The Gal Next to Me Is Trying Too Hard to Make Me Fall in Love With Her
“Here you go, this is for Saeki.”
“Thank you.”
It was just before 9:00 p.m.
Having won the game I loved, I went to a nearby convenience store to ask Amagi-san to buy me some ice cream.
I bought a Papico, left the store, and immediately opened it.
I melted it with the warmth of my hands and ate it little by little on my way home.
“It’s melting too fast! My hands are getting hot!”
“That’s normal. The trick is to hold it tightly.”
“Really? Hmm… I always eat this slowly.”
I squeezed it and sucked on it.
I tried various things, but I wasn’t satisfied, so I frowned.
Suddenly, our eyes met.
Amagi smiled wickedly and snatched my Papico at lightning speed.
“Hey, wait a minute!”
“Hehe! Here you go!”
She took mine without hesitation and offered me hers instead.
The quantity had increased, but… no, this…
Hesitating, but unable to throw it away, I cautiously put it in my mouth. It was cold and delicious, but my body temperature rose.
“Mmm! Papico is definitely chocolate coffee flavor!”
“U-um…”
Leaving me still shaken by the indirect kiss, Amagi-san spotted a stray cat and ran off, shouting, “Nyanko!”
The stray cat naturally ran away.
She watched its back sadly and returned slowly.
Seeing her dejected expression, I forgot my tension and smiled.
“Do you like cats?”
“Yeah, I have one at my parents’ house! I want to see it again soon.”
“Why don’t you go back during the upcoming three-day weekend?”
“No… my parents’ house is awkward…”
At that moment,
a ringtone sounded.
Amagi took her smartphone out of her pocket and checked the screen.
“It’s my mom…”
It was a bitter, cold voice she had never heard before.
She bit her lip lightly, narrowed her eyes, and furrowed her brow.
She made a dark, adult expression.
“Shouldn’t you answer it…?”
When I asked, she looked at me with a startled expression.
Suddenly, she forced a smile, her face lit up with a mixture of emotions. “It’s okay, it’s okay!” She hung up the call and put her smartphone back in her pocket.
“It’s just a lecture anyway! My mom is so strict that she won’t even let me dress fashionably! She’s always nagging me about not wearing makeup or wearing short skirts! And what’s even more confusing is that she’s the one who taught me how to put on makeup and dress fashionably in the first place!”
“She taught you herself, and then she told you to stop?”
“Yeah! It’s totally nonsensical, right!?”
“But you’re allowed to live alone and do modeling, so she can’t be that strict, can she…?”
“I relied on my grandmother to handle all the paperwork! My mom seems to hate me, so I don’t want to talk to her! I hate her forever!”
She says it in a dismissive tone.
I look at her.
Amagi.
I see her wavering gaze, her twisted mouth, her fingertips touching the pocket where her smartphone is, and I think to myself.
“Um.”
Do you really think so? I start to say.
She interrupts me with an “Ah!”
“By the way, who won the ‘I love you’ game with Subaru?”
“Huh? Um… I don’t remember…”
I tilt my head, trying to recall the memory.
I revisit the exchange in that dark, cold, confined space.
“Well, I won, but it ended in a weird way.”
“What do you mean, ‘weird’?”
“We kept going back and forth, and it didn’t resolve. Then she just said she was bored and it was fine if she lost, and left me there.”
“Huh. Private Subaru is pretty moody. She cares about her fans and is generous with fan service, so I can’t imagine that at all.”
“He thinks it’s okay to treat her carelessly. She won’t get angry.”
“…Maybe she was just embarrassed and didn’t want you to see that?”
“No way…”
Subaru probably thinks of me as a younger brother.
Since she doesn’t treat me as the opposite sex, she’s probably just bored.
“Hey, Saeki.”
When I turned toward Amagi-san after being called, she suddenly grabbed my cheeks with both hands.
Her palms were cold and damp from the condensation on the Papico.
Under the still-hot September sky, it felt incredibly comfortable and joyful.
She smiled her usual mischievous smile and gently parted her cherry-colored lips.
“I love you.”
A sudden confession.
I’m told “I like you” on a daily basis, but this was the first time she’d ever said those words.
It had more impact than I’d imagined, and I couldn’t help but smile.
I pushed away Amagi’s hand and took a step or two back.
“W-what are you doing all of a sudden!? You’re scaring me!”
“Hehehe♡ You’re blushing, you’re blushing♡ Okay, Saeki, you lose! Now you have to give up your title of ‘unbeatable man in the I love you game’!”
“I don’t remember ever receiving such a meaningless title, and besides, the game is already over, right!?”
“I never said it was over just because I lost once!”
“There’s no way that nonsense would fly!”
“Saeki!”
“W-What is it!?”
“I love you♡”
“～～～～～!! Please stop…!!”
“Your face is red♡ So cute♡”
Amagi-san flits around me, teasing and playing with me.
Passersby glare at us, wondering what we’re doing. Someone gasps.
But Amagi-san doesn’t care.
No matter how others see us, no matter what they say, she only has eyes for me.
It’s embarrassing… but also a little pleasant.
“I love you♡”
“I said…!”
“I won, so can I have that outfit when we get home?”
“No way!”
We walk down the fun-filled night street.
I follow her carefully from a little behind.
Maiban