Chapter 30
The food that flew out of Vita's mouth landed on Emily's clothes.
“Ah, sorry-!”
“Ah, it's okay.”
Vita wiped the food splattered on Emily's clothes with a handkerchief, looking flustered.
‘Ugh, seriously.’
He'd finally been earning points with the person he liked, but that bastard Carlisle had completely ruined it with his nonsense.
So Vita shot Carlisle a sharp, annoyed glare for no reason.
Emily was thoroughly flustered by what Carlisle had just blurted out. At the same time, she felt a little relieved by Bianca Shamal's reaction.
‘Could it be that this girl really…’
Didn't like Carlisle?
To Emily, Bianca Shamal looked merely annoyed.
‘Well, yes. Bianca already said she likes someone else.’
Still, Carlisle's attitude stung a little.
If Emily hadn't heard those words, she might have realized that Bianca Shamal's reaction wasn't just irritation.
The two of them were bickering—Vita and Carlisle, of course.
“Are you going to keep spouting nonsense?”
“I'm not. Nonsense.”
Emily smiled awkwardly and spoke to the two of them.
“It's okay, everyone. Hardly any of it splashed on me, anyway.”
“Ugh… still.”
“It's only a school uniform, anyway. We can just wash it.”
Anyway, the situation was settled for the time being.
The three resumed lunch, and this time Emily and Carlisle chatted amicably.
“You're feeling all right, aren't you?”
“Yes, of course. It's all thanks to you worrying about me, Carlisle.”
“What did I do…?”
“You even came to visit me when I was sick.”
Carlisle had come to visit her?
In an instant, Vita choked, and the food he was eating literally wouldn't go down.
Something... all of a sudden.
Vita didn't know what had caused it, but that was what happened.
“I was so happy then.”
Fortunately, Emily had her head bowed toward the floor shyly, so she didn't see Vita's expression.
Carlisle was aware of Vita—and of his childhood friend, Emily Swan, as well.
This situation was quite troublesome, after all. The fact that he'd visited another girl who was sick had come to light.
But there had been a perfectly valid reason, and he'd only gone because of a matter related to sponsorship. After briefly recalling that, Carlisle Schultz said,
“I happened to need to see your father too, so I combined the two.”
The only girl Carlisle liked was Bianca Shamal. Emily Swan was merely his childhood friend.
Carlisle conveyed that message to both of them, but the timing was a little unfortunate.
“Ghk—ngh—”
He choked again. Emily went to Vita's side and patted him on the back.
It wasn't intentional, but when she came closer, her natural scent wafted strongly over him.
“Are you all right, Bianca?”
At the kind, clear voice ringing right beside her ear, Vita thought for a moment.
***
‘Ah, Emily…!’
I must have been shocked just now because of Emily.
Of course, the two of them had been childhood friends since they were little.
Perhaps he had been shocked to learn that they were close enough to visit each other when sick?
‘I like Emily.’
That was all. Otherwise, there was no way to explain the strange feeling he'd just had.
Fortunately, Vita quickly recovered. It had only been a bit of food stuck in his throat, after all.
“Thanks, Emily.”
Emily smiled when Vita thanked her.
“No, it's nothing.”
She was a girl pure through and through—the ideal every man dreamed of.
So Vita simply couldn't give up.
He'd been rejected once, but there was no way he could lose to that Carlisle bastard again!
Mm, mm.
Besides, thankfully, Carlisle didn't seem to have feelings for Emily Swan, at least.
‘This is worth a shot.’
Vita thought to himself.
‘Even in anime, the childhood friend of the protagonist is usually the losing heroine, right?’
Since the two were already incredibly close, if he wanted to turn Emily's gaze toward him,
he'd definitely have to step up his game.
The meal continued.
“Emily, here.”
“Oh, thanks.”
“Emily, here's a blanket!”
“Eek, something like this…?”
Vita did his best to take care of her in various ways.
He'd actually come prepared.
A wet towel, for instance, or a small blanket to cover her skirt.
Was this how he showed off his thoughtful side as a considerate man?
‘Well, Emily?’
Vita felt triumphant.
‘I'm better at this sort of thing than that Carlisle bastard.’
Carlisle had merely watched with a glum look, after all, while Emily looked impressed by Vita's thoughtfulness.
“Bianca, you're much more considerate than I expected, aren't you?”
But then Carlisle suddenly picked a fight with him from the side.
“Why don't you pay some attention to yourself first?”
It came completely out of nowhere.
Following Carlisle's snickering gaze, Emily finally noticed it and was aghast.
“No, Bianca…!”
For starters, given where they were sitting,
Carlisle was directly across from Vita, so he had a clear view of everything, while Emily was sitting to the side and only saw it now.
Unaware of what was going on, Vita tilted his head slightly.
“What's wrong, everyone?”
Emily looked stricken. Her face was red for some reason, and she seemed to shoot Carlisle an accusing glance.
Only then did Vita realize.
“Oh, sorry. It was just so delicious…”
He hadn't left any of Carlisle's food.
“No, it's not that.”
But that wasn't it?
Emily's expression now looked stern. It wasn't merely playful; she seemed genuinely a little serious.
“A girl shouldn't sit like that…”
“She's always like that.”
Carlisle added with a snicker, and Vita finally realized it too.
He'd even prepared a blanket for Emily, but what about his own appearance?
He'd been eating his lunch with his legs spread wide.
‘Oh, my panties…’
His panties had been visible.
***
After lunch, Emily approached and spoke to him.
“Um, Bianca. Are you free after school?”
“Mm-hmm… Why all of a sudden?”
“I'm going shopping after school today, and I suddenly thought it might be nice if you came along too.”
What could the reason be?
Yes, all right... This had to be the right thing.
Emily continued speaking with a somewhat complicated expression.
“Bianca, you know. You're just so… in so many ways…”
Emily sighed, then asked again with a smile.
“Anyway, will you come? I think it might help you, too.”
“But what does that have to do with shopping…”
What on earth was the connection?
Vita didn't really know, but he accepted the offer for the time being.
“Mm-hmm, okay!”
From Vita's perspective, of course, he couldn't pass up such a golden opportunity to grow closer to Emily, so he readily accepted.
And now, this situation.
“Hmm, unexpected…?”
“She dresses quite well.”
Two girls were appraising Vita in front of her.
Emily and her deskmate, Shasha.
For some reason, Shasha had come along too, though Vita didn't know why.
-Look forward to it, Bianca. I'll teach you lots of things today.
Emily had said this to Vita after school, and Shasha, excited along with her, had chimed in from the side and ended up joining them.
Vita didn't know it, but Emily Swan's thoughts were—
She had been planning to go shopping today anyway, and bringing Bianca Shamal along didn't seem like a problem.
‘If we get closer through this opportunity…’
Wouldn't that be nice, too?
Actually, Emily did like her. There was no reason to dislike someone who had approached her first because she wanted to become close.
Especially since Vita Shamal was the twin sibling of the boy she'd offended with her slip of the tongue.
‘She's not a rival, either.’
Emily already rather liked Bianca, who seemed like a fairly innocent person.
And she had a purpose.
‘First, I have to buy her some undershorts. She's far too unguarded.’
That was her primary objective.
Even if it weren't Carlisle, Emily thought any boy would be drawn to look if a girl as pretty as Bianca appeared that unguarded.
For some reason, this was bothering Emily.
In front of the person she liked stood a pretty girl who claimed to like someone else. Even so, Emily couldn't help being concerned.
‘I have no idea what Carlisle is really thinking.’
No, actually. She felt like she already had some idea.
She felt that she couldn't let things remain this way.
For Bianca's sake, and for the sake of her own future after liking Carlisle all this time.
And there was one other thing that had shocked Emily, besides all that.
For Emily, who had grown up like a young lady in a strict household and had a particularly girlish side, there was one outrageous, unacceptable thing.
‘That, I absolutely can't tolerate…’
The character-print panties that had been slightly visible were simply beyond Emily Swan's understanding.
“A girl ought to know how to take care of herself. For a girl like Bianca not to bother with her appearance is a shame.”
Emily said this with a serious expression.
“I completely agree. That feels so refreshing.”
Her deskmate Shasha chimed in from the side, leaving Vita at a loss for words.
“I-is that so…?”
But I…
I'm not even a girl to begin with… He couldn't say that, though.
And that's how it happened.
Vita, Emily Swan, and her deskmate Shasha had all met downtown after school.
Emily and Shasha were deep in discussion about what to do.
The words Vita could make out included hair salon, underwear, undershorts, and so on.
“Should we buy things like hairpins too?”
“We probably need to buy shoes too, right?”
No, wait.
Their excessive enthusiasm made Vita uneasy about the future in store.
***
The academy's sports field after school.
Carlisle Schultz was playing basketball with some of the other students.
Thump—thump—
When his thoughts got tangled for no good reason, nothing worked better than sweating it out.
Carlisle bounced the ball, checked on a teammate in his line of sight, and passed it over.
“Hey, block him—!”
At the same time, he shot forward almost like an arrow. After overtaking two people with long strides, he sent the ball straight through the net.
After the basketball game ended,
male students gathered around him as he drank water.
“Hey, Carlisle.”
“Feels like it's been a while.”
“I've been a little busy.”
At Carlisle's words, the atmosphere around him became strangely awkward.
“Don't tell me it's over…?”
They meant Bianca Shamal.
What was over?
“It never even started in the first place.”
Perhaps there was a self-deprecating note to it.
His remark caused another stir among those around him.
They asked if the two weren't dating, saying they'd practically thought they were.
When the bothersome comments began, Carlisle didn't bother responding and walked away.
There was no need to warn them not to touch Bianca Shamal because she was his. In the first place, Bianca didn't belong to anyone—and of course, that didn't mean he intended to let anyone take her.
“Phew—”
But his feelings were complicated and subtle.
Carlisle realized anew that what he felt for her—the emotion that had slowly grown—was far from trivial.
-Do you like Bianca Shamal?
He had once been a little doubtful about that question. But if he had to answer clearly now, he wouldn't hesitate.
So Carlisle's mind was complicated by what had happened today, while at the same time, part of him found it absurd.
He wasn't an idiot, after all.
He had known for a long time how his childhood friend Emily felt about him.
But he pretended not to know for one simple reason.
Perhaps it was because he'd known Emily Swan since childhood, or because he knew her whole family; either way, he felt no romantic attraction toward her.
More than a romantic interest, she was a friend. Yet perhaps a little closer than a friend?
That was exactly how it felt.
Perhaps Emily Swan was aware of that too, since she had never confessed to him until now.
Things had been awkward enough, and then today this happened.
She probably didn't know about the rumors.
Bianca Shamal didn't know. At least he assumed she didn't.
She'd only recently transferred, and if she'd known Emily liked him, she probably wouldn't have brought her along.
But even apart from that, he felt subtly disappointed.
Wasn't this supposed to be time for just the two of them? Hadn't this been their private place?
Wasn't it too much for Bianca to bring along a female friend? Of course, he didn't even want to imagine her bringing a boy.
Did Bianca really not see him as a man?
‘But even so…’
He thought she'd definitely been shaken by him before; considering that they had even shared their hearts and bodies, Carlisle was confused.
Even on the way to the rooftop, when he carried Emily up the stairs, Bianca hadn't seemed conscious of it. He'd expected her to at least be aware of it, even if not jealous.
Instead, only Emily Swan had been conscious of him.
“Haa—”
This was giving him a headache.
So, uncharacteristically, Carlisle let out a deep, slightly pathetic sigh.
How could he close the gap even further?
There had to be some good way.
He had unfortunately told her in his own words not long ago that he respected her wishes and that she should do as she pleased. Even if it was petty for a man, Carlisle honestly regretted it.
But he could always come up with another excuse, so he kept thinking hard.
Then Carlisle happened to run into someone.
A pink-haired figure humming along cheerfully.
‘She said they were quite close, right?’
You could tell just from Lu's manner. Carlisle treated Lu like a younger sibling, not as a potential romantic rival, so he had decided Lu wasn't a rival.
Swish—
Carlisle walked up in front of Lu.
“Eek, you?!”
As soon as he came into view, Lu grew wary, so Carlisle got straight to the point.
“Tell me everything Bianca Shamal likes.”