Volume 1 - CH 2.6

The Cultural Committee’s general meetings are basically held on Tuesdays and Fridays. However, on the first Tuesday after the holidays, I don’t know if I should say it’s to return from the holidays to student life mode. Since the last meeting was held on the last Tuesday of April, there will be a gap of more than two weeks until the next general meeting.

However, since we all attend the same university, it is only natural that among the more than 2,000 students in each year, we unexpectedly run into members of the Cultural Committee who are in close proximity to each other, even if we are not conscious of it.

My university has five departments: Education, Humanities, Science, Engineering, and Agriculture. Each of them has a group of buildings for their respective department—for the Department of Science, there is the Department of Science Building A to E, and the additional shared building is used for liberal arts and language classes, making a total of six groups.

The Department of Science, where I am enrolled, is located near the main gate and is surrounded by the shared building and the Department of Engineering Building. In other words, during everyday college life, I encounter mainly the same students from the Department of Science, the Department of Engineering, and students who use the shared building for language and liberal arts courses.

That is why, since the beginning of the week on Monday, I have encountered a good number of the Cultural Committee members, both first and second-year students. As for the first-year students, most of them I had never talked to before, so it would be more correct to say that I saw them rather than encountered them.

“Hey, it’s Makki. It’s been a while. Do you mind if I sit here?”

Then came Thursday. Every Thursday is a day for club and circle activities, so classes end in the morning. While I was having lunch at the cafeteria, I met this unusual pair of people.

“Kou-kun.”

When I called out the name of the person who called out to me, the person beside him burst out laughing. Then I was silently slapped on the head.

“You’re really saying that now, huh?”

Narushima Kouichi, an alumnus of the Cultural Committee, sat down in the seat across from me with a smile.

“I mean, Naru-san, you blabbed about my personal information to that person over there, didn’t you?”

“Isn’t ‘that person over there’ horrible?”

Seated next to him is Miyajima Shiho, Naru-san’s girlfriend, who is currently protesting against me.

“But it’s unusual for you to come here. Weren’t you at the second cafeteria even on circle days?”

Naru-san, a student in the Department of Education, usually has lunch at the second student cafeteria, which is close to the Department of Education building.

“I had to go to the co-op store today, so I thought I’d stop by. It’s unusual for you to be in the cafeteria on a Thursday too, isn’t it?”

The Co-op is attached to the first student cafeteria, but on normal weekdays, many students avoid it because they do not like the crowds, except for those who come to buy lunch. On Thursdays, when many students just go home in the afternoon, it is relatively empty, as is the cafeteria.

“Isn’t it horrible?”

Shiho’s protests are still going on, but I ignore them for now and reply to Naru-san.

“You are right. It’s really just happened today.”

“Isn’t it horrible?”

“Argh, got it. My bad, my bad. I’m sorry, I’m sorry.”

“There’s no emotion in it at all, but I’ll forgive you.”

When I apologized to her since she was being so noisy, Shiho puffed her chest out in a pompous manner.

“You treat someone’s girlfriend so rough, don’t you? Even though she’s so cute.”

Naru-san patted Shiho’s head with a gentle smile, and Shiho narrowed her eyes happily. Although there are fewer students compared to other days of the week when afternoon classes are held, there must be about a hundred people in the cafeteria today, and yet I gave a cold look to the stupid couple as if they were the only two people there, but at the same time, I was very surprised inside to see how happy they both looked.

“Well, Makki-san doesn’t think anything of me, right?”

Satisfied with her head being patted for a moment, Shiho smiles and turns the subject back to me.

“What do you mean? Are you saying Shiho is unattractive?”

“Please give me back my image of Naru-san, seriously.”

Although Naru-san was not the eloquent leader type, he was a dependable senior who supported everyone from the shadows. He was definitely not one half of this stupid couple. I mean, if she had been in my mind, he would have surely complained about it.

“She’s your girlfriend, you know. I can’t see her that way.”

“That may be true, but it’s because you’re interested in Misono, aren’t you?”

I swallowed down what I wanted to say and tried to make a safe answer, but Shiho said to me with a grin on her face as usual.

“Misono?”

“She’s a friend of mine. We’re in the same major, and she’s in the Cultural Committee too.”

“Ah. The girl you mentioned before. She’s the girl Makki is interested in.”

“Yes. She’s so cute. People often come up to her when she’s in the cafeteria or somewhere.”

“Really?”

That’s true, of course. But I worry about whether Misono is handling it well.

“He looks like he doesn’t like it.”

“You’re right~”

They both grinned at me and looked at me warmly.

“It’s not that I didn’t like it. I was just worried that Misono might be in trouble.”

As I said this, Naru-san looked at me with eyes wider than usual.

“What is it?”

“I’m surprised to hear you say that. And it’s surprising that she’s the girl you are interested in.”

“I’m not lying!”

Shiho, whose words were questioned, was complaining, but her anger seemed to blow over as soon as Naru-san patted her on the head and said, “I’m sorry, I’m sorry,”. You stupid couple.

“Interested in, huh.”

I ruminate over what Shiho and Naru-san have said to me. It has been about 20 days since I had my first conversation with Misono, and during that time, I have taken her home three times. We went out for a meal together once on holiday. The reason is that we discussed where we would go out, but the number of times we exchanged messages is too small to count even if I used all my toes.

As for juniors other than Misono, I have only dropped Shiho off at the bus stop and Naru-san’s (and my) apartment, and zero for others. Moreover, there are probably only a few juniors I have talked to in the Exhibit Planning Department alone. I am not good at extending my friendships, and that is the way I am with my juniors.

If I were to objectively compare that situation to the one I have with Misono, she would definitely be the girl I am interested in. Even subjectively speaking, I think Misono is likable.

“Since you can’t say anything, does that mean you’re aware of that?”

“Well, Shiho, let’s leave it here.”

Naru-san lightly scolds Shiho without any change in his tone. I am reminded that even though he has fallen into a stupid couple, he is still Naru-san whom I know.

“It’s more fun to keep an eye on things like this instead of making fun of it.”

“That’s for sure.”

I take back my previous statement.

“But it’s not fun for me.”

I shrugged my shoulders and returned the words, but it seemed that it has nothing to do with this stupid couple.

‘Well, I’m off to choir. Come to my room again. Let’s have a drink together for the first time in a while.”

“Yes. Thank you.”

“See you later, Makki-san.”

“Yeah, see you.”

After finishing lunch, they headed for the cultural circle building. Misono had told me the other day that Shiho belongs to the same choir group as Naru-san. I also heard from Misono that they met in the same high school choir club and that Shiho confessed her feelings for him, leading to their relationship.

“A lover, huh?”

Watching them leave, words spilled out spontaneously. I was surprised to see the expressions on the faces of both the senior, who was like a dependable older brother, and the junior, who I had thought to be so nonchalant, in front of their loved ones.

If I were to have a girlfriend, hypothetically speaking, would I be like that?

If I were to have a girlfriend, the first thing that came to mind when I thought of that was the face of one of my juniors.

Just by exchanging greetings with Misono, I felt a somewhat warm feeling. I liked her decent manners. I was fascinated by her pretty face and the abundance of emotions she expressed.

“I guess that’s what it’s all about……maybe.”

I literally had my head in my hands in the cafeteria, which was already quite empty, wondering what expression I should put on my face the next time I met with Misono.

End of Chapter 2