Chapter 3

Chapter 3 – A Chance Meeting (2)

I’m familiar with her.

Name: Asanagi Umi

Previous Middle School: Tachibana All-Girl Junior High School

Hobbies: Outdoor activities

Likes: Coffee

That was the information I received back when she introduced herself. Other than that… I knew that Amami-san and her were childhood friends. That was what Amami-san said when she introduced herself.

She had a boyish hairstyle and slender legs. Amami-san’s conspicuousness overshadowed her, but she was also quite popular among some of the boys.

She was known as ‘the class’ second cutest girl’ which was kinda rude of a nickname, but that was what the boys in the class called her.

“Uh… well, please, come in.”

“Oh, right… pardon me…”

In any case, I couldn’t just kick her out since she was still my classmate, so I decided to invite her into the house.

Asanagi-san, or rather, a girl from my class, actually entered my room.

We’ve never really talked before, so how did we end up in this situation?

Seriously, what the hell is going on here?

“I’ll leave the pizza and the Coke here for now, is that okay?”

“Y-yeah, thank you.”

The pizza Asanagi-san bought was L-sized, the largest one available, while the one I just ordered was M-sized with some side dishes.

If it was only one L-sized pizza, the two of us should be able to finish it, but this… Well, it’s too late to cancel the order now, guess I’ll try to eat them, lest it be a waste of money.

“Hmm, your room looked surprisingly clean.”

“Well, my mother is a clean freak… By the way, where would you like to eat? At the dining table, or in front of the TV?”

“How about Maehara-kun? Where do you usually eat?”

“I just sit on the floor and place the pizza in front of me.”

“That’s pretty bad mannered ~”

“I’m aware.”

My mother was quite strict. On any day except on Fridays, I had to eat her cooking, so I pretty much had to properly follow the table manners. On Friday nights though, she would leave 2000 Yen for me to buy dinner for myself. Whatever is left over would become my allowance, so essentially, I could just spend that money however I liked.

“Well, I’m fine with doing the same thing as Maehara-kun.”

“Wouldn’t sitting on the sofa be better? You wouldn’t hurt your back that way.”

“What are you, an old man? …Well, if it starts to hurt, I’ll move to the sofa.”

So we decided to place the pizza, the Coke, and the cups on the carpet.

“Here, sit on this.”

“Thanks.”

There was no way I could just let her sit on the carpet, so I gave her a cushion.

They called her the second cutest girl or whatever, but, honestly, I think Asanagi-san was quite cute, nay, beautiful would be a more apt description.

Still, I don’t understand why she came to my house?

“Woah… so you really play games, huh? What kind of game is this one?”

“That one is an FPS… but… ‘really’? Did you actually remember my introduction, Asanagi-san?”

“Well, yeah. I mean, compared to the other kids, Maehara-kun’s introduction kinda stood out.”

In a bad way, yeah.

After that, I remembered everyone’s relieved face after the atmosphere I previously set up died down. They worked their hardest in trying to gather the others’ attention by acting cheerful or something like that. Then, 60 minutes passed in a more gentle atmosphere as everyone had their share of fun.

Well, except for me, of course.

“Well, thanks to that, I found a kindred spirit.”

“Huh?”

A kindred spirit. Someone who shared the same ideals, goals, principles, and views.

In other words…

“Could it be, you like this kind of thing too, Asanagi-san?”

“Something like that… Well, I don’t know much about games, but on days like this, I love to slack off and do nothing ~”

“…Color me surprised.”

I thought someone like Asanagi-san would prefer to hang out in crowded places… but, I guess I just assumed things huh? Still, even though it was a surprising fact, it was rude of me to generalize things like that.

“By the way, what about Amami-san? Don’t you two hang out together? She’s your best friend… right?”

“We are best friends, of course we hang out occasionally. But, compared to me, Yuu is… well… popular, you know? Everyone wants to hang out with her, so she can’t just hang out with me all the time.”

I heard that Amami-san would be hanging out with her classmate from her middle school… Could they also be Asanagi-san’s classmates?

“Well, it’s not like her friends are my friends too, right?”

She heavily implied that she was not on good terms with that classmate of hers. Well, I guess that kind of thing happens. I’ve never really had friends, so I have not experienced those kinds of relationship problems before.

“Anyway, that’s why I decided to slack off for today… Then I suddenly remembered Maehara-kun’s introduction, so I followed you out of curiosity and found out that your house was surprisingly close to mine… Ah, right, sorry for tailing you like that, that was rude of me…”

“…It’s okay…”

Although I couldn’t just slack off like usual since Asanagi-san was here, it felt good to have a conversation partner once in a while, after all, I did feel lonely sometimes.

Also, being able to speak frankly with Asanagi-san like this felt really nice, even though we never had a proper chat before.

It was probably because we were at my home that I could talk like this. After all, if this was at school, I would be too tense. Also, Asanagi-san carried this easygoing atmosphere that made her easy to talk to.

“By the way, Asanagi-san, the pizza you brought… what toppings does it have?”

“…Huh? You’re asking that?”

At my question, Asanagi-san grinned.

[Ura Angel and demon’s garlic with cheese and teriyaki. Double cheese and mayonnaise, triple garlic! Half-price!] (T/N: Domino ad if you are wondering. If you don’t know Domino, it’s a pizza chain.)

“…That sounds pretty good.”

“…Right?”

I see. She is indeed a ‘kindred spirit’.

After that, Asanagi-san and I poured a large amount of tabasco on the garlic pizza, and we ate it with gusto while chugging the Coke. Of course, I ate up all my orders as well.

This was the beginning of our weekend relationship.