Mob Character Reincarnation Loner: As a Result of Supporting the Heroine Who Had Been Rejected, I Ended up Being the Recipient of Her Heavy Emotions…
“Thanks, everyone, for helping carry it this far!”
At Nanase’s words of thanks, Serizawa-san, Tsukimi-san, and I gave her a thumbs-up in return.
The day after the birthday party, Serizawa-san and I managed to carry the giant stuffed bear to Nanase’s house in about an hour, with Tsukimi-san helping us along the way.
Serizawa-san beside me was panting heavily and looked exhausted…
…we started walking home, seeing Nanase off behind us.
“…Irie.”
“…Hm?”
Serizawa called out to me. I turned around to find her sitting down, not moving a muscle.
“…Carry me. I can’t do this anymore. Walking is exhausting, tiring, and a pain.”
“Um… why not ask Tsukimi-san to carry you?”
“Absolutely not.”
“But… hm?”
Serizawa-san held out both her hands.
“No, no, stop being so selfish. Come on, walk yourself. I’m leaving you behind.”
“…Irie.”
“What?”
“My boobs are pretty big, you know.”
“Fine. Just this once.”
“Yay!”
Tsukimi-san gave me a look like I was trash, but what can you do? Guys just love boobs, after all.
I hoisted Serizawa-san onto my back and started walking again.
The soft sensation against my back… Surprisingly heavy.
“Irie, you’re not thinking something rude right now, are you?”
“Huh? Oh, just thinking it’s surprisingly heavy—ah, hey, stop poking my head like that.”
“You brought that on yourself.”
Tsukimi-san, walking beside me, glared at me with a stern look.
Oh, come to think of it, I haven’t thanked Tsukimi-san for helping me yet.
“Tsukimi-san. Thanks for helping me today.”
“It’s fine… But seriously, couldn’t you have asked Shindo and Ayabe-san for help too?”
“Nah, I couldn’t drag two unrelated people into this.”
“That’s right, Hoshino. We’re actually pretty considerate, you know.”
Serizawa-san, who I’m carrying, chimed in.
“I kind of wanted you to be considerate of me too…?”
“Hoshino helps out even while complaining, so there’s no need to be considerate.”
“I’ll pull your cheeks.”
“That’s what Irie said.”
“I’ll kill you.”
Hey, Serizawa. Don’t drag me into this.
My head was being patted warmly by Serizawa-san, my legs were being kicked hard by Tsukimi-san, but we finally made it to Serizawa-san’s house.
“…Irie, thanks for carrying me. Today was fun too… See you both again on Monday.”
“Yeah, good work today.”
“See ya.”
Serizawa-san saw us off, and eventually it was just me and Tsukimi-san.
I glanced at Tsukimi-san’s profile as she walked beside me.
In the end, Nanase-san explained that the late-night incident happened because she tripped and pushed me down. Tsukimi-san looked skeptical until the very end, but she didn’t press further.
“…What?”
“Ah, no, nothing.”
…Maybe we should split up here before she presses me about last night.
“…Ah, um. Should we call it here?”
“What are you talking about? We can walk home together. I want to hear all about last night, too.”
Right.
“Luckily, we live close by and have plenty of time.”
“Yes…”
“…So, what were you doing?”
“Well…”
Even so, how should I explain it? Honestly, I don’t really understand why I got pinned down either.
“…What, were you trying to do something you can’t talk about?”
“Ah, no… I mean, well, let me just explain the situation first—”
For starters, I explained the sequence of events from waking up late at night until Tsukimi barged in.
“I see… If it had been you who pushed me down, things would’ve been simple.”
Tsukimi-san, your face is scary…
“Hiyori can show intense possessiveness and jealousy towards things she doesn’t want anyone else to have…”
Huh? What? I didn’t know that…
At least, I never saw that side of her in ‘Tenichi’.
“She wasn’t like that with Shindo though…”
Sigh… She let out a big sigh, looking exasperated. Then she glared at me with those piercing eyes.
“…Wh-what is it?”
“………………Nothing. It’s nothing.”
Huh… That’s definitely the ‘nothing’ type of thing.
“Anyway, we gotta be careful this doesn’t spread over to us… Seriously, how much longer do you plan on walking home with me? We’re already at my place.”
“My place is on the fourth floor of this building.”
We’d just reached the entrance of the apartment building where I lived. The moment we did, Tsukimi-san froze, staring blankly ahead.
“…No way.”
“Tsukimi-san?”
“…I live on the fifth floor of this building.”