Our studying proceeded smoothly, under the supervision of Amami-san and Nitta-san.
We would study for three hours after school from 4 pm to 7 pm with a ten minute break in between. When it was just the two of us, we would unknowingly waste more time doing nothing, but with other people watching us, we couldn't even try to do that.
I managed to channel my desire to play around with Umi into the desire to study. This continued until there was a week left until the midterm exam began.
"What do you want to drink, Umi?~"
"I usually drink coke at times like this… What about you, Nina?"
"Isn't iced coffee better for times like this? I'm melting here, you know? What about you two?"
"I'll leave it up to you three."
"Me too."
Since they finally stopped the club activities, the five of us, the usual gang including Nozomu, held a study session today. We were currently at a nearby convenience store, buying some drinks, snacks and a few other things.
Though honestly, I wasn't sure if 'study session' was the right term for it, since the ones who would be studying were the other three while Umi and I would be tutoring them.
"Thank you… Thank you for not giving up on inviting me, Maki… After so long, I can finally be human again…"
"Stop overreacting. Well, in any case, you seem happy, good for you."
He had this silly grin on his face as he nodded to my words. He was finally free from his daily practice, this was the first time in a long while that he could hang out freely like this.
And of course, this was also a huge opportunity for him to aim for a certain blonde in our group.
"Say, Maki."
"Hm?"
"Isn't Amami-san cute?"
"…Well, yeah I guess."
It had been several months since he confessed to her and he had been holding his feelings ever since.
"Ahh… I wonder if she has someone in mind already. Have you heard anything from Asanagi or Nitta?"
"Nope. Well, there are still a lot of people chasing after her, but I don't think she has anyone in mind."
Even the freshmen knew about her by now and there were a lot of them that confessed to her already. Of course, she rejected everyone.
Since we were in the same class, I've seen such scenes regularly. Sometimes people would call her out when she was alone, some of them even ambushed us when we were hanging out with Umi.
By the way, Umi also received love letters, but she ignored all of them.
"I heard that aside from you, Asanagi, Amami-san and Nitta are very guarded when talking to boys. The sports club members had been complaining about it. In Amami-san's case, there is a scary girl guarding her and none of them could get close to her."
"Ah, Arae-san? I see."
Those people would only try to confess when Arae-san wasn't around. Ever since the class match, they would often hang out together. If you ever tried to approach Amami-san when she was around, Arae-san would chase you off with her glare.
I didn't know whether she was trying to guard Amami-san or she just found those guys to be an eyesore, but thanks to her, Amami-san could be more relaxed.
"Also, a lot of guys in my class have been asking me to introduce them to you."
"To me? Why though?"
"C'mon, you're always with those three! You're dating Asanagi and close to the other two as well!"
"Ah, I guess so, huh?"
In reality, it wasn't like I was really close to the other two. I was only close to Umi. Amami-san was her best friend and Nitta-san would tag along whenever she saw those two together. If it wasn't for Umi, I wouldn't hang out with those two as much.
I watched the backs of those three, who were talking in front of the candy shelves.
We all knew how cute my girlfriend was, but the other two girls were quite the lookers themselves.
Whenever those three hung out together at school, they would attract a lot of attention everywhere. I understood completely that people would want to try to get close to them.
"What is it, Rep? Why are you staring at us?"
"I'm not staring at you specifically."
"Huh? How cheeky. Umi, look at your boyfriend, he's been eyeing Yuuchin and I with his dirty gaze since a while ago."
"Got it, I'll kill him after this."
"Jeez, Maki-kun, is Umi not good enough for you? I mean, she's smart, cute, kind and her boobs are big!"
"My dear best friend, I'm happy that you praised me, but I don't appreciate the sexual harassment. Come here, let me discipline you."
"Kyaa~ Umi is scary~ Help me, Ninacchi~"
As those two were messing around, a part of their body shook around enticingly.
"…You two, if you're staring at my chest, I'm going to gouge your eyes out."
I ignored Nitta-san completely and continued watching those two playing around.
It was always fun to see those two messing around like this. Nitta-san would start with a joke, Umi would join in and Amami-san would either join in too or give a troubled laugh. Sometimes they would drag me into it like now. This kind of balance in their relationship was possible because they got along well.
If someone wanted to be friends with me, I wouldn't mind introducing them to those three, but if they just wanted to get closer to them, sorry, but I'd have to refuse. They could think whatever they wanted about me, but I didn't want anyone to disturb our relationship any further.
Helping Nozomu out was already hard for me, I didn't want to help another person.
"Well, of course I refused them. As if I'll let them touch Amami-san with their dirty little fingers."
"You're supposed to keep that last part to yourself… Well, in any case, thank you, I'll leave that side to you, okay?"
"Leave it to me! Well, it's time, let's carry their bags."
"Kay."
After the five of us paid for everything, we left the convenience store while chatting happily.
"Oi oi, you guys bought too much! There's no way we could eat all of these!"
"We'll save the rest for later. You're only joining us for one day, but we're going to hang out with Rep for a while longer, right, Yuuchin?"
"Mhm! If we don't watch over their studies properly, their parents won't let them go on their trip."
"Huh? Trip? Maki, what is this all about?"
"Ah… Uh… That's…"
"…We need to talk, Maki."
"I-I refuse!"
"You can't!"
I heard the three girls laughing at me as I started dashing toward my house to escape from Nozomu's clutches.
This was how our relationship worked since last Christmas. I doubt that there was room for anyone else to enter our circle of friends. I wanted everything to be this way forever, but if one day our relationship inevitably broke down, what would happen, I wonder?
That thought lingered on my mind for quite a while.