Chapter 33 Amami-san, Once Again

The sleepover incident was resolved peacefully with both our mothers apologizing to each other. There was also a subtle change in our relationship.

Good morning, Umi!

You know its the second time you greeted me this morning, right? Well, whatever, good morning, Yuu. Anyway, whats up? You look so happy this morning.

Eh ~? Umi, did you forget ~? Today is the day for that, you know?

Amami-san snuck in a wink at me. Today was Wednesday. Right I promised Amami-san that Id make her some sweets.

Since it was the week right after the incident, Id honestly rather not do it this week and move the date to the next week instead, but I couldnt bring myself to disappoint Amami-san like that, so I decided to keep my word.

I already told my mom about this beforehand. Ever since the little incident with Asanagi, she made me promise to tell her whenever I brought a girl home. In other words, I needed to tell her whenever Asanagi came over to play.

I remembered my moms expression when I told her about this.

She comically fell out of her chair.

U-Umi-chan wasnt enough for you, so you snatched her best friend as well? Ahh My recluse son had turned into a harem manga protagonist before I knew it!

Is calling your son a harem manga protagonist even appropriate? Anyway, I explained to her that both Amami-san and Asanagi were just my friends, but my mom insisted on making me introduce Amami-san to her. I had a hard time refusing her demands.

Well, on the bright side, she paid for the ingredients we were going to use today and the quality was quite good too.

Eh? What is it, what is it? Yuu-chin, are you gonna play with Umiumi again? Can I tag along ~?

Ninacchi, sorry! We planned to hang out at Umis place today, we cant invite you, sorry!

Yeah, sorry about that, Nina. Yuu will make up for it later, okay?

Hmmm Well, okay then

Nitta-san reluctantly agreed to it. Today, both Asanagi and Amami-san planned to go to my home separately, so even if they were tailed by her, it should be easy for them to shake her off.

[Maehara: The thing with Nitta-san, will it be okay?]

[Asanagi: Shes probably gonna tail us, but dont worry about it.]

[Maehara: Got it. Then, see you after school.]

[Asanagi: Got it. Im looking forward to your homemade sweets.]

[Maehara: Its nothing special though]

[Asanagi: What? Are you humble-bragging to both me and Yuu now? You know were hopeless at housework so youre trying to rub it on our faces, is that it?]

[Maehara: Cry about it.]

[Asanagi: F*** you.]

As usual, I tried to sneak a look at Asanagi because normally she would secretly wave her hand at me or do something under everyones noses.

Ugh.

She had been acting strange since the beginning of this week. She kept turning her gaze away from me whenever we made eye contact in class and sometimes when I ran into her outside the classroom, she would just ignore me completely.

She wasnt trying to avoid me or anything since we were still texting each other like usual, but the fact that she had been acting like this for days now bothered me a little.

Ill get a chance to be alone with her today, I guess Ill ask her later.

* * *

After school was over, I went home and prepared everything for Asanagi and Amami-sans visit. Not long after I had finished preparing, both of them arrived and entered my house.

Hehehe ~ Ill be in your care today, Maki-kun.

M-mhm Likewise, Amami-san You too, Asanagi-san, Ill be in your care.

Ahh, likewise Um Sorry for being the third wheel today

Today was the first time Asanagi came to hang out with me outside of the weekend. Maybe it was due to Amami-sans presence, but our conversation felt slightly awkward today.

It would probably have been fine if we were to talk more casually with each other, but whenever I tried to speak with her, my thoughts would wander into last weeks incident and throw my mind into disarray, leaving me with this awkward feeling.

Jeez, Umi, Maki-kun, stop being this stiff! Especially you, Umi! Since you are both friends, you should try to talk more casually like you always do!

Eh But Im more like the friend of a friend to Maehara-kun though

That shouldnt stop you two from getting along! Okay, fine. Both of you, shake hands!

It wasnt like this was the first time we shook hands. Hell, we held hands a few times previously, and Asanagi even patted my head on more than one occasion. So why am I feeling so tense?

Asanagi and I looked at each others hands.

Good, good Now get along, you two!

Uhh The Princess has spoken so, yeah

R-right

I lightly squeezed Asanagis hand.

Her hand felt soft and smooth like always. Sora-san seemed to care about her appearance a lot, so Asanagi probably learned to maintain her body from her. That was why her skin felt so smooth.

My hand, however, was rough because I had to work with detergents every day. The differences between our skins texture surprised me.

Uhm Im gonna go and prepare some more stuff, so you two should sit down and watch TV or something.

Id like to help, but I think I would only be a bother to you Umis the same as me, so it cant be helped, huh?

Right, we should just stay out of Maehara-kuns way for now.

I left both of them and went to the kitchen.

As planned, I was going to make banana souffle pancakes.

It wasnt a complicated dish to make. First, separate the yolks of the eggs from the whites, then beat the egg whites until they form stiff peaks. Next, mix the yolks with mashed bananas. And finally, fry them.

Of course, there were some tricky details involved when making it, such as when to stop when mixing the bananas with the meringue, but youll get used to it as you practice more.

Alright, now we wait Huh, what are you two up to?

I was preparing the coffee while waiting for the pancake when I noticed that the two girls were messing around with something.

Ah, sorry, were borrowing your game Wait, Umi, thats not fair!

All is fair in love and war! On the battlefield, if you let your guard down, youll be killed! Understand?

Apparently, both of them were playing the game that Asanagi and I usually played.

Seriously, that Asanagi hold back a little, Amami-san is a beginner, you know?

Not that I can reprimand her for it since I did the exact same thing to her.

Hey, Umi, why are you so good at this?

Well, lately, Ive been playing this game in my brothers room, thats why Anyway, its my win, so my portion will be bigger! Lets go, eat everything before it gets cold!

Muu Umi!

Haha! Dont worry, young grasshopper, first we eat, then Ill teach you everything I know after we are done.

Really? Then, Ill be in your care, Master!

Master huh Well, likewise, my disciple!

I never expected that Amami-san would be interested in video games. She looked really excited when playing.

Well, I guess Ill need to report to mom that they would be staying here for a while longer.