Episode 27 – School’s Madonna’s Friend is in Love

“I’ll have a large iced coffee, please.”

“Yes, sure.”

After placing my order with the waitress and receiving my iced coffee, I entered the store.

I was troubled by how many girls were inside wearing light clothes, probably because it was hot.

I look around the store and see the person who called me sitting at a two-seater table in the back.

Sawaguchi san looked at a piece of paper on the table with a serious expression on her face.

“Sorry to keep you waiting.”

I call out and take the seat across from her. As I put my iced coffee down beside her, I checked the contents of the paper, which appeared to be a flier for a fireworks display.

“Hm, well done. Aikawacchi !”

She raised her right hand and called out to me in an easygoing manner.

Sawaguchis san is wearing a pale green camisole and a see-through jacket.

It suits her, but as an adolescent boy, my eyes are drawn to it, so I would like it to be a little less revealing if possible.

“So, what can I do for you?”

I open the lid, pour in the syrup and milk, and mix it with a straw.

I took a sip and the sweet and bitter taste filled my mouth.

When I confirmed the contents, Sawaguchi san suddenly turned her head down and began to play with the straw with her index finger.

“Actually, at the fireworks display….I was thinking about confession….”

When she says that much, she glances at me with a blush on her face.

“Eh? Confession?”

I almost stop thinking about the word, which is so maidenly that I can’t believe it’s coming from Sawaguchi san. I thought I had misheard her and looked at her.

“I’m sure Aikawacchi has long been aware of this, right? ….feelings….”

Sawaguchi san was acting as if she was embarrassed. She looks straight at me with wet eyes. No matter how I look at it…

“In other words, is it right that you want me to help Ishikawa san so that she can confess her feelings to Aizawa?”

“No way ! How did you know that just now !?”

Sawaguchi san, who may have intended to tease me, but on the contrary showed signs of being flustered.

“You know what…Sawaguchi san can’t honestly tell the truth, and in that case, Ishikawa san is the only person I know who will come to the fireworks display this time, right?”

Originally, I had noticed that Ishikawa san had been seeing Aizawa a lot since the trip.

I had guessed that she liked him, as she did when she first came to the beach house and when she showed off her swimsuit.

If she added an uncharacteristic fake “Confessing,” it would be easy to get an answer.

When I explained this to her, Sawaguchi san looked uninterested and tightened her mouth,

“I’m an honest person, though, aren’t I?”

She said, trying to make excuses for herself.

“I don’t like to get involved in that kind of thing between man and woman…….”

I told Sawaguchi san, who had asked me for advice, that I was honest about my feelings.

The reason is that I have never been involved in anything like that before, but I believe that love affairs should be left to their natural course and not stirred up by the people around them.

Aizawa is especially good at hiding his true feelings, so at first glance it is hard to tell who he likes. If the confession fails, it would naturally cause an awkward atmosphere among the group, and they would probably lose touch with each other afterwards.

To prevent this from happening, I hoped that they would take their time and slowly develop the relationship rather than forcing things forward.

“I see, Aikawacchi is thinking about it a lot, huh.”

She folded her arms and nodded her head.

“But if I leave Riho alone, I don’t think she’ll tell him how she feels about him forever !”

“That’s, well, for sure……”

She may look like a gyaru and use words like that, but the mature look she sometimes shows and the way she takes a step back makes her look more like a pure girl.

As long as Aizawa doesn’t show his true feelings, Ishikawa san has no choice but to make an appeal, but I can imagine that she is cautious and will not make a move unless she has some odds against it.

If that happens, I have a feeling it will end up being a one-sided love for her for three years of high school, or Aizawa will find someone he likes and they will end up going out.

“At the very least, we should just leave them alone together at the fireworks display, wouldn’t that be nice?”

“Well, I think it’s natural if it’s just that, but I don’t think anything would move at that level……”

In other words, we are just preparing the situation, and the rest is left up to the individual concerned to take care of on their own. It’s too much of a mess as a support system.

“Fufufu, you’re too naive, Aikawacchi ! As long as you set up the situation in advance, a girl will get excited on her own and make plans in her head to get the guy off !”

“……I didn’t want to know about that kind of knowledge.”

When I was dismayed by Sawaguchi- an’s unexpectedly calculating remarks, she smiled triumphantly.

“Fufufu, a man and a woman alone at a fireworks display on a summer night….it’s impossible for anything not to happen.”

Sawaguchi san, with her hand on her chin, happily fantasized.

It is true that it is a very romantic situation.

“If only I could set up the situation, I wouldn’t have to act on it……wait, what do you think?”

For a moment, I thought about denying it, remembering that I saw the sunset while fishing with Sawaguchi san but nothing happened, but then Watanabe san’s face came up and I stopped myself from speaking.

If Ishikawa san had not called her then, what would she have said?

I can still picture Watanabe san’s face that day. Her eyes staring at me in the morning sun made my heart flutter.

I grabbed my chest tightly with my right hand and tried to calm my heartbeat…….

“Oi, Aikawacchi. Are you listening to me?”

“Whoa !”

I found myself looking at Sawaguchi san’s pretty face right in front of me.

Her eyelashes were long when I saw her up close, and I belatedly realized that she was wearing fake eyelashes. Sawaguchi san’s cheeks puffed out like a blowfish and she looked unhappy.

She looks angry because I didn’t respond to her when she spoke to me.

“So I guess that means it will be just me, Watanabe san, and Sawaguchi san watching the fireworks, right?”

I cough to cover up my mistake and talk about what happens after I succeed in leading those two to the fireworks.

“In that case, Aikawacchi and the others will disband. Mission complete and you can go home !”

“Hey !”

I shove Sawaguchi san, who is relying on me so much that she seems to be cutting me off.

I wonder if the little devil in front of me understands how terrible it is to be sent home with my head down while everyone else is having fun with fireworks.

“It’s a lie ! I’m so happy for you, Aikawacchi. You get to go on a fireworks date with two beautiful girls, you know?”

As I looked at her with white eyes, Sawaguchi san’s expression changed and she put her hands on top of each other and happily announced.

“Ummm, beautiful girl….. Huh?”

Looking at Sawaguchi san like that, I smirked.

“Yeah, if you have something to complain about, let’s hear your excuses after you speak with my fists, shall we?”

She clenches her fists and moves closer to me.

“That will surely hurt me, so let’s stop it !”

I say as I push her fist back. She’s surprisingly strong and desperate as she’s putting her weight on top of me.

Even though I showed her a snide smile, it’s not that I don’t approve of Sawaguchi san’s looks.

People around me were glancing at her, and there was no doubt that she was better than the other girls. But when she opens her mouth, she is just disappointed…….

“You’re making a face like you’re thinking about something really annoying, aren’t you?”

She looks at me with white eyes. She seems to have a good intuition and I try not to say or do anything careless in front of her.

“Could it be, this is all you have to say?”

“Eh? Yeah, why?”

The consultation was over within five minutes of my arrival. I stirred my still-full iced coffee with a straw and wondered if it wouldn’t be a good idea to do my homework here afterwards. I think to myself…….

“There’s still plenty more to consider.”

Sawaguchi san unfolds a floor plan of the fireworks display and pokes at it. She seems to be very serious when she talks about the plan, so I guess I have to take her seriously here.

“We need to decide who’s going to buy what at which stalls !”

She said this with a twinkle in her eye. Could this possibly be a failed mission?

I was struck with such anxiety…….