I Went Out With a Losing Heroine, But Before I knew It, My Childhood Friend, Who’s Supposed to be Th

“Do you want some water?”

　*Gulp, gulp, gulp―!

　Marin, who was writhing so much, nodded her head as hard as she could when Yō asked her who felt sorry for her.

　When Yō tried to put Marin’s water in front of her, Marin was quicker than that and grabbed a cup that was near Yō.

　After that, she drank vigorously from it.

“…”

　Yō froze at the sight of her, and the boys around her stared at her in astonishment.

　The only person who didn’t realize it was her.

　When the spiciness didn’t go away, she looked around for more water and finally noticed something strange.

“Ahnyee…? Nyaw, is nyere anyather cup nyere…? [TLN: “Eh…? Why is there a cup here?”, her tongue is slurring from the spiciness)

　Marin asked Yō as if her tongue had gone haywire.

　Her body is trembling a little, and her face is red and teary-eyed.

　It could be from the spiciness of the food, or she realizes what she has done― or perhaps, probably both.

“…”

　Yō didn’t say anything about what Marin had done, but picked up her original cup and started drinking.

　This caused even more of a commotion around her, but the truth was that Marin had not yet touched this cup.

　He knew that, and that’s why he was able to sip from Marin’s cup.

“Hanyakunya-kyunn…” [TLN: Hazakura-kun…]

“What’s wrong? If you need more water, you can go pour some.”

　Marin looked at him shyly, while Yō replied casually.

　With that, Marin got out of her seat and went to pour some water.

　Yō doesn’t know if it’s because of his intentions or because she can’t stand the spiciness anymore, but he lets out a small sigh as he stares at Marin’s back.

　And then he picked up a piece of fried chicken with his chopsticks and put it in his mouth while receiving jealous glances all over his body.

“*Crunch―”

　　　　　　　　　　◆

“I feel refreshed now…”

　When Marin came back after pouring the water, she looked at Yō’s face with tears in her eyes, slightly resentful.

　She came back a little late, so she must have drunk the water several times until the spiciness subsided.

　She seemed to pretend that she had not kissed him indirectly earlier.

“Even if you look at me like that, I told you beforehand that it was very spicy, and you knew that from the way it looked, didn’t you?”

“It was spicier than what I had expected…”

　It was several times spicier than what she expected―Yō overheard her say that and proceeded to crunch the fried chicken and rice into his mouth.

　Marin looked at him as if she could not believe what she was seeing.

“What’s up?”

“Fried chicken, isn’t that…?”

“No, it’s spicy alright. You’ve had enough of it, haven’t you?

　Then how can you eat so much without drinking any water?―Marin wanted to complain, but she swallowed her words.

　The way Yō was acting, it was unlikely that he would be able to give a comprehensible answer to that question.

(My tongue and lips are sore…)

　As Marin ate her own lunch, her eyes started to tear up again due to the after effects of the extremely spicy food.

　Then Yō, who was eating in front of her, suddenly stood up from his chair.

“What can I do for you?”

“I’ll be out for a while.

　Yō replied curtly and walked off languidly.

(He’s heading to the bathroom.)

　Marin guessed where Yō was headed from his deceptive pretense.

　And the fact that he chose his words properly at the dinner table, even though he was a boy, raised Yō’s reputation a little bit in Marin’s mind.

(He’s surprisingly caring of those around him.)

　Although he is usually cold to those around him, Marin has seen him care for those around him several times, even if it is hard to tell.

　So, in Marin’s mind, Yō had the impression of being a “tsundere-like” type of person.

　―She was thinking about this when something was placed in front of her.

　When she reflexively looked up, she saw Yō looking down at Marin with a simple expression.

“What’s this?”

“It’s yogurt.”

“I mean, I could see that…”

　What Marin wanted to ask was why he had placed the yogurt in front of her.

　But― looking at Yō’s other hand, Marin guessed his intentions.

“I just bought it while I was buying mine. It’s on me, so I’m not taking any money.”

　He opened the lid of the yogurt he was holding in his other hand and started to drink it.

　Marin stared at Yō’s face.

“What is it?”

　Feeling uncomfortable about being watched, Yō gazed at Marin unhappily, but Marin gave a small shake of her head and opened her mouth with a smile.

“Thank you… very much…”

　Yō took his gaze off of Marin’s face and began to drink the yogurt, sipping silently.

　Then Marin did the same and started to drink the yogurt, but her gaze stayed on Yō.

　Marin knows.

　She knows that Yō looks like a troublesome person, but he’s actually very prepared and a gentleman.

　There was no way that Yō would go to the trouble of buying yogurt later.

　He knew he was going to eat something very spicy, and if he needed it, he would have bought it together.

　The reason why he went to the vending machine just now was probably because he knew that Marin was suffering from the after-effects of the spicy food.

　The fact that he bought two and said it was just a coincidence was just an excuse to hide his embarrassment.

　In fact, Yō looks somewhat uncomfortable.

(Gaps are unfair…)

　At this time, Marin’s cheeks were loose as she drank the yogurt, but the students around her were wondering if it was really because of the yogurt or because of the man in front of her, so they stopped eating.