Daichi Itakura:

"Isn't this too much?", I asked my four companions as we all walked towards the main door.

Hajime senpai were leading the line, behind him was me, followed by the three girls. Otosaki was still holding onto my sleeves. Fortunately, nobody was paying attention to it, as all of them were scared.

"I mean it's only evening, it's not unnatural for someone to come at this time.", I tried to make them calm down.

"Shhh... stop talking loudly Dai-kun.", Tachibana senpai wasn't having any of my reasonable comments.

Meanwhile, the person outside the door was still ringing the door bell. I really wanted to open the door. But everyone else was holding me back. In the end, the person finally shouted,

"HEY ITAKURA! ARE YOU ASLEEP!?"

Wait... that voice...

"It's Keiichi! Let me open the door, everyone."

All this time, they were freaking out for no reason...

As I was about to open the door, suddenly I was held back by Tachibana senpai.

"Wait Dai-kun! Did you forget that in Mai-chan's story, the spirit used to speak with the voice of your friends to make you open the door?"

"Huh? Oh come on, stop bluffing. It's Keiichi, I know."

"W-Wait Daichi-kun, at least wait for some more time."

It was Otosaki who was holding me back now.

"Hajime senpai, please stop them.", I asked for help.

"It's okay, let me go there."

Hajime senpai suddenly went near the door and took a deep breath. 

"WHO ARE YOU?", he shouted.

"Huh? I'm Keiichi, I'm here to meet my friend. Is Itakura not at home?"

"How can I trust you that you're really Daichi's friend?"

Oh for f*ck sake, Hajime senpai! I thought you had some common sense. 

"Huh? But who the hell are you? And where is Itakura?"

It took 10 minutes of more unwanted drama to finally resolve the misunderstanding. Right now, Keiichi, me and my other four companions were sitting around that table.

Keiichi couldn't hold back his laughter.

"Hahaha! So you all thought I'm a ghost! And Itakura, I didn't expect you to get scared like this."

"Trust me, I wasn't scared. I was just held back by four idiots."

"Oi, we're not idiots.", all four of them complained.

"By the way, so they are the members of your club. Nice to meet all of you. I already knew Tachibana senpai beforehand."

They all greeted each other. Tachibana senpai said, "Yeah I remember you."

Now I remembered, Keiichi once said he got the advice of how to confess to his girlfriend Rikka.

At that moment, I got a notification in my phone. As expected, it was from Otosaki. 

<This is your friend that cheating on his girlfriend right?>

<Wait! We are NOT sure about that. Innocent until proven guilty.>

This girl needs to be patient before coming into conclusions.

"By the way, Keiichi", I asked him. "Why are you here right now?"

"Oh I needed some help from you regarding maths. You're my only hope."

"Wow. It's as if Daichi-san is really popular huh?", Yanami said.

"Not at all. This guy only wants my help because he doesn't want to do himself anything."

"Oh come on. Itakura is very good at maths. By the way, aren't you the transfer student from this year?"

Keiichi looked at Yanami and asked.

"Yeah." (Yanami)

"I hope you're not finding difficult at our school." (Keiichi)

"Not at all." (Yanami)

"If you ever find any problem, ask me. Then we will both go to Itakura for solutions." (Keiichi)

"Oi!" (Daichi)

"Hahaha." (Keiichi)

"T-Thanks Keiichi-san." (Yanami)

It seemed like Yanami appreciated Keiichi's comments which was very unlike Yanami.

Meanwhile, Keiichi suddenly came close to me and whispered in my eyes.

"And Itakura, is that purple haired girl your girlfriend?"

"Huh? Otosaki? Not at all."

"No? Then probably you both haven't confessed yet."

"Look. We are not like that."

"Really? That chick was holding your arm this entire time."

Sh*t... someone actually noticed this...

"She was only holding because of fear."

"In any case, good luck to both of you."

"I told you it's not like that!"

Meanwhile I got another message from Otosaki.

<Looks like your friend has captured Yanami-san's heart as well.>

Eh? What are you even saying?

I looked at Yanami's way. She was... somewhat different compared to other days. She was sitting on the right side of Keiichi. And for some reasons she kept glancing on him time to time.

                                  ♡

"Right.... so it's all over finally."

It was 9 P.M. when we decided to call it a day. It was really exhausting, especially for Hajime senpai.

When all of them were getting ready to leave, Tachibana senpai asked Otosaki.

"By the way, Otosaki-san, you could go to your home safely right?"

"Y-Yes. It's not a problem."

Otosaki said that, but I felt she was somewhat hesitant.

Tachibana senpai suddenly looked at me and indicated me to come to the kitchen.

In the kitchen, there were only me and Tachibana senpai. She slowly asked me.

"Listen Dai-kun, it seems Otosaki-san is a little bit scared to go home. It's likely because she was so scared in the time we were talking ghost stories."

"Ah it's possible... yes."

"Well... I think she needs someone to go home with her. I need to go with Mai-chan. And I can't trust Hajime at all. And even Keiichi-kun probably is not okay as he doesn't know her. I wonder..."

"Ah yes I understand... it's good if I accompany her."

Well, I don't really have a problem with it. I do think she is scared.

"But... I also don't want Dai-kun to go with her."

"Eh? Why?"

"Because... I find that girl a little dangerous herself. You know, I'm worried about Dai-kun. But I'm also worried about her as well... I don't know what I..."

It seemed Tachibana senpai was really troubled.

"Senpai... you're really thoughtful about everything. Just relax yourself."

"Eh?"

"Don't worry about everything, senpai. I know Otosaki... she is not a dangerous girl... at least to me."

"But Dai-kun..."

"Trust me."

"I see. I think I'm just overthinking. Sorry I'm like this. I'm always disturbing others."

Senpai looked down in sadness. This was not a sight I hoped to see.

"Senpai... that's not true at all. In fact that's one of the things that make senpai so likeable. At least to me, Senpai is a wonderful person."

"Eh?", she looked at me as the sadness from her face had disappeared.

"But sometimes... you should look after yourself too. Senpai sometimes gets really tired. She should be selfish too. If you have any problems, you can always ask me too. I'm your kouhai after all."

I gently smiled at her. Even though she was tall enough, I was still a few inch taller than her. So she looked up at me with moist eyes. It seemed like she was about to shed tears. But she did not. She somehow stopped herself and put on a smile.

Then she suddenly grabbed my both cheeks and playfully pinched them.

"That's my best Kouhai!"

"Ouch! It's hurting, senpai."

"No! I'm not leaving your cheeks until I'm satisfied."

"You're suddenly selfish."

"Didn't you tell me to be selfish? Fufu."

For sure, it was hurting. But seeing senpai genuinely smiling was more than enough compensation.

[To be continued]