As soon as the chime sounded, signifying the end of class, Naruse appeared in my classroom.\n
A calm, cute face and a petite stature. Brownish hair in a bob cut. A school uniform that fits her very well, complementing her already-cute appearance.\n
According to Kazuma, these features make Naruse popular among the boys. On top of her appearance, her personality is wonderful as well, making her even more popular.\n
“Thanks for going out of your way to come here. Sorry, I should’ve been the one to visit your class.”\n
“It’s fine, don’t worry about it.”\n
As she spoke, Naruse sat down in the vacant seat in front of me and turned to face my direction.\n
Putting two bentos on a desk meant for one person. It’s a tight fit but it worked out somehow.\n
“So, for the trip, I want to go to a large bookstore.”\n
“That’s true! What about the central station? There’s a bookstore in the station building.”\n
“Sounds good. That place is probably the largest bookstore around here.”\n
The discussion with Naruse is going really smoothly. If things continue like this, we should be able to decide on the plan for the trip to the bookstore pretty easily.\n
All of a sudden, the classroom began to grow restless and people began to chatter. The two of us exchanged glances and looked over at what was happening.\n
I know what this atmosphere means. Without a doubt, it must be her\n
“Ah, Yuunagi-san, what’s wrong?”\n“It’s true! It’s Yuunagi-san? Do you have some business with our class?”\n
“Umm….I was just coming to meet a friend.”\n
As Yuunagi passed through the door of our class, she was called out to by almost all the girls of the class.\n
My guess was spot on. This pattern again, huh.\nFor heaven’s sake, please don’t wave at me and come over here this time.\n
However, Yuunagi’s response was different than I expected.\n
“Huh?”\n
As her gaze settled on me, she gave me a bright smile. A moment later though, as her gaze traveled to the person next to me, that smile warped into the hideous smile of a demon.\n
But, immediately after, she turned and went to sit with her friend, who sat on the opposite side of the class.\n
What in the world is she doing right now……\n
“Hmm… for some reason it feels like Yuunagi is glaring at us…..”(Naruse)\n
“…..It’s probably just your imagination.”(Sakuraba)\n
Yeah it’s probably just my imagination. I have no clue why she would be glaring at us.\n
I’m not really happy to be in the same room as Yuunagi, but constantly worrying about it would be a pain, and there’s nothing I can do about it.\n
“Woaahhhh. Yuunagi-san is in our class! How lucky!”\n
While these outrageous exaggerations were being called out in a serious manner, Kazuma walked over to where we were. As always, he was being loud and obnoxious.\n
“Hm…? What’s this, Aoto, are you and Naruse-san going on a date?”\n
When he saw the two of us together, he called out with a cheeky smirk.\n
“Eehh?! You- you’re wrong! I’m just going with him to the bookstore. Stop that, Seo-kun.”\n
As Naruse desperately shook her head and denied it, I sat there quietly drinking my tea. If each of Kazuma’s ignorant and annoying speculations had to be corrected, there would be no end to it.\n
“Huh, so Aoto finally woke up,” Kazuma said, looking uninterested and bored. Unfortunately for you, I’ve always been awake though.\n
At any rate, Kazuma and Naruse were acquainted huh…. As expected of Kazuma who has a giant circle of friends and knows practically everybody.\n
Suddenly, feeling a weird sense of apprehension, I snuck a glance at Yuunagi. When I did, I found her releasing a black aura so terrible that I couldn’t even have found it in my nightmares. Also, she was glaring in our direction. To be specific, she seemed to be glaring at Naruse.\n
On the other hand, Naruse, completely unaware, was filling her tiny mouth with tamagoyaki and was letting out a happy, blissful aura.\n
“So then, when do we want to go?”(Naruse)\n
“Hm? Oh, I’m free next Sunday.”(Sakuraba)\n“Really? I’m free next Sunday too!”(Naruse)\n“Then it’s settled. Let’s go next Sunday. Is after lunch okay?”(Sakuraba)\n“Okay. Um…..if you want to, is it fine if we also eat lunch together?”(Naruse)\n“Um, sure that’s fine. Let’s meet before lunch then.”(Sakuraba)\n“Y-Yes! Let’s do that.”(Naruse)\n
And just like that, my plans with Naruse were settled relatively easily.\nThe final remnants of my lunch break quickly passed by as Kazuma, Naruse, and I conversed with each other.\n
“Hm?”\nMy smartphone was vibrating. A message notification popped up on the phone screen. The sender is….. Yuunagi.\n
I want to see you after school.\n
I took another glance at Yuunagi. She firmly met my gaze. She seemed to be tightly grasping her phone in a way that made her seem angry.\n
For what reason?(Sakuraba)\n
No matter what! Absolutely!(Yuunagi)\n
I’m asking for why, though.(Sakuraba)\n
If you don’t meet me, you’ll die.(Yuunagi)\n
I won’t die, though.(Sakuraba)\n
When I looked back at Yuunagi-san, her eyes were moist and her face was bent into a frown. She seemed like she was really on the verge of tears.\n
…..Guess there’s no helping it.\n
5 pm at this classroom.(Sakuraba)\n
Immediately after I sent this message, Yuunagi nodded weakly towards me and seemed to be a really relieved.\n
I have a foreboding that this after-school meeting will probably be a giant pain to deal with.\n