NOVEL NEXT Chapter 11 - It's Not Summer Yet
“Alright big brother, I’ll go borrow some manga~”
“Sure… take your time… enjoy your reading…”
Hikari, having made a ruckus to her heart’s content, opened the room door, clutching a few volumes of manga. Her brother was already completely worn out.
“Alright big brother, have a leisurely time with your girlfriend~”
“I told you, it’s not like that…”
The words Haruya let out with a sigh did not reach Hikari, who had made her point and exited the room. Anyway, now that the nuisance was gone, Haruya started to relax again, smartphone in hand.
[Sorry for adding without asking! Take care!]
[I had a lot of fun yesterday and today too!]
[Thank you (stamp)]
“A message from Akiha via Rowin…!”
Staring again at the message screen, Haruya felt his excitement rising. Although there was a new message from Ran as well, it had completely disappeared from Haruya’s view.
[Good to hear!]
[I had a blast too!]
[Thank you! (stamp)]
[What are you doing right now??]
[Nothing much~. What about you, Akiha?]
[I just got out of the bath!]
[My hair took a pretty bad beating from the sunlight and the sea breeze, lol]
[I took extra care of it though, lol]
[The sun was really strong today, wasn’t it]
[Your hair is so pretty, you have to take good care of it, lol]
[I’m blushing, lol]
[Thanks for the compliment, lol]
In his own room, Haruya. In the living room, where her sister was also present, Akiha. Both of them were exchanging messages with smiles on their faces. Via Rowin, no matter how much they beamed, no matter how hard their hearts pounded, the other person couldn’t see or hear it. Therefore, for the current relationship between Haruya and Akiha, Rowin was a tool that allowed them to be a little more proactive than talking face-to-face.
[The sea was so beautiful~]
[Ran-chan was cool too!]
[Yeah, yeah~]
[I hope we can play at the beach this summer~]
[Yeah, let’s play!]
Imagining Akiha in a swimsuit for the second time in a few hours, Haruya beat down his own lustful thoughts and responded with a commonplace phrase like [I’m looking forward to it]. But to Akiha at this moment, it didn’t matter that the words coming from Haruya weren’t something intensely thrilling. Just the fact that she was able to use Rowin with Haruya was enough to give her a sufficient amount of excitement. Not at school, not as a rental boyfriend and a client, but purely as two classmates, they were in a space of their own, mediated by the radio waves. That alone made her feel happy.
After all, Akiha today had been protected by Haruya when the beach house collapsed. Although the meaning was slightly different, she had been held tightly, so she had already exceeded her daily limit for excitement. In addition to that, if Haruya said something to tickle Akiha’s heart via Rowin, Akiha might die of acute excitement overdose. In fact, when he complimented her hair, she was close to bursting with joy. Of course, Haruya was also feeling the same excitement in this situation.
[Even if you buy a game for your sister, will you continue to be a rental boyfriend?]
[Hmm, I don’t plan to continue it for now.]
[I see…]
[Yeah…]
“From now on when we hang out”
“So from now on when we hang out”
Both typed in similar sentences, then stopped without sending them.
“From now on when we hang out… as classmates, I guess. As friends, maybe.”
“Of course, Haruya is a classmate and we’ve become friends, there’s no mistake.”
“She chose me today to support my part-time job… anything beyond that… would be self-conscious.”
“Haruya hasn’t noticed anything, and our current relationship feels a bit halfway…”
“But”
“But”
“Maybe this summer…”
“Maybe this summer…”
[So from now on when we hang out, let’s just be normal friends]
[Then from now on when we hang out, let’s just be normal friends]
“Huh…”
“Sigh…”
Two people, sending each other the same sentences from distant places, and sighing in distant places. Their sighs could be taken as disappointment or relief, but on the faces of Haruya and Akiha, a soft smile was present.
“This is fine for now. But now that we have a connection, by the summer, I want to…”
“For now, let’s just stay like this a little longer. But by the summer, I want to solidify my feelings for Haruya…”
With the same determination, the two began to move towards the summer. Certainly, beside them, there was Ran, Ryoma, Kanon, and Hikari. The story heading towards their “long-term contract” is just beginning.
[Can we hang out again tomorrow?]
[As friends, lol]
[Of course, we can.]
[As friends, lol]
“I made a promise for tomorrow…!”
Watching Akiha’s grinning face, Kanon murmured, “It’s nice to see her having fun.”
“I can hang out with Akiha tomorrow…!”
And here too, two shadows were sneakily watching Haruya grinning, from the gap in the door.
“See? Big brother is grinning, chatting on Rowin with a girl. She’s his girlfriend, she is.”
“Well, well, he seems to be really enjoying himself.”
“And he’s cheating, you know, cheating.”
“I wonder if big brother was that popular.”
Hikari had cunningly leaked the information to their mother.