CH 50

Friday.

The end-of-school ceremony finally arrived.

We were gathered in the gymnasium, and as expected, we were subjected to a long talk by the principal.

It was such a long and boring time that I wondered why principals all over the whole country talked so much.

Finally, after the end of the ceremony, homeroom was briefly held, and thus we finally started our summer vacation.

We had an appointment at the pool tomorrow, and Takayuki had club activities, so we decided to head straight home for the day.

We were talking about going back to the station, the three of us excluding Takayuki, when Shi-chan awkwardly raised a small hand.

“Well, ……, I have to go somewhere now…..”

Shi-chan looked uncomfortable as she said this.

When I wondered what was going on, Shimizu-san immediately seemed to have figured out what is about to happen, and gave Shi-chan a kind of pitying look.

“I see. It’s the end of the school year.……”

“Yeah, …….”

Shimizu-san encouraged Shi-chan, who was clearly in a gloomy mood.

Eh? What? What are you talking about?

I was completely left out of the conversation.

“I see, I will stay with Ichijo-kun here, but how many?”

“……8”

“Wow, ……, you’re really something, Shion.”

Shimizu-san reacts with blatant disgust when she hears eight.

But 8 what? Rocks?

As usual, I was completely left behind, but even I could tell that the story was not a good one.

“…… Well, I’m sorry, but I have to go.”

When she said that, Shi-chan lifted her heavy back and left the classroom, leaving her bag behind.

“Hey, what are you doing, Ichijo? Why don’t you follow me?”

As I looked away from Shi-chan’s back, Shimizu-san patted me on the back in disgust.

This seemed to be a scene where I had to follow her, so I followed her as I was led by Shimizu.

Shi-chan went to the back of the gym.

At this point, I had a pretty good idea what she was talking about.

Gently hiding behind the wall of the gym, Shimizu-san and I looked around and found eight boys waiting.

However, the eight of them did not come here to meet each other, but rather, each of them had called out to Shi-chan in the same way, and as a result, they all looked uncomfortable.

And among them, to my surprise, there was even a classmate.

“You, you’ve come, Saegusa-san.”

A third-year student spoke to Shi-chan on behalf of the class.

He’s the ace of the baseball team, and a senior who’s popular with the girls.

I remembered that the girls in the class were making a fuss about how cool he was.

Shi-chan silently nodded her head in response to the senior’s words.

It wasn’t just the senior, but the only people who called out to Shi-chan today were the so-called good-looking people from each grade.

That’s because Shi-chan had received confessions from many people in the early days of school, but had always turned them down.

At the end of the first semester, the only people who confessed their love to her were boys who had a lot of confidence in themselves.

Seeing such a scene, a small feeling of annoyance arose in me.

And that bother would soon grow.

Objectively speaking, the people lined up in front of Shi-chan are usually more popular than me.

If she was going to be confessed to by these people, there was no guarantee that there wouldn’t be at least one of her type.

In the first place, it’s my fault for snooping around, but the fact that the person I like is being confessed to by another guy makes me really bothered.

This feeling is …… something that I understand, anxiety and jealousy.

I’m just scared that someone might take Shi-chan away from me.

As if she noticed me, Shimizu-san pulled my arm back and pulled me back once, then chopped me in the forehead with a “tee”.

“Ouch!”

“Ichijo-kun, you seem to be thinking about something strange, but I’m confident you have nothing to worry about. But I think you need to see what’s going to happen.”

Shimizu-san told me not to worry, but to make sure I saw what was about to take place.

I didn’t understand her intentions, but I really appreciated the fact that she was able to help me when I was almost consumed by anxiety.

Thus, as Shimizu-san told me to look again, I looked at the situation from the wall of the gym.

The eight of them nodded to each other as if they were in agreement, and then all of them held out one hand towards Shi-chan.

And then.

“””I like you! Please go out with me!”””

They all confessed their love to her at once.

Seeing this scene, even though Shimizu-san had told me not to worry, my heart started to pound faster.

If Shi-chan were to take someone’s hand right now, my love for her would turn into a broken heart.

I can’t stop my heart from pounding so hard that my chest feels like it’s going to burst.

–No, I don’t want her to be taken!

Such a feeling arises in me in an unseemly way.

But the eight people who are confessing their feelings to Shi-chan right now are facing themselves and telling the person they love exactly how they feel.

What about me, on the other hand? When I thought about it, I realized that I was just being a wimp, having come all this way without ever expressing my feelings.

It’s just that I’m late to the party from them, even though I was nearby.

So even if Shi-chan had taken someone’s hand here, I finally realized that it was inevitable.

The person I have feelings for is Shion Saegusa, an idol at school and in the world.

It’s not just today, you never know when another man will take a liking to Shi-chan, but up until now, I thought I knew that, but in reality, I didn’t know it at all.

If anything, I thought that Shi-chan would be fine. I really don’t want you to get carried away.

I strongly cautioned myself against doing such a thing, and grabbed the wall with my trembling hands and watched the situation with determination.

After the confession, Shi-chan looked down and pretended to be a little troubled, and then looked up quickly.

I couldn’t tell what kind of expression she had on her face because I was looking at her from behind.

She then took a step closer to them.

Seeing Shi-chan like that, my heart felt like it was going to jump out of my chest.

Then, Shi-chan slowly raises her right hand.

Seeing this scene, my anxiety turns to despair.

If she raises her hand in this situation, it’s because she’s trying to take someone’s hand.

I was about to run away, but Shimizu-san grabbed my waist again and held me down.

“You can’t run away.”

Shimizu-san’s scolding words made it possible for me to continue watching the scene without running away.

It’s true, if I run away now, I won’t know the result and I’ll be even more bewildered.

Make up your mind! Me!

However, Shi-chan slowly raised her right hand, and with that right hand, ……

With her right hand, ……

The hand of a senior baseball player……

Through and through, she grabbed the back of her own head.

And.

“I’m sorry, I have someone I like.”

Shi-chan told them shyly as she stroked her own head.

They were surprised to see Shi-chan, stroking her own head and so was I.

I was relieved to hear that she had rejected their confession, but now I was curious about what she had said about the person she liked.

It seems that have the same thought, and a senior member of the baseball team, who is also a representative, raises his voice.

“That other person is …… Ichijo, after all isn’t it?”

Oh, so this Ichijo guy is suspicious. …… Hmm, that’s me?

It is true that I am always the closest to Shi-chan, but?

“I happened to see her with Ichijo in front of the station on the weekend, and I thought she would be taken away from me if I didn’t do something soon, so I took the initiative and confessed my love to her today.”

“The two of them are so close that it’s almost as if they’re dating in class.”

The other boys started to talk about what they were thinking.

What is this trend? It seems that they really suspect me and Shi-chan of being together. ……

Then Shi-chan, who had been listening silently, said to them.

“I’ll leave it to your imagination how Takkun and I get along♪.”

When she said that, Shi-chan turned around and walked away, leaving them alone, as if she was done talking.

This means that they are walking towards us, where we are hiding. They’ll know we’re peeping at them! But again, Shimizu-san grabbed me by my waist and wouldn’t let me escape.

But this is not good for Shimizu either, is it? I looked at Shimizu’s face while thinking

“It’s okay.”

And for some reason, Shimizu-san didn’t seem to be in a hurry at all, she just quietly told me so.

What? As I was wondering, Shi-chan came over to us.

Oh no! She found us!

I thought, and immediately tried to apologize for peeping at her, but she called out to me.

“Did you see everything?”

“Huh?”

Instead of getting angry, Shi-chan asked me if I had been watching her. I didn’t know what she meant.

Instead of getting angry, she asked me if I was watching her.

It’s as if she knew all along that I was peeking……

“I’m sorry, Ichijo-kun. I’m sorry to break it to you, but bringing you here was the plan.”

Shimizu-san added apologetically.

Eh? What’s the plan?

“I wanted Ichijo-kun to see Shion being confessed to.”

“Why did you do that ……?”

“I think you should ask your own chest about that.”

My own chest?

I knew immediately what Shimizu-san meant when she said that.

It’s true that this incident has made me well aware of how unenthusiastic I am.

“Well, well! That’s it! Tomorrow is finally the pool! I’m looking forward to it!”

Perhaps the atmosphere became awkward, but Shi-chan hurriedly changed the subject and started walking.

“Well, Shion chose a very nice swimsuit for tomorrow, right?”

Shimizu-san smirked at Shi-chan and teased her.

Hmm? Nice swimsuit?!

“Mooh, don’t say strange things!!”

Shi-chan, who was complaining to Shimizu-san with a red face, was still very cute today.

Thus, we returned to the classroom together in good spirits.

And as I watched the back of Shi-chan walking happily with Shimizu-san, I made up my mind to do something.

–I’ll tell her how I feel about her during this summer vacation.

So, I want you to wait just a little longer.

Just a little while longer, until the time comes—-