What If You Spoil a High School Girl Who Looks Like a Landmine? - Volume 1 Chapter 2.2

Making Lunch is Legal 2

“They’re blooming cheerfully, blooming. Our work is literally blossoming~”

The Sunday I spent with Raihara-san ended, and it was Monday.

During the school lunch break, I came to water the flower beds in the courtyard with a female classmate—Kusakabe-san.

It’s the main task for us, the gardening committee members.

“There’s a container for giving water. “

“Yeah… I’ll water it from this side. “

“Alright, then I’ll do it from this side. “

Kusakabe-san and I divided the tasks and proceeded with today’s watering.

The rainy season will start next week.

Once it does, the opportunities for this task will decrease.

“When the rainy season starts, I guess we’ll be out of business. We’re going to enter the era of automatic watering~ “

Saying something like that, it seems Kusakabe-san was thinking the same thing,

“It’s already that time of the year, huh? “

“They’re not at our school, but the hydrangeas are starting to bloom too. Chifuji-kun, are you going to that one? The Hydrangea Festival. “

“Hydrangea Festival…? …Oh, the rainy season version of the spring flower viewing held nearby? No, I’ve never been. Don’t have any plans to, either. “

“Really, there are food stalls on weekends, and there are photo spots that stand out, so there are quite a few couples there. It might be just right for you, Chifuji-kun. “

“…uh, why? “

I involuntarily look at Kusakabe-san, and she smiles with a mischievous face, saying, ‘I know.’

“I heard it from Mai-tei, ah, no, Mai from the class 3. She was in the same class as Chifuji-kun in the second year… So, yesterday, it seemed like Chifuji-kun was on a date with a girl at the shopping mall. “

“…amazing, as expected of the girls’ information network. “

“The girl who was with Chifuji-kun, Mai said she stood out. She also said she was super cute. Apparently, her facial value is so strong that she doesn’t get dragged down by the Jirai-kei (Landmine type) fashion at all. “

“That’s true, but she’s not my girlfriend. “

“Eh~! Really? But Mai said you two were alone! “

“We were alone, but it’s different. Raihara-san and I…”

… what should I say?

Can I just normally say we’re friends?

I have only spent one day with her, but I feel like that.

However, being in my third year of high school life, I understand.

If girls hear a story about a boy and a girl going out alone, they wouldn’t easily back down.

I definitely will be asked, why did you go out together? How should I answer that?

… It’s tough, what should I do?

I can’t honestly talk about Raihara-san’s circumstances, so——

“Her name is Raihara? “

Clang, the watering can dropped from Kusakabe-san’s hand and made a noise, hitting the edge of the flower bed.

“…Kusakabe-san? “

My classmate, who I thought would quickly pile on questions, was looking at me with a frozen face.

” Ku-Kusakabe-san? What’s wrong? “

“…eh, ah, err…ah, ahaha, sorry, sorry, I dropped the watering can. Good, the contents didn’t spill much. W-well, it’s nearly empty, so that’s fine, y-yes, yes. “

Kusakabe-san is a very lively person by nature, but she spoke unusually fast right now.

She starts drawing water into the watering can from a nearby faucet.

Is it my imagination, or do her hands seem to be trembling?

“…um, well, …… Raihara, what is…her full name? “

” Amane. It’s Raihara Amane-san. “

With a clang, the watering can, midway through being filled, again fell from Kusakabe-san’s hand, making a noise.

“…Kusakabe, -san? “

“Wrong!! “

Turning around suddenly, she seems to shout.

“Wrong! I, I really like soccer!! I really do!! “

“…uh, what..?”

I’m frozen by her abrupt words.

…Soccer? What’s she talking about?

I do know that Kusakabe-san, indeed, belongs to the girls’ soccer club.

“…ah, …sorry…I said something that doesn’t make sense. “

“No, it’s fine…”

Kusakabe-san, with her hands clearly trembling, picks up the fallen watering can.

…however, I had to ask.

“…an acquaintance? Raihara-san and you? “

“…the same junior high school. That private integrated junior high and high school. I attended the junior high school there. “

“Ah, I see. …you came to this school instead of the high school division there because the girls’ soccer is strong? “

Wondering how to expand the conversation, I tentatively ask such a thing.

“…When I was in the ninth grade, a person who had competed in the Olympics in women’s soccer became the coach of this school, and it’s actually someone I had been a fan of for a long time…I found out and thought, ‘Then I want to go to that high school!’ “

“Oh, you really do love soccer, huh. “

“…Yeah, I love it. I don’t know if I can make a career out of it, but I think I’ll be doing it my whole life. …I really do love it, really, truly”
.

She repeats insistently to me, who isn’t even doubting her.

It seemed like she was reassuring herself more than anyone else.

“…Raihara-san was managing the soccer team…”

After a moment of silence, Kusakabe-san continued.

“Her younger siblings, whom she looked after, grew up, and she wanted to do something in her after-school hours. For such reasons, from the spring of my second year in junior high, she managed the soccer team. “

” Oh, that’s so like Raihara-san. Very caring. I might have met such a person for the first time in my life.”

” ….. “

Kusakabe-san’s heavy silence interspersed the conversation.

…What happened?

A quarrel or…no, it doesn’t seem like that.

“…Just like Chifuji-kun said, Raihara-san was incredibly attentive. She noticed everything, and she did everything for us. It almost feels like we forgot the pronunciation of the words ‘can you please do it for me?’ “

I can imagine, that’s precisely Raihara-san.