CH 43

I really hate that about you.

Translated by Dawn

Edited by Dawn

I really hate that about you.

“…Huh, that’s all?”

After a short pause, Satomi asked.

It seemed that she was caught off-guard.

I understood how she feel.

If I were in Satomi’s shoes, I would probably feel the same way.

I looked at Mizutani with a sideways glance and saw her looking back at Satomi with a puzzled look on her face.

“I think that’s already pretty big. …Or do I have to call you a thieving cat once so that you understand?”

“I-I’m sorry!”

Satomi quickly bowed her head in an unusually timid manner.

After a while, she looked up and said in a voice that sounded exactly like he was afraid.

“Umm…Karin. Is this okay?”

Oi, oi. To suddenly call her by the name out of the blue.

I guess she was still a jovial person in that way.

“Yes, that’s good.”

Was it good?

Somehow she was already getting along better with Mizutani than I was, wasn’t she?

Well, whatever.

If Mizutani forgave Satomi, I guess that was the end of the story.

She also got a bandage, so there was no reason for us to stay on the bench.

As I was thinking that, Satomi blurted out.

“…It’s fine.”

“Huh?”

Mizutani asked back if she did not hear well.

Then Satomi’s cheeks quickly turned vermilion and she shouted loudly, as if she had mistakenly adjusted the volume control.

“I said, it’s fine to call me Ayaka too!”

“……”

What was being shown to me now?

I’d been falling behind in the conversation for a while now.

“Okay, Ayaka.”

“I haven’t told you that you can call me that.”

When I called her by name as a joke, Satomi kicked me out.

For some reason, even Mizutani looked at me like I was trash.

Why.

Was it because they became dirty if I called them by their names?

Give me a break, you’re not an elementary school student.

“Yes, sorry.”

However, two to one was unfavorable, so I apologized meekly and withdrew.

I still felt Mizutani’s eyes on me, but she moved on to Satomi after a few seconds or so.

“Alright. From now on, I’ll call you Ayaka.”

Mizutani nodded her head.

Satomi nodded back with a mysterious look on her face, “Thanks,” and turned her back to me, “See you later, then.”

Well, I guess it was time to call it a night.

—Ahh.

It was a little too late to say this now.

Satomi came to a summer festival in a Yukata, perhaps…

“Come to think of it, Yamamoto was at that stall over there. I remember he was making yakisoba—”

As quickly as I could, I said out loud.

From the direction where Satomi was, a voice said, “Whaa!?” Could be heard.

Next, a coughing sound.

“I-I never said I was looking for him!”

Satomi stared at me.

As if noticing Satomi’s presence for the first time, I turned to her.

“What, you’re still here? I thought you had already gone away, I was talking to Mizutani.”

Satomi’s eyes widened.

She was silent for a moment, then smiled softly.

“…I really hate that about you.”

—Huh? Is Satomi perhaps pretty cute…?

Perhaps it was her yukata that gave me that illusion.

I found myself unexpectedly struck by Satomi’s smiling face.

“As expected, I should call Ayaka a thieving cat.”

Suddenly, Mizutani’s voice could be heard.

I moved my eyes to the side.

Mizutani was smiling at me in a way I had never seen before.

“Hiii!? I’m sorryyy!”

Satomi, seeing Mizutani’s smile, shudders with fear and whizzes away like the wind.

What was left behind was me and one beautiful blonde girl in a Yukata.

“…What was that, just now?”

Pointing in the direction where Satomi disappeared, I asked Mizutani.

Mizutani tilted her head with the same big smile she had shown to Satomi.

“You don’t know, Aizawa?”

I pondered for a moment and then came to a conclusion.

“I don’t.”

“Hmm… Just one piece of advice for you.”

Mizutani held up the index finger of her right hand.

My eyes were naturally drawn to the slender, white-fish-like finger, like moths to fluorescent light.

“I quite like your kindness. However…I think you should stop being nice to everyone.”

“I don’t intend to be nice to anyone, though. I’m not a nice person, to begin with.”

“But earlier, you guessed that Ayaka was looking for Yamamoto and told her where to find him.”

“…If I may say so, you were the one who forgave that girl. And you even made up with her. That’s something I could never do”.

“That’s… in front of you, Aizawa.”

“…Yes?”

I asked back, not understanding what he meant, but Mizutani gave me no further answer.

After applying the adhesive bandage that Satomi had given her to the affected area, she put on the geta she had been holding in her hand. She stood up quickly and paced around on the spot as if to make sure there was no pain.

“Yeah, I’m good to go now.”

“…Good then.”

“…Yeah.”

Mizutani nodded her head slowly as if he was trying to chew up her joy.

I couldn’t help but feel my cheeks relax.

Just then, my phone in my pocket rang.

It was a call from Ogura.

It was unusual that it was not Shuji, but Ogura.

Thinking about that, I tap the answer button.

“Yes, hello.”

“Oh, Aizawa-kun? That’s right, it should be Aizawa-kun, isn’t it? Because I called Aizawa-kun!”

“…Ogura. Have you been drinking?”

At the sound of my voice, Mizutani in front of me turned a quizzical eye to question what was going on.

She seemed to be curious about what we were talking about.

I switched the call to speaker mode and return my attention to the voice coming from my phone.

“No way! I drank Ramune! Ramune!”

“Ehh…”

As I was exclaiming at the sheer sluggishness of the entanglement, the voice on the other end of the airwaves changed.

A low voice said, “Sorry, Akito.” It was Shuji.

“We were just released a few minutes ago. Seriously, what is that old man thinking? He used us without hesitation.”

It’s great that he let both of you go, but…what in the world is going on with Ogura?”

“Oh, Natsuki is, to put it simply…she’s drunk.”

“…What?”

Eh, what, she seriously drank alcohol?

Wasn’t that a bad thing?

I guess my feelings were conveyed even through the phone because Shuji hurriedly repeated his words.

“Well, listen to me until the end. Natsuki didn’t like to drink either. After we helped Yamamoto and the others…the old man gave us a can of Ramune as a reward.”

…A can? Not bottles?

“Hey, no way, Shuji—”

“Unfortunately, it is. The old man didn’t realize it, but the can wasn’t a can of Ramune, it was a can of Ramune Sour.”

“…Ahh.”

What a tragedy.

Shuji continued in a clearly downcast tone of voice.

“By the time I realized it, it was too late. While we were helping him, it was very hot because of the iron plate, and Natsuki must have been thirsty…so she drank a lot of it.”

“I-I see. That was tough. Is Ogura’s physical condition okay?”

“That one doesn’t seem to be a problem. Her temperature is not so bad either. But as you can hear, there is something wrong with her. I’m going to drop Natsuki off and go home. Akito and the others can stay behind and enjoy the festival.”

“That’s… What should we do?”

I took the phone away from my ear once and asked Mizutani.

Mizutani simply said, “I want to see fireworks.”

…I see. It was almost time for the fireworks to start.

I nodded back at Mizutani and went back to the call.

“Understood. We’ll stay a little longer. …Umm, Shuji.”

“What is it?”

“Don’t be a ’wolf’”

“Idiot. I’m not going to be like that. …See you later then Akito.”

“Yeah.”

The call was disconnected there.

By the way, throughout the entire time I was talking to Shuji, I could also hear Ogura’s voice.

I had no idea what she was saying, though.

I was rather relieved that Ogura had something cute about her.

Of course, she had cute looks, but in a different way, you know.

…Good luck, Shuji.