Am I really… allowed to be doing this?
“Man, you don’t look it, but Aihara-san, you’re kind of ‘bad,’ huh?”
“B-but… when someone says something like that, of course you get curious.”
The aquarium tickets Azaki-kun gave me yesterday.
Going to the aquarium alone with him felt like a bit much, so I thought I’d return them to Azaki-kun before morning practice.
“Actually, I heard that today, Makishima and Sasaki-san are going on a date at that aquarium.”
…When he said that, my resolve wavered.
The devil’s whisper—Azaki-kun’s—shook my heart.
“A date…?”
Makishima-kun and Sasaki-chan…? So those two really are…
“Well, never mind. Sorry for pushing it, Aihara-san. We can go somewhere else next time.”
“I-I’ll go.”
“Huh?”
“…I’ll go to the aquarium.”
I’m probably dancing in the palm of Azaki-kun’s hand.
I know that… but if I can understand even a little about the relationship between those two…
Following the direction of Azaki-kun’s grinning gaze, I spotted them by a tank some distance away.
From Azaki-kun’s angle, he could see them clearly, but from where I stood beside him, it was a bit hard to make out.
They seemed to be facing each other, talking about something.
“Still, Aihara-san, you get pretty proactive when Makishima’s involved. You agreed to be a manager almost immediately, and I honestly didn’t think you’d really come today either.”
“T-that’s because…”
“Because you like him?”
“…I don’t think it’s ‘like’ exactly. I just wanted to support Makishima-kun. I didn’t become a manager because of him, and it’s not like my goal was Makishima-kun specifically. It was because Makishima-kun as a player—”
“Hey.”
Azaki-kun’s creepy grin vanished, replaced by the serious expression he wears when he’s playing soccer.
“Isn’t that what liking someone means?”
“Eh…?”
“Ah, crap. Looks like Sasaki-san noticed us. …And Makishima’s showing his manly side too. Guess I’ll stop getting any closer than this.”
Azaki-kun laced his hands behind his head, looking bored.
“Well, all’s well that ends well, right? Come on, Aihara-san. Let’s go look around the aquarium too.”
“Azaki-kun… was that your plan from the start?”
“Relax. We won’t run into Makishima and the others. With my spatial awareness, I can tell where they are in an instant.”
“Using your soccer talent for something like this…”
I sigh in disbelief. But still, why does Azaki-kun care so much about Makishima-kun…?
Maybe this time he used Makishima and the others just to lure me in… but even so, it feels a little strange.
✳︎✳︎
After holding hands with Sasaki again, our conversation died down.
Did I push her away by forcing us to hold hands again? I thought so, but then she started intertwining her fingers with mine… What kind of signal is that supposed to be?
When I checked my heart rate on my smartwatch, it was obvious at a glance—I was nervous.
“Hey, let’s go see the killer whales.”
“…O-oh.”
We headed outside to watch the killer whale performance and sat down in the semicircular seating area.
The killer whales repeated their performance in time with the sound of a violin.
I picked seats a little higher up so we wouldn’t get splashed… but can Sasaki actually see properly from here—?
When I turned to look at her, our eyes met.
“What’s wrong?”
“N-nothing!”
Sasaki is definitely acting strange. She looks oddly dazed, or maybe dreamy.
Well, to be fair, I’m barely holding back a grin myself.
Heat builds up in our joined hands.
I’m way too worried about whether she thinks my sweaty hands are gross.
Come to think of it… just like now, hasn’t Sasaki been looking at me more than the killer whales this whole time?
That mysterious, intense gaze makes my whole body heat up.
Look at the killer whales. The killer whales!
“…The killer whales are jumping really high.”
You haven’t been watching at all, have you?! Don’t say such shallow comments while staring at me!
Seriously… what is going on with Sasaki?
✳︎✳︎
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