usual calm demeanor, giving me a sense of warmth. People who don’t know her would be mistaken if they saw this gap.
“What do you want to do? Should we also call Sayuri or someone else?”
“Huh?”
The atmosphere changed and became cold…
“Did you hear what I said?”
“I was, I was! I know you’re embarrassed. But with our old friends…”
“You don’t know what you’re talking about! I’m asking you, Etsuji! You don’t have to worry about what people think of you…”
We, no! isn’t it just me in a bracket!? Can you care more about me please…?
“My bad. But doesn’t it feel like Kouki is used to and good at singing?”
“Not really?”
I felt a black aura around her and decided to not say that. Also, it feels as if her impression of Kouki is worse than before.
“So, are you going? Erika, don’t you have club activities after this?”
“Let’s do it this Saturday. I’ll be free in the afternoon after club activities in the morning.”
“Understood. Message me the details and the place we’re going to go to later.”
After making an appointment, we decided to head back to the classroom, after I said that lunch break is almost over. On the way, I told her that I’ll stop by the restroom before going back and we parted ways. We’ll stand out if we go back together.
Her figure from the back was the same as usual, but she was humming happily, which felt refreshing.
“I think we’re done here.”
As soon as we arrived at the courtyard, Erika sat down on a bench under the shade of a tree. ‘You’re not going to sit down?’ I sit down beside her after Erika tilted her head and asked me.
It was the first time for me to eat in the courtyard, but looking around, it was surprisingly spacious and there were many shaded areas, so it seemed to be comfortable. There were not many people there, so it might be a good place to eat.
I took a quick look around and saw that there was only one couple, a man and a woman, three girls, and us.
“Does Erika often eat in the courtyard?”
We quickly took the bread out of the bag and ate. I bought yakisoba bread and cream bread. I always buy the same thing. Sometimes I get melon bread instead of cream bread.
I looked at Erika next to me and it seemed that she only had one melon bread.
“Melon Bread is also tasty.”
“It is, right? I’ve only been to the store twice, and I bought melon bread like today.”
Erika might the repeating type, like me.
“But the cream buns were making me rethink. They both look delicious… Oh, by the way, if it’s okay with you, Etsuji, would you like to trade a bite of my melon bread?”
I was craving melon bread a bit too, so I decided to accept her suggestion.
Just as I was about to open the bag of the cream bread and shred a bite, the cream bun disappeared from my hand and I was holding a melon bun that Erika was about to eat.
I heard a “That was delicious.” from beside me.
“You don’t have to be so gutsy… It’s just bread, so why not just shred it?”
“Oh, I’m sorry. I kind of wanted to eat it as soon as possible… that’s okay, right?”
The cream bread in her hand had already been taken a bite out of.
“Since we’re friends. Are you conscious of it? In~di~rect ki~ss.”
Don’t say that… I’m a pure-hearted boy.
I didn’t dare to reply, but tore off the end of the melon bread and popped it into my mouth.
“Fu~n, well okay. Yes, thank you for the cream bread.”
The cream bread came back to my hand.
No, but it’s still an indirect kiss… is it okay?
I looked towards Erika, but wasn’t able to see her face.
I felt embarrassed that I was the only one who cared, so I decided to eat mindlessly.
It seemed sweeter than usual, but that was probably just my imagination.
“So, what was the actual topic you were talking to him on?”
“I told you, right? We went to elementary and junior high school together is what I told him about.”
I can feel her eyes as she sat next to me, but I looked at the sky and tried not to make eye contact.
“I’ll take a guess. He asked you to introduce him to Me and Sayuri, right? Since Etsuji-kun is kind, you tried to shake him off, it looks like.”
As expected of Erika, sharp indeed… I’ll feel sorry for Hayashi-kun if I admitted it here, so I left it at that. “Well,” I said evasively. I’m sure she knows at this point.
“Leaving that aside, do you have something to talk about with me?”
I changed the topic before it could be pursued any further.
“Why?”
“I thought there was something you wanted to talk about since you went to the trouble of inviting me.”
“It’s normal to eat with good friends, especially me and Etsuji-kun. I’ve been waiting for quite a long time for you to invite me though.”
Erika is considered by many to be a cool beauty, but she is a surprisingly playful girl that she sometimes jokes around with me. She doesn’t change her facial expression and has a bit of an “S” personality, which is bad for her.
People who have only known him for a short time may take him seriously and be pushed around, but when you’re my age, you’ve gotten used to it and can easily let it go. In the past, though, there were many times when I was flustered due to what she said.
This time as well, I didn’t take what she said seriously and said, “Oh, is that so?”
“You weren’t mistaken when you said we need to talk. It’s about the consultation you mentioned yesterday.”
“Now that you brought it up, I did talk about it. I’ll listen to what you say, but whatever help I can offer depends on your consultation.”
“…Well, okay. “Well, that’s the thing… when you’re in high school, you get asked out to karaoke a lot, right?”
”Yeah.” I said, though I hadn’t been asked yet.
“I’m not a very good singer. I’m not a very good singer, and I don’t follow the latest trends. I’m not very good at singing, and I’m not up on the latest trends, so I often turn people down when they ask me out… So I decided to practice, but it’s hard to go to karaoke alone, isn’t it? So I’d like you to come and practice with me, Etsuji.”
I understood and then gave her an answer.
“It’s better if you… don’t ask me.”
“Why?”
“Erika knows, right? I’m tone deaf.”
I’m a terrible singer. I didn’t get good grades in music, and I got through a choir competition by lip-synching. That’s why I don’t go to karaoke much. I don’t even get invited to karaoke very often…
“It doesn’t matter. Even if you’re not good, just coming along will make it easier for me to get into karaoke and help me choose songs.”
“Even so, wouldn’t it be better to have someone who is better than me?
I don’t want to. It’s embarrassing. For some reason, everyone around me thinks I can do everything.
Erika is a good student. She hasn’t gotten any grades in high school yet, but if you watch her in class, you’ll see that she is. In addition to that, she has good athletic skills, and more importantly, her good looks and demeanor make it no surprise that people think she is perfect.
You’re okay with me?! Being a little conscious of me is fine right…?
“You may not be a great singer, Etsuji, but you’re good at giving advice to others and you work hard at it. Besides, I know you. You used to go to karaoke with Sayuri and the others in junior high school.”
How do you know that? I’m sure I’ve been there, but… that’s when I realized that I’m not very good at…
When I looked at Erika, she is crossing her arms in front of her stomach as usual. This is something that Erika often does, but after being with her for a long time, I notice that she has a more subtle habit. It was a gesture of rubbing her left elbow while crossing her arms. It may be unconscious, but when Erika makes this gesture, she tends to be anxious, worried, or nervous. This is due to experience.
And she is doing that even now.
“Haah, I understand. I’ll help you. Just don’t get your hopes up, okay?”
“Fufu, that’s good. It’ll help me a lot.”
Erica clasped her hands together in front of her mouth and looked happy. I didn’t know that she was so worried about the song. The look on her face was different from her usual calm demeanor, giving me a sense of warmth. People who don’t know her would be mistaken if they saw this gap.
“What do you want to do? Should we also call Sayuri or someone else?”
“Huh?”
The atmosphere changed and became cold…
“Did you hear what I said?”
“I was, I was! I know you’re embarrassed. But with our old friends…”
“You don’t know what you’re talking about! I’m asking you, Etsuji! You don’t have to worry about what people think of you…”
We, no! isn’t it just me in a bracket!? Can you care more about me please…?
“My bad. But doesn’t it feel like Kouki is used to and good at singing?”
“Not really?”
I felt a black aura around her and decided to not say that. Also, it feels as if her impression of Kouki is worse than before.
“So, are you going? Erika, don’t you have club activities after this?”
“Let’s do it this Saturday. I’ll be free in the afternoon after club activities in the morning.”
“Understood. Message me the details and the place we’re going to go to later.”
After making an appointment, we decided to head back to the classroom, after I said that lunch break is almost over. On the way, I told her that I’ll stop by the restroom before going back and we parted ways. We’ll stand out if we go back together.
Her figure from the back was the same as usual, but she was humming happily, which felt refreshing.
