After work, we changed into comfortable casual clothes and gathered in my room.
Since I had ordered chicken before heading out, we could eat it right away, and the office folks started chatting while facing each other.
You know, the usual stuff.
Which agent is doing well at work, who is training hard… simple conversations like that.
“…So, what exactly do you want to say?”
“Who?”
In the midst of such conversations, I suddenly threw a question at Midori.
Let’s keep it straightforward.
I decided to ask directly.
Midori was the first to eat chicken while chatting, but she was oddly quiet.
And at the same time, she was being super cautious… I could feel it.
Ah, she definitely has something.
“I’m talking about you, Midori. You look like you have something to say.”
“Um… Er…?”
“Just say it clearly. Don’t be all tense about it.”
“Uh…”
“Is it really Midori, right?”
Everyone was a bit taken aback by my sudden question while they munched on the chicken.
But I could tell they didn’t think I was wrong.
They probably realized that Midori was acting differently than usual.
Even while eating chicken together, the atmosphere was quieter than normal, with a lot of half-finished sentences.
It was a far cry from being an awkward group that couldn’t read the mood.
“…It’s true, but…”
Correct answer.
Midori dropped the chicken piece in her hand onto her plate and started fiddling with her fingers.
I was a little worried since this was unlike her, but listening to her was more important for now.
“What is it? I’m not sure how to fully help, but we can probably provide some good support.”
Honestly, it felt absurd for me to say such a thing when I’ve got my own issues, but it wasn’t a big deal for Midori at the moment.
Because my problems were a different story.
“Really…?”
“Yes. If it’s hard to speak about, you don’t have to force it, but you seem really troubled.”
“Then…”
What could possibly be troubling her this much?
If it were the usual Midori, she’d be laughing out loud or joking around, but she was doing neither…
My interest was piqued.
“Uh… Do you remember that friend I met before?”
“…?”
“The one who came to have chicken with us… with black hair and cute…”
“Ah.”
I recalled who she meant.
Actually, I’d only seen Midori’s friend once, so it was kind of hard to forget her.
It wasn’t that I forgot because of confusion about names; there’s just not many opportunities I’ve had to talk to non-agents.
Plus, she was completely normal, so she was hard to forget.
“Uh… Nana? Is that correct? I don’t remember exactly, but…”
She was the one with long black hair and a cute face.
I remembered her because she seemed really friendly with Midori, and she was just cute overall.
“Yeah! That’s right! Nana, yes!”
“Why are you bringing her up all of a sudden?”
I could see the Commander and Dolores, who were sitting next to me, were also curious.
It was rather sudden…?
She seemed to have been thinking hard about something, and then suddenly, she was talking about her friend.
Especially after she had been diving into hotel lodging information earlier?
“……….”
“…?”
Midori suddenly went silent.
The more she did, the more we had to look at her.
“Midori, why are you acting like this?”
“Uh… Ugh…”
“Is it something we shouldn’t hear…?”
Commander and Dolores also showed concern over Midori’s reaction.
After all, this demeanor was so not like her.
“…Lindera! I want a can of alcohol!”
“…Yes?”
“Is there beer in the fridge? There is, right?”
“Uh… Yeah…”
Before she could finish her sentence, Midori dashed off to the fridge in my personal room.
And then she pulled out a can of beer…
Gulp… Gulp… Mmm… Uhh…
Midori downed that beer in one go with a mighty ghrhh… sound.
We just sat there, watching her.
“…Huh?”
“Why….”
“Uh……..”
Everyone looked a bit shocked.
Hmm.
What is going on…?
She just downed a beer all by herself.
Of course, it wasn’t an expensive beer, so it wasn’t a huge loss, but the suddenness still caught me by surprise.
“…I’ll say it!”
“…Yes. Go ahead…?”
“Alright…”
“Yes…!”
As Midori raised one hand in the air, we awkwardly replied.
I wasn’t sure what she was going to say, but at least it seemed like she was ready to respond.
I was a bit worried since she had just chugged a beer, but whatever, she was a lot better off than Nana or Commander.
“I like Nana!”
“…Huh?”
“That’s why I’m going to take her to the hotel and do it! The naughty stuff!”
“……..Eh?”
Sudden…
Super sudden.
I mean… love problems… those kinds of…
“…What the………”
“D-Dolores?”
“Ugh…”
Dolores suddenly grabbed her neck.
She didn’t look like her blood pressure had actually risen, but she seemed genuinely shocked.
“Why is it only me not in a relationship…”
“…Ah.”
So that was the issue.
It wasn’t anything too dramatic, so I turned my gaze back to Midori.
Dolores was good-looking enough to manage her love life well on her own.
“So what’s the concern? Separate from whether you want to go for it or not.”
“But… But… Nana only sees me as a friend!”
“…Then why are you heading to the hotel?”
“Y-Yeah…”
“…Idiot?”
“………”
No, um…
I thought of other expressions, but it sounded pretty dumb.
I hadn’t really dated much either, but what Midori said was just outright foolish.
No, it was just dumb.
Thinking of liking someone and just rushing to a hotel for that…
It was beyond stupid.
“Don’t think too strangely… Just… I think it’d be better to drop the idea of going to the hotel for now. You’d end up being more distant than a couple.”
“Eh……..”
“Commander, stop staring at her with that dumbfounded expression and say something.”
I felt a bit awkward saying all this myself.
There were three people besides Midori, so it felt slightly wrong for me to be the one talking all the time.
Since Dolores still looked a bit shocked, I had no choice but to choose the Commander as the target.
“Uh… Um…”
“Whatever you want to say is fine. Just… It seems like the beginning was really wrong.”
Right now, almost everyone present would probably be good at giving advice to Midori.
It wasn’t some lewd manga, and merely going to a hotel wouldn’t be a solution.
If it ever came down to that, it wouldn’t be mutual love; rather, it’d just be… a casual fling… wouldn’t it?
Of course, I had no intentions of doing anything like hooking up with the Commander in that context.
But at least I had some semblance of a rational relationship with him, right…?
Or at least I thought so.
It certainly wasn’t as if we were merely friends.
I had occasionally noticed Commander’s body and arm muscles before…
“………”
Hmm.
It got a bit hot in here.
“First of all, don’t jump right into that line of thinking. Why not try taking it slow? Like, making some subtle advances or something…?”
“How?”
“Uh… Physically?”
“Strip?”
“Uh……”
Problem detected.
And the problem was that the Commander had little dating experience as well.
Plus, the target wasn’t a guy, but a girl.
“……….”
“……….”
“……….”
All three of us—me, the Commander, and Midori—lost our words.
But really, what the heck should we do…?
“Ugh…”
In that moment of silence, Dolores snapped back to reality.
Until just now, she was mumbling to herself about how she couldn’t be in a relationship… but…
Anyway, this conversation was already off its rocker.
Suddenly, a work colleague declared she liked her same-gender friend and was headed to a hotel.
How… normal can we be about this…?
“The… what did we even discuss up to this point?”
“…Not much at all.”
Dolores asked as she regained her composure, but since we didn’t talk about anything substantive, I couldn’t give much of an answer.
There had been no actual dialogue proper since Midori’s “Strip?” comment.
“Well… I think you should try to gradually increase some physical intimacy while going on dates…”
“Oh…”
Suddenly, a normal answer appeared.
Telling someone to be physically affectionate wasn’t exactly the best advice, but it was certainly better than saying “strip.”
“Like, holding hands…? Just casually smiling and hugging…? And maybe holding hands sneakily while watching a movie? That kind of thing…”
“Oh…”
“……….”
Midori was listening intently to Dolores’s words and nodding vigorously, but I was feeling differently.
I was watching their expressions as Dolores spoke.
There was a mix of… anticipation and excitement in her look.
No way…
“………..”
“And when you part at night, smile cutely and beautifully, giving off a vibe that’s all lovey-dovey…! That’ll make her think about you on the way home…”
“……….”
I was convinced.
Right now, Dolores…
Was explaining her fantasy about love.
Specifically, the kind of scenario just before actually starting to date…
“And then, once you’ve built up some affection… you go over to her place and spend time together, while being intimate… Hehe…….”
“……..”
Our Dolores… was really craving love, huh…?
Usually composed as an office maid agent, she looked pitiful today, probably my fault.
Commander sitting beside me looked a bit pitying too.
“Hehehe….”
“…Commander.”
“Yes?”
“It’s a bit hot, how about we step out for a minute?”
Given how the conversation was going, I didn’t see it lasting much longer.
Besides, I didn’t think the Commander and I would have much to say anyway…
It might be better for Dolores and Midori to talk it out together…
Thus, I whispered this to the Commander.
Although, since they’ve got excellent hearing, they would probably catch it anyway, but I thought it was okay.
After all, the two of them were more focused on Dolores’s kind of love fantasy mixed advice at the moment.
“Shall we step out for a bit and catch some fresh air… is that alright?”
“…No.”
“Then let’s just step out together for a moment. Just 3… no, 5 minutes.”
3 minutes might… be too short…?
I wasn’t planning to do much, but I figured 5 minutes was a fair amount of time to grant.
Originally, the plan had been to enjoy some chicken and have a beer with the Commander, perhaps even get all intimate… but.
With the interruption of the two, we had to find another way.
So, taking a very brief walk with them would be… well, it didn’t seem like a bad idea.
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