I'll Take This Love Home With Me for Now ch7

This much is fine, ain't it, Boss?
I'm lonely~
You've got plenty of girls who'll treat you kindly besides me, right...?
Ask them instead.
No way.
I want you, Boss~

I'm an earnest barkeep, after all~
There it is.
The masochist who spends her whole life crushing on a straight girl.
You can stop coming starting tomorrow.
Kidding! I'm kidding~!

Boss~ I love you~ I'll come over tomorrow~
Yeah yeah, good night.

Ugh. Spotted a flirting couple on the way home.
This sucks.
Man, in a place like this too...
...Hm?

HUH????

Chiaki...?
She's got a lover
and it's a girl...?

She can go for women too!?
And it's with the notorious neighborhood scourge!?

Did Chiaki get eaten?
By that woman?
My dear best friend?

Just what
are these feelings I've had
standing next to Chiaki until now...

Did you catch "OreKiss" yesterday?
Yeah. It was crazy.
I need to reread the source material~

Thinking back on it,

ever since we first met,
Chiaki seemed unapproachable.

Hey~
Don't you think so too, Kanai?

I Want to Kiss Ore-sama-kun

I totally get you~
I like how spoiled Ore-sama gets.
Right~?
That one scene too...

People are supposed to like that selfish guy...?
Rather than some guy...
Yeah~ I get you~
I like the female protagonist better.

I, on the other hand,
was the kind of middle schooler who'd watch chick flicks ironically
and match up with my friends.

Woah. We're standing next to each other.
Awkward~...

Ah.
...She hasn't noticed me?

Ah, g-...
Good work today~!
What music do you usually listen to?
Actually, do you even know who I am?

You're kidding me. Why am I talking to her? Curse these social reflexes of mine~!
It's practically
our first meeting.
...Kanai-san.

It's "Love and Honey" by Skies.
The main theme for OreKiss... You know of it?

...
...I do.

So you watch dramas, Kuroiwa-san?
I do.
That's unexpected...
The protagonist is cute, huh?

Whoops, I need to match up with her.
Did you see yesterday's episode? It was so coo-...
I saw it.

What's with the guy's attitude? It pisses me off.
Heh?

Ah.
Sorry.
Did you like it?

...Haha.

I was actually thinking the same thing!
Whaddaya know.

I can talk to her just fine.

What's more,

p10

she's cute when she's spoiled.

That's gonna make me

fall in love with you, dammit!

Boss~...

p11

You've told me that 100 times already.
I'm Kon-chan the part-timer~

We need to get ready to open up~
Yeah, I know.

The straight woman I've been crushing on my whole life was dating a woman.
Don't I at least earn the right to vent?
Geez~
You're so hopeless...

Just this one more time, okay?

p12

While my heart was skipping,
she started dating a senpai from another school once we entered high school.
So?

Made her glasses debut

How'd it go~
with your first ever boyfriend?

We broke up.
Eh!?
Bit fast, isn't it!?

He was too touchy and annoying.
Don't lovers usually touch each other?

...I really hated how he'd hold my waist
while waiting for the lights to change.
...Heh~
Something like that, huh...

p13

...Crap.
Why are you feeling happy about that, you asshole?
Say ah~
Ah~

These are bad thoughts... and yet...
Maybe I should give it ago?
D-...
Dating a friend would be easier~

Hm?
That kinda thing
like those foreign artists I've been seeing often lately.

Today's artists are a couple?

Ah~...

p14

I think dating another girl would be impossible.
I mean,

you can't have babies, right?

p15

Now that I'm an adult, I can more or less swallow it.
The values of the 2010s mean nothing to me.
Chiaki probably doesn't even remember
those words she thoughtlessly said long ago.
But I...
...Kanai?

p16

took those words to heart.
...I see.

...
But y'know~...
What if...
Just a what if, okay?

If it turned out
th-...

p17

that I could only love women,
would you
still say that...?

p18

I'm sorry.

I'm really...

...sorry.

p19

I wasn't thinking...
I'll never forget
Chiaki's shaking hands and her face that looked like it was gonna tear up
for the rest of my life.

...It's fine.

I never told you, after all.

p20

Buy me a shake and we'll call it even~

...You're okay with that?
I'm okay with that!
Ever since,

neither or nor Chiaki went through any special changes,
but Chiaki
stopped poking fun of me.

The fact Chiaki never changed
and would always be careful with me made me happy.
From that day onward,

p21

I decided I wouldn't tell Chiaki.
I thought she was straight, after all.

Wanna NTR her? Need any help?
I'm an expert at this kinda thing.
Absolutely not.
She's my best friend, after all.

Thanks for hearing me out.

You can give me a kiss if you want~
Moron.

p22

!

Then you can just soak this in a little longer
until you're done smoking this.

Th-...
This bitch...

I don't go for girls like you, though.
Just let me act cool.
I'm going on ahead~

p23

That temptress...
Ah.

Sorry, did we keep you waiting?
Feel free to come on in.

We'll get set up right away~
It's fine. Don't mind me.
Besides...

p24

I got to hear
something good<3

Warning