For Some Reason The Girl Who's Too Popular Only Drinks with Me - Volume 1 Chapter 4.4

“Um, I was called here by Sugino-senpai.”
I began by explaining the situation to a surprised Hamasaki Mai. She checked her phone, then said “Ah” and nodded several times loosely.

“So, that was it. Yeah, Sugino-senpai, um.”

“Um? So what does that mean…?”

“Don’t worry about it. This person, he’s Kirishima-kun from my club. He came as Sugino-senpai’s proxy.”

Hamasaki Mai moved the conversation along, ignoring my question. Since she went out of her way to introduce me, I couldn’t just ignore it and gave the guy identified as “Kadowaki-kun” a simple “hello” with a slight nod.

“Hello, I’m Yu Kadowaki, second year in the Faculty of Business Administration, nice to meet you.”

Kadowaki-kun grabbed my hand with a bright smile and forced a handshake. It seems he’s decided not to ignore me this time, but what’s with this distance? It’s annoying.

While I was forcibly responding to Kadowaki-kun’s handshake, I greeted him again.

“Then, since everyone’s here, let’s go. Do you two like barbecue?”

As soon as the handshake was over, Kadowaki-kun immediately took charge. Well, he was the one who invited Hamasaki Mai, and I was just tricked by Sugino-senpai into coming, so I didn’t mind him leading.

The three of us chatted and headed to our destination. The restaurant was just ahead, inside the building’s elevator. “Ginshishi,” the name of the barbecue place. I briefly wondered about choosing barbecue for the first date with a girl, but originally it was supposed to be three people, so there shouldn’t be a problem.

The elevator arrived, and the doors opened. As a popular restaurant, there were naturally other customers besides us entering the elevator.

Since we started as two plus one, I was inevitably separated by a wall of people and missed the elevator. The two looked puzzled at me standing outside, so I waved my hand lightly, indicating it was okay.

“Ah, you go ahead.”

“Sorry, getting off!”

I was about to tell them to go ahead when Kadowaki-kun came off the elevator. Hamasaki Mai also looked a bit surprised but followed him down.

Now it was my turn to be puzzled. Why did they come down?

“It’s just on the third floor. Let’s all take the stairs.”

With a friendly smile, Kadowaki-kun headed for the stairs.

Could it be he came down out of consideration for me? No, probably not. He probably just wanted to show Hamasaki Mai he could be considerate. But still…

Even if the goal was different, the fact he made a move not to leave me alone is something I should somewhat appreciate.

Kadowaki-kun seems different from the other guys I’ve drunk with before. Watching him chat and laugh with Hamasaki Mai as they climbed the stairs, I heightened my guards but also felt a slight sense of relief deep inside.

Kadowaki-kun entered the restaurant first, followed by Hamasaki Mai, and then me. It seemed he had made a reservation in advance, as we were smoothly guided to our table without any fuss.

It was a semi-private table booth. Kadowaki-kun sat at the far seat, and I took the seat directly across from him. Lastly, Hamasaki Mai sat next to me, by the aisle. When she sat down, Kadowaki-kun placed his belongings on the far seat and sat by the aisle, directly across from Hamasaki Mai, effectively.

Watching their movements, I nodded in understanding. Whether it was basic behavior or something unique to those experienced in socializing, I couldn’t tell, but at least Kadowaki-kun’s actions felt smooth and natural.

“Kirishima-kun, can I hang my coat, please?”

While I was impressed by Kadowaki-kun’s actions, Hamasaki Mai on my side handed me her coat. I wondered why for a moment, but not wanting to be outdone by Mikami-senpai and the others, I answered “Of course,” as smoothly as possible, taking her coat to hang it up.

Feeling like I managed to be considerate, but also hearing a voice in my head saying “You should have hung it up before she asked,” I tried to ignore it. Annoying, I know.

As I was having this internal conversation, the coat I had just hung up fell on top of me. It seems I didn’t hang it properly.

“Whoa! Sorry, Kirishima-kun, are you okay?”

“No, I’m sorry. I’ll hang it up again.”

When the coat covered my head, I was filled with the scent of Hamasaki Mai’s coat, but of course, I couldn’t enjoy that situation for long. Or rather, I’m not so perverse that I would stay sniffing her coat with her right there, so I quickly removed the coat and hung it up again.

“Hey, what did Hamasaki-san’s coat smell like?”

While I was rehanging the coat, Kadowaki-kun teased me with a grin. He’s the kind of person who would say something like that.

Asking such things to someone you’ve just met. I managed to keep my reaction off my face while responding to his question.

“Ah, that. It had a sophisticated sweet scent.”

“Don’t just answer like that so normally!”

“A sophisticated sweet scent, huh? Can I smell it too?”

“Sure.”

“No way! Don’t make deals like that!”

Hamasaki Mai hurriedly intervened, and the mood lightened a bit.

After some casual exchanges, we finished our first round of orders. Thankfully, I wasn’t ignored this time, so I didn’t have to order beer for myself.

I’m not the type to be happy about such minor things, but it was slightly more comfortable than the first time, albeit only a little.

“Don’t let your guard down,” warned the suspicious part of me inside. They must not think well of me. After all, it was supposed to be two girls and one guy, but it turned out the opposite, and the addition turned out to be a lackluster introvert like me. They’re quiet now, but that might change as they drink more.

I must not let my guard down. As I took the draft beer handed to me, I further expanded the cold part of my heart.