My Childhood Friend Seems to be the Main Heroine. - Chapter 28

“Speaking of which, it’s Golden Week starting tomorrow.”

“It’s already the Golden Week, huh.”

　April, with its many events, such as the entrance ceremony and the forest school, is over in the blink of an eye, and before he knows it, it’s already May.

　And after today, tomorrow will be a five-day weekend.

　He will enter the Golden Week.

“What are you going to do during Golden Week? “

“Uh, I don’t have any plans. Well, what are you going to do? “

　Time has gone by so fast that Saito has forgotten that the Golden Week starts tomorrow.

　So, of course, he has nothing planned. His Golden Week plan is completely empty.

　When Riri asked him what he would do, he finally started to think about what he would do.

“Ah, I remember that Yu-Gi-Oh movie is in the cinemas right now. I might go see it since I heard I can get a card. What can I get now? I’ll check it out.”

“That seems good. I don’t know much about Yu-Gi-Oh, so I won’t watch it.”

“Well, it’s not for girls. Should I go alone? The cards they’re giving away are probably expensive. If I sell them after a while, Maybe I can get back five times what I paid for the ticket. Hey, Riri. Let’s go do some shenanigans, okay? You can make money just watching movies all day long.”

“I’m not going. Why do you make more money just by watching movies? I don’t get it.”

“That’s probably what everyone is thinking.”

　No matter how you look at it, giving away a card for several times more than the cost of a movie ticket is a bad idea.

　But this is not a lie or a fishy story, and it’s real.

　Every card store’s price list says they will pay 5,000 to 6,000 yen for the card.

　Well, he was just joking when he suggested this to Riri because he didn’t really intend to sell the card.

　Saito decides to go see the movie.

“So, what are you going to do? “

　Having told her some of his plans, he now asks about Riri’s schedule.

“I’m going on a three-day, two-night trip to Osaka with my mom and dad the day after tomorrow.”

“That sounds like a lot of fun.”

　It seems that Riri, unlike Saito, has some kind of big holiday plans.

　Saito, who has been camping every year but has only been on trips to other prefectures more times than he can count on one hand, was frankly envious of Riri.

“I know, right? Well, that’s about it. I don’t have any plans for tomorrow and the last day.”

“Why don’t you do something with your classmates? “

“I just went shopping with Shuri-chan last week, so I don’t want to do that this week.”

“Hmm. Well then, do you want to go get some exercise tomorrow?”

“Sure!”

　Saito suggested that they go out and play, and Riri immediately agreed.

　So, on the first day of Golden Week, the two decided to exercise and play.

* * *

　The next day.

　Saito wore a top and bottom jersey on the train, completely different from his usual clothes.

　He was going to meet Riri.

　Since he only wears jerseys for gym class or a morning run, he felt a little uncomfortable.

　However, when he had a tournament in junior high school, he used to ride the train in a jersey like today, so he didn’t feel too uncomfortable about it.

　He feels a little nostalgic when he remembers the old days.

(I wonder how they are doing now that I think of it. )

　Suddenly, he wonders how his friends are doing, who he hasn’t been in touch with lately, so he sends them a message.

　The replies came back sooner than he expected, and most of them were living their high school lives normally without any problems.

　As they were chatting about the old days, they decided to get together, and the group that had been inactive started to move after a long time.

　The conversation went on and on, and Saito decided to have a get-together with his friends from junior high school two days later.

　Saito is rather looking forward to it since it has been a long time since he has played with a large group of friends.

[ We have arrived at XX station. Please watch your step as you get on and off the train. ]

“Have I arrived already?”

　The exchange with his friends from junior high school is fun, and before he knows it, he is at the station where Riri is waiting for him.

　Saito puts his phone in his pocket and steps off the train.

　He walked to the bench where Riri always waits for him.

“Hey, good morning.”

“Hi〜. Good morning, Saito. “

　When he gets to the usual place, he finds Riri playing with her phone. He calls out to her, and she turns her face toward him and replies.

　She quickly typed something with her fingers, put away her phone, and stood up.

　Riri is wearing the same clothes as Saito today, a jersey with white and yellow lines. Her hair was pulled back in a single tail, which was quite different from her usual style.

　However, it did not mean that Riri did not look good in the jersey because she looked gorgeous even in the jersey.

“Hmm? Your expression is softer than usual. Did something good happen to you? “

“Yeah, I just decided to hang out with my friends from junior high school during the Golden Week holidays. It’s been a while since we’ve seen each other, so I’m looking forward to it.”

　──Do I look that different from usual? He puts his hand over his mouth but still doesn’t know the difference.

　But it was true what Riri had pointed out to him, so he told her what had just happened.

　The fact that she notices subtle changes that even he doesn’t notice makes Saito realize once again that she is truly his childhood friend.
　

(I was impressed by her ability to notice the small changes that I don’t notice myself.)

　Saito is impressed with Riri, but he is unaware that he is much more sensitive to Riri’s subtleties.

　Saito is the only one who can sense what Riri, a stubborn and troublesome person, wants to do.

“Hee〜, that’s good, isn’t it?”

“You should have a get-together sometime, too. You haven’t seen anyone from middle school lately.”

“Yeah, that’s right. Now that you mention it, there are a few girls I haven’t seen in a while. I’ll ask them out soon.”

　They leave the station platform, chatting and reminiscing.

　The two of them do not take the train today.

　They go to a sports center near the station. Today they are going to play badminton, table tennis, and basketball at the sports center.

“What are you going to do when you get there? “

　 On the way to the sports center, Saito asked Riri what she would like to do when she arrived at the sports center.

“Well, badminton, I guess. Table tennis is not the first thing I would like to play since we’re so bad at it that it would be a mud match.”

“Sure, the grandmas and grandpas in the club are too good compared to us.”

“Yeah, yeah. In badminton, there are a lot of people like us. It’s easy to have fun.”

“Okay. But don’t regret it later. This time I’m different because I’ve seen and learned from that video.”

“Hah! It’s the same for me. Don’t cry when I beat you up.”

　With that, the two of them started to spark each other up, and as soon as they arrived at the sports center, they started a match with the rule that the loser paid for a drink.

“Oops! “

　After a heated exchange of shots, Riri made a mistake, and the shuttle launched too high.

　Saito, not one to let an opportunity like that pass him by, unleashed a smash with all his might.

“That’s it, you’re done! “

　However, since they had been playing badminton for quite a while, they knew each other’s habits.

　For example, Saito, when he had the advantage, would hit in the opposite direction from the one he saw before he hit the shuttle.

　Knowing this habit, Riri managed to run to the landing spot and returned his smash.

　The counter was so high that it went well over Saito’s height.

“You bastard! “

　Usually, this would have been a decisive move, but Saito’s athleticism was too outstanding.

　He runs backward as fast as he can and returns it just in time.

　However, the shuttle that he returned in a desperate attempt was hit up as high as before, and now it was Riri’s chance.

　In such a situation, Saito knows Riri dares not to play a smash but a hairpin.

　So Saito tried to rush out to the front…and stopped halfway.

　Suddenly, a smash ball flies in front of him, but Saito hits it back.

　Riri’s eyes widen in astonishment as she watches the shuttle drop to the ground, not expecting her smash shot to be completely read by Saito.

“With this, the game is over. “

　Saito wins the game two to one.

　Normally, he would like to rejoice here like a winner, but the game had been a long and hard-fought one, and he had no energy to rejoice.

　They fell down at the same time with a thud sound.

“Huu, haah.”

“Haa, haah.”

　After a few moments of trying to catch his breath and feeling somewhat more comfortable, Saito got up and went to Riri.

“It’s my win.”

　Saito looks into Riri’s face from above and tells her with a big smile.

“Yes, you did. But I don’t feel so much regret when the game is so close.”

　Riri, on the other hand, admits defeat with a fresh face.

“Well then, you promised me a bottle of juice.”

“Yes, yes, I understand. Oh, help me stand up.”

“Gosh, you’re acting like a child.”

　Riri, the loser, tried to stand up to buy Saito a glass of juice, as they had decided beforehand.

　However, she has less energy left than she thought, and Saito pulls her up by the arm to stand up.

　They went to the end of the field where they had left their luggage, took out her wallet and a towel, and went to the vending machine.

“What do you want to drink? “

　After putting a 500 yen coin into the vending machine, Riri asked Saito what he wanted to drink.

“Aquarius.”

　He was going to ask her to buy him an expensive energy drink if he won, but his body was in need of water, so he asked for a sports drink.

“Okay.”

“Thank you.”

　Riri bought two bottles of Aquarius and casually threw one of them to Saito.

　Saito caught it without hesitation, opened the lid, and drank half of it at once.

“Phew~. Taste nicee~ “

“The end of the exercise feels good〜.”

　They both praised the taste of the sports drink after the game.

“What are we going to do after this? “

“I’m more tired than I thought, I can’t play basketball anymore.”

“Me too. You’re going on a trip tomorrow, right? It’s not good to be so tired. Let’s just eat and go home for now.”

“It would be helpful if we could do that.”

　Exhausted beyond belief, the two left the sports center after only an hour or so and split up after eating hamburgers at a nearby McDonald’s.

“Hmm?”

　As she leaves Saito and heads home alone, Riri suddenly feels something strange and turns around quickly.

　But there was no one behind her, and Riri told herself that she must have been mistaken.

　Because the man who had stalked her in her previous life already could not resist Riri. He knows that if he does, he will be immediately eliminated from society.

　The timid boy doesn’t have the guts to do it anymore.

　So, it’s okay.

　──There’s no man stalking me anymore.

　That’s what the girl thought without a second thought.