SCPK 32

Chapter 32 

 The Three Girls

It was the last all-school attendance day in August.

There were no classes—just a brief homeroom, some announcements, and scheduling for the upcoming semester’s events.
Some students skipped, but actually, attendance on this day was surprisingly high.

And so, as usual, I arrived at the Kannagi residence.
Today, the entire “pickup team” was gathering, so I waited by the door. Oh—looks like the other two are arriving now.
Since the Kannagi family lives on the second floor, you can easily tell when students wearing the same uniform show up downstairs.

“Good morning, Yamada-senpai~!”
“Good morning, Senpai.”

“Good morning, Sera-san, Urihara-san.”

Sera Umika and Urihara Kinori—
two girls a year younger than me.
They’re the ones who serve as Tsukiyo Kannagi’s “escort crew.”

The two of them have known Tsukiyo since kindergarten; they’re basically her oldest friends.
Among the first-year girls, the trio of Tsukiyo, Umika, and Kinori are always referred to as the three girls.

Since Sera is in the physical education department and Urihara is in the regular academic course, they didn’t take summer classes together,
but starting in September, they’ll all be going to school together again every day.

With all the caretakers gathered, I unlocked the door with the spare key and stepped inside.

“Oh! Umika-chan, Kinori-chan, good morning!”
“‘Good morning, Mizusato-senpai.’”

Kagaya Mizusato, who lives next door, had arrived too.
Now the whole usual morning group was here.

Honestly, if Mizusato-san’s around, we don’t even need a pickup team for Seiya—but since she tutors me (the top student in our grade, by the way) as thanks,
if I quit being part of the team, I’d probably fail and have to repeat the year.
So this is one duty I must protect with my life.

“Well then, I’ll leave Tsukiyo to you.”
“Whoa! Senpai actually called her Tsukiyo by name!”
“Right? Creepy, isn’t it?! Like something out of a ghost story!”

Sera and Mizusato have similar personalities, so when they’re together, things get… complicated.
Honestly, even talking back to them feels like a hassle.

“Tsukiyo—! Wake up—!”
“Ehehehe, Tsukiyo-chan, what kind of panties are you wearing todayyy?”
“Eh, wait! What are you two doing!?”

The two noisy girls were shrieking inside Tsukiyo’s room.
So energetic this early in the morning…
I could only imagine what kind of scene was unfolding in there—definitely not something I wanted to witness.

“Seiya-san, it’s morning. Please wake up.”

By contrast, Urihara is small and quiet, almost like a little animal.
Even though they’re known as the inseparable trio—Tsukiyo, Sera, and Urihara—their personalities couldn’t be more different.

Seiya, still half-asleep, rolled over so his face was turned toward her.
Urihara gazed down at him softly.

“……”

She kept staring.

“……”

“Don’t just stare at him—wake him up.”
“Ah!?”

That’s right—Urihara is another one of the girls who secretly has feelings for Seiya.
Honestly, since so many girls are in love with Kannagi Seiya, as his best friend, I have no idea who I should even be rooting for anymore.

Urihara started shaking him gently to wake him.
But that’s nowhere near enough for this guy.

“Ah… nngh, Kinori…?”
“Yes.”

He might think he’s awake, but clearly, he’s still dreaming.

“My hugging pillow…”
“Kyah!”

And with that, he wrapped his arms around the small-statured Urihara, hugging her tightly like a pillow.
Hey! That’s not okay!

“A-Awahhh…”

Her face turned bright red, and to avoid making direct contact, I kicked Seiya off her.
For Seiya in the morning, that’s the best way to deal with him.
He hit the wall with a thud, groaned, and finally seemed to regain consciousness.

“Why did you interrupt me…”
“Why am I the one getting scolded here?”

Urihara glared at me unhappily.
But I was already used to this kind of unfair treatment.

Anyway—time to get ready for school.