Chapter 28 - You shouldn’t have done that

Chapter 28. You shouldn’t have done that

After school.

『”A-Aaa-Atsushi-san! Are you there? You’re there, right? Please be there, Please!!!”』

『”Yeah, I’m here. Rest assured. I’ll be in here.”』

At the designated bench… Yuri was waiting for the boy. From the second floor of the back school building, Atsushi was looking over her.

Yuri was worried that perhaps someone would be watching around, so she asked Atsushi to look over her while checking the surrounding.

Therefore, since earlier, they were “on a call”, the telepathy with Yuri had been in a “connected” condition all the time. That way, Atsushi could give various advice to Yuri later.

……Well, maybe she actually didn’t have the courage to come here and receive a confession by herself.

When Atsushi was thinking about something like that, he saw a figure approaching Yuri.

That guy huh…

The one who came… it was a boy.

A dull face and messy black hair.

As expected, Atsushi and Yuri didn’t really know about him.

“Are you Hashida-san?”

“Y-yeah. That’s right. I-I’m Manabu Hashida! That, umm… Thank you for coming.”

Hashida greeted Yuri and gave thanked her, perhaps because he was nervous, he was stuttering over his words.

“So, what do you want to say to me?”

Yuri asked Hashida the main question straightaway.

『”Isn’t it too sudden…”』

『”But, you know that stretching out this kind of thing will only make the situation awkward, right!??”』

Yuri said so, as she herself was in a state of being quite panicked, and didn’t know what to say other than that.

However, Hashida didn’t know about Yuri’s condition, so as she said so, he took a deep breath and then said what he was prepared to say.

“T-that… Shirasawa-san! Since I first saw you, I-I’ve always li-liked you! Please go out with me!”

While bowing with all of his might, Hashida confessed.

On the other hand, Yuri…

“…..sorry”

In just one word,

Hashida was rejected.

『”… Another clear rejection huh.”』

『”It can’t be helped, right!?? You can’t suddenly become a lover with someone you met for the first time!! Right!!?”』

What Yuri said was certainly true.

Hashida’s determination couldn’t be made light of… From the perspective of Atsushi, who had never confessed to a girl in his life, it was hard to tell how much it was.

But well, as expected, a sudden confession is a little bit too much, I guess?

You should get a little closer, get to know each other a little more, appeal to the other person, and only then confess. 

For Atsushi, that was the image of a confession.

Everyone would have a hard time believing if they got confessed by the person that they met for the first time. Anyone should shorten the distance at least “acquaintance”.

“That, umm… perhaps, you, are dating, someone already?”

“That’s not the case. It just… right now, I can’t afford to go out with someone…”

“I-is that so… well, I’m sorry.”

“Me too, don’t worry…”

The conversation was slowly becoming awkward. It couldn’t be helped, since Hashida had confessed and got rejected.

“S-sorry… but, I have one thing I want to ask… is that okay?”

“What is it?”

Perhaps,

Hashida might sound as if he didn’t know when to give up, but it didn’t seem to be that way in Atsushi’s eyes.

“Perhaps… the fact that Shirasawa-san can’t go out with anyone, is because of Yamagami-kun?”

Hearing those words, Atsushi and Yuri were surprised at the same time.

“Why, do you think so?”

Since Atsushi’s name was suddenly mentioned, not only Yuri but Atsushi himself couldn’t help but tilt his head.

“Because now, everyone is rumoring about it. That, Yamagami-kun grasps Shirasawa-san’s weakness, and does whatever he wants to you.”

“……………..Eh?”

『”……………..Huh?”』

At that moment.

They were both shocked to the point where their eyes were popping out.

“That time with the umbrella, and also the last test too, it was suspicious… Yamagami-kun and Shirasawa-san were together. They said, “Something like that is unbelievable.”…..”

“………”

Indeed, Hashida said, “Something like that is unbelievable.”…..

But somehow… Atsushi felt like he was being told, “Something like that, you shouldn’t have done that.”

From the point of view of the students in his class, Atsushi was a delinquent, inferior, and problematic person. Yuri, on the other hand, was a mysterious beautiful girl who could be said as number one or two in the school. They were like “a beauty and a beast”.

For such two people were doing something or going somewhere together… No one in school could imagine that, nor did they want it to be true.

Perhaps something like that was like throwing mud on a beautiful flower.

Therefore, there was no reason for that to happen. No, in the first place, it shouldn’t have happened.

The truth? No one cared about that.

Atsushi understood that at this time it was the evaluation and feelings of most of his classmates.

“If, Yamagami-kun is forcing you to do something, if it’s because of him, I, will do my best to help you. No, not just me, I’m sure everyone in the class will help you. Soー”

“That’s not true.”

Before Hashida’s words were finished, Yuri clearly denied it.

And different from until now, the word she just said was clear and firm.

Atsushi seemed to think that it was a powerful word intentionally said by her.

“Yamagami-san gasps my weaknesses? It’s not true at all. It’s nonsense and unfounded. Certainly, lately, I’ve been indebted to him a little, but that’s it. It’s not like what you people are rumoring. Not at all. “

“…I-I see.”

“Although, this may be not my place to say it, but talking badly of your classmates like that, I wonder if it’s really a good thing to do, especially if that’s just nonsense, really.”

“T-that’s right. Yeah…”

“Is it over? Then, please excuse me here.”

With that said, Yuri turned her heels back and left.

『”Let’s go, Atsushi-san”』

『”O-okay…”』

Involuntarily, Atsushi returned Yuri’s telepathy with such a word.

Sure, he couldn’t say anything, since he had just heard an unexpected story.

But, more than that.

Atsushi felt that Yuri… seemed a little angry, and so he couldn’t talk normally to her.