CH 56

Well, I think I’ll go to the other group then.

With that in mind, I got up with my own glass and walked away from the on-going shuraba. [ED: war of love ? I think that’s what it is.]

I wanted to talk to Sei-chan, but she was surrounded by various girls, so it was indeed pretty difficult to talk to her.

I always hang out with Yuuichi, but I usually talk to other boys as well.

It’s not like I don’t have any friends.

But it would be awkward to join any group right now.

“Hisamura-ku~n,  are you alone?”

“Hmm?”

I heard a voice calling me out from behind me and so I turned to see four girls looking at me with a grin on their face.

Two of them if I remember correctly were the ones who talked to me after my match.

“Why don’t you join us then?”

“Am I really allowed to?”

I wondered if it was okay for me, a boy, to join a group where there were only girls present in.

“Don’t worry, we were just talking about you, Hisamura-kun.”

“You were talking about me?”

As I said this, I went over to the group and sat down.

It was the two girls who talked to me after the game. As well as two others who I weren’t acquainted with.

……To be honest, I really can’t remember any of their names.

I asked Yuichi for the names of the two girls who spoke to me after the match. I think that they were… Sato and Ito.

I really can’t tell which one is Sato and which one is Ito by just looking at them though.

“You performed really well in baseball didn’t you? That was really cool!”

“Especially Goto-chan. She got really excited seeing you play.”

“He-Hey!”

The last girl who looked like she was being teased was Goto-san.

“And Kato-chan said you’re cool, too.”

“Sa-Sato-san said it as well.”

Hold up.

Why are you guys’ names all stuck up together… Sato, Ito, Goto, and Kato?

I heard everyone’s name, but I will definitely remember it wrong and mix them up.

I’m very likely to make a mistake if I try to call out their names here.

“You were a good pitcher, did you used to play baseball?”

One of the girls who talked to me after the baseball game, I think it’s uh… Sato-san or Ito-san.

“Yeah, I used to play it in elementary school.”

“I see, it’s surprising that Hisamura-kun is rather athletic.”

“I’d say that’s about as good as it gets.”

“Ehhh, that’s not the case. You played extremely well.”

“I’d say I’m pretty experienced at the game. There is a huge difference between an experienced player against an amateur. There are a few exceptions though.”

I said as I looked at Yuuichi.

Yuuichi was still eating whilst being surrounded by those two.

Sheesh, you really do eat a lot, don’t you?

“Haha, Shigemoto-kun is a bit special though, isn’t he?”

“Shigemoto-kun, has he really never played baseball before?”

“He’s so talented in every sport he plays.”

I don’t think it’s possible for humans to be so talented, but I guess that’s the protagonist of a manga for you.

“Shigemoto-kun was amazing, but Hisamura-kun was really cool too!”

“If it weren’t for you, I don’t think the boys would have won either.”

“A-Ah, thank you.”

Kato-san and Goto-san told me that, and I thanked them whilst being a little surprised at their praise.

“We can’t play sports with him at all.”

“Yeah, I didn’t even get to play a match.”

“We won thanks to Shimada-san after all.”

As she said that she looked towards Sei-chan.

Sei-chan was still surrounded by the girls and seemed to be having a good time talking to them.

“Shimada-san, you were really cool.”

“Yeah, I really thought I was going to fall in love with you.”

“If I were a girl, I would have fallen in love instantly.”

“You are a girl.”

I said this as the girls looked at Sei-chan with a slightly smitten look in their eyes.

Eh? Let’s stop for a moment.

I’m happy that you guys think she’s awesome and cool, but it makes me nervous to see that you guys are in love with her.

With the way you blurted out “It was so cool” I feel like you were serious about it.

I want girls to NOT be a rival against me here.

As we were talking about this, the topic of our conversation changed again.

“Hey, Hisamura-kun, is there someone you like?”

“Hmm, someone I like?”

I thought while giving a troubled expression.

Of course there is.

When you ask that question to me, I can’t think of anyone other than Sei-chan.

But what if I said that I like Sei-chan here?

They will definitely badger me for more details.

It’s a secret that Sei-chan and I are dating so it would be annoying to let it out here.

But I don’t know if I can answer that I don’t like anyone here either.

“I guess so…”

I decided to answer honestly.

I felt like it would be wrong to answer “no” here.

I said “I guess” but I don’t mean that lightly at all, I was serious as hell when I said that.

“Eh! Really?!”

“I didn’t expect Hisamura-kun to have someone you like.”

As I expected from a high school girl, she was very interested in other people’s love stories.

All of them rolled their eyes in surprise, and then at once, all their eyes lit up.

“Eh?! Who?! Is it a girl from our class?!”

“A girl from another class? Or maybe a girl from the same club as you?”

I knew she’d ask for more details.

I don’t know what to do, but I can’t honestly answer that it’s Sei-chan.

“I’m not in a club, so…”

“Oh really, so someone from our class?”

“Hmmm…Well, that’s a secret.”

“EHHHH?!”

When I said it was a secret, the girls made a sound as if they were bored of my response, but their faces still lit up.

“You can’t just say that out of the blue!”

“Boo-! Boo-!”

“I wanted you to tell me that when you joined us.”

“Fine, we’ll guess. Tell us if we got it right then.”

When one of them said that, they all tried to guess who I liked.

I haven’t even said if I’d tell you if you got it right.

“Give me a hint!”

“Aren’t you asking for a hint too soon? No one even took any guesses yet.”

“It’s fine, hint, hint! Hisamura-kun give us a hint~!”

Even if it’s called a hint…

“Well then, she’s extremely cute.”

“Ehh…? Is that so? So you’re the type to go for looks?”

“Not really, It’s just that the girl I happened to fall in love with happened to be the world’s cutest girl.”

“Kyaa~”

The girls who heard what I said let out a shriek.

“What’s wrong?!”

“You’re serious? You like her that much, huh? Hisamura-kun.”

I couldn’t help but express my true feelings out loud, and it was surprisingly exciting to let it out for once.

I could feel the stares coming from the people in the class around me.

Sei-chan was…

“Hey, Shimada-san, what’s wrong? Your face is getting really red.”

“Shimada-san? Are you okay? Do you have a fever?”

“N-No… It’s fine.”

The girls around her pointed out that her face was red.

I don’t know what’s going on but I’m getting pretty worried too.

After all, after working so hard on a basketball game, you’d naturally get tired, right?

“Well, well, well. You didn’t fall in love with her because of her looks then?”

“Yeah, well. I like her face a lot too.”

“Fufu~ What a treat. Then, what kind of person is she?”

I didn’t expect to be questioned so much.

It was either Sato-san or Ito-san who asked me that, but the other three seemed to want to hear my response too.

Hmmm, well I guess it’s okay, they won’t know that it’s Sei-chan anyways.

I’ll blurt out a little bit.

“Well, I guess the part where the person is incredibly friend-oriented?”

“Really? What part made you notice the trait?”

“It’s hard to explain. But, it’s like when she’s willing to push aside her feelings for her friend and even muster a kind smile during tough times.”

“Wow, I don’t know who it is, but she must be incredibly nice.”

Yeah, it’s hard to explain when you must censor certain things out.

But the girls seemed to be satisfied with my answer and their eyes were still shining.

“Shimada-san, what’s wrong?”

“N-No… I-It’s too much for me right now.”

“Huh?”

I glanced at Sei-chan, and for some reason, she was covering her face with her hands, probably to prevent me from seeing her face.

I wonder what’s going on.

I was looking at Sei-chan with that in mind, when she peeked her eyes through the gap between her hands.

A moment later. Our eyes met.

“….!”

I could see her bright red face, and her moist eyes glared at me a little.

Sei-chan quickly hid her face again to remove the gaze.

“Th-That reaction…”

Did you hear what I just said Sei-chan?

But the distance between me and Sei-chan is pretty far.

I don’t think you should be able to actually hear from that distance.

I don’t know anymore. I guess Sei-chan is just physically more capable than the rest of us.

I think she could hear us because she had better hearing or something.

But I can’t be so sure here.

“Hey, Hisamura-kun. Give us a few more hints.”

“Hmm? Uh, I guess.”

“Rather than a hint, I want to hear Hisamura-kun’s thoughts on that person!”

“You changed the direction of the question, didn’t you?”

Ehhh, what should I do?

While answering the girls’ questions, I’d like to see if Sei-chan can hear me, too.

“Do you guys have a sweet tooth?”

“I think almost every girl has a sweet tooth.”

“I guess you’re right. But I don’t know, the person I like doesn’t really look like she likes them. But she looks so cute when she’s eating something sweet and delicious.”

“Ehhhh, really?”

It didn’t really seem to resonate well with them.

Maybe it’s because I love Sei-chan so much that I have a disease that makes me think anything is cute.

At any rate, I looked at Sei-chan and saw…. 

“I-I like salty food too!”

“Shimada-san, why did you suddenly start eating the remaining potatoes?”

Could she actually hear me?

When I told them that she liked eating sweet things, she immediately started eating salty things.

I can’t hear Sei-chan’s voice so I can’t really tell, but I can see that her cheeks are a little red.

I’m not sure if she can really hear me or not.

“I wonder who Hisamura-kun likes.“

“It’s hard to tell, even with all these clues.”

The girls were trying to guess who I liked after all those hints.

“Just so you know, even if you managed to get her name right, I won’t tell you if you got it.”

“Ehhhhh? Why?”

“It’s… embarrassing.”

To be honest, I’m not really that embarrassed about it.

I’m not ashamed to tell people about my love for her after all.

But she doesn’t like telling others that we’re dating so I guess it’s best to hold back for now.