Volume 3 - CH 1.8

Nevertheless, why was she so nervous about it? For me, Christmas was just an event that was about the release of a new game, but for a girl, it might be something much bigger.

Or maybe something else bothered her… Oh, there was indeed that one thing.

“Come to think of it, what about Sakuraba and Kotani?” 

I suddenly thought of them. In the end, was Kotani able to ask Sakuraba out on a date? Probably because of my success over here, I began to wonder about her, who had borrowed my strength.

“Aki said she’d do her best to ask him out. Sota will also have his schedule free, so I don’t think he’ll refuse. Keigo seems to want to have her confess there.”

I see. So they too were apparently going through a critical phase, just as expected.

“I see. Yeah, I think it’s good. Confessing at Christmas, that’s the classic way to go.”

“Th-that’s right.”

For some reason, Yuzu nodded awkwardly as if it were her own personal matter. She seemingly had a great deal of emotional attachment to Kotani.

“Confessing in a beautiful setting, with beautiful scenery and a nice atmosphere, would probably have a higher success rate than usual, and it’s just the right time.”

“Ooo… Well, Yamato-kun especially will think so.”

“Yeah, this doesn’t just concern them. I hope Kotani’s confession will go well.”

After all, Yuzu and I had been working so hard to make things work out for them. In any case, I hoped that it would end happily.

“Doesn’t just concern them… You resonate that much… So Yamato-kun also…” Yuzu looked down and mumbled something in a low voice. 

Why was she even red up to her ears? Did she catch a cold?

“Hey, are you feeling sick? Even your ears are red.”

When I asked her, Yuzu looked up as if she was shocked and shook her head.

“No, it’s not like that! It’s just that when I think about Christmas for a minute, it just comes naturally!”

“Okay… It’s fine if you’re okay.”

I wondered if it was a psychological thing?

Hm, come to think of it, when I was a member of the basketball club, just thinking about going to club activities before an important game or when a tough practice was announced would stress me out and make me feel somewhat ill.

Yuzu’s symptoms might be the same as that. That just meant that she was that worried about Kotani and the others.

“​​Take it easy, okay? If you want, we can go to the infirmary, okay?”

When I approached her to support her, she jumped back with a start.

“I-I’m okay!”

“I, I see,” Somehow I felt like I was being shunned and I was shocked. 

When I was feeling slightly depressed, Yuzu’s eyes swam as if she was troubled, then she picked up her own bag.

“I’m fine! I’m fine but… I need to prepare myself a bit, so I’m going home today! I’ll see you tomorrow!”

“Oh, okay.”

""

Without waiting for me to nod, pushed by the momentum, Yuzu ran off like the wind.

“…What on Earth was wrong with her?”

Yuzu had always been strange, but I felt that there was something weird about her today that was different from her usual odd behaviour. As I mulled it over in my head, I picked up my own bag too.

I couldn’t go on with the game alone, so I’d have to go home today. I put the memory card back in the console and then left the clubroom.

“…Oh, by the way, there is someone I have to inform of my plans.”

I suddenly remembered that I had promised Hina that I would report my Christmas plans to her. So, I took out my phone to call her, but then I thought about it, that girl was in the middle of club activities; her stuff would probably all be thrown in the locker until the club activities are over.

“I could just leave a message but…hmm.”

I somehow just got a free schedule right now. This was just nice, I might as well pass the time and show up at the gymnasium.

I thought so on a whim and changed course.

==

Stepping into the gymnasium, I was surrounded by a heat that I could not believe in early December. The temperature created by a group of exercising people; this brought back nostalgia.

“The girls team… they should be at the court on the other side.”

Of the two basketball courts, they apparently were practising at the rear today. This meant that I had to cut through the court of the men’s basketball team practising in the front, but I didn’t want to do that in my school uniform; as an outsider, it would have been conspicuous.

“…Hm? Isn’t this Izumi, why are you here?”

As I was having second thoughts, one of the club members who was stretching on the men’s basketball court noticed me. He had freshly-cut short hair, a model-like height and a well-defined face.

Sakuraba Sota, the pride of our class and a friend of Yuzu and the others.

“Sorry, did I disturb you all?”

“No, we’re in the middle of break. Oh, you’re not together with Yuzu today.”

“We were together till just now, then this and that happened.”

I didn’t know how to explain Yuzu’s situation, so I muddled it up a bit. Perhaps that had the opposite effect, Sakuraba anxiously furrowed his brow.

""

“Eh, did you two get into a fight by any chance?”

“Now and again we’ve had fights, but not this time. Well, what can I say… Understanding a girl’s mind is difficult.” 

Sakuraba, seeing that I am at a loss to explain, sensed something and wryly smiled, “Well, when you’re in a relationship, things happen. Sorry, that was tactless.”

“No, don’t worry about it.”

And there the conversation stopped for once.

chocolala: my proofreader once pointed out how the word ‘confessing’ sounded weird and I said, ‘nah, it’s okay’ but now I’m rereading what I tl after a while made me feel the same, oh yes, now I feel it should be ‘love confession’ to fit the context (not to be confused with confessing sin, lol) but well, I’d be too lazy to go through all the texts to fix that, so I hope your brains can autofix them, hehe