While getting fed up with how dense Makishima is, I chased Azaki away to protect Aihara-san.
“Th-thank you, Sasaki-chan.”
“If you don’t like it, you should just say you don’t.”
“Umm… yeah, I know, but…”
Aihara-san made a troubled expression and forced a small smile.
I thought the same thing back at the family restaurant, but if she’d just clearly say she didn’t like it, things would be much simpler. The way she keeps turning him down indirectly just drags everything out.
“You don’t like Azaki, right, Aihara-san? Then you should just say that outright.”
“I wouldn’t say I dislike him… I’m just not very good with him. If I’m too direct, I’d feel bad for Azaki-kun.”
“You don’t need to show sympathy to a womanizer like that.”
“Maybe… haha.”
Aihara-san gave a wry smile and let the conversation slide.
“You’re lucky, Sasaki-chan…”
“In what way?”
“Ah, um… I just thought it was nice how you can say things clearly. I’m really bad at turning people down.”
Aihara-san is probably too kind, and that makes people misunderstand her all the time.
…Kind of like a certain Makishima. That annoys me a little.
“Earlier, you see, Azaki-kun gave me something like this…”
“Something like this?”
Aihara-san took a single ticket out of her pocket.
…Wait, this is—
“It seems to be an aquarium ticket… He asked if I wanted to go together tomorrow.”
“Heh… h-heh… oh, really.”
“Sasaki-chan? What’s wrong?”
“N-nothing at all.”
What’s going on here?
The mop-head said the ticket was extra and that he was just giving it away…
I glared at Azaki, who was chatting away with Makishima behind us.
What on earth is he thinking…?
✳︎✳︎
Azaki and I both played in every match that afternoon, and we won easily.
On the second day, everyone except Team A went undefeated, and the camp ended safely without any injuries.
Just one day left.
Whether I can move up to Team A is still questionable, but I’ve done everything I can.
In the evening, when I returned to the hotel room, Azaki had already disappeared somewhere again.
Chan-senpai wasn’t back yet either, so I threw myself onto the bed alone.
Perfect timing. I should organize my thoughts a bit.
Sasaki’s first love is relatively tall and close to her age.
She apparently saw him during a job three years ago, but they never spoke. Something to do with studying abroad?
That’s about all I’ve got.
Aside from personality, the description kind of reminds me of Kanekawa, but if it really is him, the reason for studying abroad just doesn’t line up.
“To begin with, it’s possible that the whole ‘studying abroad for a guy’ thing is wrong. That matches up with the rumors Mizuki-san heard, too.”
If that’s the case… then someone other than Kanekawa becomes a possibility.
Three years ago, Kiraboshi Ayane came to Seishin Academy.
If the person she saw back then was me, and Sasaki delayed a year and came to Koutou University just to chase after me… that’d be nice.
Yeah, that’s way too creepy of a fantasy.
Just having Sasaki beside me already feels like a miracle. There’s no way a dropout from the high school soccer world like me could be her first love.
Meeting a former idol at a group date isn’t something that should happen by fate… and yet, when I think about it, I’ve met former idols twice now.
And both times, members of the former Genesistars’ top two.
Is that really just a coincidence…?
Just as I started thinking about all that, my phone rang.
“Sasaki?”
I answered, and she asked, “Are you free right now?”
I told her I was.
“Um… hey, are you free tomorrow afternoon?”
“The camp ends in the morning, so yeah, I’m free.”
“Th-then… would you like to go to an aquarium or something together?”
“A-an aquarium?! You, who only cares about pancakes— what’s gotten into you all of a sudden?”
“H-hey! Don’t make it sound like I’m some sweets-obsessed glutton!”
That’s exactly what you are.
“If you want to go to the aquarium, that’s fine. Is there some fish you want to see?”
“Not really… it’s just Golden Week, so I wanted to go somewhere. And at an aquarium, it’s dark, so I don’t think I’ll get recognized. Even if it’s crowded, it should be okay.”
“True. No one goes to an aquarium just to stare at other people’s faces instead of the fish. Alright, how about we go around early afternoon tomorrow?”
“Yeah!”
After talking a bit more about today’s match, the call ended, and I stared up at the ceiling.
“An aquarium date, huh.”
✳︎✳︎
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