Chapter 7
Love Battle
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Chamomile and Ami had become friends.
Being both girls, they seemed to get along well.
Of course, they weren’t interested in listening to my Comiket stories.
That’s fine—after all, I have my fellow otaku friends.
“How old are you, Kamo-chan?”
“Um… that’s a secret.”
Chamomile’s voice seemed a bit softer than when she spoke to me.
Perhaps she was a little nervous.
“They say the free XX in the anime is over 1000 years old! Kamo-chan…”
“That can’t be… she’s about 500. Ami is 16, right?”
“She’s still a kid.”
“But soon, she’ll be old enough to get married, won’t she?”
Ami’s face flushed bright red.
“W-What are you talking about? Well… maybe someday, but that’s really far off.”
She seemed unusually flustered.
Someday, Ami would get married too.
I watched her warmly, then she pointed at me.
“Yuya, this isn’t something that only happens to you!”
I’m sure I’ll get married someday too… I can’t even imagine it yet. They’re still in high school.
“Yuya and Ami would be just right. Is this what they call a good match?”
“What a stupid thing to say… No way.”
Ami glanced at me, as if wanting to say something.
“We’re still in high school. It’s too early for us to think about marriage.”
Ami nodded vigorously.
“Really? This kind of thing is normal in another world?”
“Yuya, help me with my homework.”
Ami had come home with her homework, which she’d been saving for a while.
“Give me something in return… as payment for helping me.”
“Hmm… how about a kiss from me?”
I said it jokingly. This isn’t some romantic comedy.
Ami placed her homework on the table.
“Rejected. Snacks and juice are fine.”
“What? You finally mustered up the courage?”
“Ami, do you like Yuya?”
“No way… that’s a joke.”
“I see… maybe I’m just imagining things. Then you don’t mind if I go out with Yuya, right?”
Ami’s hand holding her mechanical pencil froze.
I wish you two wouldn’t just make decisions like that on your own.
“What do I think?”
“Just be quiet,” they said, stopping me.
What on earth was going on…
As I was daydreaming, I suddenly felt something soft brush against my cheek.
“Kamo-chan! Give Yuya a kiss…”
Chamomile’s soft lips seemed to be touching my cheek.
“I’ve liked Yuya ever since the first time I saw him. You don’t dislike me either, right?”
My heart raced.
I was so flustered, I wondered if I was sick.
My face felt hot.
“See? Your face is bright red. Your body can’t lie.”
Chamomile’s fingers gently traced my arm.
I got chills.
What lie? What was Chamomile talking about?
“Yuya is mine…”
Ami muttered tearfully, clutching her skirt with both hands.
“Yuya, think carefully. Either me or Ami… You can’t choose neither.”
“How did this happen…?”
Ami likes me? Now that I think about it, that’s true.
I’d been pretending not to notice until now.
“I like you…”
Do I really?
Ami has affection for me like a younger sister, but…
“Yuya… I’m sorry.”
“Why are you apologizing?”
Chamomile had locked herself in her room.
Chamomile didn’t need to instigate me.
“If only I’d been brave enough to confess to Yuya…”
A childhood friend’s love story. A typical story.
I can’t see Ami in that way.
“I’m sorry… I can’t see you… as a woman.”
“I see. I had a feeling it would happen. Yuya’s kind, but he never seemed interested in love.”
The homework lay untouched on the table.
“I’ll help you with your homework, so please forgive me.”
“No. I won’t forgive you. Orange juice and potato chips.”
I poured some orange juice from the fridge into a glass and handed Ami a new bag of potato chips.
“I’ll forgive you if you kiss me.”
“That’s…”
“I’m just kidding. So… does that mean Yuya likes Chamomile?”
“Why would that be?”
Just because Ami’s no good, why are we even talking about that?
It doesn’t make sense.
