Chapter 32: Do You Like Suda’s Casual Talk? 2

“So Yuu, I recently came up with a new one-shot gag. Check this out.”

“Your topics really jump all over the place…… Fine, let’s see it.”

Suda held up his index and middle fingers.

“Nn, nnn. Yeah. Aah, aah.”

He put a hand on his throat and lowered his voice.

“Hey………… I am a short sword.”

“What the hell is that?”

“A short sword with real dos.”

“You’re trying to do a short sword pun? That’s too hard to understand. 5 points.”

“Appreciate the creativity at least!”

“You do have creativity, I’ll give you that.”

As usual, it was a completely pointless exchange.

“Yuu, I recently got to experience the true wonder of the Japanese language.”

Suda finished one topic and immediately jumped to the next.

“Hey, how are you so energetic this early in the morning!? You’ve got way too many topics! Are you a treasure trove of conversation topics or something!?”

“Humans think about all sorts of things just by being alive.”

“That sounded kinda goddess-like.”

“I am a goddess. Anyway, you know how there are foods like couscous, naan, and ojisan? Because those words already exist with completely different meanings, it gets confusing when you talk about the food.”

“I feel like something insane just slipped in there, but whatever. Why is only ojisan treated as raw……? I feel like I just heard ‘curry, ramen, and carrot’.”

“Well, that part’s just a bonus.”

“Fine. So it’s like how ‘haha’ means both mother and the sound of laughter?”

“Exactly. For example, with naan you’d go ‘Nan……? What the naan is this naan!? What is naan!?’”

“So it’s ‘Is this naan? What the hell is naan supposed to be!?’ Yeah, that is confusing.”

“Right? It’s messy.”

“The messy one is your brain.”

“My head’s clear today, remember?”

“So the foreshadowing was there all along……!?”

“You lose, Yuu.”

“I got one point taken.”

Akaishi replied in a deadpan voice.

“Hahahahahaha.”

“This is so stupid.”

While the two were laughing together, noisy voices of girls came from behind them.

Akaishi listened carefully.

“Ehh, it’s Suda-senpai! What do I do, he’s so cool!”

“Suda-senpai is in the swimming club and has such an amazing body.”

“““I know right~”””

They were lavishing praise on Suda.

While not on Sakurai’s level, Suda — as the ace of the swimming club, a handsome guy with a good personality — was fairly popular.

He had won several awards and been recognized by the school, so he had decent recognition within the school grounds.

“Suda-senpai, keep up the good work with swimming———!”

Even now, some underclassmen girls (not quite full-blown fans) cheered for Suda, praising his efforts.

“Hey Toki, they’re calling for you.”

When Akaishi pointed it out, Suda turned around and waved at the girls with a refreshing smile.

“Kyaaaaaaa! Do your best, Senpai!”

“Thanks~”

Suda gave a laid-back reply.

“Hey hey Toki, you’re pretty popular.”

“Nah, it’s less ‘popular’ and more ‘they’re cheering me on.’ Well, ever since I started winning awards in swimming, more people have been supporting me, so I’m grateful.”

Suda was different from Sakurai.

If it had been Sakurai, he probably would have slowed down so the underclassmen girls could catch up. But Suda didn’t do that.

He continued walking at the same pace as before.

Akaishi teased him.

“Since your underclassmen are cheering for you, why don’t you slow down and talk to them?”

“Me? Right now? No way. I’m walking with you, Yuu. I couldn’t do something so cruel like abandoning you to go talk to them. You barely have any friends as it is — if I left, you’d get lonely and cry, right?”

“Khh…… Don’t get the wrong idea!”

“You suddenly turned into a tsundere.”

““Ahahahahaha””

Suda clearly had a personality that set him apart from Sakurai.

Unlike Sakurai, he took club activities seriously, had good looks, a muscular build, a kind personality, was tall, had many friends, and was a trustworthy guy.

And yet, despite all that, Suda was still less popular with girls than Sakurai.

Why?

What does it mean to be popular?

What draws people in?

No matter how you looked at it, Suda surpassed Sakurai in almost every parameter, yet the heat of the girls’ affection toward him was clearly weaker.

Akaishi couldn’t understand it.

He couldn’t figure out why Suda was less popular with girls than Sakurai.

Suda was well-liked in school, and because of his personality that jumped into everything, he had many male friends as well.

Sakurai, on the other hand, had very few male friends.

So does having many male friends make you less popular with girls?

“…………”

It felt close, yet far away.

He felt like he had touched the tip of the iceberg, but it wasn’t the full answer.

There had to be some other factor.

“Hey Yuu, I’ve been talking so much, now it’s your turn to tell me something interesting.”

“Hmm……”

Akaishi had been deep in thought, his mind drifting elsewhere, so Suda grabbed his shoulder and shook him left and right.

“Stop shaking me, are you a bartender?”

“Oh, that’s funny.”

“Alright, I just said something funny, so now it’s your turn.”

“I got carried away!?”

Akaishi continued the meaningless back-and-forth.

When talking with Suda, Akaishi was different from his usual rational self. He became more like a regular high school student, being pulled along by Suda and simply enjoying life.

“See you later, Toki~”

“Yep, see ya, Yuu~”

Akaishi parted ways with Suda in front of the classroom and took a step inside.

Snap.

“…………”

The moment Akaishi stepped into the classroom, many students turned to look at him.

Their eyes were filled with various emotions.

He felt as if he had stepped into an alien space.

The previously lively and cheerful atmosphere in the classroom seemed to change in an instant. It felt less lively than before — as if many students had suddenly stopped talking, and others followed suit.

“…………”

While receiving strange looks from his classmates, Akaishi sat down at his seat.

It must be my imagination……

That had to be it. He hadn’t done anything wrong.

He told himself this to keep his mind stable.

However, several of his classmates were watching him with somewhat dark emotions in their eyes.

Chapter 32_ Do You Like Suda’s Casual Talk