Chapter 81: Volume 3 - CH 3.6

When most of the matters had been decided and we naturally returned to the flow of chatting again, Yuzu quietly raised her voice.

[Whoa, it’s already this late. I need to go take a bath.]

“For real. I didn’t even realise, we’ve been talking on the phone for two hours.”

I looked at the clock and was startled.

[So then, Yamato-kun, see you at school tomorrow.]

“Okay.”

We had greeted our farewells, so I waited for the call to be disconnected.

“…”

[…]

However, for some reason, the phone showed no sign of disconnecting and only Yuzu’s breathing could be heard.

“…You’re not hanging up?”

[No, it’s kinda difficult to do so… Yamato-kun, you hang up.]

“Well, okay…”

At Yuzu’s request, I attempted to tap the end call icon.

[…]

“…”

[…Not hanging up?]

“I-I’m doing it. I am but…”

Phone calls could be somewhat unsatisfying because you were unable to see the person’s face. Therefore, you’d end up wanting to make it last longer.

[I got it. Let’s hang up together by the count of 3-2-1.]

Yuzu made such a proposal as if she thought it would be impossible to get anywhere if things continue as they were.

“Okay, roger.”

[Then, ready, 3—]

And just as Yuzu’s count started, I hung up the phone abruptly.

“If I don’t do this, the same conversation will only repeat and repeat…” I breathed out with a Phew!

I suddenly felt like the protagonist of a science fiction film who had escaped from a looping world. As I savoured my small sense of achievement, a text message from Yuzu arrived on my phone.

[What were you doing, hanging up first?! You traitor!]

A giggle suddenly escaped my mouth upon reading that text.

“…You should be thankful to me that I’ve spared both of us from wasting more time,” I muttered to myself and sensed that my feelings were finally in order.

Even after disconnecting the call, my pulse was still going fast.

—I don’t know whether I like myself enough yet. But I’m sure I like myself better when I can properly tell her how I feel than when I was silent for so long because I couldn’t muster the courage to do so.

==

A few days after that.

When I reached our usual waiting spot, Yuzu was already standing there.

“Ah, Yamato-kun, morning!”

“Oh, good morning.”

I raised my hand to Yuzu in response to her fluttering hand wave. Once I had made up my mind, I felt calm and I was able to control my emotions over the last few days as if my previous emotional turmoil had all been a lie.

“It’s cold at night, but still so chilly in the morning. I’m glad I bought the scarf.”

Yuzu buried her mouth in the orange scarf

“Indeed, it’s getting colder and colder. I hear it’s going to get really cold on Christmas Eve.”

“Really? Then I wonder if it will snow or something.” Yuzu’s eyes immediately lit up.

“If I’m not mistaken, it said a 50% chance of snow.”

“Fifty-fifty, not bad odds. Shall we also pray for it?” Yuzu muttered while looking up at the sky. I nodded in agreement with her.

So I made a suggestion, “All right, let’s go to the shrine and pay our respects.”

“To pray for Christmas? Don’t you think you’ve got the wrong department?”

“It’s all right. They say there are 800 or 10,000 gods and goddesses, so even if one god from a different country is mixed in, they’ll accept it,” I justified.

Surely Shintoists, who had a track record of accepting even Buddhas at the time of the introduction of Buddhism, would be fine with it.

“Yamato-kun, you are so random.”

“In the first place, being excited about Christmas when you’re not a Christian is a bit cheeky, isn’t it? It’s the same thing.”

“If you say that, I have nothing to say in reply.” Yuzu seemed convinced by my argument and broke into a smile.

With all this talk, we arrived at school.

As we walked down the corridor past the entryway1 into the school building, I suddenly saw someone with flaxen hair ahead of us.

“Oh, it’s Aki. Hey, Aki. Good morning!” Yuzu, who immediately recognised her friend’s back, called out to her.

And when Kotani turned around, her face was somehow slightly twitching.

“Ah, Yu-Yuzu… And even Izumi.”

When I looked close, her walking was also stiff like a rusty tin robot.

“What’s wrong, Aki? Your movement is unlike normal,” Yuzu asked in concern.

“It-it’s just… a lot happened yesterday.”

“Ooh… just what happened?”

When Yuzu took a step forward, Kotani’s eyes went haywire, darting around. Before we could say anything, Kotani spun on her heel and made for the stairs.

“Ah, I’ll tell you later!” Saying this, she climbed the stairs at a quick pace.

“…What was that?”

“Who knows?”

Yuzu and I looked at each other in confusion.

Right at this moment, Namase came from the entryway.

“Ohh, it’s the Ba-couple2! Morning~”

The timing of his appearance truly couldn’t be any better.

“Who’s the Ba-couple? Rather than that, Namase, what’s wrong with Kotani?”

“She looks off just now, do you know anything?”

Both of us inquired at once. Namase grinned.

“Yeah, if it’s Aki, she finally managed to ask Sota out on a date. Then, Sota said yes.”

“What, really? I haven’t heard that!” Yuzu pouted, thinking that she had been left out of the loop.

“A-haha, don’t be mad. She was probably panicking and forgot to mention it to you.””

“Hmph… Yet she contacted Keigo.” Yuzu was still irritated.

Namase hurriedly defended himself, “You see, I also plan to go along on that day.”

“It’s not good to be a peeping Tom, Namase.”

“Keigo, you’re a jerk!”

Namase’s eyes widened when both of us stared at him in disbelief, “N-no! I’m only there to support her if things go south! If Aki fails, there’s no way I can just leave her alone.”

Aki’s first failure must still be fresh in his mind, so he was making early preparations to give support when needed.

“If that’s so, that’s acceptable…” Surely, Kotani must have approved of Namase’s actions, and so we had no right to complain anymore.

There was just one issue remaining.

chocolala: anyone sensed the problem ahead?