Chapter 66

Chapter 66 – Embarrassing Exchanges

The Christmas party.

According to Umi, they had been talking about it since the end of the summer break. They were going to rent out a civic hall and hold a joint event with other high schools in the area. They said it was to strengthen the relationship between the various nearby schools.

This idea came from our school’s student council. They planned to dedicate this event to the seniors who were struggling because of their exams. The fee to join in the event was three thousand yen and the registration period had been closed for a while.

Actually, Yagisawa-sensei notified us about this when the summer break was over, but since I was still unsociable at that time, it completely slipped my mind.

That party was the reason why Umi would be unavailable during Christmas.

And since the registration period was closed, I couldn’t participate even if I wanted to.

[Asanagi: Well, I’m just there to escort Yuu. But neither of us are looking forward to it, to be honest.]

[Maehara: Amami-san too? I thought she would love going to parties like this.]

[Asanagi: Originally that’s the case, but well…]

[Asanagi: They invited other schools to the party and you know…]

[Maehara: What?]

[Asanagi: The list includes Tachibana High…]

[Maehara: …Ah…]

I see.

If people from Tachibana High would be there, that meant their old friends like Nitori-san and Houjou-san would be there too.

I didn’t know what happened between the four of them since their meeting at the cultural festival, but from the way Umi talked about them, they’ve grown estranged.

The festival brought Umi and I closer than we’ve ever been, but I could say that it came with the price of Amami-san losing two other friends.

There was nothing we could do about it, but the feeling of guilt was still there.

[Asanagi: Well, we’ve paid for it already and we can’t get a refund. We planned to eat a lot at the party and bail as soon as we can.]

[Asanagi: Because of that, my schedule from the evening through the night is already filled.]

[Maehara: I see. It can’t be helped then.]

Things would become troublesome if they were to cancel their participation, so their best course of action would be to attend the party and leave as soon as they could.

With that, both Umi and Amami-san’s schedule for Christmas was decided.

[Asanagi: Ah, but…]

[Maehara: What is it?]

[Asanagi: I heard the party will end at around 8 or 9.]

[Asanagi: That’s why… Um…]

If the party ended at around that time.

That meant she would be free for the rest of the night.

[Maehara: Got it.]

[Maehara: I’ll prepare something light for you to snack on.]

[Maehara: I’ll let my mom know.]

[Asanagi: Then, I’ll be in your care.]

[Asanagi: I’ll let my mom know too.]

[Asanagi: Also…]

[Maehara: Also?]

[Asanagi: Um…]

The moment I saw her next message, my heart beat a step faster.

[Asanagi: Maybe my mom would let me stay over…]

Christmas.

During the day, you were supposed to spend your time together with your loved ones.

While during the night…

I looked up to Umi’s direction to find that she was also staring at me. Our gazes met each other.

“!”

I could feel the heat rising to my cheeks and I plopped my face down on the desk in reflex.

I glanced over at Umi to see that she had done the exact same thing as I did.

Could it be?

…No way…

[Maehara: Pervert.]

[Asanagi: !?]

[Asanagi: Shut up, idiot!]

[Asanagi: Stop teasing me!]

[Asanagi: This is all your fault!]

[Asanagi: What the hell were you thinking, inviting me out of the blue like that?]

[Maehara: Yes, but it isn’t my fault that your thoughts are rotten.]

Of course, I would be lying if I said that those kinds of thoughts didn’t come to my mind. In fact, I spent a lot of time thinking about it.

But anyway, it’s still too early for this kind of talk, the day barely even started.

Thankfully we were chatting privately. If someone were to read our chat log, they would probably label us as an idiotic couple.

I’d rather not being labeled as such.

But anyway, why weren’t we lovers yet?

When should we start becoming lovers anyway? My circle of friends were so small, I couldn’t use anyone as a reference because no one had any dating experience. Maybe I should look for more friends.

Anyway, for future references, my circle of friends consisted of two people; Umi and her best friend, Amami-san.

I had no male friends whatsoever, yet I hung out with the two cutest girls in class for some reason.

[Asanagi: Anyway, let’s stop talking about Christmas.]

[Maehara: Sure…]

[Maehara: Still, I feel bad about Amami-san…]

[Asanagi: Me too.]

[Asanagi: Should I invite her too?]

That was a good idea. I mean, after the party, me and Umi could hang out together, but that would mean that Amami-san would be left out.

To be honest, I’d rather not leave her out like that.

[Maehara: Sure, just invite her over.]

[Asanagi: Alright.]

[Asanagi: Also, that girl’s heart is too innocent.]

[Asanagi: She has been dealing with a lot of troublesome things lately.]

[Maehara: Huh?]

[Maehara: Did something happen?]

[Asanagi: Mm…]

[Asanagi: Well, it’s related to the upcoming party.]

[Maehara: ??]

[Asanagi: You’ll understand when you see it.]

[Asanagi: Meet me at lunch.]

[Maehara: Sure…]

We stopped texting each other after that and put our phones away.

“Umi, what’s wrong? Your face is red.”

“Shush! Anyway, do you have some time after school? I wanna talk about something.”

“Of course! Ehehe, what kind of talk will we be having? I’m looking forward to it~!”

There was nothing unusual about Amami-san’s behavior in class.

Well, if there was something I could do to help her out, I would be glad to help her.