After school, Kamaishi and I went to my house to study .
"Welcome . "
"E-Excuse me . "
I invited Kamaishi, who looked nervous for no reason, inside the house .
Her cheerful mood that had lasted all day vanished once we arrived .
"Welcome back . "
Opening the door, Karen appeared from the inner part of the house .
"... a guest?"
"Yeah, my classmate, Kamaishi . "
"Pleased to meet you Karen-chan . My name is Kamaishi Sayaka . "
"... good to meet you . "
Finishing their introductions, Karen fixed her gaze at Kamaishi .
"Is something the matter?"
"... your girlfriend?"
G-Girlfriend?! N- No way... we're not in that relationship yet! *cough*'
Kamaishi answered Karen with a bright red face . I didn't hear what she said in the end, but she looked pretty shaken .
Karen on the other hand, muttered, "This is dangerous" which gave me a difficult time trying to understand the situation .
"Anyway, we're holding a study meeting in my room so don't barge in . "
"Study meeting?"
"Tests are close, after all . "
Karen replied with a, "Hmmm . " to my answer and reverted to sighing as if she was pondering something .
Then, seeming to have hit a good idea, she looked at me again .
"I want to study with you too . "
"Ha? Your tests are soon too?"
"Yeah, kinda . "
I felt troubled after that short exchange .
I didn't personally mind her studying with us, but what would Kamaishi say?
When I glanced at the bashful Kamaishi while thinking about what to do, she said, "I don't mind . It will be more fun with more people . "
Apparently guessing my thoughts, Kamaishi answered in my place .
If she didn't mind, then it would be fine .
"Well then, let's study, the three of us . "
"Sure!"
Thus, the three of us headed to my room .
————————————————————————————————————
"... Hey, Karen . "
"What?"
"Why did you sit here?"
We used a square table to start our study meeting and for some reason, Karen sat next to me despite having two open seats .
Kamaishi, who was sitting in front of me, gave an awkward smile while watching us .
"... no reason . "
"There's an empty seat just there . "
"It's too narrow . "
It's even more cramped if you sit here .
When I moved slightly to the side, she moved again until she was clinging to my shoulder .
Listen here, you need to leave some space .
Before I was able to express my complaints, Karen leaned on me then looked at Kamaishi, a smirk on her face .
Trying to imply that she could do this much with her usual gestures, Kamaishi seemed to have run out of patience and stood up .
"I-I think sitting here is better too . "
Saying that, Kamaishi took a seat next to me but on the other side .
Just... why?
Kamaishi moved closer to me until our shoulders touched and even went further, clinging to my arm .
She glanced at Karen with a provoking expression . Karen, who was offended, was clinging to my arm as well .
I wonder what this feeling was . It was like the mood was intensifying .
As the two of them were intensely glaring at each other, I was gazing at the ceiling and thinking of a solution .
"H-Hey, aren't we going to study already?"
"Can you shut up please, Kamiya-kun . "
"We didn't settle yet . "
Um, settle what?
I spent a while silently observing the two of them before I ran out of patience and stood up .
"I-I'll go get some drinks . "
I shook off Karen's and Kamaishi's hands and left the room as though I was escaping .
—————————————————————–
Kamiya left the room, which left Karen and I staring at each other .
Come to think of it, I wondered why I had done something like that .
I felt a bit ashamed after reflecting on my earlier conduct .
I ended up sitting next to him in the heat of the moment when Karen started looking at me with a challenge in her eyes . I hope he didn't hate it...
Karen opened her mouth while I was feeling embarrassed from my earlier actions .
"Hey, do you like Onii-chan?"
"Eh? W-What do you mean?"
I got shaken from her abrupt question .
Noticing my reaction, Karen started chuckling .
"You're too easy to read . "
"Uu... aa~"
Realizing that Karen knew about my feelings towards Kamiya, I held my face as it turned completely red .
"I love Onii-chan too . "
"Eh? S-So my perception wasn't wrong after all . "
Karen's sudden confession stunned me for a moment, but I wasn't that surprised since I already assumed that much seeing her earlier conduct .
But I was impressed that she could say it in such a composed manner . I'd definitely feel ashamed if I had been in her place .
Admiring her fortitude and her calm personality, Karen turned in my direction and bowed down .
"I'm sorry for what I did earlier . "
"Eh, I-It's fine! I also got carried away, so I should apologize as well . Sorry!"
I apologized to Karen who was lowering her head to me . Hearing my apology, Karen raised her head and we stared at each other until both of us giggled then started laughing . I felt stupid for my earlier actions .
"What do you like about him?"
Karen asked me after we had laughed for a while . The conversation suddenly turned into a love story .
"I don't mind telling you, but you should answer the same question too, Karen-chan . "
"Sure!"
Thus we spent our time together talking about our memories with Kamiya .
I talked about the time when I fainted because my anemia and when he saved me in terrorist incident .
Karen told me about her experience of getting bullied in the past and that he had helped her out only recently in a similar situation .
"Hee~ Kamiya-kun did that much, I didn't know . "
I was amazed hearing about his achievement from Karen .
He never stopped impressing me with his actions .
"Speaking of that time, I slept with him in the same bed as a way to thank him . "
"S-Same bed?!"
Hearing Karen's unexpected statement, I was taken aback, my face completely red . If they slept in the same bed that means... no way!
"You shouldn't! You two are siblings! Y-You shouldn't..."
Noticing my bafflement, Karen asked me with a mean grin .
"What are you imagining? We just slept together . "
"EH? You mean, nothing else?"
"What else could we have done?"
I let out a silly sound when she asked me that question and felt extremely embarrassed of myself once again .
So that's what she meant by sleeping together...
"Well, we're not blood-related, so it won't be a problem anyway . "
Hearing her abrupt, plot-twisting announcement, my red face immediately turned serious .
"Eh? You're not blood-related siblings?"
According to Karen's story, Kamiya lost his parents long ago in an accident and was adopted by his relatives, Karen's family .
"Is that so...?"
"Well, Onii-chan doesn't seem to mind it anyway so you don't need to be so considerate . "
I didn't even imagine that Kamiya would have such a past . Thinking about it, Kamiya is the only person I know in our school .
... I want to know more about him .
"Karen-chan, can you tell me more about Kamiya-kun?"
"About Onii-chan?"
"Yes, I want to know more about him . "
I looked at Karen with a serious expression .
Gazing at me for a while, Karen said as she giggled, "Okay, ask me anything . "
With that, Karen and I spent our time chatting about Kamiya before he came back .
—————————————————————————————————–
I'm currently standing in front of the door .
It was hard to step inside once again after escaping from that charged atmosphere .
I carried with me a well-prepared tray of juice and snacks .
(Let's do this...!!)
Knowing well that I shouldn't stand there for too long, I made my resolve and opened the door .
"And after that..."
"Really...?"
In front of me was a harmonious mood, entirely different from the one I had left in the room .
Karen and Kamaishi were comfortably chatting, and seemed to be on good terms .
I wonder what happened while I was absent .
Having doubts that spawned from the current situation, I tried asking them .
"It's a secret between girls . "
"You won't understand it . "
That was their answer .
Replying to my question the both of them called each other by "Karen-chan" and "Saya-chan" .
Just how far did they go with their friendship in such a short time?
Well, It's fine as long as they're on good terms .
Coming to this conclusion, I decided to stop thinking about it .
After that, we spent a fun and significant amount of time studying .
—————————————————————————————————–
Bonus
Friends
"Hey, Kamaishi-san..." ← Yato
"Karen-chan, did you know the other day..."
"Hey Karen..." ← Yato
"Saya-chan, about this part..."
"... I feel kinda lonely now . " ← Yato
"You still got me, Chief!"
"Thank you, Rouga . " ← Yato