Did I Get Jealous?
‘Why am I trembling over something like this?’
Come to think of it, I’d only walked home with a yakuza friend I’d just made. Mitsurugi-senpai was definitely just messing with me.
"Wow, finally. I thought my neck was going to snap waiting for you~"
When I turned around, Mitsurugi-senpai was standing there in casual clothes, arms crossed, staring right at me.
"Anyway, what a coincidence~ Running into you like this. Right?"
Maybe it’s just me, but I feel like... is Mitsurugi-senpai a little angry?
Why is the color of her emotions slowly staining red?
‘No, wait. What color is that?’
I don’t know every single color of emotion. I’ve just spent the last dozen years or so guessing what this or that meant.
‘Is this for real?’
But a color I’d never seen in my life was flowing from her. Faint, but a distinct "black" was beginning to mix into Suo-senpai’s aura.
‘Black? Is this for real...?’
I’d never seen black mix into an aura before, so I was pretty rattled. I’d only ever assumed it meant something like murderous intent...
"Anyway, is the pretty girl next to you a friend of our Otaku-kun?"
"Y-yes...! I’m Akari Kayama."
"Akari, huh~ Okay, Kayama-san. Nice to meet you? I’m Suo Mitsurugi."
Why the formal address, Senpai...?
"S-Suo-senpai... Hello...!"
"Yep, it’s Mitsurugi-senpai~ Nice to meet you too~"
Suo-senpai chatted with Akari with a bright smile. For now... it was a relief that Suo-senpai was so sociable. I was worried Akari might be scared of her. Of course, Akari looked colder by nature, but the sheer presence Suo-senpai carried was bound to be intimidating.
"Senpai, how tall are you again?"
"Let’s see, 170? I think I’m about 171 in the morning."
An Attack on Titan-level Suo, hitting 170 in her second year of high school. I remembered her mentioning growth spurts when we texted. She was even a climbing expert, so she was packed with functional muscle.
Akari bowed her head and said in a trembling voice:
"Y-you’re so... tall... S-Suo-senpai..."
"Hey, it’s 'Mitsurugi-senpai'~"
Considering Akari was in the low 160s, it was understandable that she felt pressured. But pressure aside, Akari’s emotions were weird.
‘Why is she blushing?’
Akari, standing in front of Suo-senpai, was radiating a deep, rich color of embarrassment.
"Hmm, Otaku-kun. You’re walking home with such a cute girl."
It was our first time walking home together, though. Regardless, Suo-senpai kicked a dandelion swaying by the road and asked:
"You should’ve told me if you were dating someone like her."
...Suddenly, the conversation is heading in that direction?
In what world does me being with such a pretty girl mean we’re dating, Senpai? I was dumbfounded, but I checked Akari’s reaction.
"!!! N-n-no!! Yamada-kun and I haven’t even been talking for 3 days, and we are absolutely not dating..."
Yeah, Akari. Hearing you deny it so hard makes me feel like I’ve been punched, but you’re right.
For some reason, Senpai looked at me.
"...Yeah, I don’t date people I’ve only talked to for three days."
"I see~ Well, you usually need to talk for... two weeks or so before you start dating, right?"
"No, that’s way too short too."
Isn’t two weeks also insanely short? As a Rupko-addict, I feel like even a year is short for a relationship, but I guess other people see it differently.
"Hmm."
Suo-senpai nodded and kept glancing at me. Then:
"Haha, just kidding. You didn’t think I was serious, did you?"
The black aura shrunk, just a little. What on earth is that black emotion?
"...Anyway, you were out for a walk, right?"
"I didn’t expect to run into Otaku-kun, but yes, that’s right~"
Still bright and cheerful, Suo-senpai approached Akari. She stopped right next to her.
"Ah, I was heading home, but this is perfect~ Which way are you going, Kayama-san?"
"I, I’m... I live near Yamada-kun, so we were walking home together..."
"Heh, nearby? Hmm, hmm."
......
Suo-senpai nodded repeatedly, then raised her arm as if she’d made a decision.
"Can’t be helped. Let’s all walk home together!"
I don’t understand how she reached that conclusion. More importantly:
"Senpai, you don’t even go to school, so is 'walking home' the right term? Shouldn’t it be 'returning after an outing'?"
"I am your proud senior. Everything a senior says is correct, so just follow along."
Trying to pull the 'senior' card... isn’t she a bit too un-senior-like? She sends me beam-shooting emojis every day complaining about being bored...
Still, seeing her eyes burning with determination, it looked like she was going to follow us regardless.
"Akari, are you okay with this?"
I didn’t know if Suo-senpai would start acting like a live fish, but it was better to ask Akari. I expected her to be hesitant.
"I, I...! I-it’s fine...!"
But Akari, who had been shy, reacted like a spring. It was a reaction I wouldn’t have expected from the timid girl.
"Oh, uh?"
When Suo-senpai asked again, her thoughts became even clearer.
"I want to walk home with you, Senpai...!"
I wondered why she was acting like this. No, wait—was this the reason for the reaction I’d been seeing earlier?
"...Ah."
Ever since she saw Suo-senpai, she’d been radiating so much aura. This was, perhaps... admiration?
"R-really?"
"Even if we aren’t classmates, I... I’ve always wanted to walk home with a senior or a junior..."
Akari was sincere. Well, she was a girl who’d been bullied because of her yakuza connections, so it made sense she’d be happy about something so simple.
"...Hmm."
A positive aura immediately radiated from Suo-senpai, who had been momentarily flustered.
"I-is it not okay...?"
"Ahem."
She was so easy to read, I didn’t even need my ability...
"Suo-senpai, do you live nearby?"
"Yep, I live right next to Otaku-kun’s place."
"L-let’s go together!"
"Heh, what do you know. Otaku-kun, this senior has made another fan."
"...Shall we get going?"
I don’t know what the black emotion is, and oh, my head hurts. Only after I urged them could we continue our walk home.
Passing by the dandelion field, crossing a small mart, the three of us started walking together. A strange scene unfolded where Akari was asking Suo-senpai questions.
"Senpai, w-what do you use for makeup?"
"I usually just use sunscreen... How about you, Akari?"
"I, I also... similar... but... um... my skin dries out pretty quickly..."
"Heh, then do you know this brand? Try this, it’s really good for dry skin."
I felt like I was going to suffer a cultivation deviation from listening to high school girls talk. Makeup talk. For someone like me who uses cucumber soap from head to toe, it was a story from a distant, foreign land.
Akari spent a while staring at Suo-senpai’s phone, blooming with conversation. Once the makeup talk ended, Senpai put her phone away.
"So, Akari, where do you live around here?"
"I, I’m... that."
And finally, the topic changed. But perhaps because Akari’s tension was high:
"...Oh, y-you live there...?"
"Y-yes...!"
Akari had just 'yakuza-outed' herself. The effect seemed quite significant.
"I, I see."
"...Senpai?"
Suo-senpai’s eyes were shaking endlessly. Well, everyone in this neighborhood knows about the yakuza coming and going from that mansion.
‘Don’t look at her with eyes like that, Senpai.’
Suo-senpai started looking at me with a face begging for rescue. It was heartwarming to see her acting like a whining puppy, but...
"Wow, the sunset is so pretty today."
You brought this on yourself, so you’ll have to deal with it, Senpai.
"...So that’s how it is? I get it, Otaku-kun."
"What exactly do you get?"
"I’ll remember this."
"...???"
I don’t know what she’s planning to remember, but it was a scary thing to say. After that, Suo-senpai walked with Akari while hiding her discomfort. She tried to act as normal as possible, but it was showing little by little. Well, having the daughter of a family that runs a (suspicious meat) raw fish restaurant walking next to you—that’s actually a normal reaction.
‘Hmm...’
The only thing that made my heart heavy was:
"..."
Akari realized her slip of the tongue and quickly became quiet.
"I’ll head off here. Otaku-kun, you have to make sure to escort the girl, okay?"
"If there were a rickshaw nearby, you would’ve told me to pull her home, wouldn’t you, Senpai?"
"Oh, a rickshaw? That’s good. I’ll buy one later. I’ll hire you?"
Why does everything she say sound so sincere? Making useless jokes, Suo-senpai trotted off toward the apartment as night began to fall. The mysterious three-person walk home had finally ended.
"Anyway, bye-bye~"
"Yeah."
Suo-senpai waved and went into the apartment. Because she kept waving until she got into the elevator, I stayed behind to wave back for a while, and then it was finally time to take Akari home.
"...Yamada-kun, I... I-I’ll go alone."
"...?"
Akari suddenly said that. Guessing the reason, the answer came immediately.
‘She must be like this after seeing Suo-senpai’s reaction earlier.’
As expected, she was self-conscious.
"...T-today was really... fun. Th-thank you."
What was fun about it? You cried, I wanted to cry, it was chaos.
Akari waited for me to move after saying that.
"Hey."
"Y-yeah?"
"Let’s go. I’ll walk you home too."
"N-no! It’s fine..."
When I gestured for her to move quickly, she finally started walking. If you radiate such sad emotions, I can’t just ignore you. And besides, would walking you to your door really stack up 'raw fish' points?
"Hurry."
"..."
Akari nodded without a word. I walked slowly beside her.
Step, step...
We walked without a word until we reached the house where Akari lived. It was a place with several black limousines parked out front, boasting a grand, samurai-like aura. I’d never been this close before, and I swallowed hard.
"I, I’m going in."
Bow.
Akari bowed her head deeply and tried to go inside. The sadness and embarrassment mixed into her hurried pace were pitiful. Is it because she’s a girl with such vivid colors that I feel this way?
So.
"Hey."
"Hut! No, yeah...?"
I said one thing to Akari. Just a casual remark, tossed out as I passed by.
"Try living without worrying about how others react. You’re allowed to do that."
"............"
It’s not like I’m one to talk, since I’m the one who worries the most because I’m scared of sashimi, but still. Your emotions are too vivid and flashy, it’s exhausting for me. I don’t know what kind of life you live, but Akari was too hunched over. So, wouldn’t it be okay to live a little more shamelessly?
"It’s useless advice, so you can ignore it. Anyway, I’m off."
I turned around. I thought I’d finally escape this nerve-wracking place and enjoy a vacation in the Rift with Ishikawa.
Trudge, trudge.
Hmm.
As I walked, I felt a tingle on the back of my head and looked back.
"...Ha."
Akari was standing there watching me from afar instead of going in, so I waved at her. She stood there blankly, then jumped in surprise—it was cute.
"Geez..."
Only then did Akari hurriedly go inside. Being timid might be inconvenient, after all.
‘Is it because of the sunset?’
By the way. Some color had just spread all around Akari earlier—what was that?
Hmm.
Well, I couldn’t see it because of the sunset, so I’ll just forget it. It probably wasn’t anything important.
* * *
Meanwhile.
"..."
Sitting alone in her room in the empty apartment, Suo hugged her pillow.
What happened earlier. She remembered being unnecessarily mean to a junior she didn’t know well. And in front of her friend, Jun Yamada, at that.
Would she make a mess of her bed and feel embarrassed again? Would she kick her cushions and run around the house squealing like she did last time?
No, not this time.
"...Did I get jealous?"
Instead of acting like a child, Suo Mitsurugi picked up her phone and fell into deep thought. What kind of emotion is this?
"...Jealousy."
Did I really? If I did, why? Was I that annoyed that Jun made a friend? Wow, then I’m a really bad person. I must be a very narrow-minded, bad girl.
But if that’s not it...
"...School, I really don’t want to go, but why..."
As she realized it subconsciously, a thought occurred to her. Even if it’s just a little, she wants to go.
Why?
"...What do I do?"
For some reason, without her even knowing, a strange color began to intrude upon Suo Mitsurugi’s youth.