Chapter 34

After school, Kamaishi and I went to my house to study .

"Welcome . "

"E-Excuse me . "

I invited Kamaishi, who looked nervous for no reason, inside the house .

Her cheerful mood that had lasted all day vanished once we arrived .

"Welcome back . "

Opening the door, Karen appeared from the inner part of the house .

"... a guest?"

"Yeah, my classmate, Kamaishi . "

"Pleased to meet you Karen-chan . My name is Kamaishi Sayaka . "

"... good to meet you . "

Finishing their introductions, Karen fixed her gaze at Kamaishi .

"Is something the matter?"

"... your girlfriend?"

G-Girlfriend?! N- No way... we're not in that relationship yet! *cough*'

Kamaishi answered Karen with a bright red face . I didn't hear what she said in the end, but she looked pretty shaken .

Karen on the other hand, muttered, "This is dangerous" which gave me a difficult time trying to understand the situation .

"Anyway, we're holding a study meeting in my room so don't barge in . "

"Study meeting?"

"Tests are close, after all . "

Karen replied with a, "Hmmm . " to my answer and reverted to sighing as if she was pondering something .

Then, seeming to have hit a good idea, she looked at me again .

"I want to study with you too . "

"Ha? Your tests are soon too?"

"Yeah, kinda . "

I felt troubled after that short exchange .

I didn't personally mind her studying with us, but what would Kamaishi say?

When I glanced at the bashful Kamaishi while thinking about what to do, she said, "I don't mind . It will be more fun with more people . "

Apparently guessing my thoughts, Kamaishi answered in my place .

If she didn't mind, then it would be fine .

"Well then, let's study, the three of us . "

"Sure!"

Thus, the three of us headed to my room .

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"... Hey, Karen . "

"What?"

"Why did you sit here?"

We used a square table to start our study meeting and for some reason, Karen sat next to me despite having two open seats .

Kamaishi, who was sitting in front of me, gave an awkward smile while watching us .

"... no reason . "

"There's an empty seat just there . "

"It's too narrow . "

It's even more cramped if you sit here .

When I moved slightly to the side, she moved again until she was clinging to my shoulder .

Listen here, you need to leave some space .

Before I was able to express my complaints, Karen leaned on me then looked at Kamaishi, a smirk on her face .

Trying to imply that she could do this much with her usual gestures, Kamaishi seemed to have run out of patience and stood up .

"I-I think sitting here is better too . "

Saying that, Kamaishi took a seat next to me but on the other side .

Just... why?

Kamaishi moved closer to me until our shoulders touched and even went further, clinging to my arm .

She glanced at Karen with a provoking expression . Karen, who was offended, was clinging to my arm as well .

I wonder what this feeling was . It was like the mood was intensifying .

As the two of them were intensely glaring at each other, I was gazing at the ceiling and thinking of a solution .

"H-Hey, aren't we going to study already?"

"Can you shut up please, Kamiya-kun . "

"We didn't settle yet . "

Um, settle what?

I spent a while silently observing the two of them before I ran out of patience and stood up .

"I-I'll go get some drinks . "

I shook off Karen's and Kamaishi's hands and left the room as though I was escaping .

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Kamiya left the room, which left Karen and I staring at each other .

Come to think of it, I wondered why I had done something like that .

I felt a bit ashamed after reflecting on my earlier conduct .

I ended up sitting next to him in the heat of the moment when Karen started looking at me with a challenge in her eyes . I hope he didn't hate it...

Karen opened her mouth while I was feeling embarrassed from my earlier actions .

"Hey, do you like Onii-chan?"

"Eh? W-What do you mean?"

I got shaken from her abrupt question .

Noticing my reaction, Karen started chuckling .

"You're too easy to read . "

"Uu... aa~"

Realizing that Karen knew about my feelings towards Kamiya, I held my face as it turned completely red .

"I love Onii-chan too . "

"Eh? S-So my perception wasn't wrong after all . "

Karen's sudden confession stunned me for a moment, but I wasn't that surprised since I already assumed that much seeing her earlier conduct .

But I was impressed that she could say it in such a composed manner . I'd definitely feel ashamed if I had been in her place .

Admiring her fortitude and her calm personality, Karen turned in my direction and bowed down .

"I'm sorry for what I did earlier . "

"Eh, I-It's fine! I also got carried away, so I should apologize as well . Sorry!"

I apologized to Karen who was lowering her head to me . Hearing my apology, Karen raised her head and we stared at each other until both of us giggled then started laughing . I felt stupid for my earlier actions .

"What do you like about him?"

Karen asked me after we had laughed for a while . The conversation suddenly turned into a love story .

"I don't mind telling you, but you should answer the same question too, Karen-chan . "

"Sure!"

Thus we spent our time together talking about our memories with Kamiya .

I talked about the time when I fainted because my anemia and when he saved me in terrorist incident .

Karen told me about her experience of getting bullied in the past and that he had helped her out only recently in a similar situation .

"Hee~ Kamiya-kun did that much, I didn't know . "

I was amazed hearing about his achievement from Karen .

He never stopped impressing me with his actions .

"Speaking of that time, I slept with him in the same bed as a way to thank him . "

"S-Same bed?!"

Hearing Karen's unexpected statement, I was taken aback, my face completely red . If they slept in the same bed that means... no way!

"You shouldn't! You two are siblings! Y-You shouldn't..."

Noticing my bafflement, Karen asked me with a mean grin .

"What are you imagining? We just slept together . "

"EH? You mean, nothing else?"

"What else could we have done?"

I let out a silly sound when she asked me that question and felt extremely embarrassed of myself once again .

So that's what she meant by sleeping together...

"Well, we're not blood-related, so it won't be a problem anyway . "

Hearing her abrupt, plot-twisting announcement, my red face immediately turned serious .

"Eh? You're not blood-related siblings?"

According to Karen's story, Kamiya lost his parents long ago in an accident and was adopted by his relatives, Karen's family .

"Is that so...?"

"Well, Onii-chan doesn't seem to mind it anyway so you don't need to be so considerate . "

I didn't even imagine that Kamiya would have such a past . Thinking about it, Kamiya is the only person I know in our school .

... I want to know more about him .

"Karen-chan, can you tell me more about Kamiya-kun?"

"About Onii-chan?"

"Yes, I want to know more about him . "

I looked at Karen with a serious expression .

Gazing at me for a while, Karen said as she giggled, "Okay, ask me anything . "

With that, Karen and I spent our time chatting about Kamiya before he came back .

—————————————————————————————————–

I'm currently standing in front of the door .

It was hard to step inside once again after escaping from that charged atmosphere .

I carried with me a well-prepared tray of juice and snacks .

(Let's do this...!!)

Knowing well that I shouldn't stand there for too long, I made my resolve and opened the door .

"And after that..."

"Really...?"

In front of me was a harmonious mood, entirely different from the one I had left in the room .

Karen and Kamaishi were comfortably chatting, and seemed to be on good terms .

I wonder what happened while I was absent .

Having doubts that spawned from the current situation, I tried asking them .

"It's a secret between girls . "

"You won't understand it . "

That was their answer .

Replying to my question the both of them called each other by "Karen-chan" and "Saya-chan" .

Just how far did they go with their friendship in such a short time?

Well, It's fine as long as they're on good terms .

Coming to this conclusion, I decided to stop thinking about it .

After that, we spent a fun and significant amount of time studying .

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Bonus

Friends

"Hey, Kamaishi-san..." ← Yato

"Karen-chan, did you know the other day..."

"Hey Karen..." ← Yato

"Saya-chan, about this part..."

"... I feel kinda lonely now . " ← Yato

"You still got me, Chief!"

"Thank you, Rouga . " ← Yato