Chapter 17

Yuzu senpai is cute.

It’s extremely unfortunate, but today is a committee work day, so even if I go to the literature club room, I won’t get to see Yuzu senpai. That’s why I’m going to talk about Yuzu senpai’s cuteness outside of club activities.

“Yuzu-yuzu, morning!”

“Hime-chin, morning!”

Morning.

At the school shoe lockers, Yuzu senpai greeted her close friend, whom she called Hime-chin, with a bright smile.

It was a smile like the sun.

“…Nn, nn-h!”

“Do you want me to get them?”

“N-No, I’m fine…!”

By some cruel twist of fate, Yuzu senpai’s shoe locker was positioned quite high up.

Short Yuzu senpai stretched out as high as she could every single day just to grab her indoor shoes.

You must never try to be helpful and grab them for her. She’d just get in a bad mood.

I messed up and did that once before.

“Got ’em!”

“Ohh, as expected of Yuzu-yuzu!”

“Fufun~”

Safely securing her indoor shoes, Yuzu senpai looked thoroughly pleased with herself as she received applause from Hime-chin senpai.

She had already secured a head start on cuteness right from the opening bell.

Second period.

Yuzu senpai’s class had physical education, and they were running long-distance.

“…Hii, hye…”

“Hang in there, Yuzu-yuzu! Three laps to go!”

With her arms dangling limply, Yuzu senpai wore her gym uniform and ran at a speed barely distinguishable from walking, her form completely falling apart.

Yuzu senpai, who wasn’t great at physical activity, was trying with every single ounce of her being.

“Well, I’ll go wait at the finish line first, then!”

“…W-Wait… haa… ueh…”

Yuzu senpai got lapped for the third time by Hime-chin senpai, who possessed freakish athletic talent.

Even so, I felt genuinely moved by her posture as she refused to give up and tried running all the way to the end.

That aside, her appearance in the white short-sleeved polo shirt and blue gym shorts was super cute.

Lunch break.

Yuzu senpai was surrounded by her classmates in the classroom.

“Yuzu-yuzu… can you teach me that part from earlier…”

“You really can’t be helped, Hime-chin. Which part didn’t you understand?”

“All of it…”

“All of it!?”

“Minato-san, teach me too!”

“Me too, me too!”

“Yuzu sensei!”

“W-Wawawawa!?”

Boasting top grades in her year, Yuzu senpai was incredibly popular throughout the entire class.

Surrounded by multiple female students, she was getting jostled around… wait, were they petting her?

Even I haven’t petted Yuzu senpai yet!

Still, Yuzu sensei… that’s not a bad option either.

After school.

With this, I think you can tell how Yuzu senpai’s cuteness gets updated on a daily basis.

Man, she was cute today too.

“Kakeru, aren’t you basically a stalker at this point?”

“No, I’m not.”

“Yes you are.”

The guy who suddenly said something so rude was Friend A.

“Don’t you think visiting the second-year classroom every single break just to catch a glimpse of senpai is a severe condition?”

“I restrained myself during second-period PE by just peeking through the classroom window, so I think I’m safe.”

“That’s totally not safe.”

The guy who created the catalyst that led to me letting Yuzu senpai sit on my lap.

His name is Ayato Amagi. Hence, Friend A.

Athletically gifted, academically brilliant, tall, a blonde-haired, blue-eyed half-Japanese handsome guy, and a super celebrity widely anticipated as the ace and cleanup hitter of the baseball team even as a freshman.

A perfect superhuman straight out of a manga or anime, and my best friend since middle school.

“Still, I never thought a guy like Kakeru would get this hooked on someone…”

“Man, you don’t have to praise me like that.”

“I’m not praising you.”

It sounded like a compliment, though.

“So… how far have things gone?”

“How far about what?”

“Have you made any progress with the senpai you like?”

That casual question dealt me a huge shock.

“W-What, Ayato the baseball idiot is interested in other people’s romance…?”

“What did you even take me for!? Of course I’d be curious whether my best friend is getting cozy with the person he likes and doing all sorts of this-and-that!”

His choice of words was shockingly lame.

Well, I mean, I’m a healthy high school boy myself, and it’s not like I wouldn’t want to do stuff, but…

“Hey, were you guys just talking about something lewd!?”

“Whoa!”

“W-Who’s there!?”

Then suddenly, a blonde girl shoved her way right between me and Ayato.