The night of that day.

I’m lying on my bed in my room, playing with my phone again today.

Yesterday, I overslept because I played too many games, so I promised myself that I would try to play less today.

–Picon.

Just as I was about to tap the game icon again, I suddenly heard the notification sound on my phone.

It was a notification for the Lime group with Takayuki, Shimizu, and Saegusa, which I was already familiar with.

Incidentally, the group’s icon image is now a slightly blurry picture of a hamburger that Saegusa sent me today.

Takayuki, who had been on the point for a while since then, changed it for fun.

“Thanks for today! It was a lot of fun!”

Lime was from Saegusa.

I remembered how happy Saegusa had looked while eating the hamburger, and I chuckled to myself in my room.

What can I say, but lately, just being around Saegusa alone makes me happy.

I’m sure I’m not the only one who feels this way, and I’m sure Takayuki and Shimizu feel the same way.

She is a super idol that I used to watch on TV, but she is actually a natural, suspicious, and always cheerful.

I’m sure it’s because of Saegusa’s charm as a person.

The reason why she became famous as a top idol is not only because she is cute or a good singer.

It is the existence of Shion Saegusa that attracts people to her.

To such Saegusa, Takayuki and Shimizu both immediately replied in Lime that it was fun.

So today, I didn’t fall asleep and sent them a Lime saying that I had a good time too.

I also sent him a Lime saying that I had a great time today, and that we could always go back for burgers if Saegusa wanted to.

–Picong.

After a short pause after sending the Lime reply, the Lime notification sounded again.

When I opened my phone to see what it was this time, it was a personal Lime from Saegusa-san.

Just me? What is it? I wondered, and opened the Lime immediately.

“Um, can I call you now?”

Eh? A call? I was thinking about it, but after thinking about it, I had called her the other day, and I’m not busy right now, so I replied, “It’s okay.”

Then, a few seconds after I answered, I received a call from Saegusa-san.

“Hello?”

“Oh, Takkun! Sorry to bother you at this hour!”

When I hurriedly answered the call, Saegusa-san’s voice was a little hoarse.

“No, I’m fine, but what’s wrong?”

“Oh, .... that .....”

That? What is it?

“Nothing, but .... is it no good?”

Nothing?

Hmm? What does that mean?

Does it mean there’s literally nothing there, but she’s calling me?

That Saegusa-san?

I thought it was ...., but then I realized that there was nothing unnatural about it, since Saegusa and I had been playing together today, and we had even watched a movie together last Saturday.

Objectively speaking, we should be able to get along well enough to talk about trivial things.

I still can’t believe it, but I have to accept the truth as the fact, and more than anything, I really want to talk to Saegusa-san.

“It’s okay, I’m fine. I’m just a little nervous.”

“You’re nervous? Why?”

When I replied with a hint of embarrassment, Saegusa-san was very surprised to hear me say “nervous”.

It’s not that I’m not a fan of ...., it’s just that Shi-chan is the Shiorin of the Angel Girls, and even before that, you’re too cute to be compared to me, or ...., I’m sorry, what am I saying?”

I don’t know what I’m talking about.

I was so nervous that I couldn’t help but say something incomprehensible.

“....”

There was no reply from Saegusa-san, and silence ensued for a while, as if she had become suspicious.

But I couldn’t stand the silence any longer, so I tried to call out to her again.

“.... Oh, um, Shi-chan?”

“.... No.”

“N, no?”

No? What do you mean “no”?

She said something before that, but I couldn’t catch it, so I asked her again.

Then.

“It’s not like you’re out of balance with me!”

This time she said it clearly, as if she was speaking boldly.

She clearly denied that I was in any way unbalanced with her

“Is that so?”

“Yes, I do! Because!”

“Because?

–What do you mean “because”?

I waited fearfully for the next word.

“Oh, no! It’s nothing! Good night!”

–And then the call was cut off.

I wondered what was going on, but even I could tell that Saegusa-san’s last words were clearly meant to hide her embarrassment.

Then why was she so embarrassed? That’s what I’m thinking.

I don’t think so. .... No, no, no, don’t get carried away.

One opportunistic thought crossed my mind, but I quickly dismissed it as the protagonist of a novel.

–Piccon

While I was in such an agonizing state, Lime’s notification sounded again.

“Hmm? A picture?

It was the image that Saegusa-san had sent to the Lime group.

When I opened it, it was a picture of the four of us eating hamburgers today.

She said she was used to taking selfies since her days as an idol, and the other three of us were photographed with her phone in her hand, looking a bit silly.

We looked really happy in this picture, and it was a really good picture even for me.

I looked at the picture for a while, remembering the fun we had today, and then saved it.

The smiling Saegusa-san in the photo was just so cute that I couldn’t help but admire her for a while.

I was just so happy to see myself in the picture right next to her.

–Piccon

Then, Lime’s notification sounded again.

This time, it was a Lime from Saegusa-san, addressed to me personally.

And it was a picture again.

I opened up the image that had been sent to me.

It was the same picture as the one I had just received from the group Lime.

However, there was graffiti on the picture, a cat’s whiskers handwritten on the face of Saegusa-san and me next to her, and a heart mark drawn in pink lines around our faces.

And underneath it, there was a cute handwritten message that said, “We’re together.”

It was probably Saegusa’s own response to my words earlier.

I was just so happy to see how she felt.

My face turned red with happiness and embarrassment, and I saved the image three times.