CH 30

“…That’s Himuro-san, right?”

“…I think so.”

Chiaki and Hinami looked at each other and reacted as if they still couldn’t believe what they were seeing.

However, after blinking a few times, they finally acknowledged that it was real.

“Asahi-kun~? Why is Himuro-san here~?”

“Asahi-san~? What exactly is your relationship with Himuro-san~?

Hinami opened her mouth with the brightest smile of today, and Chiaki too with an annoying grin on his face.

He sent silent pressure to the two who were closing in on him, but there was little to no effect.

It was difficult to keep a straight face while being bombarded by questions, and the questions were also quite hard to answer.

At this point, it couldn’t be helped that they found out that Fuyuka lived next door, but the problem was how to avoid the prying eyes of these two who only thought about nothing but romance in their mind.

‘This is why I didn’t want them to know…’

When I glanced at Fuyuka, I could see that the contents of the plastic bag were not retort or prepared foods, but rather colorful vegetables.

I’m glad that she took my advice last night to cook for herself, but unfortunately I’m not in a position to be happy about it.

A sigh of relief escaped from Asahi’s mouth as he realized that his meddling had ended up biting him in the back.

Ideally, Fuyuka would return to her room with a blank expression, paying no attention to them.

The closed-minded “Ice Lady” who rejected others. If she could show Chiaki and Hinami that appearance, it would quickly prove that they didn’t have such a sweet relationship.

However, Fuyuka showed no sign of moving from her spot.

Fuyuka, who had one of the brightest minds in the school, should be able to easily decide what to do in this situation, but she was still standing there with a plastic bag in her hand, probably confused about the entire thing.

And the girl with the most romantic mind in the school didn’t miss this opportunity.

“Hey, hey, Are you friends with Asahi?”

“…Eh?”

In a dark hallway with cold winds blowing in, a lively voice that was out-of-place spoke.

At Hinami’s sudden question, Fuyuka’s gaze wandered a bit and then she turned her head without answering.

“Hinami, just leave it there. You’re clearly being a bother.”

“Eh… Then you answer, Asahi!”

“…She’s just a neighbor. She just moved in at the end of summer vacation.”

“That’s so boringー!  What actually is itー Eh?”

When I gave a bland reply to stop Hinami’s outburst, there was a loud bang and Fuyuka disappeared into the next door.

As if she had finally been able to calmly assess the situation, her demeanor was that of the “Ice Lady” herself, and even more than the winter, Asahi could feel the coldness from Fuyuka for the first time in a long time.

“Booー I wanted to talk more to Himuro-san but she left because Asahi interrupted me!”

“She didn’t even talk to you in the first place.”

“Yeah, that’s true, but she was so close to telling me! Now that it comes to this, I’m gonna ask you a bunch of questions, Asahi!”

“How did it come to that?”

This was the worst, that was what Asahi thought.

Hinami was one thing, but you also could never let your guard down with Chiaki who had been watching for a while now with a grin on his face.

I have a full schedule, shopping, cooking, eating, and then playing again.

In that meantime, Asahi was filled with anxiety, wondering if he would be able to escape the interrogation of the lovebirds.

“Don’t you think Himuro-san has changed lately?”

“I think so too! I feel that she became a lot more softer.”

“I know what you mean! She still feels like a solitary person but not as much as before.”

Asahi sighed for the umpteenth time at the words of Chiaki and Hinami as they took a bite of the cheese-hamburger steak lined up on the small dining table.

I heard the word “Himuro-san” so often while shopping and cooking that my ear hurts.

The topic of conversation changed to praise Asahi, but within a few minutes, it was “Himuro-san” all over again, which made his head hurt.

“When she scored the buzzer-beating at the ball game, I couldn’t help but say to her, ‘That’s amazing.’ She replied to me saying ‘You, too.’ and I think she also smiled a little.”

“Seriously? That’s a surprise. Having a conversation was one thing, but I’ve never heard of Himuro-san smiling before.”

“People have been saying that the Ice Lady is melting a little bit, and I think this could be the cause!”

“Captain Hinami, please elaborate.”

“Fufufu… you see, Recruit Chiaki. It’s all about…… Asahi-kun and Himuro-san’s romantic relationship!”

She seemed to possess the innocent eyes of a child who just bought a new toy.

However, the toy in her eyes was none other than Asahi, so he didn’t think it was cute at all.

“Don’t talk nonsense. Forget about me, but it will be a bother to her.”

“Ugh… Your face is scary.”

“Sheesh, if you don’t want to be glared at, just behave and eat your food. It would be a shame if the food got cold after I cooked it.”

“That’s true, such an exquisite dish must be eaten hot.”

“As long as you understand. Here, I’ll share with you some of mine.”

“Whoa, Asahi! So kind! You’re a real hidden gem!”

Although the word “hidden gem” raised questions, for the time being, I succeeded in stopping Hinami’s outburst.

But then Chiaki opened his mouth to give a follow-up attack, and Asahi’s heart leapt.

“Well, there’s some rumours.”

“Eh, Really!?”

“…What is it?”

“It was around the end of September that rumours began to circulate that Himuro-san had changed a bit. It was right after she moved in next door to Asahi.”

“Could this be…?”

“Yep.”

“It’s just a coincidence.”

Asahi had also heard the rumor that the “Ice Lady” was melting a little bit.

A few conversations ensued, her expressions changed, but that was about it.

Still, it seemed it was a change that they could not imagine from the Fuyuka of the past.

The popularity of the “Ice Lady” was once again heating up in the school after her participation in the ball game and winning the MVP award.

However, I am not conceited enough to think that the change was due to me.

“One more thing, but this is just my guess.”

Chiaki continued to speak with a fearless smile, as if he didn’t care about being glared at.

“When Asahi said that she was just a neighbor. Himuro-san probably looked lonely.”

“Ah, that’s plausible… and that’s also when Himuro-san left.”

“So I was wondering if there’s something to this whole thing. Well, I won’t force you to answer. It’s not good to pry too much, after all.”

Following Chiaki’s example of knowing when to back off, Hinami also nodded several times, suppressing her overflowing curiosity.

After that, they clasped their hands together and said, “Thank you for the food,” without talking about “Himuro-san” at all.

Chiaki and Hinami washed the dishes as the least they could do, so Asahi lay down on the sofa alone and closed his eyes.

Due to all the things that had happened, he was so exhausted both physically and mentally that he felt as if he would fall asleep at any moment if he was not careful. In such a hazy state of consciousness, Asahi thought of Chiaki’s words.

―Himuro-san probably looked lonely.

Just a neighbor, that was what I had to answer at that moment.

I’m sure Fuyuka understands this, and I’m sure she didn’t really mind.

If that was the case, why did Fuyuka have a look on her face that showed she was lonely at a glance?

Asahi doesn’t have an answer to that question.

‘What’s our relationship in the first place…?’

At that time, Hinami’s question was whether they were friends or not.

Him and Fuyuka shared meals and studied together under one roof.

It was a relationship that went beyond just being neighbors.

However, if you ask me if we can call ourselves friends, I do have my doubts.

‘I wonder what she thought of us…?’

“You guys…”

“Don’t worry, it’s water-based, so it’ll come right off.”

“I was struggling to hold in my laughter because you didn’t notice until we were leaving.”

In the end, Asahi seemed to have dozed off as all his remaining energy was taken up by the difficult question that he could not figure out the answer to by himself.

After being woken up by the two who were trying to hold back their laughter, we played the game again, and just as we were about to dismiss, they couldn’t help but laugh when they revealed the three mustaches on my cheeks.

Really, I’m constantly being pushed around by these two, but I don’t feel bad about it.

After reaffirming this, Asahi lightly hit Chiaki and Hinami on the head and sent them outside.