Chapter 6
A couple of days before the new school semester began, I spent the morning helping with New Year's cleaning at home—although, as usual, I was told not to help because if I stayed, I’d just end up being distracted and wanting to hang out. Later in the day, I had work, so we wouldn’t be seeing each other, and it would be the first time this year I’d spend a whole day without seeing Hajime.
Since the start of the year, we hadn't been staying together every day, but whenever Hajime worked late, I’d wait for him to come back, and we’d end up staying together. Our relationship as a couple was going really smoothly, and I thought we were growing closer every day.
I hadn’t told Suzuka yet, but she’d given me a quick look and just told me to be careful as I’d promised. I always wonder how she knows things like that.
While I had been shopping for groceries, most of our time had been spent together at home, not really going on typical dates, just enjoying our time. I was starting to feel like something was off when we didn’t see each other, so it was a bit strange to have a day apart.
Maybe that was why, on this particular day, I ended up being a little more careless than usual. But I also think that in the future, when I look back at this moment, I’ll remember it along with the time Hajime and I went to the shrine together for New Year's. It might have been the moment when things started to shift in our relationship.
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"Happy New Year!"
"Happy New Year, Chinatsu! Reina’s on her way, and Yukko just arrived, so everyone is here on time, thank goodness!"
"Saki-chan is always ten minutes early, right?"
When I walked into the Italian family restaurant near the station, Saki and Yukko had already gotten our seats and waved to me. Everyone was on time, and even Reina, who was usually late, was going to make it.
"My muscles are sore from that winter camp," Saki said, hugging her long frame and shaking as she laughed.
It was crazy that they had a camp to start the year, but I figured it must have been intense.
I took off my coat, placed my phone on the table, and opened the menu. I’d noticed lately that, even though my weight hadn’t changed, my body had started to take on a slightly rounder shape. I wondered if it was because of the food Hajime made for me, or maybe it was just hormones. Either way, I was thinking about trying something sweet from the menu.
"Athletes really have it tough, huh? I heard you’re practicing with the boys this year, right?"
"Yeah! And guess what, I finally got Sato-kun’s account! Well, the group’s, but still," Saki said excitedly, holding up her phone to show us.
The basketball team’s group chat was there, with "Sato Hajime" as a member, and the basketball icon was exactly the same as Hajime’s.
That’s right, he said he’d used a picture from a recently popular basketball manga remake for his icon.
I was about to react to this but stopped myself since I knew Yukko probably already knew about it, so I just said, "Oh, nice! You’ve made some progress!"
When I looked at Yukko, she was grinning while secretly making an "I’m praying for you" gesture under the table, which was probably the right reaction.
It wasn’t like I didn’t understand how Saki felt. She had been so into basketball all her life, and being tall and beautiful, she was more popular with girls than with the guys. She’d developed a crush on Sato-kun, who was taller and had an amazing athletic build, during a club event, and she had been trying to get closer to him ever since. I couldn’t help but wonder if Sato-kun felt the same way about her or if he was just being friendly.
Saki was tall, slender, and gorgeous, while Yukko was small and cute, more the type of girl you’d see in a game as a "gamer girl" type. They were opposites in many ways, and Saki’s crush on Sato-kun was a bit complicated.
As I thought about it, I couldn’t help but wonder if I could even compete with a girl like that. If Hajime had an adorable childhood friend who was completely his type, or if there were many girls who liked him, I’d be pretty stressed out about it. I was sure Saki felt the same way, and I could understand why she was feeling so anxious.
Yukko seemed to be in a similar situation with her own crush on Sato-kun, but I didn’t know how to navigate that. I decided I would just keep supporting them both as a third party.
That was my decision for the day.