Nitta's PoV
"It's hot…"
I complained before getting up from my bed.
It was early July, the end of the rainy season was still a few days away, but it already felt ridiculously hot.
I could've slept in a little longer since it was still early in the morning, but the dampness made me feel uncomfortable.
"It's at times like this that I wish they'd install an AC in my room… Too bad we can't afford it…"
Of the three rooms on the second floor of our house, only my sister's room had an AC installed. She was a year older than me and next winter, she would be taking the entrance exam for college.
Meanwhile, in my room, there was only a cheap fan. The best it could do was blow lukewarm air. Thanks to that, my clothes were completely drenched in sweat.
Summer wasn't my favorite season. If I wasn't careful, my makeup would get ruined easily and my skin would get tanned. I had to keep my guard up at all times if I wanted to hang out with my friends. Well, I enjoyed hanging out with them and it helped me forget about all the bad things.
I went downstairs to the living room and found my sister, Yuna, watching a morning anime while munching on a piece of toast.
"Morning, sis. Where's dad and mom?"
"At work… You little… Didn't I tell you to stop wandering around in only your bra? Have some proper manners."
"What? I'm going to change my clothes in a bit. If it bothers you so much, then let's exchange rooms. You don't even know what I have to deal with in that hellhole."
"Sucks to be you then. Just bear with it, my room isn't much better either. They only let me use the AC at night. If not, why would I leave my room? After I'm finished with breakfast, I'll be on my way. What about you?"
"Me too. Got a baseball game to watch with my friends."
"Since when were you interested in baseball? Is your boyfriend there or something?"
"Of course not, he's just my former classmate. Today's game is his first game in the tournament, so we're going to cheer on him."
Honestly, I didn't want to go. I did not have even a speck of interest toward baseball, but since everyone said that they were going, I decided to go as well.
It was troublesome, sure, but it was still better than staying at home doing nothing.
After returning to my room, I changed into my summer uniform and tied my hair into a bun. Since we were just going to cheer for the school's baseball team, I didn't need to worry much about my outfit.
That didn't mean I had the lenience to let my guard down. In fact, I needed to be even more attentive toward my appearance than usual.
"Done with the sunscreen. The towel and water bottle are inside the bag… Alright, time to go."
After confirming that I hadn't forgotten anything, I left together with my sister and headed to Yuuchin's house, where we promised to meet. Her mother, Aunt Eri, was going to drive us to the stadium where the game was going to be held.
The place wasn't that far away. We could take the train and walk there if we wanted to. But she offered to take us there and we had no reason to refuse. Besides, it would be better to go with her. I didn't need to walk under this scorching sun.
"Ah! Ninacchi! Here!"
After walking for around fifteen minutes, I found Yuuchin standing in front of her house. As soon as she saw me, she jumped around while waving her hands wildly at me.
She looked the same as always. Her blonde hair, her smile that was as bright as the sun… Seeing her greeting me with such a cheerful look made me feel happy too.
"Good morning, Ninacchi! The weather is good today! The perfect weather to cheer for someone!"
"Cheering for someone when the weather is this hot sounds like hell more than anything… Huh? Am I the first to arrive?"
"No. Maki-kun is here already."
"What about Umi?"
"She'll be here in a few."
I would be together with the usual group, excluding Seki, who went on ahead.
In other words, aside from me, there would be Yuuchin, Asanagi and Maehara, or Rep, as I normally called him.
Honestly, I didn't expect that our friendship would last this long. The two pretty girls aside, I didn't expect to be friends with Maehara in the first place.
The reason for that was because Asanagi became his girlfriend somehow.
Since that was the case, wherever Maehara went, Asanagi would stick to him. By extension, Amami would be there too. So, if I wanted to hang out with the two girls, I had to at least interact with Maehara as well.
Ah, I didn't mean to treat him like an annoyance or anything. It was pretty fun to hang out with him as well. Whenever he was around, Umi would act meekly and it was really fun to tease her when she was like that.
Though, they seemed to come separately today for some reason. Also, Yuuchin had been calling him for a while now, but he didn't come out. (T/N: Don't ask me why she kept changing the way she referred to them, the raw is like that.)
"Why isn't he coming out, Yuuchin?"
"I don't know… He was talking to my mother just a while ago…"
We decided to go to the garden to look for him.
Then we saw two big shadows hustling in the garden.
"W-Woah… A-Amami-san… H-Help…'
"Bark!"
The two shadows were Yuuchin's golden retriever, Rocky, who was sitting on the top of Maehara's body. The latter was struggling while asking for help.
Right, he was bad with dogs. For some reason, Rocky was fond of him. The dog was licking his face and wagging his tail as we spoke. Sadly, that feeling was one-sided.
"R-Rocky?! I know you like him a lot, but you can't just jump on him like that! Jeez!"
As expected of a family dog, Rocky listened to its owner well. After that light scolding, it immediately left Maehara's side and went inside the house. Poor dog, it must've been excited to welcome its guest, too bad said guest couldn't appreciate its goodwill.
"Sorry, Maki-kun, I shoulda helped you sooner… Are you okay? Can you stand up?"
"Thank you, I'm okay. I was just surprised, no harm done."
He stood up with Yuuchin's help. Rocky seemed to have given him quite the welcome. His hair was a mess and his face was covered with drool. He looked clumsy as always.
"Look this way, Maki-kun. Let me wipe your face."
"Huh? I can do it myself, you don't need to–"
"It's on the house~ Use my handkerchief, I have plenty of them anyway and I can wash it right away after we're done. If you use yours, you'll have to stick with Rocky's drool all day long. You don't want that, do you?"
"Alright, then, give me your handker— Uff."
"Don't move around too much!"
"J-Jeez."
If he was a normal boy, he would be more than happy to be taken care of by such a pretty girl like Yuuchin. Maybe he would even fall for her quickly. But, let alone being happy, he seemed to be troubled by it.
Well, he had a cute girlfriend of his own and they had been dating for more than half a year now. He really only had that girl in his mind.
"Sorry, everyone. I'm late."
Speaking of the devil, said girl, Asanagi Umi, came running in.
Unlike my hair, she hadn't dyed her black hair. She had a cute face too, comparable to the blonde girl over here. I didn't want to brag, but I was really popular back in middle school, but since I entered high school, I couldn't compete with those two even if I wanted to.
"Good morning, Umi!~ Yesterday was cloudy, but the sky is so bright today!"
"Morning. The heat is killing me though, I hope the clouds are still around… Also, good morning, Nina."
"Heya~ I just got here. What happened? Why weren't you going together with Rep?"
"Ah, um… Nothing much… It's just… Uh, Maki?"
"Yeah, it's nothing much…"
"Huh?"
They were acting suspiciously.
Normally, they would ignore Yuuchin's and mine existence and started flirting with each other, but right now, they were keeping their distance.
Did something happen to them?
If I recall correctly, those two visited Asanagi's dad's parents' house recently.
Before the trip, those two looked fine and they were still flirting around like a pair of idiots. Honestly, I couldn't imagine those two getting into a fight during the trip. The atmosphere between them was strange, but it wasn't volatile or anything.
I racked my brain, trying to guess what exactly happened to the two of them.
…Wait, could it be?
"Uh, Umi, Rep, did you two– Ouch?!"
Suddenly, Asanagi gave me a head flick. It hurts! This girl wasn't holding back. Jeez, I hoped that it wouldn't leave a bump.
"Umi! What are you doing so suddenly?!"
"What are YOU doing so suddenly? It's still early in the morning and we're outside you know? You think it's appropriate to have that kind of talk here?"
"I was just asking, I didn't plan to say anything else! Just treat it like I'm greeting you or something."
"L-Like hell I would do that!"
I pretty much figured everything out already after seeing their reactions. Umi's face started to redden, meanwhile Rep beside her looked so embarrassed.
These two were like an open book.
"A-Anyway, we should get going! C'mon, hurry up! We'll miss the first game if we dawdle! Come here, Maki."
"S-Stop pulling my arm…"
After saying that, those two, who had successfully deepened their relationship, quickly climbed into the back seat of the car. I thought they would be more open with it since we had known each other for a while now, but I guess they were still embarrassed talking about it.
"Ninacchi, don't you think those two have been acting suspiciously since they got back from their trip? What happened to them I wonder?"
"Ah… T-Those two huh… Um…"
Honestly, I was just assuming things and there was no way to confirm it, but I shared my assumption to her in a whisper.
"T-Those two did it… Sex…"
After hearing my words, Yuuchin's face started to redden. Ah, right, this girl was even more innocent than those two.
"I-Is that so? T-Then, I'm happy for both of them, t-they get along really well, don't they? Haha… I-I'm surprised that they did it, though."
"You're happy for them? Honestly, I'm more annoyed than anything. They're clearly showing off, aren't they?"
"Hehe, don't say that, Ninacchi. We should be glad that good things happened to them. Besides, we can tease them about it, no?"
"Now you're talking my language, Yuuchin~"
"Hehe~ Umi always acts so cute with Maki-kun, I can't get enough of it~"
"I know right? That girl is surprisingly weak at being teased."
It was true that I was annoyed by their constant PDA, but honestly, I couldn't hate them for it. Seeing those two getting along so well made me feel happy too.
Yuuchin, Asanagi and Maehara… I've only known them for a short time, but they were all my important friends. Seki on the other hand… Well, I don't know, I'm not that close to him.
"Let's get going already, Ninacchi! We have someone to cheer on today!"
"Okay okay… The thought of me cheering for Seki makes me feel so unmotivated though…"
"C'mon, don't be like that! He's doing his best out there!"
And so, we followed the idiotic couple and got in the car as well.
For us students, July was the beginning of summer. For second years like us, this would be the last summer for us to play around without worrying about the future.
Personally, I'd be happy to spend my summer with them.
But…
"Say, Yuuchin…"
"Yes? What's up, Ninacchi?"
"Uh, never mind, it's nothing… Don't mind me…"
"Haha, what's wrong with you? You're acting so strange~"
She showed me her signature smile as she said that.
But, why?
Why did you have such a sad look when you looked at those two?
I was going to ask that question, but I decided not to.
I hoped that this wouldn't be the start of something troublesome…