I Was Supposed to Be Giving Love Advice on the School Radio, but Before I Knew It, the Beautiful Girls at School Were Hitting on Me
“Well, that brings us to the end of our noon broadcast for another week ! Next week is on July 4th ! We look forward to hearing from you ! See you next week～”
I lower the fader and end the broadcast. I feel like I did a good job of speaking today.
I look up, but before I know it, Sensei is gone.
“Thank you for your hard work today～”
I mumble a few words of praise to myself and stretch out. At that moment, the calendar suddenly caught my eye.
“It’s already July……”
It has already been three months since I was left alone in the broadcasting club, and it will soon be summer vacation. Of course, there is no radio on long vacations.
The days passed by so quickly that I realized how quickly time flies.
“This is where I have to step up……”
With a sigh and another stretch, I headed back to class.
I passed a strangely radiant-looking Mashiro sensei, but I decided not to call out to her. She was holding her phone like something was about to crack.
I returned to the classroom and sat down.
My uptight neighbor was reading a book, expressionless as ever.
“Welcome back, Kageyama kun.”
Kitahara calls out to me without taking her eyes off her book.
“I’m back, Kitahara.”
“Today’s broadcast was quite good.”
“That’s good to hear.”
It may seem like a strange sight from the outside, but I’ve gotten used to it.
Kitahara nodded slowly, keeping her eyes down on her book.
“Yes, especially the usual letter section was great today. Kageyama kun’s ability to take care of the old-timers was on full display.”
Kitahara usually does not say what was good, but today she was unusually specific.
“The old-timers……ah, you mean Deltora Forest?”
“Y-yes ! That was the name?”
Kitahara reacts as if she just remembered something, but she still doesn’t look at me.
“Deltora Forest……What happened today was a bit of a shock.”
“H-huh? Why is that?”
Kitahara’s voice became a little stronger.
The reason is……
“Well, Deltora has helped me out a lot. Back when I barely had any listeners, I was able to have fun doing radio shows thanks to her.”
“……Fufu.”
After a moment of silence, I heard a small voice.
I glanced to the side, but Kitahara’s expression was hidden by a large book.
No, but no matter how you look at it now…
“Kitahara, did you just laugh?”
“……”
I hear the sound of deep breathing through the book, and after about ten seconds of silence, Kitahara looks up.
She turned towards me, her usual brazen face on.
“I’m not smiling.”
“You’re lying…….”
“I’m not.”
“No, but.”
“I’m not smiling.”
“…..I see.”
Kitahara denied it with a bite. I was so pressured that I backed down too.
“Well, it’s true that there was no reason for Kitahara to smile there.”
“……”
Thinking about it, that makes sense, I must have misheard it with some other sound.
Pulling myself together, I decided to make good use of the rest of my lunch break.
Erm, my earphone……
Ping.
As I was about to reach into my bag and pull out my earphones, my phone rings.
I check my phone, but no incoming call. I looked to the side and saw Kitahara opening her phone.
“Oh……”
I let out a gasp of surprise, and Kitahara glanced over at me.
“What?”
“Ah, nothing, just…….”
It is unusual to see Kitahara fiddling with her phone, or rather, I thought I was seeing it for the first time……
But I refrained from saying anything, because I felt that if I went into that subject, I would discover a sad truth.
“……!”
Kitahara’s face contorted for a moment as she looked at the screen of her phone. It was a face that could be taken as either anger or frustration. Then, without even typing a reply, she gripped the phone tightly with her five fingers and swung it wide.
Spang !
“Oh.”
Her smartphone, which was being shown to the public for the first time in Japan, was slammed into her bag with great force.
“Fuu……”
She exhaled as if she had finished the job.
“Um, are you okay…? You didn’t reply or anything.”
“Hmm? What are you talking about?”
“I mean, you just got a message, didn’t you?”
When I asked, Kitahara gave me a cold glance and then smiled at me in a relaxed manner.
“Oh my, don’t you know, Kageyama kun? When your phone sends you spam messages, just throw it and it’s cured, right?”
“So the CRT system is still going strong in the Reiwa era…”
It was a shocking fact.
Well, it’s fine, I got to see something rare. I’ll get myself together and listen to the radio this time.
“A-ahem.”
“……”
“Ah, ah. I’m thirsty from talking with Kageyama kun earlier. Let’s have some tea.”
“……”
“Kageyama kun.”
“Hm? What’s wrong?”
I remove my earphone and turn toward Kitahara, who has a silver tea can on her desk.
Kitahara glanced at me with a sinking eye.
“Kageyama kun, are you thirsty?”
“Oh?”
“After all that time you spent talking on the radio and here with me, you must be thirsty for some water, right?”
“Uh, well, yeah, I guess?”
I feel thirsty now that you put it that way. But I don’t usually feel thirsty when I’m doing radio……I guess it’s adrenaline or something.
While I was thinking for a moment, Kitahara cleared her throat.
Then she handed me the tea canister.
“Y-you can drink my tea if you like.”
“No, it’s okay, I have my own tea.”
“Wha……!”
I take out a water bottle from my bag and show it to Kitahara.
I appreciate her thoughtfulness, but if I did something like that, I would be punished by God. I feel like the boys around me are looking at me more harshly.
But Kitahara does not back down.
“B-but, that bottle of water won’t last a day, will it? Kageyama kun, your job requires you to use your throat, so you should inoculate yourself with water on a regular basis.”
“Don’t worry, I’ll get some from the vending machine if I run out.”
“What? You can’t drink my tea?”
Kitahara leaned toward me.
Staring at me with those fixed eyes, I instinctively look away.
For some reason, I feel like I’m always getting scolded whenever I make eye contact with Kitahara…
“No, that kind of thing is already outdated…”
“It’s not about old or new, it’s whether you drink or don’t drink.”
“I mean, I can’t…..”
To be honest, I can’t drink it, I feel too scared.
But for some reason, Kitahara did not back down. She held the tea can and brought it close to my face.
“Come on, just take a sip. Just the tip.”
“You can’t say it like that !”
“It doesn’t taste bad.”
Kitahara pushed the tea can toward me.
Her eyes are quietly burning, and you can sense her determination to make sure you drink it. Why are you being so stubborn….!
But even for me, I can’t drink Kitahara’s water. Is there any, any way around it…..
As I was scurrying around, I saw a girl who was dawdling.
Before I knew it, she was standing in front of us, looking alternately at me and Kitahara, looking uncomfortable.
I can’t really make out her expression because she’s slumped over her glasses, but I can’t help but think she’s lost her timing when it comes to talking to us.
This is an opportunity…..!
“Y-you ! What do you want?”
When I spoke to her, she looked around to see if she was pointing at someone other than herself.
When she realized she was being spoken to, she nodded her head.
“What is it? Me? Or Kitahara?”
When I asked that, the pressure of the tea can finally disappeared.
Kitahara seemed to have given up. Taking a sigh of relief, she looked forward.
Looking forward once again, the shy-looking woman took a small breath.
“Y-you see ! I came to thank you, Kageyama san !”
Maitoshi