Volume 2 - CH 4

Volume 2, Chapter 4: Unconditionally Cute Just By Being A Kouhai

→ Yukinaga-senpai

Shigure Airi

Shigure's Story, Part 1.

On a Saturday morning, I was in my room idly staring at my phone.

As I was scrolling though the registered numbers, I noticed that there more girls in my contacts than guys.

Of course, there was none who I wasn't familiar with. Most of them were my classmates. Although one of my female classmates did once ask me if she could share it to other classes, but I declined.

I didn't mind giving away my number to them. There was also a chat group for our class, so they could just pick it up there anyway.

My classmates were rather special, and it was easy to say no because they would politely back down if you refuse.

"Now then, what to do."

I didn't even have my breakfast yet and was busying myself with my phone instead because I had trouble deciding what to do today.

Even if I did plan of meeting anyone, I couldn't properly think about it for some reason. The same was the case even when I tried planning to visit the dojo because I had something to do with Grandma tomorrow. Some part of my brain stalled my thinking.

Thoughts raced through my head, but they couldn't reach the destination. As they ran around in circles, my ideas soon fizzled out, and now I was back to staring mindlessly at my phone.

Maybe I was still half-asleep. It wasn't uncommon for me to have mornings where I couldn't think straight.

Yet I had been awake for over an hour now ――

"―― Hm...?"

What was this? Suddenly, some kind solution entered my mind. Although I did call it a solution, it wasn't necessarily the case where a plan was decisively made.

To be honest, I didn't know what this was all about, either.

However, I wasn't feeling foggy at all. My thoughts were refreshingly clear. Today's schedule wasn't yet set, but something seemed to have been set in stone.

I finished my breakfast a bit later than usual and got ready, even though I had no intentions of going out. I wondered if it was just a coincidence that I chose to wear clothes that would be somewhat comfortable to move in.

After I freshened up, I brewed a cup of coffee and paused.

I took a moment to breathe in this comfortable morning atmosphere. The whole top floor was entirely occupied by myself, so it was quiet, devoid of any signs of life around.

The silence was broken by a ringtone from the phone in front of me, as if it was waiting for this particular person.

――――

――

―

"Sorry for the sudden call, Senpai! Thank you for your time!"

""Thank you for coming!""

As soon as they arrived at the meeting place, three girls started bowing their heads. One of them was Shigure Airi, a kouhai of mine, and the two behind her seemed like her friends.

It was Saturday and all three were wearing our school uniforms. I was the only wearing a casual outfit, looking out of place.

That ringtone from earlier was from Shigure. She suddenly sent an SOS while sobbing, and the option of turning her down didn't occur to me at all.

Apparently, the soccer club needed to make urgent purchases, but none of the senior members of the soccer club nor their adviser were free, so they were in a bind.

"It's fine, I wasn't busy."

"I'm really sorry...even though you aren't even a member of the club."

Shigure and her friends bowed apologetically.

I thought the two in the back were just simply her friends, but it seemed like they were also managers like Shigure.

"Although I may not be from the soccer team, I can't just turn down a bunch of cute kouhais of mine."

"T-thank you...Ikuto-senpai."

"Thank you! Or rather, aren't you too cool, Senpai?"

"So cool! Completely different from our senpais in the club."

Shigure was blushing and held her head down, while her friends started buzzing. Ultimately, they nudged Shigure, who was in front of me, away and approached me.

"Handsome?"

"Not only was he cool, but he had the looks, too!"

"Saying 'cute' and all that stuff without any hesitation is just unfair."

"He did say cute, but he might not have meant your faces."

"Aaaahhh~, how awful~!"

"Do we really look that bad?"

"Nope~, I think you guys are cute~."

"Please don't reply weirdly like that!"

"Still though, he looks pretty occupied with his phone."

I introduced myself in the same manner as these two humorous girls. One of them was Higashimori-san, and the other was Nishibayashi-san.

Unlike with Shigure, their first impressions were rather lively. Meanwhile Shigure, having been pushed aside was getting flustered at the back.

Just when I thought that she felt like leaving me alone, Shigure, looking panicked, went forward.

"W-wait, you two! Ikuto-senpai is my senpai, move away from him!"

"Eh~, it's fine, isn't it? Or rather, he’s our senpai, too."

"And Airi, wasn't there also that? That other senpai you were interested in."

"W-what are you saying?! I have no such thing!"

When I looked at her with an expression that said "Oh~, was that the case~", Shigure denied desperately, but her face basically confirmed it.

I was feeling sorry for Shigure who was being teased nonstop, so I threw out a life boat.

"Come on you guys, shouldn't we get moving? It's going to get dark soon."

"Ah...sorry, Senpai."

I urged the three to start moving, and I walked a step ahead of them.

All of them paused their bickering, and when it felt like they were nearing my back, they continued again.

"Senpai, there's no need to be in such a hurry. It's not even noon yet, you know~?"

"More importantly, Senpai! Can I hold hands with you?!"

"Nope."

"Ehh~, why~?"

"There are three of you, and one will be left behind."

"I-is that so? How do I say this...that's just like you, Senpai."

"Rather, Airi is fine! She has someone else! That's why we could..."

Higashimori and Nishibayashi, who were positioned on either of my side, reached out their hands.

Well, can't be helped if I was grabbed on, then... While I thought that, Shigure stopped them.

"N-no! Absolutely not!"

"Why is that~? You have someone else you like."

"I don't have one! Don't say something weird!"

"But Senpai only has two arms."

"Then I'll just hug one! That's fine, right?!"

""No, that made the least sense...""

Was this always the case when they group up? As you'd expect, they were rather lively.

Guess it's fine to do this once in a while...I thought to myself. I sighed and turned towards them, exclaiming, "Let's just hold hands in turns!”