What Is The Best Way To Avoid Getting Picked Up?

"Now, Minato-san, one more time, I ask for your favor."

It was the day they were going to the pool with Kazuma and Momose. As they were leaving the house, Airi, who was smiling mischievously as if she'd made some sort of ploy, asked for a favor.

The contents was probably going to be the same as he had heard before, but since Minato was coming along, he had to ask.

"…What? It's the same thing you asked me before about 'using me to ward off men', right?"

"Yes, as I said before, Minato-san will be sticking with me today."

"Then there should be no problem if we stay together."

"No, that's not right. We should be more like this."

"O-Oi!"

After locking the front door, Airi squeezed Minato's hand and came to stand next to him.

It was a little chilly, but it was still a human hand, so it became warm when they were holding hands.

Her fingers were slender but had the softness of a woman's, and her skin was well groomed and very smooth.

As Minato's heart beat faster at the touch of her hand, Airi looked at him with a smile on her face and seemed to be in a good mood.

"This is practice, okay? Practice. We'll get closer at the pool."

"I don't know what to think about this. If the guys from our school see this, there's gonna be a lot of talk about it."

"I'm just trying to get the most reliable person to help me avoid men. Or would you like to see me get picked up by a lot of people?"

"…Well, that's a bit…"

He didn't even want to see the sight of the person he loved being continuously picked on in front of him.

As he imagined the scene and made a reluctant face, Airi smiled in a strangely happy way.

"So this is fine then… I know there's going to be a lot of staring eyes, is that okay?"

"I'm prepared for it, so don't worry about it."

He was sure that the jealous eyes would be outrageous, but Minato didn't have the thought of refusing Airi's request.

He knew that if he kept a gloomy expression on his face, she would always be concerned about him, so he made up his mind and answered Airi with a smile.

"Thank you. Having said that, I'll bear with just this for now."

Airi then, while smiling softly, pinched the hem of Minato's shirt and said, "I'm sure you don't intend to hold hands with me all the way there."

He felt like he had been walking around with her grabbing his hem like this a lot lately. He wondered if she liked it.

"I mean, it helps, but do you like this?"

"…Hah~~ Yes, yes, I like this."

She let out a big sigh and threw back her answer.

He thought that if she was going to look so dumbfounded, she should have just stopped, but if he said it in words, it would be impossible to take it back.

So, without saying anything in particular, he started walking while being grabbed by the hem.

The pool was a bit far from Minato's house, so they met up at a station near their house and then took the train to get there.

Since it was the middle of summer vacation, there were a lot of people in the train, but somehow they managed to sit down.

However, it was so close that Airi's shoulders next to him were firmly touching his.

"Hey, Airi, aren't you getting a little close?"

"There are a lot of people here, so we have to squeeze in as much as possible. There's no other choice."

"That's true, but then you don't have to touch my hand, do you?"

"The only people I know in this train are Shiori-san and the others, and I'm just passing the time. Please don't worry about it."

Airi had been rustling Minato's hands since a while ago.

He was tickled as she touched him all over the place interestedly, including his palm, back of his hands, and fingertips.

When Minato turned his head to distract himself from Airi, his eyes met those of an older woman in front of him. (T/N: I had imagined this as an elderly woman, but this is actually not the case.)

She looked at him warmly, as if she was looking at something amusing. Minato then smiled embarrassedly, when suddenly, pain shot through the back of his hand.

"Ow, ow, Airi, what's wrong?"

"…Hmph, I don't know anything." (T/N: She's turning into a tsundere !?!?)

"E-Eh…"

Suddenly in a bad mood, Airi turned away.

The woman in front of him chuckled as he was confused and unsure of what was going on.

Then, Airi's pinch became even stronger.

"It hurts, Airi. It hurts."

"…This is the right punishment for Minato-san."

"I didn't even do anything… I'm begging you, please stop it."

Despite his incomprehensible complaint, she seemed to have no intention of letting go of Minato's hand. He desperately tried to calm Airi down, saying it was no good going on like this.

"Hey, Kazuma. Why are we here?"

As soon as they entered the pool facility and finished changing, Kazuma moved to a position not far from the girls' locker room.

Minato didn't go to the pool last year, so he didn't understand why Kazuma was acting this way.

He asked him about his intentions because he felt that if he was in such a place, he might be considered a peeping tom.

"You do realize that Shiori and Ninomiya-san are both incredibly beautiful girls, right?"

"Yeah."

"That means that if the two of them are wandering around alone, they will definitely be picked up. That's why we join them the moment they come out of the locker room to avoid having them being picked up."

"Why do we have to go through that much trouble?"

"Of course we have to. Look around, it's hard to notice at first glance, but there are guys checking out girls coming out of the locker room with the intention of picking them up."

Minato was uncomfortable because he was right next to the women's locker room, but he calmed himself down and slowly looked around.

Sure enough, there were some very light-weight looking boys sneaking a look at the girls coming out of the locker room.

"I see."

"That's why we're taking precautions against pickups."

"But won't they think we're one of them?"

"In this kind of situation, you just have to keep your head down. It's not suspicious if you make it obvious that you're meeting someone."

"…I think that's just because you have a good-looking face."

A group of what seemed to be only girls were glancing at them – At Kazuma, to be exact.

Minato let out a sigh and thought, handsome men have it good because they are capable of things like this.

"Alright then, I'll give Minato some advice."

"Why all of a sudden?"

"Just listen to me. The best way to avoid being picked up is to stay close to each other."

"…Isn't that obvious?"

Coming to a place like this as a man and a woman would only be done by people who are close to each other.

He glared at Kazuma, wondering what he was going to say next, but he waved his index finger to the side as if to say, "Nice, nice," and Minato got annoyed at how well it suited him.

"It's harder than you think to be so close that no one else can get in. I'm sorry to say this, but there's a difference in Minato' and Ninomiya-san's appearance. You're aware of this, right?"

"Yeah, I'm aware of that."

He was told this during the fireworks display, and he was aware of it himself.

Anyone could see that Airi and Minato were not on the same level. His heart ached as he was confronted with this fact once again.

Unsure whether Kazuma had noticed that his heart was aching, Kazuma followed up with a wry smile.

"Don't get me wrong. It's not that your appearance is bad, it's just that she's too exceptional. Don't be so depressed."

"Don't make a face like that."

"You know, the saying that best describes Minato is 'So what?'"

It was similar to the words Minato had given to Airi after the sports festival.

He became speechless, having not expected those words to come back to him.

"It doesn't matter if your looks don't match, just flirt with her so much like you don't care what other people think. You should be close enough with her as if to tell everyone, 'I'm the one this girl likes the most.' No one is going to approach a couple like that. Also, do you think Ninomiya-san would fall for someone who would still approach her in that kind of situation?"

"Yeah, impossible."

He was sure that Airi hated those kinds of people.

And even if such a situation were to occur, Minato was proud enough of the trust he had earned that he believed he would be Airi's priority.

"Then why not, right? At least for today, put your own desires first."

"Don't say 'desire'. Besides, it's not that Airi likes me, it's just that she sees me as the person she trusts the most."

His grin ruined the serious atmosphere, so Minato glared at him.

As Airi herself said, Minato was asked to help her avoid men because he was a trustworthy person, and she probably had no other intentions.

When Kazuma heard Minato's words, he shook his head.

"Hah~~ Haven't you noticed?"

"What?"

"Like I said befo– No, I'm not going to say it. I mean, are you pretending not to notice?"

Suddenly, Kazuma stopped his speech and said something in a whisper so quietly that even Minato could not hear.

"Eh, what did you say?"

"No, it's nothing. At best, you should enjoy looking at Ninomiya-san in her swimsuit."

"Oi, don't fool around."

"Shiori and the others are just coming out, let's go get them."

"Hah~~ Alright."

He was about to question him, but it seemed that Airi and Momose were coming out.

He took his eyes off Kazuma and turned his attention to Airi.

–Stood there, was an angel.