Also, Ao’s face turned stiff as well.

  “Ayumu-san, and…”

  Ao looked at the high school boy next to me. So, Keita has never met her before. …Also, after he heard the lie I just told (the unusual relationship between Ao and me), he lowered her head and greeted Ao even more stiffly than usual.

  “I-I-I-I’m K-Keita Amano! I-I’m in class 2F of Otobuki High School, 17 years old!”

  “I see, you’re really polite. I’m Ao Saika, in the same university as Kiriya-san-“

  “Y-Yes, I already know you! T-Thank you!”

  “R-Really? Me too.”

  After the talk, the two of them shook hands stiffly.

  I sighed in relief as I pressed my chest subconsciously. However, after a while, …Keita Amano freaked out and said something he’s not supposed to say.

  “Uh, well, Tora, …no, K-Kiriya-san cared a lot for me…”

  “Oh, …Kiriya-san cared you a lot. I see…?”

  Ao squinted her eyes silently as she started to radiate darkness. …She’s clearly letting her imagination go wild. I let out a huge sigh and tried to explain to Ao.

  “It’s not that, Ao. The things he talked about are just related to gaming…”

  At this point, I don’t even know what’s on Keita Amano’s mind. He suddenly interrupted and helped to smooth things over.

  “Y-Yeah, of course! I didn’t do anything dangerous. Please relax, Kiriya-san’s beloved girlfriend!”

  “…Huh? Ayumu-san’s…g-girlfriend…? Hey, what are you talking about…?”

  Ao froze from her confusion. Keita tilted his head after seeing her reaction. …This could go bad.

  I quickly grabbed Ao’s shoulder…and hugged her. Then, I even let Keita seeing us sticking together as I made up an excuse.

  “H-Haha, …Ao’s surely easy to be embarrassed, jeez!”

  “Hey, Ayumu-san!”

  Ao’s eyes floated around as her face blushed hard. Hmm, while I’m not sure what’s wrong, her reaction is excellent, as if she really fell in love with me.

  I hugged Ao by the shoulder tightly as I told Keita.

  “So, sorry, Keita. I’m going to the convenience store with Ao. I’ll see you around.”

  “Ah, right. Well, thanks for sharing your happiness today as well. The same goes for Saika-san, goodbye.”

  “Eh? Ah, sure, goodbye…”

  Keita Amano’s politeness made Ao froze as she answered. We smiled as we saw him leaving. Then, we lowered our volumes and quickly talked.

  “…Ayumu-san, did I become your girlfriend, right?”

  “Ugh, …alright. I’ll explain everything about this later…”

  “Okay. Well, I already know a bit, anyway.”

  You’re amazing, Saika-sama. She’s born into a family environment where it’s all about political trickery, even if she’s just dealing with her relatives. You really need to sensitive. The girl has to always rely on her terrific observance.

  “Ay, the simplest explanation is that I found out that the guy has a girlfriend.”

  “Huh? See, I already told you before…”

  Ao sighed. But for some reason, she’s not as pissed as I thought, …even though she was forced to go along with the lie I made up. …What a generous friend. I apologized sincerely.

  “…I can’t face you anymore.”

  “…It’s okay. There will be something for me if he thinks you’re a guy, anyway.”

  “Hmm? Why?”

  “Eh? Ah, it’s nothing. Well…”

  Ao started scratching her cheeks as she tried to continue. To make her clarify the meaning, I took a step closer to her-

  “Eh? He’s gone already. That’s strange…”

  -Just as I’m about to ask her, suddenly, we can hear a girl mumbling to herself loudly.

  The two of us looked over there in confusion. Then, we saw…a refreshing high school girl that doesn’t really match this rural area.

  She seems to be looking for her friend as she took a look around. …Ay, I guess that’s not related to us, no matter what.

  Ao and I glanced at each other. After that, we stopped chatting and walked to the store, without paying too much attention to that girl-

  “But I think I just saw Amanocchi around here…”

  -When we’re walking, I think both of us heard an “alias” that we can’t ignore, so we stopped.

  That high school girl somehow noticed our reaction with her observant eyes. Then, she said this very casually to strike up a conversation with us. “Uh, I’m sorry…”

  “W-What’s wrong?”

  We turned around a bit nervously. After that, she asked us a question in an unexpectedly polite manner that doesn’t match her gal appearance.

  “Sorry for suddenly calling you two. I think I just saw Aguri’s underling, …no, uh, i-it’s my friend. Can I ask whether the two of you know him?”

  “Uh, …the friend you’re referring to is…?”

  “He’s Amanocchi. …No, uh, his name is Keita Amano.”

  “!”

  Our hearts immediately started pounding hard. As for me, …I told this seemingly-to-be “Aguri” girl. “Ah, just a second.” Then, I turned around with Ao, and we started discussing this with an ultra-low voice and super speed.

  (She appeared right when we said it! She’s that guy’s girlfriend, right? She’s the girlfriend, right?)

  (P-Please calm down, Ayumu-san. This girl just said that she’s Amano’s friend…)

  (Keita can’t have such a cute girlfriend! That guy is a loner!)

  (Why you always look down on Amano? He really has a girlfriend.)

  (So, this girl is definitely that girlfriend! She’s cute! She’s insanely adorable!)

  (…Oh.)

  (Hey, what are you suddenly getting sulky? Forget about that, if she’s Keita’s girlfriend…)

  (Here comes the rom-com situation. You deserved it.)

  (Now’s not the time to act calmly, Ao! For the two of us, your look is the exact girl who will seduce a young high school boy! Perhaps you’re the one to be stabbed first!)

  (There’s a limit for dragging someone into this! How did you judge that from my look!? I would never-)

  (Anyway, we have to make this through somehow!)

  (Sigh, …I understand. All I need to do is help you, right. Here goes.)

  After Ao and I finished our supersonic whispers, we turned towards her. …Then, both of us smiled and spoke up.

  “I don’t know, Keita Amano? I don’t know a boy with such a name, …yep.”

  “I-I’ve never heard him before. Well, there’s indeed a high school boy around here. …However, we don’t know him either.”

  Facing our lie, she…didn’t seem to mind and said. “I see!” She accepted our answer.

  “I feel quite sorry for asking a weird question like this.”

  “Ah, it’s fine. This is nothing.”

  I replied with a smile. …Then, I pretended everything’s alright as I asked further.

  “Uh, by the way, is that high school boy your…boyfriend or something?”

  “Eh?”

  The high school gal froze. After a while, …she suddenly laughed out loud as if she’s sincerely humored by this.

  “I-I can’t believe you said Amanocchi is my boyfriend…! Ahaha, c-crap, that’s too ridiculous. I can’t stop laughing! No, no, no, that’s absolutely impossible! My boyfriend would never be a disgusting otaku like that! Saying that Amanocchi’s my boyfriend, …ho, ho, ho, crap, I’m already laughing when I imagined it..! …Hahaha!”

  (It looks like both of them are super close!)

  What’s this feeling? The person in question denied it, and it doesn’t sound like she’s lying too. However, that just makes people think that they’re super close. What is this? What’s happening? What should we do with the girlfriend suspicion now? I think the mystery got even more puzzling after we asked her.

  Ao and I have no idea what’s the relationship between this Aguri girl and Keita Amano as we froze. As for her, she wiped the tears at the corner of her eyes after she finished laughing.

  (T-Those are tears after she laughed too hard, right? Right!?)

  Once we got suspicious, every detail began to look meaningful. Don’t tell me the girl couldn’t hold her tears back because she thought her boyfriend is cheating with us? It’s impossible, right?

  Just as Ao and I remained still, this girlfriend said, “It’s almost time.” After that, she turned around.

  “Well, I’ll be leaving. Sorry for asking weird questions.”

  “Eh? R-Really? It’s okay, it’s okay.”

  I waved stiffy, and Ao followed me too. As for Aguri, she showed an extremely calming smile.

  (A-Anyway, …it looks like she didn’t find out the relationship between Keita and I, right?)

  Let’s ignore the relationship between Keita and her first. I feel like we got out of this contact safely.

  When Ao and I pressed our chests in relief as Aguri leaves, she…turned around in the middle with a smile. After that, she rolled our tongue out and said this at last.

  “Exactly! Amanocchi can never be friends with ‘such beautiful girls,’ after all! I was impolite! See you!”

  “…………”

  Ao and I waved our hands while smiling as we fell silent for a moment.

  …………

  …………

  …Huh, I think she just said something important when she left…

  …………

  …!

  So, we looked at each other’s faces after she disappeared completely.

  Although our faces turned pale, …we can’t help but yell at the top of our lungs.

  “She can easily tell that I (Ayumu-san) am a girl!”

  The mysterious high school gal that can tell my gender in one-go, along with her unusual relationship with Keita Amano – Aguri.

  -Our live streaming days just got another colossal landmine.

 

  Chapter 5 – Ayumu Kiriya and Deceiving Cheats

  * * *

  “Jiraiya’s playing this game today! The masterpiece of open-world games, !”

  “…Oh, I see.”

  In comparison to my exciting live stream introduction, Jiraiya, which is Keita Amano, held his cheeks on the kotatsu, and answered lazily. He just randomly pressed buttons on the controller. I can’t sense any will to play from the person.

  It’s early December. Aside from the kotatsu, oil-filled heaters finally entered the scene too. In Ayumu Kiriya’s apartment, this is the first recording after Keita Amano got back from the school trip. (Keita still thinks that this is just a demo experience) However…

  I looked at Keita’s clearly unmotivated face and sighed deeply.

  (This guy showed up in my house with an obviously depressed look. …He got even worse when he’s facing the game screen.)

  I shrugged helplessly. Then, I clicked on the PC and muted the mic that’s supposed to be recording.

  (I can’t record a video when he’s like this…)

  In reality, nothing is more upsetting to watch than a poor video made by a depressed live streamer.

  The audience didn’t play the video to watch stuff like that. Even so, …Keita didn’t do anything since he doesn’t know this. This is where I have to show my care for him. I need to cheer Keita up first. …Of course, that’s just not for the live stream. This is what I should do as a friend too.

  I turned my computer chair from the TV screen to Keita’s direction. After that, I chugged all of the canned coffee at once and asked him.

  “What’s wrong, Keita? Does your stomach hurt? It looks like you’re not drinking the coffee either…”

  “Oh, I’m sorry.”

  He gained his senses back and put down the controller. Then, he grabbed his unopened coffee and threw it around his hands meaninglessly. …It looks like he has it pretty bad.

  He took a deep sigh and turned to me before sitting upright again.

  “Sorry, …I got the chance to come to bother you, yet this happened.”

  “Uh, I’m not mad at you. It’s just that, well, this is the same everything. …The so-called entertainment, there’s no need to force yourself to do it when you’re not feeling it, right?”

  “Well, …you’re right. …Sorry, I was being impolite to gaming as well.”

  He held his canned coffee tightly and looked at my eyes again as he continued.

  “So, this is to wipe out all of my cowardly emotions. Kiriya-sama, since you’re an experienced university student, there’s something that I want to talk to you about…”

  “O-Okay, ask me anything. I’ll answer you since I’m older.”

  Ay, I should say that I’m an “onee-san” studying at university. I guess this part won’t affect anything, right. Yep.

  I patted my thin chest and urged Keita to say it out loud. So, he cleared his throat with a cough and sat upright. “Well…” …He threw the question at me.

  “How should I get along with my ex-girlfriend?”

  “That’s an explosively normie question.”

  It’s way off from what I can answer. I, Ayumu Kiriya, never went out with someone before, and I likely never will. Of course, I won’t have a so-called “ex-girlfriend.” …It’s more like before I can even answer this question, my body and soul are both of a girl. It’s hard for me to imagine an “ex-girlfriend” out.

  Sweat appeared on my forehead. I decided to get more intel out of Keita first.

  “Uh, …w-what kind of question is that? Is it like something for your friend? Or, don’t tell me it’s your own problem, Keita?”

  “Eh? Ah, …I guess you can say it’s something my friend encountered too…”

  After Keita mumbled a bit hesitantly, he scratched his cheeks and answered.

  “Uh, it’s because this is quite complicated. Please allow me to skip over the details, sorry.”

  “It’s fine. I don’t really mind…”

  Although I replied like that, a seed of worry appeared in my heart. Don’t tell me Keita and his girlfriend broke up because of me. Ay, …it doesn’t feel like that from his attitude…

  Keita continued hastily.

  “A-Anyway, Kiriya-san, I should say, right now, all I want to do is to give you an ‘ex-girlfriend’ questionnaire. Yes, if I can hear your stance on how you would get along with your ex-girlfriend, that would be an excellent reference for me.”

  “Uh, no, I mean…”

  Crap, what’s happening? I never thought that someone would ask me how he should face his ex-girlfriend in my life.

  However, I’ve always put up the senpai face in the past. I don’t think I can get away if I say, “I actually never went out with anyone” right now. At least, I need to find one more person to talk this out with Keita-

  -Wait, uh, I got it! That person is free at this time, anyway…

  “W-Wait, Keita! I’ll bring help here right now! There’s a good helper!”

  After I said that, I ignored Keita, who’s still confused, as I quickly stood up from the chair.

  Then, around 3 minutes later-

  “…What is this?”

  In my living room, there’s a university lady that looks upset because she was suddenly dragged from her room next to me – Ao Saika.

  It’s 5 PM currently. She just got home from university. Initially, I think she was enjoying her late “personal tea-time” elegantly. Thanks to that, her hair is messed up, and bits of chocolate remained on her lips.

  I can only point toward my lips to show her. She snapped out of it and said, “Excuse me.” After that, without bothering to ask me, she dashed inside my room’s toilet. So, I don’t know how she did it, but after 30 seconds…

  “Sorry for making you wait. Ara, Keita Amano-san, it’s been a while. Good to see you.”

  The usual, …no, the “perfecter” “wealthy lady Ao Saika” came back with a charming smile.

  (…I feel like this girl is explicitly trying to put up a “high-classed” attitude in front of Keita…)

  Is it because she wants to act like a senpai to him, just like me?

  In reality, Keita freaked out and remained still. He barely managed to mumble a greeting out.

  “I-It’s been a while, Saika-san. Uh, …I feel kind of sorry for calling you here because of me…”

  “Hmm? What? …For you?”

  Ao tilted her head. Come to think of it, I haven’t explained why I brought her to my house yet.

  I gave a simple explanation of what happened between Keita and me to Ao. But, even so, Ao still looks like she doesn’t understand at all.

  “I understand. However, what does that have to do with bringing me here?”

  Keita shared the same question too. Just as he’s also looking at me confusingly, …I puffed up my chest and answered.

  “Uh, doesn’t Ao give off an ‘ex-girlfriend’ feeling already? Should I say you look like a mistress?”

  “I’ll grab you by the neck and suffocate you.”

  Ao protested furiously. I answered with a bitter smile as I pressed on.

  “So, what do you think, the girl that gives off an ‘ex-girlfriend’ feeling? How do you want boys to treat you?”

  “Uh, I don’t know. After all, I never dated any boys.”

  “Eh?”

  “Why are you two so surprised? I’m sorry. I have a questionable face, anyway. I’m just a tragic side character that can only help to smooth things over!”

  Ao crossed her arms and pouted before turning away, hinting that she’s throwing a tantrum. I can only smile bitterly. However, …Keita asked her sheepishly.

  “Uh, Saika-san, did you just say…you never dated any boys?”

  “Hmm? Yeah, it’s not just that. I can’t hope to date anyone, even though I look like a mistress.”

  Ao still answered with a temper. So, Keita…tilted his head in confusion.

  “Eh? But, well, aren’t Kiriya-san and Saika-san dating right now…”

  “!”

  Suddenly, Ao and I remembered that setting. We immediately became alerted and looked at each other.

  Crap. I forgot about this completely. Yes, yes, yes. If I remember correctly, …I lied to him because of the bra incident. Since Keita came with an unexpected question after a while, I already forgot what happened on that day.

 

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