NTR Kousuke

Chapter 40

The Sports Festival ended, and the days passed by as we transitioned directly into preparations for the Cultural Festival.

Club activities, which had been on hiatus during the Sports Festival week, also resumed, bringing back a period of normal daily life.

At the basketball club, practice was held again today.

I've become quite used to the new team system.

Because the captain's strategy involves fluidly moving positions from PG, a game maker, to an offensive SG to utilize his shooting ability, I became the second PG. I've almost become a quasi-regular.

So, I constantly get playing time in matches.

As expected, it makes me happy and it's fun to be able to play in matches.

Days of chasing and handling the ball with passion every day!

Airi: "Stare."

Airi-senpai is the one who really says "stare."

She's monitoring me with slightly humid eyes...

Tomonaga: "...!"

Smile!

"...!"

Ni.

Behind the gymnasium, she was moving around in a sauna suit, wearing a long black wig and a mask. When our eyes met, we conversed with our eyes, and then she smiled.

Did Airi-senpai notice that?

Airi-senpai approached me during a break, laughing,

Airi: "Kousuke-kun? Did something happen with Tomonaga-san?"

"...No, not really."

Did something happen... or rather, nothing happened...?

Airi: "The atmosphere is different? It's a woman's intuition, but? Something's off."

Airi-senpai crossed her arms and pondered, as if to say she couldn't accept it.

All the basketball club members were captivated by her figure, thinking with a difficult expression, "Hmm?"

It seems there was a wave of confessions as soon as the new school year started, with everyone thinking, "Airi-senpai is single!"

Airi-senpai politely declined them all and stood alone.

"You know, I want to become my ideal self. ...Hehe! Because I'm a hopeless girl. I want to switch completely and become a resolute girl."

Airi-senpai muttered this during a break when the topic came up about how difficult it must be to decline all the confessions.

Sahori-senpai... hasn't come at all since the OB game.

Apparently, it's hard for him to show his face after being handled so well by a junior, a first-year, lol.

But he was terribly frustrated about losing to a first-year.

If he had directed that frustration elsewhere, given his talent, he could have reached even greater heights. It's truly a shame.

An unpolished gem is just a stone. It's not someone else's problem, is it?

Sahori-senpai was later seen by many laughing about how he was "fishing" for college girls at his part-time job at a resort beach, and when Airi-senpai heard about it, she gave him a cold look.

Koji moved like a rapper,

Airi seeks her ideal self ♪

Sahori is always in a resort mood ♪

Oh?!

He received a cushion from a club member.

After club activities, Airi-senpai continued to press me, but nothing had changed, nor had I been confessed to, so I answered, "...not particularly?"

Airi: "Your eyes are different! You two look at each other so gently? ...It's kind of nice, isn't it?"

Airi-senpai nodded, "Mmm-hmm," with a smile that was both happy and a little sad.

After finishing tidying up and changing, Nagase-san was outside the locker room.

When Nagase-san found me, she smiled brightly and said,

Nagase: "Kousuke-kun! Wanna go for some tea together?"

What should I do? I'm stopping by the film club today, so Yukari-san... will be late and we're going home separately.

Nagase: "Well, well! It's fine, isn't it!"

She pulled me and dragged me into a nearby coffee shop.

As soon as Nagase-san sat down, she looked serious and said,

Nagase: "Did you start dating Tomonaga-san?"

"Pfft!!"

I almost spat out my coffee...!

"...No, we're not dating? You know, right? I just broke up with my ex-girlfriend recently..."

Nagase-san's beautiful face clouded slightly,

Nagase: "But, wasn't that over three months ago? And given how you were dumped, you'd probably get over it quickly, right? No one would complain if you started dating someone else right away, right?"

"..."

I'm still dragging it out enough that I can't say anything.

I explained that I was cooperating with Tomonaga-san recently to help her re-evaluate her situation.

So Nagase-san knows the circumstances and situation very well.

Well, since our seats are next to each other and we have many opportunities to talk, she knows a lot about me, which often surprises me.

After club activities, perhaps because her collar is open, her collarbone occasionally flashes into view when she reaches for her bag next to her...

(This girl! Be a little more careful!)

I can't help but think that!

Perhaps she noticed I was looking away, because she buttoned up her blouse collar and tightly tied her ribbon tie. No, it's too late.

Nagase-san is intelligent and also a basketball club member, so we get along well. We also attend the same cram school regularly.

So we really click when we talk.

She's smart, cheerful, has a lot of topics, and knows many interesting stories.

I'm impressed; it makes sense that she's so popular.

And so, we talked happily for a while.

As long as I maintain this distance, my gynophobia won't manifest.

For some reason, I felt sorry for Yukari-san and uncomfortable, so I apologized and left the store first.

Nagase-san, her face changing from the happy expression she had just moments ago, pouted,

She pursed her lips and really grumbled, "Boo-hoo."

Nagase: "Boo-hoo, couldn't we have talked a little more...?"

It's not like anything or anyone was bad, we're not dating yet, and we weren't having any deep conversations. Even so, I apologized and left the store.

☆ ☆ ☆

Nagase: "...That's so Kousuke-kun... so devoted. Mishima-san and Tomonaga-san... I'm envious..."

Nagase Aya is popular.

If she calls, many people come right away.

But no matter who comes, it's not as fun as Kousuke.

Anyone who knew Nagase Aya would have been astonished to see her current expression, which was not her usual cheerful and friendly self, but rather had a subtle, even sensual allure.

Nagase Aya is very fond of that silent and expressionless boy.