Volume 2 - CH ss - 3

Volume 2, Side Story 3: Bad Selection ~Snow and Heaven~

The day after. Today was Saturday, so the school was closed, but I did have club activities.

It was almost time for to me get ready and leave, but I just rolled over in bed and stared blankly at the ceiling.

I couldn't get yesterday's scene out of my mind. Of course, I was talking about that one involving Shigure, Yukinaga-senpai, and Jimichi.

What kind of relationship did those three have? What were they doing?

This was all I thought about, but I couldn't arrive at an answer.

There was talk that those two girls liked me, which was one of the factors...no, it was definitely the main cause that I was concerned.

Should I ask them directly? Of the three of them, the easiest to ask would be...Shigure?

If I wanted to meet Shigure, I could just participate in club activities. But the problem was that tomorrow was the scheduled practice game, and Shigure, one of the managers, might be busy with the preparations.

So, Yukinaga-senpai then? But with her personality, it might turn out poorly if I got careless.

And I didn't want to hear it from Jimichi...was what I thought about when my phone rang.

"...Hello."

"Ah, Tendou-senpai? Um...it's Shigure."

I answered the phone without looking over to see who was calling, and to my surprise, the person on the other end was Shigure Airi.

I jumped out of bed and focused my attention to the call.

"W-what's the matter?"

"Sorry all of a sudden...um, I have a favor to ask."

My heart raced at the thought of Shigure wanting something from me, but the next moment left me discouraged.

Apparently, it was the same as last time, asking me if I could help her purchase some club equipment.

"...Did you call other first-years?"

"O-of course! But, all of them..."

Buying supplies. It was a chore to say the least.

Last time it was because I was instructing the new manager, so I accompanied her as her senpai, but errands weren't something done by senpais.

"No first-year was available?"

"...Yes."

Hearing about the situation, it wasn't surprising to me that they would refuse.

Supposedly, there were quite a lot of stuff to buy. Some of the equipment were broken in many ways, and it was no doubt that it was simply going to be hard work.

"Is Tendou-senpai coming to the club today...?"

"Ah~, about that..."

What to do. Shigure or Yukinaga-senpai.

―― Yukinaga-senpai

"Sorry Shigure. I have some business to attend to today."

"...I see. I understand."

With her disheartened voice, Shigure excused herself and hung up the phone.

No matter how much Shigure asked me to do it, I wondered to myself about why should I do the chores that first-years were responsible with, so I turned her down.

I should take a day off from club activities. In any case, the main focus should be to discuss tomorrow's practice game, and there wasn't any point in me going since I wasn't even a regular member of the club.

While thinking that I could just meet Shigure tomorrow and ask her at that time, I called the other person that came to mind.

"Hello?"

"Ah, Senpai? It's Tendou."

"...Why did you call of a sudden?"

I could feel the sting from Senpai's voice, but I was in an invincible state, so I didn't care.

The fact that she liked me made me feel elated.

But because of Jimichi, it felt like I had to hurry.

"Sorry about the other day! I've always wanted to apologize all this time..."

"...Apart from that, do you have anything else to apologize for?"

"Um...I'm sorry for not helping the student council because I was playing around."

"Ah, enough about that matter. I had a good encounter thanks to you."

"A good encounter...?"

Impossible, it wasn't Jimichi, was it? I couldn't help but relate this to the matter yesterday.

I'd like to find out more, but it wasn't something I could ask directly.

"That's why I don't need an apology. But whatever the reason may be, I would have at least preferred to have heard something from you."

"Yes...sorry."

"I hope you do that next time. Then...goodbye ――"

"―― S-senpai! Is there anything I could you with? I have some tim etoday."

I hurriedly stopped Senpai who was about to end the conversation.

I wanted with student council work or whatever else.

"Don't you have club activities?"

"Uh...tomorrow, there is, but today is an off day, so..."

"I see, but I don't particularly have anything I need help with..."

"I-it could be whatever, you know? Please let me help you!"

On the other side, Senpai seemed to be thinking about something for a moment.

I had voiced my intention to help the student council with whatever stuff they needed with.

I thought it was something related to that, but what Senpai said was unexpected.

"If you're willing to go that far...there was something I was thinking of someone else to ask, is that fine?"

"Of course! Whatever it is!"

Senpai's request was to help her change into a smartphone from her flip phone.

I didn't think it was possible to meet up with Senpai outside of school, so I agreed.

Senpai was at school today, and it seemed like she might be able to leave in a while.

We decided on the meeting time, and ended the call. While basking in a sense of superiority in my heart, I started getting ready.

――――

――

―

I met up with Yukinaga-senpai who was in her student uniform and suggested that we have lunch first.

Senpai was hesitant, but when I told her the process of switching to a new phone would take some time, she agreed.

We decided to have lunch at a nearby family restaurant.

"Does Senpai often go to places like these?"

"I don't get what you mean by often."

"Uh...once a week or something."

"Once a week is quite frequent, isn't it?"

Although the conversation continued, it didn't seem enjoyable.

Senpai, without breaking off her usual elegant posture, was silently staring at the menu.

After both of us finished deciding and ordering, I continued the talk again.

"Do you have a phone in mind?"

"I don't. That's why I asked you for help."

"Then, what kind of things do you prefer? Design, or the latest model?"

"If I have to guess...something like sick-resistant?"

What was she saying with a straight face? I thought she was teasing me, but I couldn't feel such an atmosphere.

"By sick-resistant...what do you mean?"

"Perhaps you're not familiar with that sort of thing?"

"Um, by sick-resistant...is it something like antibacterial or easy on the wrists?"

"It isn't about me, it's about the smartphone."

No hope, I couldn't understand her. But I didn't want to say that, because Senpai blatantly showed a disappointed look on her face.

I stealthily looked up 'smartphone disease', but only found things like smartphone dependence and eye strains.

While I was thinking about what to do, the food arrived and I had to pause.

Maybe Senpai didn't like talking while eating, so we ate in silence.

After I finished, I asked Senpai for permission and left for the restroom.

To find out what Senpai meant by sick-resistant, I had to use different search methods.

Is she talking about durability? Might be something like physical durability, then performance, and so on.

After a lot of research, I figured it must be about durability, and so I went out.

I immediately tried to continue the conversation with Senpai, but my words were stuck when I saw the expression on Senpai's face.

Somehow, it seemed like she was mad.

"Um, Senpai...?"

"Didn't you say you had no club activities today?"

Words that made me nervous were uttered by Senpai.

I didn't know why she would suddenly talk about such a thing, but looking at her expression, it didn't seem like she said it randomly.

Did Yukinaga-senpai find out the soccer club was active today?

What if that was the case? I thought about what to reply.

―― Make excuses

"Um...today was mainly for the regulars, so I didn't have to go."

"Is that so. But that would mean you did have club today, right?"

"N-no... I’m not saying there wasn't..."

"Haa, that's enough."

As Senpai let out a sigh, she placed money on the table and stood up.

I got up in a hurry too, but I was restrained by her sharp gaze.

"T-that! I chose to go with Senpai...!"

I couldn't get close so I shouted that, but it didn't look like she paid attention to it.

"I, hate lies."

"..."

"To be honest, that would still be an excuse for a lie. I'm not happy to be told that's why and how people chose me."

"Ah..."

"In any case, let's call it a day. If I need to ask you for anything else, I'll contact you."

Unable to respond as Senpai walked away, I could only stare at her back.

Did the fact the she emphasized that she would contact me instead imply that she didn't want me contacting her first?

I sat back down at my seat and deeply regretted decisions I made today.

TN Note: Yukinaga and Tendou for the title. Also, would Jimichi joking about 'electronic sickness' count as lying?