A Very Popular Idol Classmate Has Taken a Liking to Me, A Person Who Doesn't Want to Work for My Whole Life
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.Daininki Idol na Classmate ni Natsukareta, Isshou Hatarakitakunai Ore
Src: https://ncode.syosetu.com/n2496gr/141/
Act 5 - The Rival Idol
39-3
After leaving the venue, we eat at a random family restaurant, then decide to part ways at the station.
Carrying a bit of fatigue, I head home and take a shower to wash off the sweat and dirt from outside.
Maybe it’s just because I’m not used to events, but even just watching a live concert turns out to be surprisingly tiring.
The towel I use to dry myself feels just a little heavier than usual.
(That reminds me… what are they going to do for dinner today?)
Because our minds are filled with the live concert, neither they nor I think at all about what to do afterward.
If necessary, I can cook something, but ending the day of a live concert with just a simple meal feels too plain, or rather, unsatisfying.
If anything, I want to let them eat something special.
That means I would have to go shopping, but――――
"Hm?" (Rintaro)
While drying my hair with the hair dryer, I hear a message notification on my phone.
The sender is Mia.
So I leave my damp hair as it is and unlock my phone.
[Sorry, we ended up celebrating with the staff. So don’t worry about the dinner for us tonight.] (Mia)
An emoji with hands pressed together in apology is attached to the message.
I see, so that kind of thing happens, too.
"Then, how late are they coming back…" (Rintaro)
Since it’s a celebration, they’ll probably come home pretty late.
When I send a reply with that in mind, the message comes back that they will return before midnight.
Well, they are still minors, and if adults are involved, that makes sense.
If it’s before midnight, I should just barely manage to stay awake…
"…I’m bored." (Rintaro)
Restarting the hair dryer, I suddenly realize.
The time is still only 19.00.
The live show ended at 17.00, and we parted ways early.
If I had known this would happen, I might have asked Yukio to hang out with me a little longer.
Cleaning and laundry were already finished yesterday, since I want to enjoy the live concert without worries, and now there’s no need to cook dinner either.
This kind of free time is nice to have, but when it suddenly appears, I don’t really know what to do with it.
(Maybe I should prepare for class…?)
I gather my textbook, notebook, and workbook from my room and return to the living room.
Normally, I study in my own room, but since I get to use this big house alone, there’s no need to shut myself away in my room.
I spread my study materials out on the table we usually use for meals and put in my noise-canceling earphones.
I don’t play music while I study. It's just for blocking out noise.
Using my rare free time only to study might make me seem like a boring guy.
But I never want anyone to say my grades drop because I take care of them, nor do I want to make them feel responsible for it.
So, I just have to study harder than usual, not only to keep my grades up, but even to raise them.
"Alright, let’s do this." (Rintaro)
Quietly psyching myself up, I begin to concentrate and throw myself into studying――――
◇◆◇
"I’m hoo~me… ahh, I’m tired." (Kanon)
"The afterparty got a little too lively." (Rei)
"Seriously… all those adults together, celebrating the success of the live concert." (Kanon)
After finishing the afterparty, the three of us finally returned to Rintaro’s family home.
"Rintaroo! We’re back!" (Kanon)
While taking off her shoes, Kanon called out loudly beside me.
But there was no reply from Rintaro.
"…No answer." (Kanon)
"Hm, maybe he went out?" (Rei)
"Well, if that’s the case, wouldn’t he at least send us a message?" (Kanon)
"…True." (Rei)
Rintaro always greeted us with words of encouragement.
He once told us that it was something he insisted on doing.
I couldn’t imagine that Rintaro would abandon that habit without a reason.
Could something have happened to him?
Suddenly, uneasiness welled up inside me.
"Come on, let’s at least go inside first." (Mia)
Pushed gently by Mia, Kanon and I stepped into the living room.
"Ah…" (Rei)
Seeing what was there, I couldn’t help but sigh in relief.
There was Rintaro, sleeping with his head resting on the table, letting out quiet and relaxed breaths.
From the textbooks and notebooks spread out, it looks like he falls asleep while studying.
"So, he was just asleep." (Kanon)
"Thank goodness…" (Rei)
Just the thought that something might have happened to him made me restless.
Seeing that everything seemed fine for now, I patted my chest in relief.
"A live concert is indeed exhausting, even if just watching as part of the audience… and he always works hard for us, so it’s no wonder he dozes off." (Mia)
"That’s true… but what should we do? Ideally, we should move him to bed, right?" (Kanon)
"Yeah, but can we carry him ourselves?" (Mia)
If we left him like this, Rintaro might hurt his body.
And since it was getting chilly, he could even catch a cold.
If the three of us worked together, maybe we could carry him to his bedroom.
But none of us was confident we could move him without waking him up.
Still――――
"…It’s definitely better to move him than let him catch a cold." (Rei)
I told them that.
It might be a bit harsh to wake him up while we’re moving him, but it was far better than letting him stay like this and possibly get sick.
At the very least, if we moved him to the sofa in the living room, he was less likely to hurt his body, and we could cover him with a blanket.
In any case, just leaving him there wasn't an option.
"…Yeah, Rei’s right." (Kanon)
"Okay, let’s try moving him." (Mia)
"From the balance, it looks better if two people carry him from the front and back, rather than all three lifting together." (Kanon)
"Then I’ll do it with Rei. Kanon, please support us in case we almost drop him." (Mia)
"Got it." (Kanon)
Somehow, we managed to carry Rintaro’s body to the sofa.
We tried to bring him all the way to his room, but we gave up when we couldn’t get him up the stairs.
On the way, we shook him a lot and nearly bumped him against a pillar, but in the end, Rintaro didn't wake up and remained asleep even once.
"This much and he still doesn’t wake up… he must be exhausted." (Kanon)
"Yeah… I wonder how much of a burden we usually are on him." (Mia)
"……" (Rei)
I couldn’t answer Mia’s question.
It seemed Kanon was the same, since she also remained silent and frowning.
"Do you think Rintaro-kun might get tired of us…?" (Mia)
"……It’s okay. I don’t think that will ever happen." (Rei)
Rintaro might stand out as an independent individual, but that didn’t mean he had no weaknesses.
That much had already been proven when he dealt with Tenguuji-san and when he talked about his mother.
Because we knew that, I believed that when he was truly struggling, he would be able to confide in us honestly.
"Just like we believe in Rintaro, I think he believes in us, too. That’s why… he won’t force himself to act strong anymore." (Rei)
"……Yeah, maybe you’re right. Kind of embarrassing to admit, though." (Kanon)
The bond we’d built with Rintaro wasn’t something that would break so easily.
Looking at this calm and blissful sleeping face made me believe that from the bottom of my heart.
"Still, he really does look like he’s sleeping comfortably, huh." (Kanon)
With a hint of exasperation, Kanon poked Rintaro’s cheek.
"So jealous. I want to do it too." (Rei)
"No, Rei. He really might wake up if you do that. And Kanon, don’t tease him too much either." (Mia)
Kanon and I obediently pulled back our fingers.
Rintaro’s soft-looking cheek was so tempting to touch, but if we woke him up because of it, it would be way too harsh.
"……But really, his sleeping face is just too cute." (Mia)
Right in front of us, Mia took out her phone.
She opened the camera app and captured Rintaro’s face in the frame.
"M-Mia!?" (Kanon)
"It’s fine. I’ll make sure to share it with you two." (Mia)
"……In that case, I guess it’s fine." (Kanon)
We glanced at each other and laughed.
That day, a new folder titled “Rintaro Sleeping Face Collections” was created in our Milfeuille Stars’ private group chat.
~"(This is a Translation Content of pemudatunawisata[dot]my[dot]id. so, read only on there, kay~)"~
[End of Chapter]
Cya~!
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