Episode 32 – I’m Moving Forward

When I hurried back to the gymnasium, Asahi noticed me and called me out with a loud voice.

“Ou Ryouma ! Come here ! I saved a special seat just for you !” 

“Ah, thank you. I can see Koharu clearly in here.” 

Phew, I sat down and saw Asahi with a dissatisfied look on his face. 

“What is it.” 

“I don’t know why but I want to tease you〜. Seriously〜.” 

“Huh…what? Should I be embarrassed?” 

“Isn’t that supposed to be? [s-stop it ! it’s not that !]  I’m expecting you to fluster like that !” 

It’s impossible to have such expectations from me. Well, he got me a seat, so I’m gonna play with him for a while. 

“S-stop it, that’s not it. Are you satisfied now?” 

“Isn’t that just reading in monotone ! ! ! !” 

“Shut up, look, the game is starting.” 

[your expression should be like this !] I ignored Asahi who emphasized on how to be shy and looked at the court. 

Pippii ! !*

“Let the games begin !” 

The match began on the referee’s signal

“Ha!” 

Zupan ! 

Pip ! 

Koharu and Akari moved without any trouble as if they were experienced. 

On the other hand, the opponent’s team was losing points every minute because there weren’t many girls who had experience in volleyball. 

“You can’t get enough of this moment.” 

“Yeah, it’s the best part of girl’s volleyball.” 

“Especially Igarashi chan and Nitta chan shaking are amazing. ‘

“A sight for sore eyes.” 

When I turned around after listening to the voices of the seniors coming from behind me, as soon as our eyes met, for some reason they got up from their seats and went away. 

“What’s wrong? Ryouma. Hey, your face ! ! ! ! You look like Hannya ! !” 

“Eh?” 

“A-ah, it’s back. Tell me what happened.” 

“No, a senior-like people were talking about Koharu and the others, so I turned around, but they went away…” 

“Ah-….. of course, they ran away if you put such a face.’ 

For some reason, Asahi knows why, but as for me, I still don’t know why they ran away like that. 

Oh well, it’s Koharu and the other’s match now. 

Then I was cheering for Koharu and the others, and to my surprise, they moved forward to the semi-finals. However, their opponents were the third-year seniors with a lot of experience, and although the seniors put up a good fight, they were still eliminated. 

We were able to win thanks to those seniors, Koharu and her team were amazing. I’ll buy her something on the way home. 

When all the competition was over and we were listening to the results in the classroom, we were the only boy’s basketball team to win in the first year. 

Rather than excited, I was more than happy to be able to avoid cleaning the room, so Asahi and I secretly rejoiced so that the teacher wouldn’t find out.” 

When the four of us went home as usual, Asahi took a quick look around and asked about today’s lunch break. 

“So? How did it go with Sawada?” 

“Hm? No, nothing happened. He’s just apologizing for the misunderstanding until now and for making fun of me.” 

“What else?” 

“Nope, that’s it. He called me out because he was embarrassed to be around other people. Maybe he’s unexpectedly shy.” 

I was going to let it slide as a joke, but Asahi seemed serious and refused to back down.

“…..Really?” 

“That’s really it. It’s unusual for you to be so persistent with me like that. Did you eat something strange?” 

“The only weird stuff I’ve ever had is the drink I got from you, Ryouma ! that’s not it, tell me what Sawada really told you…. It has something to do with Yuina, doesn’t it?” 

As I thought, he was aware that much. You’ve known about it for a while, but you’re trying to get me to talk about it. 

“….Sigh, that’s right. He asked me to help him because she’s been acting strange.  We haven’t been involved with her these days like we did in the beginning, right? It seems like Sawada was holding her down, but she was about to explode, so he asked me to help her.” 

“Indeed, we haven’t seen her lately….don’t tell me, you agreed to it?” 

“Yeah. he was serious about it. I can’t really go out with Koharu, unless I settle things with Yuina.” 

As I said that. I looked towards Koharu. 

“Peee….” 

Hm. She’s cute today, too. 

Since the day I confessed to her, I think something has blown over inside of me and I’ve become very sweet towards Koharu. 

“Sigh….why didn’t discuss such an important matter… “

“I decided this because I don’t want Asahi and the others to get involved with it.” 

“It’s not something that is really inconvenient…. Well, that’s also Ryouma’s good point. I get it. Then, Is there anything I can do? I really want to help you.” 

“No, but it’s such a personal thing.” 

“I’ve been watching Ryouma and Yuina chan all this time, so I should be able to do something, right? Please, rely on me more.” 

“Me too ! What happened? I’m Ryoma kun’s friend too ! I don’t like it when my friends are in trouble and I don’t know about it～.” 

“Me too, I want to help as well, even though it’s got nothing to do with me. Or do you want to convince us not to get involved? By the way, I’m not going to give up easily, you know～?” 

Following Asahi, both Akari chan and Koharu try to get on, too. 

If the three of them looked at me like that, I can’t say no….

“Ah mou, I get it already. But I rarely ask you to do anything directly for me. This is not because I don’t want to, but because there’s really nothing.” 

The three of them were so kind to me that made my cheeks loosen up, but I managed to suppress it. However, when Asahi noticed my state, he nodded his head in satisfaction. 

“Ou ! if it’s for Ryouma sake, then it’s fine !” 

“….Geez. I don’t know which one of us is a good-natured person.” 

I was embarrassed when Asahi nodded in satisfaction and muttered to myself. 

“Oh my～ Ryouma kun isn’t very honest, is he～?” 

“Fufufu. I think it’s fine because Ryouma kun is cute when he’s embarrassed.” 

“….You didn’t try to hide it anymore Haru chan～. Well, my Asahi is much cuter though !” 

“That’s not true though, is it? Ryouma kun is the best.” 

[[mumumumu…!]]

Koharu and Akari chan, who were watching us, started arguing about something strange. 

“Why are they competing between me and Ryouma in terms of cuteness…” 

“Good grief. Hey, both of you, I don’t care about any of that stuff, we’re going home.” 

“Eh, w-wait for me !” 

“W-wait for me please ! And also, I don’t care about that stuff either !” 

After taking a bath and reviewing my study as usual, I checked the messages that were delivered on my smartphone. 

<Igarashi Koharu : is your time okay now, Ryouma kun?>

“That’s unusual.” 

I replied while thinking that it was unusual for me to receive such a formal message,

<Yeah. It’s okay. What happened?> 

<Igarashi Koharu : i’m glad. Can I call you right now?> 

<Okay.> 

As soon as I sent the message, an incoming call from Koharu appeared on the screen, so I pressed the call button. 

“Hello” 

“Good evening, Ryouma kun. Sorry for the sudden call.” 

“No, that’s fine. All I had to do was sleep after this. More importantly, it’s unusual, is something wrong?” 

“Well then. Etto, I can’t help but be curious about the thing that happened today ….” 

“Today…ah, about Sawada?” 

“Yes. you’re really going to talk to Kanzaki san, aren’t you? When will that be?” 

“Hm～well, I’m thinking as soon as possible because I have a lot of tests coming up and an amusement park on my schedule. If we drag this out, I don’t know when that person is gonna come from there, so I’m trying to get it done by next week.” 

“It’s pretty early….. Is there anything I can do to help?” 

“No, I don’t want Koharu to have any contact with Yuina…., sorry, but I think I would like you to wait with Akari chan on that day.” 

“Uh, as expected, it’s still no good…. Hm? Is it just me and Akari chan? What about Kikuchi kun?” 

“Ah-yeah, actually, Asahi contacted me earlier and said that he would be with us at the meeting. After all, Asahi knows us well, so I decided to ask him to come.” 

“Is that so…. It’s not fair, only with Kikuchi kun…” 

“I’m sorry. But, thanks. I won’t do anything rash and I’ve thought of everything when I talk to Yuina. You can trust me.” 

“……Understood. I believed in you, Ryouma kun, and I will wait for you.” 

“Yeah. I’ll end it properly.” 

After that, when we talked about the final exam and summer vacation, it was already past midnight, and I yawned probably because of the exhaustion from the ball game.

“Oh, it’s already this late. I’m sorry, it’s been too long. Let’s go to sleep now.” 

“Un. Talking to Koharu helped me sort out a lot of things, thanks.” 

“Ehehe. That’s good. Well then, good night.” 

“Yeah, good night.” 

After finishing the call with Koharu and charging my smartphone, I lay down on my bed and shut my eyes. 

Come to think of it, that day I was just talking about myself and just throwing away what I wanted to say to Yuina. 

When I think about it now, that may not have been good.

It’s one thing to express your feelings one-sidedly, but whether the other person accepts it or not is another thing. 

So this time, I have to listen to what Yuina thinks and make her understand that it’s already over. 

Let’s make it clear why she’s obsessed with me.

Let’s end it properly and move forward. As me.