Chapter 21

Chapter 21 – Her Familiar Back

After successfully shaking Nitta-san off, Asanagi and I decided to go to my house first.

We’ve sent my address to Amami-san, so she should be able to catch up with us.

“Haah… This should be far enough… Are you okay, Maehara?”

“Urk… W-what do you think…?”

“Hitting your limit already?”

“Haa… I hit that limit after 30 seconds of running…”

Being a recluse did have a negative effect on my body.

It was only inside a game that I could be physically active. In real-life, my physical capability was shitty. I was literally holding Asanagi back here.

“Ah, right, back at the batting cage, you got exhausted after one swing. Seriously, why won’t you exercise a little bit? Nowadays you can do it indoors, no? There are even games that could help you with that.”

“Ehh… That kind of game is tiring, no thanks.”

“Don’t ‘ehh’ me! If you lack exercise your body will fall apart quicker, you know?”

“You said that as if you’ve experienced that before.”

“My brother was like that, you see? He’s only 25, but he’s already experiencing back pain and such.”

By the way, Asanagi wasn’t even out of breath, let alone sweating. She ate more junk food than I did, but her body was still in shape, she was amazing.

I, on the other hand… While I was thin, if I were to pinch my stomach, it felt pudgy.

As expected, I should follow in Asanagi’s footsteps and exercise for a bit.

“Ah, right, can we go to the convenience store first? I just remembered that we ran out of tea and cakes for Amami-san, and I need to buy other things as well.”

“Mhm. Ah, yeah, what about the Coke? You’re almost out of them, no? We should buy more while we are at it.”

“Yeah, we’re almost out, but when did you check the contents of my fridge?”

“Don’t sweat the details ~ Ah, by the way, the ice cream you left in the fridge tasted amazing. Thanks for the treat ~”

“I forgot that I even bought it, so I don’t mind… But, as expected, you were the one who ate it, huh?”

We started our banter like usual as we walked toward the convenience store near my house.

Coffee, milk, paper plates, and tea. I bought everything that I needed.

“Next is… sweets, what kind of sweets does Amami-san like?”

“Mm? Yuu said it during her introduction, no? She loves anything sweet and hates both bell peppers and bitter melons. She is childish like that.”

“The same as you then… Well, what about this cookie tin? It’s a little bit expensive, but the contents are varied.”

“That should be fine. That’s the kind of sweets that I look forward to whenever I visit a relative’s house.”

“Then, I’ll buy this… Also, put some of those Cokes back, we don’t need that much.”

“Ehh…”

“Don’t ‘ehh’ me!”

Six two-liter bottles of Coke? Are you kidding me? My mom would kill me if she found out I bought that much.

Anyway, I also bought a few other things for us to enjoy on the weekends before going straight to the cashier.

“Everything is 2,944 yen, please.”

“Urk… As expected the cookie tin is too expensive.”

I got enough money in my wallet, but this much expense might be a little bit too painful for a high school student to bear.

“Ah, I’ll pay half of it. Here, 1,500 yen.”

“No, no, most of them are for my own use anyway. Besides, my mom will give me my allowance later, so it’s okay.”

“But, you won’t eat the cookies, right? C’mon, you don’t need to worry about me, just take it.”

Asanagi didn’t show any intent to back down, perhaps she was concerned about me.

As we were arguing like that, the surrounding housewives started to whisper among themselves and their voices entered our ears.

‘Psst, you see those kids?’

‘Mhm. They’re high school students? They get along really well. Look at them arguing over whether to split the bill or have the boyfriend pay.’

‘Oh, youth! I used to be like that with my husband too, back in the day!’

‘Huh? Didn’t you first meet him when you both started to work?’

‘Ah, sorry, I was mistaking him for my ex-boyfriend, ohohoho.’

‘Jeez, how could you do that, hm ~?’

“…Well, just let me pay everything for now, okay?”

“Uh, y-yeah, sure.”

We decided to split the bill later and just paid everything with my money for now. We then immediately bailed out of the convenience store.

“Maehara, let me carry one of them.”

“Ahh, sure, thanks.”

I handed her the lighter bag, the one that didn’t contain Cokes in it, and walked shoulder to shoulder with her.

“Asanagi.”

“What?”

“…From the outsiders’ perspective, we look like a couple, huh?”

“…It seems so. Even if it wasn’t the case, if a boy and a girl got along, people are bound to misunderstand things like this.”

I did think that Asanagi and I got along reasonably well. I liked her a lot, but only as a ‘friend’, not a ‘lover’.

I wonder why people think that if a boy and a girl got along really well, they would be ‘dating’ each other?

Compared to other girls, Asanagi had a beautiful face, great fashion sense, and a serious personality. I could understand why some boys might fall in love with her.

But, just because I could understand, it didn’t mean I felt the same way as them.

Whenever we played at my home, Asanagi always lowered her guard around me. Sometimes, I even got a glimpse of her underwear whenever she raised her legs to kick me. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a healthy high school student, so I also think about these things.

But that didn’t mean that Asanagi aroused me and I wanted to have a go with her.

To me, being able to hang out with her while talking about dumb things was enough.

“Hey, Asanagi.”

“Mmm?”

“…What is love all about, I wonder…?”

“We are going philosophical now, huh? Well, let’s see… I don’t really understand it myself, we are in the same boat in this regard, I guess.”

“I see.”

“Mhm.”

Even Asanagi, who was very sociable, didn’t know the answer to my question, let alone a loner like me.

With a little more distance separating us from each other, we hurried our steps on our way home.