CH 138

–Do they think they don’t know?

I sighed and tried not to look in Rin’s direction.

I thought Rin’s strange pull was suspicious, but I didn’t think she was watching with impunity…

No, because of Rin, that’s what she thinks she’s hiding?

In case you’re wondering, she’s watching from the shadows of the school building…

But she has an eye-catching appearance just for the sake of it, so that doesn’t make sense.

She would stand out in a large gallery, but even peeking out from the shadows, Rin’s presence is rather accentuated by the strange light that often shines on the place where she is.

If I had to give it a title, it would be “Goddess Descending”.

I thought that she would be watching the game with binoculars or something, so … in a way I didn’t expect it.

I sighed again and began to put away my baseball gear.

“It was quite interesting, Towa~”

I heard such a voice coming toward me as I was cleaning up.

I turned toward the voice and saw Kenichi approaching me, grinning.

… Wow.

That’s a nice smile for nothing, man.

When I say grinning, it wasn’t in a way that made me angry.

It was more like a ‘I just laughed’ kind of smiling face.

Perhaps he understands the situation…

“… I’d appreciate it if you’d hold back a little more.”

“Haha! No, no, that’s impossible~”

“Kenichi says it happily, but I’m not so sure about it. There is a saying that the nail that sticks up gets hammered down, and Rin would be in trouble if I became too prominent and ended up getting into trouble for generating animosity.”

“Well, it’s said that popular people have just as many detractors.”

“Right? If you’re a stand-up guy like me, you might be able to reopen the other way, but … Rin can’t do that. I’m flattered by the sentiment, but it makes me uneasy to see her act in a way that could be detrimental to herself.”

Of course it’s nice to have her support, and I think Rin’s presence has made me work harder than before.

That said, I am unwilling to lead to a situation where she is pointed at behind her back and I want to avoid it.

I wish we could avoid public places and get around better…

I sighed, and Kenichi tapped me on the shoulder and said soothingly, “Well, well.”

When I turn around to complain, Kenichi has a carefree smile on his face.

“I understand what Towa is thinking, but maybe it’s not as big a deal as you think.”

“Yes?”

“The people around you are surprisingly indifferent to other people. The more you care, the more you expect others to share your sense of values, like ‘this is the way it should be’ or ‘this is the way it has to be’.”

“So you’re saying I shouldn’t care about anything?”

“No, no~. I’m not saying anything that extreme. There are some things you can’t overlook. I’m just saying that you need to focus on what’s in front of you before you worry about this or that.”

“What’s in front of me…”

“That’s right. Because it’s not very convincing coming from someone who neglects himself.”

“… I see.”

… That hurts my ears.

I had so much in mind of what Kenichi said to me that I exhaled deeply and looked up to the sky.

You’re telling me to … work harder on myself.

To become that kind of … being that would have no problem being next to Rin.

I shifted my gaze to the sun shining down on me and held up my hand.

The hot light shines in so strongly that I squint my eyes.

It’s so dazzling, really.

“So, that’s it, Towa. I’ll be counting on you tomorrow.”

“No more dead balls, though.”

“Haha. As expected, it’s all right now~. At any rate, come back to the classroom in time!”

“Yes, yes.”

I said that and then grabbed some baseball equipment.

Then I head to where Rin is.

…For the time being, I have to thank her.

As I approached, Rin came out of the shadows and ran up to me.

She looked so happy that I could tell just by her expression that she was excited.

It was as if she had just finished watching a professional baseball game.

Well, Rin was giving off that kind of atmosphere.

“Towa-kun, thank you for your hard work! How was the game!!”

“I won the game …?”

“That’s amazing! Congratulations!”

Rin claps her hands and smiles happily.

It seems that she is only going with the attitude that she was not cheering for the event.

If she intends to do so…, well, there’s no need to say that I noticed it.

I don’t want to put a damper on Rin’s fun, and seeing her like that makes me happy, too…

“From the look on Towa-kun’s face, it looks like it went well.”

“I think I did the bare minimum.””

“Minimum?”

“There was no ‘dragging my feet so much that the air froze.'”

“What’s the minimum … Well, well, but it means that what you wanted to do worked.”

“I guess so.”

“Fufu. I’m glad to hear that. Then please have a drink.”

Rin took out a plastic bottle from a small, cooled bag and handed it to me.

The lid was loosened for easy drinking, and a towel was wrapped around the bottle.

As usual, I smiled at the thoughtfulness of the situation.

“Thank you. Rin is kind of like a club manager.”

“It’s only for Towa-kun though.”

“Oh, oh. If that’s the case, I think I’ll enjoy exercising every day.”

“Fufu. You’re so motivated. Would you like to run with me every day?”

“No, I’ll ask Kenichi to do that.”

“Muuuu… why?”

Rin grabs my shoulder and shakes me in dissatisfaction.

Sure, sports with Rin sounds like fun, but … I might end up spoiling her.

I had never done sports as far as I was concerned, so I was getting tired very quickly. If she saw me like that, she would probably say, “Doctor’s stop!”

In that respect, Kenichi is mercilessly pushing me to the very edge of my limits…

Yeah, I’ll have to ask him to go easy on me this time.

Thinking about this, I quenched my thirst with the drink I had received.

Rin must have made it for me.

The acidic taste of the drink, which seemed to help me recover from fatigue, spread through my mouth.

“Phew. Well, that’s the end of the sporting run for now.”

“That’s right. Um, did you get any results from practicing with Kato-san?”

“Well, yes. I managed to get dexterous … with what I practiced.”

“I’m glad to hear that.”

“Maybe it’s because someone cheered for me that things worked out the way they did.”

“Ehehe~, not so much~”

“You’re trying to hide it…”

I tsked at her as she blushed happily.