I returned to the head office after finishing today's delivery without incident.
　When I went into the changing room to change from my work clothes into my civilian clothes, I found that Sanya, who had returned before me, had changed.

''Osssssssss good job.
Oh, good job.

　I gave her a quick word of thanks and relaxed in the resting area after getting dressed.

'It looks like Amana-chan has healed you again today.
Thanks to you. And actually...

　He talks to Miya about the relay of parents participating in the school's sports day at Amana's school.
　Of course, Amana's gaffe is a secret.

　After we parted ways with Amana and the others, I've been thinking about the future of practice in my own way.
　If you practice in the dark without any concrete methods, you won't learn anything and it would be a waste of time.
　It's a waste of time. It's a shame for those girls to practice with such an inefficient method.

　But then I remembered Miya's career and decided to ask her to do a favor at the same time as telling her about the sports day.

'Aren't you already asking me to marry that!
What's the point?　They only trust me as a person!

　After listening to the story, I deny Sanya's too straightforward impressions.
　Even though it wasn't my intention, I was slightly pissed off at being dug up for this morning's misunderstanding.......

''No, no, it's normal?　I mean, do you want to be in an elementary school parent-teacher relay just because you don't know each other?　Isn't that what you mean when you nominate Wa in such common sense?　
It was Amana-chan who nominated me for the job, remember?
But it was you who asked directly for help, right? It's not a good idea to listen to a guy who seems to be having a hard time with it, but don't just ask him about a fling.
So no, I'm not...

　What you're saying seems reasonable, but it's unexpected that you're in love with him.
　I don't know, I've been getting this kind of reaction lately.......
　Well, you won't have the opportunity to get to know a beautiful woman like Amanashi anytime soon, so I don't understand why you're jealous, but it's so obvious that you lose your sense of guilt.

　If this is the case, there's no end to it, so let's get down to business.

'Didn't I tell you that Miya is a former track and field team member?　I thought it would be better for Amana and the others to hear an efficient method from an experienced person than for me to teach them with my amateur knowledge...
That's not wrong in a way, but you do know why I did it, right?

　I thought it was a good idea, but it doesn't look good around the reluctant expression on my face.
　As I recall, the reason why Miya joined the track and field club is........

I'm not sure if it's for the sake of being popular........
That's right!
"Wow, that's so stupid. It's so annoying.

　I was unintentionally annoyed.
　Well, in essence, I understood what he was trying to say, 'Don't expect it just because you're a former track and field guy.

' "Still, the difference in experience is invaluable. I feel bad about asking you to go out on your day off, but I'll make it up to you, please.
Mmm~....

　Further, in response to his plea to bow his head, Miya crossed his arms and groaned.
　When I saw that, I felt the opposite of anxiety, a sense of relief.
　I've been with this guy for a long time, so I know that if I can get this pretense out of him, he'll practically accept it on my terms.

　Eventually, the untied hands were placed on his waist, and Sanya exaggeratedly let out a sigh....

''──I want to see Amari-san at a glance. If you're willing to accept on those terms, I'll take it.
What...?

　As a rule of thumb, he told me the terms.
　The reason I was so disappointed was because it was so simple.

'Do you just want to meet Amari?　Not buying you a drink or anything like that?
I thought about it, but I've never met Maou-chan and I've never met her, right?　And yet both of you are talking about Amari-san, and I can't help but be curious about it already.
'So you want to take the opportunity to meet him...'

　If you put it that way, does it make sense...?
　It would be up to Tenashi whether or not to meet with him, but as for me, I have no reason to say no if all I have to do is mediate.

I'm not going to let you do that. I won't forgive you if you try to seduce Kazu just because she's Amana-chan's mother!
'Who do you think you're talking to? First of all, if you look at Amana, you'll know how good a woman Amana is.
Don't crush the blurbs with a more convincing tweak than this...

　It seems that since he's acquainted with Amana-chan, there's no way for Miya to deny it.
　If Amana's character was bad, Amana wouldn't have grown up to be such a good kid.

　There's no way that's possible, even on a particulate level, though.　

"So what are you going to do?
'It's up to Tenashi, I guess.　I'll ask him when I see him tomorrow.
Then it's decided. I'll ask Mao to coordinate my schedule tomorrow.

　And so the negotiations became a tentative decision for the time being.
　Even though it hasn't been confirmed yet, it seems to have already been decided in Sannya's mind.

　He's not a bad guy and Amana-chan has met him before, so it's unlikely that Amana will refuse.
　Now I can work on my practice without worrying.......that was when I thought that.

'Marao?'
Wha, Kazu-kun...

　Mao was standing at the entrance of the rest area.
　If he had just listened, he would have only had to lightly tell her what was going on.
　What didn't happen was.....




''─Why are you crying?
I'm just tired, that's all.
Oh, hey!

　It was because she had tears in her eyes behind her glasses.
　I asked her on the spur of the moment, not knowing why, but Mao turned on her heel and tried to leave.

　Although she continued to be blatantly avoided, I grabbed her arm to stop her from feeling like I couldn't leave her crying in a quandary.

Let go of me.
Well, at least tell me why you're crying. If there's something wrong with me, I apologize...

　She stares at me with a look I've never had directed at me before, and my whole body cowers for a moment, but I still don't let go of Marao's arm and ask her a question.
　However, she still refuses to make eye contact, and I can't read what she's planning at all.

''Well there's nothing for you to apologize for, Kazu-kun. I'm just defending my position--
Don't avoid me as a colleague if you know what I'm talking about. I'm here to listen to your problems, and I'm not that dependable.
'That's not true. There's no one as kind as Kazu-kun but that's why I can't just say that to you, Kazu-kun.
''~~ What's that, don't be so stubborn!
I...

　I don't understand what Mao means, and I yell out loudly beyond my patience.

　What the hell, really........
　I can't help but be worried that I've done something because of the sudden distantness, but I don't even try to say why.

'What's the position of being able to plead between us?　I don't understand why you can talk to Miya about it, but you can't talk to me alone...

　Once the cork is turned off, all the complaints that have been pent up deep inside come out one after another.
　This is not something that can be endured, no matter how much Amana-chan soothes you.

　Mao may not be able to ignore the shouting that carried such inadequate feelings.

''Because we're colleagues!　It's not like I'm bringing my personal feelings into my work, cuz it's none of your business!
"I don't think we're shallow enough to say 'yes, that's right!'
'On the contrary, it's not even deep!　Why don't you just leave me alone and get along with Amana and Amari!
Oh, I'll let you!　
You should have done that in the first place...　

　After a lot of selling and buying words, she let go of Marao's arm and broke free, and this time she walked away.
　Perhaps because she hadn't snapped out of her emotions in a long time, her anger didn't seem to subside even when she was out of sight.

　I especially didn't like the fact that she said 'not a deep relationship', which I didn't like the most.
　It's because it reminded me that we were at odds with each other's perceptions to the extent that we could put it away with just one word like that.

''Hey, hey, what are you going to do to make me sulk even more........''
I don't know. It'll happen when it happens.
I'm going to go now, but you better keep your head on straight.　Bye.
Oh...

　You can't blame Sanya for being dismayed as she watched the argument go down.
　But I'm grateful that he didn't get too deep into the matter and remained neutral.

　I'm thinking of buying myself a drink next time as I head home.