Aren't You Too Sweet Salt-God Sato-san?

Want some chocolates?

I, Oshio Souta, am a clerk at "Cafe Tutuji" (although I don"t get paid) and a high school student at the same time.
During weekends I work as a clerk, but of course when the weekends are over, I have an obligation to go to school…… Even if we finish late at work, or even if I have the worst physical condition. 1

「You look like an Akabeko」

I was still in my slumber when I heard the stupid laugh of my best friend, Misono Ren, and that woke me up suddenly.
It looked like he just stayed here, sitting on the chair.

「…..Wait, Ren? What about the next cla.s.s…..?」

「Oooi~. Stop being a sleepyhead, it"s already lunch time.」

Ren who said that, pushed our desks together, grabbed his Croquette bread that he bought from the cafeteria, and bit on it.
……Looks like I have slept for quite a long time.
That said, my sleepiness hadn"t left me yet, and my mind was still blank.

「Sleep again?」

「Well, a little bit more…. It"s not good right now.」

「Wake up, wake up! Why do I have to eat my lunch while looking at a guy"s sleeping face?」

When I was about to fall asleep again, my shoulders were shaken wildly and I was forced to wake up.
I know I was being unreasonable, but that still irritated me.

「Please let me be, I really lack sleep.」

「You lack sleep? Did you do anything that could cause you to stay up late?」

「……」

— I was busy being excited about the fact that I just talked after a long time with the girl that I have a crush on, and like that, I stayed up late.
Well, I won"t say that to anyone, even if my mouth gets opened forcefully.
Especially to the man in front of me, who is basically a blabbermouth wearing a student"s uniform.

「…..Not really, I was just watching stuff on ITube. 2」

「WAHAHAHAHA! ARE YOU DUMB? HAHAHAHAHA!」

What a stupid laugh. I don"t want to be called stupid by you.
…..Rather, you"re the one who usually sends lots of video links through MINE 3 to me. Do you think you have the right to talk like that about me?
While secretly thinking that, I started to look at him with my glaring eyes….

「Hey Souta, do you want me to tell you something that will WAKE you up?」

「…..If you"re about to talk being an ITuber, pa.s.s on that.」

「Wrong.」

「I don"t need something something that"s talking about some drama, neither talking about Gravure Idols 4.」

「It"s even more than that」

「So what is it?」

「Look at the front row near the windows.」

I looked at that area while frowning.
Then, just like he said, my drowsiness was blown away completely.

The reason for that was- Sato-san who was standing near her seat, was staring right at me.
Well, it was more like a sniper targeting me.

I diverted my eyes.
My heart was about to stop.
Maybe because this sight of me was funny to him, Ren started to laugh to himself.

「…..It woke you up right?」

「(Since when!? Since when has Sato-san been doing that?」

「I think she started doing that when I was about to go get some food from the cafeteria, I think around 10 mins? She hasn"t moved even 1 mm.」

「Te….!?」

Did I really sleep through that gaze for 10 mins? A gaze that you could sense blood thirst from it!?
That said, why was Sato-san doing that?

「Hey Souta~ Did you do something that can make her be angry at you?」

Ren asked while grinning.
But at that moment, I felt as if the blood in my body started to disappear.

「……Eh? Why?」

「Well I mean, isn"t that the look you get from someone that"s angry? I mean, you don"t want to anger "salty Sato-san" but maybe you did something that could make her really angry?」

「That shouldn"t be.」

My mind became completely blank.
If I had to express my feelings in a single phrase, it would be "The end of the world."

「Sato-san"s been like that for a long time, everyone"s really tense too, thinking when she"s gonna snap.」

Ren"s voice felt distant for me.
I was totally out of focus.

I wonder if what happened yesterday made her feel unpleasant?
That"s right, bringing a girl who I hardly spoken with to my room, and carelessly touching her hand… It can"t be helped even if she now thinks of me as something like a beast.

「……Hm? Eh? Sato-san is coming here…. Wai….!」

Is this what you call heaven turning to h.e.l.l?
The me before, who was excited about getting to talk with his crush, looks really stupid to the me now.

「….Uta, Souta….! Oi!」

I want to disappear.
Surely, when I really think about it, yesterday"s me was really disgusting.
Let"s die? Yup, die, there"s nothing left to do but die.5

「—Oshio-kun!」

When I was wallowing in despair, her voice echoed throughout the cla.s.sroom.

That voice was able to stop all the noise in the cla.s.sroom, shifting everyone"s focus onto her.
When I looked up, I saw Sato-san who was suddenly really close to me.

At the center of the cla.s.sroom that calmed down suddenly, Sato-san was just staring at me as if she couldn"t see anything else.
As she was shaking her thin shoulders, and her face started to look like an apple, she suddenly—

「—-M, MINE ID! Can we trade MINE IDs!?」

She said so, while stuttering so much.

「Eh…..?」

It was a line that completely surprised everyone.
Because of this one line, everyone froze, but the most affected one was me, not knowing what to reply.
I was surprised to the point my thoughts had stopped.

The one who receive such reaction, Sato-san started to make some excuses while shaking her hands….

「I, It"s not like I wanted to MINE with Oshio-kun, okay? No, this is wrong! I Lied! I really want to MINE with you!… Wait no!」

「…..Sato-san?」

「Y, you see! That picture that we"ve taken, I was wondering if I should send it to you. Y, yes! That one! Do you remember?」

「Sato-sa…」

I don"t know what"s happening but please calm down.
I wanted to say something, but with no sign of stopping, Sato-san just continued—-

「—The one from yesterday night! At Oshio-kun"s house, the one when we took a selfie.」

*Crack* Something happened to change the atmosphere in the cla.s.sroom.

But Sato-san was not aware.
Not to mention, "I was finally able to say it!" said Sato-san, who looked as if she finally overcame a problem she was having.

As for me, I tried to look at Ren as if asking for help.
But Ren, while had his mouth open, muttered only one word.

「Wow….」

—I hate this guy because he can"t even help his single best friend.

In that quiet cla.s.sroom, I received the attention of all of our cla.s.smates, so much so that I wanted to start crying.

TL: Tet
ED: Gecko/Filip