Chapter 69: Getting close with important friends

Getting close with important friends

[Aya’s Perspective]

Taking the train for just one stop.

A little walk from there and we arrived at Kanappe’s house.

Today, it’s the three of us, Kanappe, Yukari and I, having a sleepover.

Stretching my finger to press the intercom, the long-drawn-out “ding-dong” seems like it’s stretched due to my slight nervousness.

“Ugh, it’s cold.”

Standing in front of the entrance, I feel the chill sinking in. Well, it’s December already, so that’s expected.

With a metallic clank, the door opens, revealing Kanappe in a black sweatshirt.

“Oh, Aya, you’re early.”

“Yeah, I kind of got here sooner.”

“Ugh, it’s getting so cold today. Come on, come on, come in~”

Kanappe hurries inside and I follow her into the entrance.

“Excuse me~”

There are unfamiliar shoes at the entrance. No, I’ve seen these brown sheepskin boots somewhere before.

“Yukari came quite a while ago. Both of you are such diligent students.”

“Oh, really?”

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I thought I’d come earlier than Yukari to prepare myself mentally.

But it’s true. Yukari always arrived at our meeting place before me.

Upstairs, in the backmost room, I find Yukari seated next to a low table in Kanappe’s room.

“Aya, it’s been a while.”

“Yeah, it has.”

Yukari smiles gently at me and I find myself smiling in response. I instinctively raise a hand and end up gripping the empty space at my chest.

Yukari tilts her head slightly inquisitively and her semi-long black hair softly sways. She should be wearing glasses, like she did at the cultural festival, but she isn’t wearing them today.

The usual Yukari.

Someone I got along with right after entering high school.

She’s good at reading the atmosphere around her, naturally considerate, yet she holds her own pace firmly. Thanks for reading on ManaNovel!

Unlike me, she has a knack for handling situations gracefully and her pace and vibe oddly sync with mine.

Though we’re in different classes, we’ve always been together in the badminton club. Lately, she hasn’t been showing up at the club, citing her busy studies as a reason. I’m sure that’s half true and half a lie.

“Um, Yukari, I wanted to ask…”

“Hmm?”

“Alright, alright, save your stories for when you get back!”

Kanappe grabs my shoulder and playfully jostles me. Yukari’s smiling face wavers like a ripple.

“Uh, where are you going?”

As I ask while shaking my head, Kanappe’s lips curl into a smirk.

“We were talking about hitting the sauna since there’s a new one nearby.”

“Sauna…”

I’ve heard it’s been popular recently, but I’ve never been.

“Oh, but towels and stuff…”

“Don’t worry, they rent everything there. If you bring your own towel, you’ll save some money.”

“I feel like sweating a bit too. Kana-chan, I’ll borrow your towel.”

“Sure thing.”

It seems like a decided matter. Well, if the two of them want to go, I don’t have the option to refuse.

“Yeah, sure.”

I smiled as well.

The newly opened super sento is about a ten-minute walk from Kanappe’s house. As I watched Kanappe’s slender figure walking ahead in the cold air, Yukari, who was walking beside me, spoke up.

“Aya, is that orange knit a new one?”

She peered into my black down jacket, her eyes shining with curiosity. When those eyes, filled with abundant curiosity, gaze at you, words tend to come out more easily.

“Yeah, I bought it new. It’s fluffy and warm~”

And it’s cute, I thought.

“Hehe, Aya, you really like this color, don’t you? Have you shown it to Boyan yet?”

“N-No, not yet… I haven’t shown him.”

Boyan’s name came out naturally from Yukari’s mouth, surprising me. I felt a weird sweat coming on.

“Because it’s Boyan, he’ll probably say it looks really good on you, right?”

“Yeah, maybe. I’d be happy if he did…”

“Ahh, Boyan probably says that all your clothes look cute on you, Aya.”

Kanappe turned around and grinned. That’s her teasing face.

Just give her an innocent smile and gracefully move past this. That’s what I should do.

“Not all of them.”

…Probably.

No, that was a lie.

Boyan always praises everything. He’s been doing that since forever.

“Wow, Aya, your face is so red. You’re blushing like crazy.”

“It’s not that I’m blushing… it’s…”

“Don’t lie~ Just let your guard down and melt in moments like this.”

But I can’t just melt in front of Yukari.

“Kanappe~, I’ll get mad, you know.”

“Huh, really!? I get to see Aya angry?”

Kanappe.

She’s quick to try and lighten up the tension between me and Yukari like this.

I love that clumsy and kind aspect of hers.

I, on the other hand, could probably never do that.

“Hey, what would happen if Aya got angry?”

“Yukari~”

Yukari turned towards me with the same inquisitive look as before.

Uh-oh, I’m about to cry.

But if I cry here, I’ll just seem like a spoiled child.

I have to hold Yukari’s offered hand and respond properly.

If I, who took Boyan away, remain weak, that’s not good. It would probably disappoint Yukari.

“Yeah, when I get angry, I can be quite intimidating.”

I tried giving her a slightly intimidating glare.

In response, Yukari burst out laughing.

“Really? Can’t imagine what that would be like. I can’t picture Aya being all naggy and blaming someone.”

“I’m really curious… Try getting angry at me next time. Would you actually resort to violence?”

They both looked at me with eyes as if they were observing some rare creature. They seemed to be having fun.

“If I get angry—”

If I get angry.

…I’ve been angry before.

During the school trip, when Boyan suddenly kissed me.

When he did so many, explicit things.

I didn’t understand why he was doing those things.

I was so angry, so eager to know and that anger was overwhelming.

“I’m very curious. I want to hear all about it.”

“Hey, that’s just cute, not intimidating.”

Kanappe turned her attention back to the front.

“The one I got angry at was Boyan.”

“Huh…?”

Yukari saw through it in an instant.

“Oh, I see. Aya does get angry with Boyan.”

“Well… yeah, it happened a little while ago.”

“Hehe, you weren’t like that with Tokita. But it seems different with Boyan. You’re really serious about him, aren’t you?”

Yukari smiled sweetly.

Right, I’ve always been…

I’ve been serious about Boyan for a long time.

“Yeah, I’m serious.”

So, I voiced it properly.

“Alright, you two, the super sento is here~”

As I looked, we were standing in front of a huge building. There was a spacious parking lot and the two-story building was long enough to accommodate about a thousand people.

“Oh, it took quite a while. Let’s head inside before catching a cold.”

Kanappe muttered while looking at her smartphone.

But I know that’s just an excuse.

She should have arrived much earlier – she intentionally took a roundabout route.

So that Yukari and I could talk more.

“Kana-chan, she’s quite clumsy, isn’t she?”

Yukari murmured to me in a voice only I could hear.

“Don’t tell her that.”

I whispered back in a hushed voice.

Kanappe’s green jacket in front of us somehow seemed kind.

“Well then, I’ll buy the tickets and go to the reception. You wait in the lobby. Oh, you don’t need disposable toothbrushes or anything, right?”

“Yeah, thanks.”

With a slight smile, Kanappe headed toward the ticket machine.

“Kana-chan sure is considerate, huh?”

“That’s why I end up relying on her… It’s pathetic.”

Yukari and I gazed at Kanappe together.

“Hehe, I think Kana-chan relies on Aya quite a bit too. I do the same.”

Yukari glanced downward slightly.

“That’s not true—”

“Hey, Aya, you don’t need to worry about me anymore. I have my first boyfriend too… and I’m happy.”

With a bashful look as she spoke while looking down, I saw a side of Yukari I’d never seen before.

For some reason, I began to feel embarrassed as well.

My body grew warm and my chest felt tingly.

I must be the same as Yukari.

So, I understand.

Yukari is serious too.

I’m glad. With that in mind, I can say it properly.

“Yukari.”

“Hm?”

“I’m glad for you.”

“Yeah, sorry for everything… Aya.”

“Why is Yukari apologizing~!”

“Yeah, that’s weird.”

Saying that, I wanted to hug Yukari, who was laughing.

Uh-oh, I feel like crying again.

“Hey, save all the stories for later, let me in on it too!”

While saying that, Kanappe called out to us as if she had been waiting for our conversation to end.

“Yeah, Kanappe, listen too.”

We headed to the large bath area, sticking together in an odd way.

“Wow, it’s so empty.”

As soon as we entered the changing room, Kanappe exclaimed.

Indeed, there wasn’t a single soul in the spacious area. Most of the over hundred lockers seemed to be vacant.

“Lucky that it’s newly opened, huh?”

Yukari headed toward a locker near the washbasin and we followed suit.

“Off-season, maybe?”

I raised my gaze to Kanappe and she muttered with a slightly dissatisfied expression.

“Perhaps because the opening discount was until yesterday… but still, it’s way too empty. Well, it’s kind of a random time, so maybe we lucked out.”

“Come on, let’s get in quickly.”

Yukari urged us, so I unzipped my down jacket.

A pleasant scent wafted over, so I glanced to the side and saw that Kanappe had already finished undressing.

I sighed softly in my mind.

Kanappe’s body, covered by the face towel, had an elegant streamline. She was tall with long limbs, like a model. When she tied up her long black hair, her graceful neck became even more pronounced.

Beautiful, dignified – she was my secret admiration.

“Hey, Aya, hurry up too.”

“Huh, it’s okay if you go ahead.”

“No way, we’re all going to the sauna together, right?”

“Oh, right, wait a moment.”

Seeing Kanappe head towards a body fat scale tucked in the corner, I hurriedly undressed too.

As I flipped up my sweater, a rush of trapped air escaped. I’d sweated a lot due to nervousness on the way here, so I was feeling sticky. I wanted to rinse off quickly.

I heard the clatter of a locker closing, indicating that Yukari had finished undressing next to me.

I couldn’t help but sneak a glance.

Her body was as white as the first snow and I inadvertently got lost in looking. She had her black semi-long hair tied up in a bun on top of her head, looking incredibly cute. And she seemed to exude a slightly alluring aura.

A beautifully proportioned face that had a sophisticated air about it, like a smart and well-kept doll. Though she was about the same height as me, her small face and good posture made her seem more mature.

She had a small butt, yet a rather ample bosom…

I wondered if Boyan really liked this type of girl.

I had thought that a few times, maybe even more.

Seizing the opportunity, I asked her about something that had been on my mind since earlier.

“Yukari, you’re not wearing glasses today?”

“Oh yeah, um, today… well, I was thinking of switching back to contacts.”

“I see.”

“Yeah, somehow, he said it’s okay just the way I am… my boyfriend. So, I started thinking about what ‘just the way I am’ means for me. And I decided that it’s me without glasses.”

Yukari’s gentle smile was so adorable it made my heart race. Her tightly pursed lips seemed alluring and carried an air of seduction. It was thrilling.

“That’s why we’ll save the juicy details for later when we’re back home!”

Kanappe returned, frowning slightly as she approached us.

“Oh, sorry, I’m not done yet. Yukari looked oddly sexy, you know.”

“Impressive… huh!?”

“Well, she got herself a boyfriend, didn’t she?”

Kanappe casually said to a flustered Yukari.

While waiting for me to finish undressing, Kanappe redirected her attention and pushed my cheek with her finger.

“Aya’s skin has been so radiant lately, you know? Even though she was already smooth and supple, just how much more alluring does she intend to become?”

“Hey, me…!?”

“Boyan must be struggling a lot with your charms.”

Kanappe cupped both of my cheeks and gently squeezed them, teasingly looking at my face that had been squished like a trapped octopus.

“Whoa, hee, heh, ho~!”

“…Haha, what a silly face.”

“Come on, let’s get in quickly. Here, Kana-chan, a towel.”

Yukari released Kanappe’s cheeks to pick up the towel that had fallen to the floor. She handed it to her.

“Thanks.”

With Kanappe who seemed oddly sulky for some reason, we entered the large bath area.