Chapter 89: Karaoke and Practice (2/2)

“But see, we’re worried about you. You should take the initiative.”

“Don’t put me in a spot.”

“No no, Shiina-san has opened her heart to you. Take the initiative to conquer her.”

“Mahiru does like me to some extent…I think that it’s not that she likes me outright, but that she mostly relies on me.”

Itsuki’s words might sound easy, but it was never going to be that simple.

Amane knew that Mahiru did have feelings for him. He would admit that Mahiru treasured him more than any other boy.

However, he did not think it was fondness as a girl.

Instead of a love between boy and girl, it might be more akin to trust and reliance, for they knew everything about each other.

“See, you’re saying that with that look?”

“What’s attractive about me anyway?”

Amane refuted, and Itsuki immediately slapped him in the back.

“…Ow.”

“Sorry, but you realllllllllllllyyyy have no confidence in yourself. You always try to run away when the stakes are highest.”

“…Even if you say so, I can’t help it. It’s habit.”

“You should start changing that habit. You really look down on yourself.”

“…Mahiru always says that.”

“…Shiina-san sure has it tough, huh…?”

“We’re having it tough just looking at them. This guy’s really stubborn about such things.”

“Shut up.”

Amane was starting to feel he was the one at fault after so many people had criticized him.

It was due to his personality, nothing he could do; it was not that simple to correct it. The painful memories would never vanish easily. It was not easy to forget at the drop of a hat when it happened not too long ago.

He understood he was cowardly, embarrassingly cowardly, but he was powerless to correct it.

“I’m not going to force you if you think that’s fine. If you really like Shiina-san though, and you want to date her, put in effort.”

“…You think I can do that?”

“Coward.”

“Shut up.”

“Alright alright. But I think you can be a little more confident, Fujimiya. Seriously, you’ll be very popular at school if you dress up like you did two days ago. Want some practice?”

“Practice?’

“Since you can do it before Shiina-san and me, I guess that means you can do this before those you’re close with. Say, it’s rare that we get to play on vacation, right?”

“…In other words?”

“We have wax over here.”

Kadowaki pulled out a male makeup set from his bag.

Amane met Kadowaki in the eyes, and found the latter giving a very genial smile. Faced with the elegance of this smiling Prince however, he felt a shiver up his spine.

“Shall we?”

“No, forget about it.”

“Come on, don’t worry.”

“Wait, let’s have karaoke. We’re here for karaoke, right?”

“Of course. I’ll leave it to you then, Itsuki.”

“Leave it to me.”

“You’re joking right…?”

Amane asked timidly, and was met with a hearty smile.

“We can stop if you hate it…but it’s time for you to start getting used to stares. Better to give some bitter medicine.”

“Hey wait…woah!”

Itsuki grinned with comb and wax in hands. Amane tried to backtrack, but there was nowhere for him to escape in a karaoke suite.

Kadowaki prepared to sing with a smile on his face, and Amane looked on as Itsuki messed with his hair.