Volume 1 - CH 18

Volume 1, Chapter 18: Did Anyone Know?

I split up from Ayano and was on my way to school. I felt kind of heavy.

...

This sucked. Why? Because the person Ayano liked should be right in front of me.

Haa. A sigh naturally escaped my lips. I had been having bad days lately...

I tried to pretend that I didn't see and wanted to quickly get past. But I couldn't do that anymore when I saw someone next to the person Ayano liked.

A person who was dressed gaudily and looked very much like a gyaru. That person seemed unusually too close to the person she liked. Almost like they were in some kind of relationship...

They really weren't really boyfriend-girlfriend now, were they? Did Ayano know about this? Why was that guy even talking to Ayano in such a friendly manner? A lot of questions came up, but when I took a look at the girl, all those questions were blown away.

That expression of her felt like some sort of déjà vu. She looked like she was smiling, but she wasn't. It was contradictory, I knew that. But I couldn't describe it any other way. And that face was something I had seen somewhere. Just where? I couldn't remember? But whether or not I could remember shouldn't matter.

I told myself that and walked past them.

"Huh, Tamaki-kun?"

Such a voice didn't reach Manato.

-------------------------------------------------------

"Oh, T-Tamaki-kun. Hello."

"Hello."

I was at my part-time job after school. It was a daily routine for me now.

"I'll go get ready."

"Ah, y-yeah."

Hisai-san was kind of awkward. It must be just my imagination.

I finished preparing and got out the Backyard. And when I went to line up the counter, Hisai-san spoke to me.

"H-hey. What high school do you go to, Tamaki-kun?"

Why was she asking that? Where my high school was could be anywhere. Thinking that, I replied.

"It's at..."

When I told her the name of my high school, I saw Hisai-san's face. She looked somewhat uncomfortable.

"I-is that so... I-I didn't know that."

That should be obvious, because I hadn't told her.

"Is there a problem with that?"

"I-it's nothing."

What, so you weren't even going to say anything after that.

"I see...so we went to the same high school together..."

I thought I heard Hisai-san muttering something beside me, but unfortunately, I wasn’t able hear what it was.

"T-Tamaki-kun."

"What is it?"

Was there still something?

"T-that. Y-you shouldn’t know a lot people, right? From school, I mean."

A lot, you know? It was school, so it was natural to have acquaintances.

"I do, though..."

"Oh, um, that's, not really what I'm trying to say..."

Huh? Then what was she trying to say?

"Um...sorry. It's nothing."

"...Okay."

What did she want to say? In times like this, it would be easier if I could tell what they were thinking.

I couldn't be blamed for having thought of that, though.

In the end, Hisai-san was uneasy until the end of our shifts. What was all that about, really?

I was about to leave the store when Hisai-san called out to me.

"Really, you don't know that many people, right?"

Like I said, what was all this?

"I do know a lot of people, though?"

I was a bit frustrated at her questions. Why was she even asking so many?

"That, should be that case, huh. Sorry."

After talking that much, Hisai-san and I parted ways.

...Oh, come to think of it, that girl I saw in the morning earlier might have resembled Hisai-san a bit. Or maybe she didn't.

While trying to recall fuzzy memories, I walked home.