NOVEL NEXT Chapter 11
“Phew—somehow, that was tiring.”
As soon as we arrived in the room, Kuromiya plopped down onto the long bench with a weary look.
It’s just me and Kuromiya in this room.
A closed-off space, a dark room, soundproofing, and just the two of us… Wait, could karaoke be that kind of place?
…I should sit on the opposite side.
“Hey, come sit next to me. It’s hard to use the remote control from there.”
The remote control? Ah, she means the thing to select songs. Well, if that’s the case…
I moved over, leaving a gap of about one person between us and Kuromiya.
“…Why are you sitting so far away?”
I don’t know what she’s displeased about, but Kuromiya looks really unsatisfied.
“You sat much closer to Shiroshaki…”
“…Huh?”
“I said it’s hard to use the remote control if you’re that far away. Get closer.”
“Ah, okay…”
Giving up, I moved closer until our shoulders touched—exactly the same distance as between me and Shiroshaki earlier.
If she says, “That’s too close, it’s creepy,” I’m leaving.
“…Well, this is fine, I guess.”
Phew… I don’t know why, but she seems satisfied now.
“Yaay! Kuromiya, are you having fun too!?”
I aimed the microphone at Kuromiya, mimicking Shiroshaki’s over-the-top enthusiasm.
“I’ll kill you.”
Ah, so she was faking it before.
“Isn’t it odd that we left the mixer to sing karaoke in a separate room?”
“It’s fine. Those kind of mixers always turn into sham group dates when Kaneda gets involved. That’s how it always goes.”
I see, so that’s why she initially declined the invitation.
“…So why did you come today?”
“…Shut up.”
Kuromiya made a face as if she didn’t want to be asked that question and said it while fiddling with the remote control.
“Now that it’s just us, we don’t need to worry about song selection.”
“Why not just sing whatever you like? It’s not a big deal.”
“Ugh, this is why you’re a loner… Listen, in karaoke sessions like that, you have to read the room and choose the appropriate songs.”
I see, extroverted people have their own difficulties.
“You can sing whatever you like, too. It’s just the two of us, so go ahead. Sing any anime songs you want.”
“Really? Can I sing ‘Kyun Kyun♡Love’s Magical 10,000 Percent!! Absolute Privilege Declaration! Pureletsa!’?”
“Absolutely not.”
Come on, you said I could sing whatever I like…
“Ah, let’s go with this one.”
Kuromiya reserved a song with a click.
“What kind of song is this ‘Heartbreak Rhapsody’?”
“Hmm~? I wonder~? Maybe because I recently confessed for the first time!! And got rejected for the first time!! So, I kind of felt like singing a heartbreak!! Song!!”
“Ah, I see…”
She’s still holding a grudge! She’s definitely still upset about me rejecting her fake confession!
Our karaoke session turned into me making a grim face while shaking maracas to every heartbreak song Kuromiya sang.
“Ah! That was so much fun!”
Our karaoke event finally ended, and we managed to avoid Kaneda. We were now sitting on the swings in a park.
“It is fun. Singing at the top of your lungs feels liberating.”
“No, no, the fun part wasn’t that.”
“Huh? Then what was?”
“Hm? Watching your twisted face while I sang heartbreak songs?”
“What’s wrong with you? And why are we in a park?”
“That’s… ah, here she comes.”
Following Kuromiya’s gaze, I saw Shiroshaki running toward us, panting.
“Kuromiya! Sato!”
“Shiroshaki? What are you doing here?”
“I had something I wanted to say to both of you directly… Sorry for making you wait.”
“No worries. Shiroshaki, it’s fine. I had fun talking with Sato. Right, Sato?”
“Yeah, we didn’t wait long.”
“So, what did you want to talk about? …You’re not mad, are you? With the orange juice incident and the awkward atmosphere… It’s my fault for ruining the event you kindly invited me to.”
“I’m so sorry, both of you!!”
“…What?”
Both Kuromiya and I were puzzled.
“I should have stopped Kaneda. I knew this would happen if Kuromiya came… I’m sorry for making both of you uncomfortable.”
“Don’t worry about it. It’s not your fault, Shiroshaki.”
Exactly, it’s not her fault. Ninety percent of the blame lies with Kaneda; the remaining ten percent is on me for how I stopped him.
“I promised to make it fun for you, Sato, and I’m sure Kuromiya was scared… I just feel terrible.”
She looked genuinely downcast. I realized how much she had wanted to make it a fun event for me.
“I don’t mind. Today was my first time experiencing karaoke, and it was refreshing in its own way…”
Besides…
“What made me happy was that you were considerate toward a loner like me. So, if anyone should be apologizing, it’s probably me.”
“Thank you, Sato.”
“I wasn’t scared or anything because Sato helped me out. So you don’t need to worry about it, Shiroshaki!”
“Okay.”
Kuromiya neatly wrapped up the conversation.
“How about the three of us go have dinner?”
Shiroshaki made the suggestion, and Kuromiya and I exchanged glances.
“…I’m fine with it. What about you, Kuromiya?”
“I’m good too!”
“Yay! Then it’s settled!”
We watched Shiroshaki’s back as she walked ahead, excitedly pondering where to eat.
“…She’s a good person, isn’t she? So genuine and considerate. She doesn’t have a deceptive bone in her body.”
I thought the same. There was no falsehood in Shiroshaki’s words.
“She’s like the protagonist of a drama—so straightforward and pure… the complete opposite of me.”
“…Kuromiya?”
“Both of you, hurry up!”
“Ah, sorry!”
Shiroshaki called out to us, and Kuromiya ran toward her.
…Her expression just now seemed lonely, almost envious.
“Sato, come on!”
“Ah, my bad!”
Shiroshaki called out to me, and I ran after them.