Ever since then, we never entered the class while doing the lover's hold again. But our action at that time left quite the impact.
After acting as the representative for the committee during the cultural festival, my classmates gradually recognized my presence, but I was still pretty much a nobody. Compared to Umi, who was the center of the class along with Amami-san, I was nothing.
That was why none of my classmates expected that I would barge into the class while acting lovey dovey with Umi.
After that though, everything was hectic. Both Umi and I had to deal with people inquiring about our relationship throughout the week. People kept asking me how I managed to win Umi over, who was notorious for rejecting other people's confession.
This and that happened and our relationship was finally exposed. People were surprised that our relationship was more intimate than they expected. Both Umi and I had to deal with the embarrassment for an entire week.
However, things weren't all bad. We managed to fulfill our real goal, which was erasing the awkwardness between Amami-san and Umi.
"Umi~! Let's go back home together!"
"Oof! …Yuu! Don't surprise me like that!"
"Ehehe~ Sorry~!"
"Jeez, if you're sorry, apologize properly, seriously…"
I glanced toward Umi's seat, to find both her and Amami-san messing around like usual. They looked a lot closer than before.
Amami-san's angelic smile and Umi, who received that smile with her own.
Thinking back, there should be a lot of ways for us to fulfill our real goal, but none of those would have immediate effect like this.
Well, whatever. Everything ended well, we fulfilled our goal and I could see the tension between those two had disappeared, I couldn't ask for more.
"So, Umi, what are you going to do today? Doing something back at your home like usual~?"
"Eh? A-ahh…"
Today was Friday, the first Friday after the whole mess that started at the beginning of the week.
'I love you…'
It was also the first Friday since Umi confessed her feelings to me.
And of course, as we previously promised, we were going to hang out today too.
"Right… I used to say that as an excuse, huh? …Well, sorry, Yuu, I can't go with you today, I have a prior engagement with another friend of mine."
"Another friend? …Then, how about introducing this friend of yours to me? I want to hang out with them too."
"Ah, sorry. He isn't the most sociable person around, so he'll probably get nervous if you're there. Besides, we promised to hang out by ourselves. Sorry, Yuu."
"I see. That's too bad."
Said Amami-san while sending a glance and a wink in my direction.
"Sorry, Yuu. I'll make it up to you tomorrow or the day after."
"It's okay, don't worry about it. Have a good time~"
"I will."
Umi left Amami-san's side and made her way toward me. The classroom was still filled with people and everyone was looking in our direction.
"…Sorry to keep you waiting, Maehara."
"…Doing it like this… You sure you're okay with this, Asanagi?"
"Mhm… I mean, we're friends, no? Isn't this normal for friends?"
"Well, yeah, I guess…"
Well, we didn't need to hide our relationship anymore, so might as well show it off, huh?
"…Then, let's go."
"Mhm!"
'Agh! Why is it Maehara and not me?!'
'…So, miracles do exist…'
'I wonder what they're going to do after this~?'
'Ninacchi, stop. C'mon, just leave them alone and play with me instead.'
'Eh~ But I want to know what those two are up to!'
Umi and I quickly walked out of the classroom, leaving everyone behind. We then hurried to my house.
"Hey, Asanagi."
"Mm?"
"Your hand looks lonely."
"…Idiot."
She said that, but she didn't let go of my hand until we were about to enter my house.
But that's a story for another time…
* * *
After that, things were like usual. We ordered pizza from the usual restaurant with chicken, fries and onion rings as side dishes along with a bottle of coke.
"Good work, Umi."
"Yeah, I'm so tired, I feel like dying. I should skip school next week."
"I feel you. You know, maybe it's about time for me to use my secret technique."
"Secret technique?"
""The art of feigning illness.""
We said that at the same time.
"Haha… Well, I don't know if I could do it though. Back when my mom found out I caught a cold, she scolded me pretty badly."
"Well, in my case, I don't think it's worth the effort trying to catch a cold for this…"
"Right?"
We toasted while telling each other our silly stories before gulping the coke down our throats.
Later when we became adults, this coke would probably be replaced by beer and we would miss this sweet taste. But that was in the far future. We could still savor this taste for a while longer.
"…So, Umi."
"Mm?"
"About the thing from last week…"
"A-ahh… T-that… Y-yeah…"
I brought the topic up as I was cutting up the large pizza.
We did confirm each others' feelings, but neither of us actually talked about what we would do from here on.
Umi said that it would be fine to take it slow, but as expected, I needed a clear answer. Are we friends or lovers, which is it?
"Umi, your confession last week… The way you did it, wasn't it a bit unfair?"
"Uhh…"
Umi stiffened as she dropped the fries she was holding.
"Ah, I'm not complaining or anything, but I felt that way when you did it back then. I'm just wondering what you were feeling back then?"
"Ah… Uhm…"
I watched her silently as she slowly regained her composure.
"…Um… You see, I was feeling a bit weird at that time and I did it without thinking… Well, I love you, Maki… Back when we were playing at the arcade, the whole thing with Yuu… Maki, you always prioritized me, thank you, I love you…"
Understandable. Things were a mess last week. Amami-san found out about our relationship, then the whole thing about not hanging out with each other for a while.
"Well anyway, I did something stupid, really, confessing to you like that… I spent the whole weekend writhing in my bed because I can't get it off my mind… Seriously, I'm so stupid…"
"And when you tried to call me, you chickened out as soon as you saw my name in your contact list?"
"Haha, yeah. I tried to call you to make some kind of excuse, but I chickened out right before I hit that call button."
Then she told Amami-san all about it and it led us to the whole lover's hold incident.
"Hey, Maki, can I ask you something?"
"Mhm."
"Maki… Do you want to go out with me?"
"…Mhm…"
"…Do you want us to be lovers?"
"…Maybe…"
I've been thinking about my feelings over the past week and through that, I've come to a conclusion.
My relationship with Umi started as friends, but at some point, I started thinking of her as a member of the opposite gender. Sometimes the things that she did made my heart beat faster and the desire to keep her for myself rose within me.
Perhaps, Umi felt the same way?
"You know… I'm a little scared…"
"…Huh?"
The conversation went in a direction I didn't expect.
"Do you want to talk about it?"
"…Sorry for being such a troublesome woman…"
"…Well, you don't need to hold back, okay?"
"Thanks."
I knew that Asanagi Umi was a troublesome woman, she didn't need to spell it out for me.