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Chapter 3 â Interacting With Enami-san\nVolume 1\n<hr class="wp-block-separator is-style-wide">\nThe next morning. Coming to the front of the classroom, I repeatedly took a deep breath.\n
Yesterday, there was a rare occurrence of Enami-san seriously coming to school. But that doesnât mean it will continue today. Thereâs nothing wrong with her coming to school early in the morning, but somehow Iâm the one who gets caught up in it. My mind is not at rest thanks to this.\n
I quietly opened the door and looked around the classroom.\n\n
A seat by the window. I look at the last seat and see that there is no one in that seat.\n
Just the curtains beside it softly swaying in the breeze.\n
âNo one was there.\n\n
I patted my chest.\n\n
Just as I was about to go inside, I was tapped on the shoulder.\n
Who is it? I turned around and couldnât move from my spot.\n
âGood morning.â\n\n
The person there was Enami-san. She seemed to have just arrived at school. A student bag was slung over her shoulder.\n
ââŚâŚâŚâŚâ\n
âGood morning.â\n
When she repeated it, I was startled. Then I hurriedly returned the greeting.\n
âAh, good morning.â\n
Enami-san heard me and walked past me to her seat.\n\n
My classmates also noticed Enami-sanâs appearance and paid attention to her. I was reminded that this was not just yesterdayâs whim. There was no lie in Enami-sanâs words. From now on, she will come to school every day and attend her classes diligently. Enami-san is trying to improve her attitude towards life.\n
I couldnât just stand there forever, so I went to my seat. Some of my classmates noticed that I was talking to her, and their gazes pierced me. Iâm sure theyâre wondering why Iâm talking to her, especially after yesterdayâs lunch break.\n
I sat down in my seat and was about to take out my study materials as usual when I noticed someone standing in front of me. I looked up and saw Fujisaki there.\n\n
âGood morning, Ookusu-kun.â\n
I felt a little relieved. I was wondering if Enami-san had come again.\n
âGood morning, Fujisaki. Youâre here earlier than usual today, arenât you?â\n
âYeah. âŚâŚâ\n
When I looked at Fujisakiâs seat in the back of the room, I saw what looked like problem books and notebooks spread out on the desk. Iâm sure she was studying. Itâs easy to forget that the midterm exams start next week.\n
âYouâve been talking to Enami-san since yesterday. âŚâŚâ\n
She said in a whisper. It seems that she was worried about me and came to see me.\n
âMore or less.â\n
âDid she say something to you âŚâŚ?â\n
âNo, she just said hello.â\n\n
Yesterday, Fujisaki also saw us talking during lunch break. Iâm sure sheâs wondering why Enami-san is so involved with me. But I donât know myself, so I canât say.\n
âDonât ask me why. I probably feel the same way as Fujisaki.â\n
âYeah. Thatâs right.â\n\n
ââŚâŚ Incidentally, I heard her declare that she would change her attitude towards life from now on. If thatâs true, then we have accomplished what the teacher asked us to do.â\n
âEh?â\n\n
I told Fujisaki what I was told yesterday, loud enough for Enami-sam to hear. However, I didnât tell her that we had gone home together. I didnât want to tell her that I was ambushed, because I thought it would make her worry even more.\n
âThatâ s right, âŚâŚ. Indeed, another early arrival for her today.â\n
âSo maybe there was a change in Enami-sanâs mind. Maybe now Fujisaki can have a decent conversation with her?â\n
âOh, maybe so.â\n\n\n
Originally, Fujisaki must have been interested in Enami-san. It seems that she has been ignored until now, but with the new version of Enami-san, she can have high hopes.\n
Besides, there were other considerations.\n
So far, I hadnât seen her having a proper conversation with anyone other than me and Nishikawa. She said she was interested in me, but if there were other people she could have a conversation with, I wouldnât have to be the only exception. In that sense, I wanted Fujisaki to try it once.\n\n
Fujisaki took a deep breath and said in a small voice, âIâm going thenâ. Then, she slowly walked to Enami-sanâs side.\n
I turned around and watched what was going on. The other classmates seemed to have noticed Fujisaki. Their eyes converged on the back of the window.\n
When she reached the side of the desk, Enami-san noticed her too. She was looking at Fujisaki with her usual bored expression.\n\n
Fujisaki was talking to her. I couldnât hear what she was saying. Sheâs probably talking about the weather, school, or some other innocuous topic.\n
However, there was no significant change in Enami-sanâs expression.\n
The smile she showed me on the way home seemed like a lie, and she looked cold. Unlike last week, she is not completely ignoring Fujisaki, but I can tell that she is not responding to her words properly. She doesnât seem to be very interested. She kept her hands on her cheeks the whole time.\n
It must have been about a minute later. Fujisaki seemed to have given up and came back to my seat.\n\n\n
âMu, mu, I couldnât do it~â\n
It seems that it didnât go well after all. She was clinging to my sleeve.\n
âHow did it go?â\n
âItâs better than before, but she wasnât looking at me as a human being at all âŚâŚ. It was scary!â\n
She moved the sleeve back and forth. That one minute seemed to be too much for her.\n
âSorry. I guess human beings donât change that easily,âŚâŚ.â\n
Fujisaki made a puffy face as she replied this.\n
âThatâs terrible~, Ookusu-kunâ\n\n\n
But this proves it. I was counted as one of the âspecialâ ones. It seems that Iâm the only new person who can have a conversation with her.\n\n
<hr class="wp-block-separator is-style-wide">\nTN: people donât change at all fundamentally if you ask meâŚ\n\n\n