After school. All the scheduled matches were over.
As promised, we went to a karaoke bar near the station, where I had my date with Umi, to hold our little closing party for the class match. It had been a while since I came here, so I felt a little nervous.
"Does everyone have their drinks? Let's toast!"
After confirming that everyone had their drinks in their hands, Amami-san, the organizer, stood up. She was as energetic as ever, even though she had been running around like a madman during the class match.
On the contrary, I was dead tired. Not because our class was beaten to a pulp by Nozomu's, but…
"I only came here because Asanagi-chan and Amami-chan invited me, but, I see… So this is what a karaoke bar looks like. The room is small, dimly lit, perfect place to huddle with people regardless of gender… Erotic!"
"Huh? You're reading too many perverted manga, Nakamura. Get your mind out of the gutter."
"Yeah, there are CCTVs everywhere, you can't do something like that here!"
"Studying is important and all, but you probably should touch some grass once in a while, Nakamura."
Just on the other side of the table, Nakamura-san and the rest of Umi's teammates sat there. Originally, this party was supposed to be for our little group of friends, but Amami-san suggested that they joined in because this was a special occasion.
And if you were curious about how my match went, the girls all went to cheer for me. Thanks to that, literally every guy on and off the field were glaring daggers at me and I became the public enemy for the whole match. Just what did I do to deserve that?
I wasn't that tired physically, but I was mentally exhausted.
…I want to sleep.
"Are you okay, Maki? If you're sleepy, you can lean on my shoulder."
"Thanks, but it's okay. I can't sleep under all this noise anyway… Later, though."
"Is that so? Don't overdo it, okay?"
Umi, who sat next to me, snuggled up to me. Next to her was Nitta-san and Amami-san.
I had no problems with this lineup. The addition of the girls from class 11 surprised me, but I didn't mind it that much. I could treat it as an apology for inconveniencing them earlier this morning.
But, what made me feel uncomfortable was a certain someone that Amami-san roped in alongside the girls from class 11.
"…Gross. What are you, a mother and her kid?"
"Huh?"
She sat further away from Amami-san's seat, the girl with wheat-colored skin, Arae-san. She was snickering at the sight of Umi and me.
"He's my boyfriend, what kind of relationship I have with him is up to me and it has nothing to do with you. Ah, is this what it is? You've resolved your grudges with Yuu and now you're targeting us instead? You think you're so great that you could slander us like that, hm?"
"What slander? I'm complaining right in front of your face. You can't even understand that, hm?"
"Keep barking, loser."
"Huh?!"
Both of them put down their cups and stood up while glaring at each other.
"Say that again? You only won because of the rock-paper-scissors and you're acting like you run the world or something…"
"You know what they say, luck is a skill, in other words, I'm better than you. Suck it up, loser."
"You bitch…"
"Stoooooop~~~ iiiiit!!~~"
As the two of them got closer and closer to each other, Amami-san interrupted them with a shout.
"Nagisa-chan, I understand your feelings, but restrain yourself! Umi, you too! I know you hate her, but don't try to pick a fight every chance you get!"
"But, Yuu, she started it!"
"Shut it! Just sit down quietly!"
"Y-Yes…"
"Woah, you backed down just from that? Lame…"
"Nagisa-chan, you too! Idiot! Forgive me, everyone, these two really are… Jeez!"
"Ugh…"
After Amami-san scolded them, both of them flinched and backed down.
It was surprising to see Arae-san obeying Amami-san meekly like this.
Anyway, as for how the rest of the matches went. Class 10 lost the match against class 11 because of the rock-paper-scissors tie-breaker, but they dominated the match against class 7 and put up a really good fight against class 4, which was filled with the members of the basketball club. They lost the match against class 4 though.
I didn't know what exactly happened between those two because I had to play my own match after I finished watching their first match and I had to accompany Umi after that. Maybe Arae-san apologized and settled everything properly, who knows. When Umi asked Amami-san about it, she said,
'Sorry, I don't think I should…'
And that was it.
But, if Arae-san was here, it was safe to assume that there weren't any problems in their relationship. Well, rather than that, it was her relationship with Umi that was rather problematic. I hoped they could settle it properly in the near future.
Well, I'll try my best to help her of course.
"…I'm going home."
"Ah, Nagisa-chan, wait!"
"…Can I wait until after the toast?"
"And then?"
"…I'll apologize."
"Yes, do it."
Amami-san originally had a problem mingling with the class because Nitta-san and Umi, who she had been relying on, were both assigned to a different class. But after seeing this scene before me, I knew that she would be able to handle everything.
She could rely on Arae-san or somewhere else in the future. As long as she was happy with her decision, neither Umi nor I would say anything about it.
"Ah, right, I have something to say to you, Arae-san."
"What? …That idiot next to you won't make any noise if I lend you an ear, right?"
"Nah, don't worry. Besides, I don't really have anything to say to you, I'm just a messenger."
"Huh? A messenger?"
"Remember the school that beat you to a pulp back in middle school? It's from two of their team members."
"!"
She didn't say anything to me, but her gaze urged me to go on.
This would be my final involvement in this matter.
"They said, 'We have practice every Wednesday at 7 p.m in the park. If you aren't scared, come over.'"
The moment she heard that, she let out a chuckle.
"Those freaks… I don't want anything to do with them, so tell them to leave me out of it."
"Tell them yourselves, I hate you so I won't be your messenger."
"Ah, I see. What a coincidence, I hate you too."
She turned away from me after saying that. My role was done, everything was up to Nitori-san and Houjou-san now.
Oh right, they also said that they wanted her to see their serious side or something, but eh, whatever.
"Now that those childish girls finally settled down, it's time, everyone! Good job! Tomorrow's our day off so let's get wild! Now, a toast!"
'Cheers!'
The cramped room was filled with cheerful voices.
Good work, Amami-san, Umi and myself.