Chapter 161: Could it be? So Obvious |
(Bonus chapter 2/3 – By atacostand. Thank you so much!)
“What’s… what’s going on!? How did you come up with such perceptive lines!? I mean, it was early in the morning on the way to school, so there was no one around…!”
“Wa-wait, wait! What on earth are you talking about!?”
“Ah… judging by this reaction, I guess you really didn’t know.”
“It seems so… Honestly, it’s hard to believe.”
Faced with my attempts to figure out what they were onto, Fudehashi and Ginji let out bewildered voices.
But seriously…! Why are you all so sure about this!?
“Well, you see, when we met Haruka in the morning, we were all so caught up in welcoming her return that we didn’t notice anything.”
“But once we calmed down a bit, it was pretty obvious that something was going on with you two.”
“Remember when you both went to get juice from the vending machine? Niihama-kun handed change to Haruka and held her hand tightly in the process. And Haruka blushed and squeezed his hand back.”
“!? ! ? ! ?”
W-We did…!
Now that they mention it, we did do all of that…!
I was just so happy to be with Haruka at school and to be able to touch her. But it seems that these feelings inadvertently translated into my actions.
(But even so, we weren’t doing anything openly in front of others. How did they figure it out so precisely!?)
“W-Wait, you two… you didn’t think… that we were doing this discreetly!?”
“Seriously… It was so blatantly obvious that even I, who’s not very good with these things, noticed. And everyone in the class had that ‘Ah…’ look, like they knew.”
“We were the same outside the classroom too, in the hallway and everywhere. Today, it seems like this has become the talk of the school even more than Haruka’s return, didn’t you realize?”
“…………”
Given this succession of objective observations, Haruka and I are left speechless and frozen.
At the very least, I didn’t think I was being careless… But it seems that Haruka, the world’s number one angel, became my girlfriend, and I got too carried away. My usually functioning sense of public appearance seems to have gone completely offline.
“So… what’s the truth? Honestly, the atmosphere was so intense that even I’m pretty excited.”
“Yeah, what is it? To be honest, I was so curious that I couldn’t concentrate in class at all today!”
Kazamihara and Fudehashi, as if determined not to let us off the hook, lean in closer to the two of us. Their eyes are not just filled with interest, but they’re practically sparkling with excitement.
(Well, with these three at least, I did plan to tell them pretty soon…)
I meet eyes with Haruka beside me and give a big nod, silently telling her that we don’t need to keep it a secret any longer.
She seems to understand my intention, and she nods back, her cheeks lightly flushed.
“Yes… um, actually, right now… I’m dating Shinichirou.”
“Wha…whaaat!?”
Haruka confessed with a shy demeanor, and the three of them erupted into a mixture of astonishment and applause. Their voices were so loud that they drew attention from the entire cafeteria.
“W-What?! I-I mean, seriously!? There were so many times before when I thought something like this might happen, but I always ended up disappointed, so I thought maybe this time was just another false alarm!?”
“C-Congratulations!! This is amazing! Amazing, Niihama-kun! You finally broke through Haruka’s natural airheaded barrier and made her realize her feelings! I’m… I’m so moved, I could cry…!”
“You finally… finally did it, Niihama… I don’t know, knowing you from before, this leap feels like it might bring tears to my eyes…”
With various expressions, our friends at the table celebrated us. The fact that emotions could be so openly displayed over someone else’s romance truly felt like high school. I muttered somewhat embarrassedly in my heart.
“S-So, so what happened next!? Did you confess while you were working part-time together? Or was it when you gave her a birthday present after all!?”
“It was definitely Niihama-kun who made the approach, but what was Haruka’s reaction! And does Haruka’s incredibly overprotective dad know about this!?”
“You guys are shining brighter than ever…”
Looking at Kazamihara and Fudehashi, who seemed like reporters gathering for a celebrity wedding announcement, I said with a slightly tired voice.
These two have always taken good care of Haruka, so I can understand why they’re so excited…
“Um, yes… hehe, Shinichiro told me exactly as he said. The place was in my room—”
“No, Haruka!? If you talk about it so candidly, my heart won’t be able to take it!?”
Stammering, I hurriedly stopped Haruka, who seemed to have spilled everything. Well, it’s fine to tell Kazamihara and Fudehashi, but it’s a bit much in this cafeteria where we’ve already attracted so much attention.
“But I was really caught off guard… I initially thought we’d keep it a secret.”
“It seems… that way. But, maybe this is for the best.”
Whether it was because she didn’t need to hide it anymore or not, Haruka seemed relieved.
“I want to be by Shinichiro’s side because I love him. So, if everyone knows that I’m his girlfriend, and if it’s considered natural for them to acknowledge it… Huh? What’s going on with everyone?”
With an impact that seemed to naturally flow from her lips, even though she was totally clueless, both I and our three classmates who had been making a fuss until a moment ago were left speechless with bright red faces.
Right… that’s true…
Even though we’re in a relationship, her airheadedness is still intact…
“M-My mouth is full of sugar…! Ugh… I underestimated Haruka’s naturalness…”
“Gu-fu… This is like a weapon of mass destruction against single people… Could it be that we’ve opened Pandora’s Box…?”
The two girls who seemed to have suffered some emotional damage complained, and Ginji, with a face as if he’d just swallowed a whole bag of sugar, was completely defeated.
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