Chapter 248 - Wounds Of The Past

The rest of the day went pretty usually with classes and all. I ended up being a bit late for my next class but the teacher seems to be cool with it since he didn't start teaching till then.

Though I apologised for being late since it was the correct thing to do.

Nothing out of the blue occurred for the rest of the day and the last period was already coming to an end as the bell rang signifying our dismissal. The teacher left the class and a wave of chatter rose around me.

Slinging my bag on my shoulder I stood up and glanced towards Tsūmen who gestured to me to wait for him outside the classroom. Giving him an affirmative nod, I walked out the class while checking my mobile for any new texts.

My mobile was dry since no one texted me.

The hallway was crowded as usual. The noise of student chatter was all around me. I was standing near the doorway waiting for Tsūmen. Once in a while, my eyes would glance over to Shiraishi's class which was right next to mine.

A lot of students were getting out of her class but she was nowhere to be seen.

I was wondering about the events that happened earlier that day. Rumours were spreading quite actively about her but when I talked to her a few days ago, it seemed like rumours were mostly passive.

She said she wasn't affected much by the rumours but her eyes said otherwise today.

Could it be that she was lying that day?

I did a bit of background research on her thanks to Kizhashi. It seemed like she was one of the popular girls in our school year. Though her image wasn't the greatest, it wasn't horrible either.

She changed partners frequently but I saw no reason for others to treat her like that unless she had given them the audacity to do so. Looking at her that day, it appeared that she always brushed these things off as jokes.

She let the water rise above her head.

"Man, we haven't been talking lately since our seats got changed." Tsūmen's voice turned my attention towards him as he lightly tapped my shoulder with his usual cheeky smile.

"We just played a game last night." I said in a plain tone as we started walking. With a frown on his face, he sighed, "In school, you dimwit!"

It's true that ever since the start of this month, Tsūmen and I haven't been talking as much as we used to. It was more obvious because we used to talk between classes and all. But since I wasn't with him anymore, he was probably missing those moments.

"Ah… Yeah. You're quite far from my place." I said with a sheepish smile. He gave me a side glance and said with a sigh, "Yeah, at least I get to talk with Kana."

"Kana… huh?" I said while staring at him. I knew exactly what kind of expression was on my face. He stared at me with his narrowed eyes for a moment and opened his mouth, "You're getting all sorts of ideas right now, aren't you?"

Of course!

I remember being happy for him at that moment. He really liked another girl, but I could see that the more he drew himself closer to her, the more she pushed him away.

She didn't like him, but it was something he was having a hard time to accept. He never told me about it, but I noticed him slowly losing interest in her. The distance between them was growing more and more with each passing month. 

"Don't give me that. I ship you two with all the cells in my body." I said, as he nodded slightly and replied in a vague tone, "I don't think there is anything between us. And other than that, she is already seeing someone."

As he completed his sentence, I turned towards him in surprise. I didn't remember Kana seeing someone the last time we talked. A lot of things changed over the course of this month.

"Who?" The utter astonishment in my voice was clearly audible. He turned towards me with tensed up eyebrows and shook his head, "I don't know, probably some senior."

"You're saying if she wasn't seeing anyone then you would've gone for her?" I asked while taking my shoes out of my locker. We were already near the entrance and the cold breeze was blowing past us.

"Not really but I would've given it a thought." He said casually while slipping in his sneakers.

I wasn't expecting him to be that straightforward with it. He was talking quite a lot with her since the sports festival and I always liked their dynamics. But that wasn't the reason I shipped them.

I've seen Tsūmen up close. Despite his good looks, he never dated anyone. He only fell in love once with a girl in his middle school but she ended up cheating on him with one of his close friends.

After that, he closed his mind about dating. Though he would flirt a lot, he never went along with the thoughts about dating another girl. But then he met Kosaki and slowly grew close to him.

But she was a weird girl, giving mixed signals to him.

He never used to laugh as genuinely around Kosaki as he does when he is talking with Kana. She might be able to rejuvenate him from his wounded past but that seemed like a fantasy at that moment.

"What happened to your…" As I was about to ask something, I heard my name being called out from behind. Both of us turned around, I noticed Shiraishi walking towards me while calling out my name, "Saishi!"

"Ahh… you're a taken man now. I forget it sometimes." Tsūmen said with a sarcastic smile on his face as I just shook my head and he chuckled.

She was alone. Her hairs were fluttering around in the wind, as there was a cheerful smile on her face. Her voice sounded soft as usual and she was wearing a winter cardigan which was a bit oversized for her.

I didn't notice her earlier because of the circumstances.