The Idol Girl in My Class Is Acting Suspiciously

　After leaving the cafe, we were walking towards the station.

　I get nervous just thinking about the fact that we’ve been doing the “Practice” thing with each other, but after that, we’ve been having a great time talking about trivial things as usual.

　Today is no different, but these days, just having Saegusa-san around makes every day enjoyable.

　It’s a little ……, rather suspicious, but the presence of Saegusa-san, who shows many different expressions, makes even the most mundane things seem fresh and fun.

　I don’t know what Saegusa is thinking as she walks smiling next to me right now, but I’m just happy that she’s enjoying our time together like this.

“Huh? Ichijo-kun?”

　But suddenly, someone called out between the two of us.

　For some reason, I suddenly heard a woman’s voice calling my name.

　Normally, my attention would be drawn to Saegusa next to me, but the pattern of someone calling out to me, the picture of mediocrity, was so rare that I wondered who it was.
In a panic, I turned my head in the direction of the voice.

　Then I saw a girl from my junior high school standing there with two of her friends, waving her hands in the air.

　Her name was Kaori Aino.

　She was at the top of the class social in junior high school, and I remember her well because she was a very popular girl among both boys and girls.

　She had long brown hair that she wore in a ponytail, and she had eyes that reminded me of a cat’s.
She was beautiful, but she was also charming, and anyone who saw her would call her beautiful.
That’s Aino-san.

　She wore her school uniform with her white shirt buttoned all the way up to her chest, and her navy blue skirt was so short that anyone could see that she was a gal.

　Her other two friends, who I didn’t know, were just as beautiful as Aino-san, and had the same girly look as Aino-san.

　When I was suddenly approached by these three beautiful gals, who were not present at my high school, I was shamefully at a loss as to what to do.

　What’s more, Saegusa-san is standing next to me right now.

　I know that Aino-san has no intentions.

　I know she didn’t mean anything by it, she just saw a classmate and decided to talk to me.

　But still, I don’t have a good way to deal with meeting other girls when I have her with me.

　When I looked next to me, I saw Saegusa-san, who was wearing glasses as a disguise, silently looking at me with a blank stare.

“It’s Ichijo-kun, after all.
Yoo-hoo! It’s been a while!”

“Oh, yeah, long time no see.”

“Hmm? What is it? Oh, are you on a date with your girlfriend right now?”

　Aino-san grinned and immediately began to tease me.

　Since middle school, she has always teased me whenever she had a chance to do so.

“What, he was on a date? Now, Kaori, don’t interrupt him.”

“But if you look closely, he’s handsome.
Kaori likes handsome men.”

　Aino’s friends were also amused by the situation and began to tease her.

　It is often said that pretty poeple attracts other pretty people, but this was the first time I realized that.

　It was as if there were three Aino-san in front of me right now.

“I like good-looking people, and to be honest, Ichijo-kun was pretty much my type.”

　Aino-san said this to her friend with a devilish smile on her face and teased me again.

　Even if Saegusa is here, I really don’t want that kind of thing to happen in this situation.

“So? Is that your girlfriend?”

“N, no, …….”

　I tried to answer, but I was at a loss for words.

　Because Saegusa-san is not my girlfriend.

　I can’ t just lie in front of her, and if I tell her that I like her, it might annoy her.

“Eh? If you’re not his girlfriend, let’s play sometime, Ichijo-kun!

“Then trade Limes with us too! Our school is full of flirtatious guys, and honest-looking guys like this are really nice!”

　I couldn’t answer the question clearly, and for some reason, the three gals started to press me for my contact information.

“Hey, Takkun.
Do you know those girls?”

　There was no way I could exchange contact information in front of Saegusa-san, so I was fumbling to get over this crisis when Saegusa-san, standing right beside me, asked me with a smile.

　Her face was smiling, but her heart seemed not to be smiling.

　She then took off her disguise glasses and turned to Aino and the others.

“Nice to meet you, I’m Shion Saegusa, a friend of Takkun’s.”

　Saegusa-san introduced herself to the three of them with a smiling face that seemed to be sticking to her bare face.

　Naturally, Aino-san and the others had no idea that the person next to me was Shiorin from the Angel Girls, so they were literally frozen in place, amazed at the sudden appearance of a celebrity in front of them.

“Ugh, you’re lying…… really Shiorin……?”

“Yes, that’s right.
I’m just a high school student now, and a classmate of Takkun.”

Aino-san managed to open her mouth and Saegusa-san replied with a smile.

“Eh, what? Takkun is …….”

“Takuya-kun is Takkun? Right, Takkun?

　When she said that, Saegusa-san looked at me and smiled.

　　But the pressure lurking behind that smile pressured me, and I understood her intentions and replied, “Yes, you’re right, Shi-chan.”

　Then, the three of them were even more surprised when I called Saegusa-san “Shi-chan”.

“You know, I thought you two were ……”

“Well, what do you think? So, you had something to do with Takkun, didn’t you?”

“What? No, no, no.
…… We’re done here, okay?”

　Pulling a face, Aino-san confirmed to the other two, and they nodded their heads in silence.

“Is that so? Well then, we were on our way home, so if you’ll excuse us now.”

　Then, Saegusa-san pulled my arm to walk away from the three girls

　This is how I was shamefully saved from a critical situation by Saegusa-san.

　After walking for a while, Saegusa-san let go of my arm and turned around.

　Her face was puffy and swollen, and she looked unhappy by all accounts.

“Takkun!”

“Y, yes!”

　When Saegusa called my name, I hurriedly replied.

　It was my fault for not answering clearly about what had just happened.

　I was prepared to take it all in stride and receive a lecture or something.

“It’s true that we’re not really dating, but…! But today, Takkun and I are going out together!”

“Yes!”

“You can talk to the other girls! But!”

“Yes!”

“A, Ar, Are you going to hang out with her?!”

“No, I’m not!”

“Okay, then! I know it’s not my place to say, but…”

“Y, yes!!”

　Then Saegusa-san took a deep breath and continued to speak again.

“…… I, if you’re going to play with those girls, please go hang out with me more …….

Saegusa-san’s cheeks turned red, and she said these words while looking away shyly.

　The way she looked was different from any other face I’ve ever seen, and it was very endearing.

　That’s why I’m going to give a proper reply to Saegusa-san this time.

“…… Yes, I’ll invite you.
I also want to have more fun with Shi-chan.”

　When Saegusa-san heard my reply, she looked embarrassed, but also very happy and somewhat relieved.

“T, thank you …….”

“S, same to you….”

　When we thanked each other, we suddenly felt funny and laughed at each other.

　Then we started walking towards the station again, thinking of going home.

　We spent the rest of the time talking about what we wanted to do in the future until we reached the station.

　It was almost summer vacation.

　Now that I was in high school, I couldn’t stop being excited about the fun summer we were going to have.