Volume 1 - CH 2

「Why? Why can’t we eat together? You just promised earlier!」

At break time, Sayaka visited Haruki as expected.

Haruki tried to hint that he couldn’t keep his promise to have lunch together, but Sayaka’s reaction was a severe one after all.

Haruki said ‘I’m sorry!’ and clasped his two hands in front of his face.

「It’s something they told me out of the blue. I will definitely make it up to you for this.」

「Uuuh…….Haa-chan liar, big liar……」

Sayaka repeatedly hits Haruki’s chest. He could see her round eyes shining slightly.

「Come on, don’t cry. It’s not like we’ll never see each other again.」

「……Then, after the committee meeting ends?」

「Hmm, it might be difficult in the cafeteria. If we’re late, the sports clubs will occupy the place completely……I don’t know how long the committee meeting will last, so Sayaka, go eat something. Let’s go to the cafeteria tomorrow, okay?」

He makes a proposition to convince her and strokes her shiny black hair.

Sayaka, who had her face lowered, smiles and lets out a pleasing voice like a playful kitten.

「Then, pinky swear.」

「Yes, yes, pinky swear.」

「If you break your promise again, this time, I won’t forgive you.」

「That’s, well……I’ll do what I can.」

After that, the lunchtime committee meeting ended without a hitch. Approximately 10 minutes.

However, unluckily for him, Haruki had to stay in the infirmary because he was assigned to make the health checklist for each class. Although the school nurse provided bread for lunch, it didn’t change the fact that he was unlucky after all.

──Sayaka, did you eat something by yourself? I hope it’s not like she’s faithfully waiting for me without eating anything……

「What is it, Kunieda-kun? Making a depressing face.」

When Haruki was thinking about Sayaka while doing his work, Yuuki, who was sitting in front of him, asked him a question. He could feel the aura of a detective doing a light investigation.

「It’s no big deal. It’s just, I’m unlucky.」

「Yes, that’s how it is. You have bad luck.」

Yuuki said as a conclusion as she counted the documents in her hand.

She has also been working hard on organizing the documents, but it’s not like she had bad luck like Haruki. After the other committee members and the nurse left, she offered to help with the work herself.

「That’s why I thought I’d contribute a little luck to your lack of luck. It’s faster to do it together than alone, right?」

「Thank you for that, but was it really okay? Since it’s lunchtime.」

「It doesn’t matter. As you know, I don’t have any classmates to spend lunch with.」

Yuuki was self-deprecating in a roundabout way, but he didn’t sense a dark side to her smile. On the contrary, Haruki was fascinated by the beauty of her smile, which was somewhat aristocratic, even though he was the same age as her.

「W-Well……If Senzaki-san it’s okay with it, that’s fine.」

At Haruki’s voice that became reserved, Yuuki returns an elegant smile as she works with dedication.

Thanks to that, Haruki, who was able to finish earlier than expected, was about to leave the infirmary to go see Sayaka as soon as possible.

But Yuuki stopped him by saying ‘Wait a minute’.

「Since we’re here, why don’t we have lunch together?」

「In the infirmary?」

「There is no rule that says that eating and drinking is strictly prohibited. Even the nurses have lunch here.」

「Well, that’s not what I’m worried about.」

「I know, you had a prior engagement, right? But you canceled it because of the committee.」

「Ahh, you heard after all. My conversation with Sayaka.」

「We sit next to each other. Besides, as I think I’ve already told you, I have a special interest in you two. If you don’t mind, I’d like to have lunch with you here and ask you a few things.」

With the same smile as before, Yuuki said confidently, but this time Haruki couldn’t just keep blushing.

「Then I think I said it before, if you’re just curious, I’d rather you leave us alone.」

「Ma~ ma~, there’s no need to be so abrupt, right? Or is there some reason you don’t want to talk about that?」

「Well, it’s just embarrassing……In the first place, Senzaki-san too, why are you so interested? Like the fact that you suddenly come to sit next to me, everyone in the class was surprised……」

「I don’t care about the other classmates though, okay? Maybe the reason why I have an interest in you two is because I envy you.」

「Do you envy us?」

「That’s how it is. Well, I can’t say for sure, or rather, I’m still not sure myself, but……why do I feel envy, in order to find out the reason, I thought I’d talk to you.」

「Hmm……I see?」

Haruki nodded, but honestly he didn’t understand anything.

──The fact that she feels envy, could mean that Senzaki-san actually wants to have close friends as well. I thought that she was someone who likes to be alone, but……

If you put it that way, you might understand her a little, or maybe sympathize with her. She’s talkative, but she’s actually clumsy with her words, and that’s why she didn’t get along with the other students……

「So what do you think, Kunieda-kun? Once my curiosity is satisfied, I intend to end this conversation. Don’t you think it’s alright to at least give me a chance?」

「Well, if you insist so much. You also helped me organize the documents.」

「If you say so, then it was worth helping.」

「You said we’d have lunch together, but what are you going to do, Senzaki-san? Here I only have the bread that the nurse provided me.」

「You don’t need to worry. I have my bentou.」

Speaking in a word order that seemed to be a literal translation of English, Yuuki took out a convenience store rice ball and salad from a thermal insulated bag she had brought with her.

Haruki sits back down and opens the bag of garnish bread the nurse had given him.

「To put it bluntly, I think Kunieda-kun’s relationship with Mishiro-kun is a bit strange.」

「Strange?」

「Yes, especially Mishiro-kun. Didn’t she suddenly raise her voice during the previous break? How to say, she was like a spoiled child. It’s not very age appropriate for her, and I also don’t think it’s the kind of emotion such a beautiful high school girl would show.」

「Well, that’s true, but……Sayaka has always been like that. Also, I think her treatment with other people is relatively normal, or even a bit more mature.」

「In other words, she never gets so sentimental unless it’s about you?」

「As for getting angry, I can’t say for sure. At the very least, I feel that she behaves childishly, or rather, like a child who wants to be pampered……」

「I see, so she just shows her sweet face to you. It feels like I’m being told a very hot love story.」

Taking only the cucumber from the chikuwa maki and chewing on it, Yuuki smirked.

Haruki tried to object with ‘That’s not what I meant’, but he just blushed, looked down and said nothing. When it comes to her, she will surely overwhelm him with her stories of what is fact and what is true to confuse him. When Haruki put the garnish bread into his mouth, he ate it from top to bottom without taking a breath.

「The more I listen, the more interest I feel……especially in Mishiro-kun. That behavior at that age is a bit difficult to understand. And also the fact that she’s only like that when it comes to you.」

「Sayaka is just being too honest with her feelings. Other than that, she’s just a normal girl.」

「Though I think ‘that’ part is too hard to observe.」

「Senzaki-san, you have been talking a lot about Sayaka. Although you said that you are interested in our relationship……Could it be, do you want to become friends with Sayaka?」

「Friends? Something like that, I……」

Laughing, Yuuki looks away from Haruki.

There was a window at the end of her line of sight, but outside it was just the backyard stretching out, not that there was anyone there either. In terms of visual information, the faint reflection of Haruki and Yuuki on the window surface was more noticeable.

「Senzaki-san? What happens?」

When Haruki called out to her, Yuuki looked back at him and said ‘It’s nothing’.

「Then, I would like to ask you about your relationship with Mishiro-kun. Could you talk to me about that?」

「I don’t think there is anything to say that you find interesting, Senzaki-san.」

「It is up to me to decide what I find interesting. Kunieda-kun’s presumptions are meaningless.」

It was just when Yuuki had finished eating the last garnish.

After thinking about what to start talking about, Haruki said,

「Sayaka and I are childhood friends.」

「I feel like the definition of childhood friends is vague, but how long have you known each other?」

「Since we’re in kindergarten, I think.」

「I see, that’s a real childhood friend relationship. I can’t say anything about it.」

「Our houses are close, and our parents get along well, so we naturally spend a lot of time together.」

「It’s like the monologue from a cheesy romance novel. But I don’t dislike it. Depending on how it plays out, it can get quite interesting.」

「Sayaka is basically a good girl, but she has a bit of a selfish side. So she often used to fight with the other kids over toys and the playground equipment, ending up being bullied one-sidedly.」

「Fumu~ fumu~, then the childhood friend Kunieda-kun would save her frequently, and that’s why she became spoiled.」

「Rather than saving her, I just stayed by her side, but……just a little bit, I was envious of Sayaka.」

「Envious?」

「Sayaka was certainly selfish, but I found it incredible that she was so dedicated to a certain thing. Back then, Sayaka was a weak-behaved girl, but no matter how arrogant the boy or girl was, she never gave in to anyone. That clear she had what was important to herself……」

「Fumu, I guess that means Kunieda-kun wasn’t a very picky kid?」

「I don’t know……If anything, I think I was the type to be easily influenced by those around me. I felt that even knowing how important something was to me, if people around me said ‘that’s rubbish’, I would just leave it.」

Haruki, who had naturally become talkative, felt a bit embarrassed and looked away from her.

Yuuki muttered ‘I see’ as she laughed as her voice echoed deep in her throat.

「You were attracted to Mishiro-kun, who had something that you didn’t, and you stayed by her side. Then Mishiro-kun came to appreciate Kunieda-kun, who was the only one by her side, and that’s why she became so attached to you, which is how you guys have come to be together until now.」

「Well, I guess that’s how it is.」

「I understand very well how you met. However, so far it’s just like a regular story, or maybe like your typical prologue. I think the problem comes after that.」

「After?」

「That’s how it is. The history of now is from the first or even the fourth grade, right? If it is to that extent, your childhood friend may pamper you, and you depend on him every day. [*The years she mentions are the first, second and even third grade which would be elementary school (Shougakkou Teigakunen), and the third and fourth grade which would be middle school (Chuugakunen)]

But when you get to the upper grades, you usually start to take into account how your surroundings see you──If you continue a relationship that is too clingy, you will receive strange glances. As for Mishiro-kun, it seems that she has continued to be pampered by you without caring about those kinds of glances, but……There must definitely be a reason or episode that makes such an abnormality happen on a daily basis, don’t you think? I would like to know that.」

Without an ounce of hesitation, Yuuki spoke fluently about her wishes.

He didn’t know the reason why she wanted to know so much, but in any case, Haruki thought that he wouldn’t be able to satisfy Yuuki.

「Even if you have suspicions, Sayaka has always been like that, so there’s not much to say.」

「Are you serious?」

「I’m serious, but is there a problem?」

「Suddenly it’s hard to believe.」

Yuuki made a sour face and crossed her arms.

「Assuming Kunieda-kun’s story is true, did the people around her just leave her in that state? In particular Mishiro-kun’s family, wouldn’t they have thought that she was a strange child?」

「As I think I told you before, Sayaka is not always childish.」

「……Fumu, then let’s change the question. Kunieda-kun, what do you think of Mishiro-kun?」

「What do I think?」

「Considering what we’ve talked about so far, it could be said that Mishiro-kun is a girl who reveals her true face only when she’s in front of Kunieda-kun. However, it’s hard to say that that true face is age-appropriate behavior for her. What do you think about this? After all, can you only think that it’s because she’s always been that kind of girl?」

「Well, if you ask me that way, I guess so.」

「So there’s nothing particularly unsatisfactory about your relationship with Mishiro-kun.」

「There’s no way there could be anything unsatisfactory. I am very happy that we can be together just like in the past. Because I think that kind of relationship is very valuable.」

「Valuable……Hee.」

When Haruki said that with deep emotion, Yuuki broke into a small smile.

「As I thought, you guys are weird. I can only describe you as an uncommon weird.」

「Hey, you don’t have to call us weird looking so happy either.」

「Do I look happy? ──I see, I may be happy. By having in front of my eyes a weird person similar but different to me.」

「What do you mean?」

「It is something that does not make sense now. Because I’m already alone.」

Of all the smiles so far, Yuuki showed one of slight loneliness.

「Just to be sure I’ll ask you again, Kunieda-kun, do you really have no idea? How Mishiro-kun became like that.」

「Ahh, that’s right. I have no idea.」

──To a world where Haa-chan and I can always be together.

「Kunieda-kun? What happens? Shutting up suddenly.」

「Ah, no……Anyway, there’s nothing more to talk about than what Senzaki-san would expect. At least not in my memories, I think.」

「……I see.」

A somewhat disappointed voice echoed through the infirmary.

Yuuki places the empty containers in her thermal bag.

「I do envy you, really.」

She said it like she was spitting up a little.

「How can you be so visibly different and still live your life without anyone blaming you?」

「What do you mean?」

「It is useless to talk about it here. It’s a shame. It really is a pity. Ahh~ mou~, I wonder why it didn’t go well between us? Sure it’s my fault, but after all, it’s too bad. A shame.」

Haruki could only stare dumbfounded at Yuuki, who began to mutter as if she was lamenting something. What the hell is she saying?

──Shortly, a bell will sound on the speakers in the room.

It was the bell that announced the last five minutes to the end of lunch time.

「Ahh, is this time already?」

Yuuki stood up with her bag in hand and said.

「Kunieda-kun. Can I ask you one last question?」

「But we have to go back now.」

「Don’t worry. The last question is a simple one that you answer with a yes or no.」

「Yes or no?」

「That’s how it is. You, have you already kissed with Mishiro-kun?」

For a moment, he couldn’t understand what Yuuki said.

But when he noticed the smirk from her, Haruki’s cheeks immediately heated up.

「W-What are you saying! Something like kissing her, how could I……」

「Oya~ oya~, that is a very innocent reaction. I wonder if I should interpret this as a no.」

「Of course! That’s something even Senzaki-san has no experience with, right?」

「Me? Well, I do.」

「Huh!? Senzaki-san, do you have a boyfriend!?」

「Who knows, what will it be like? I’ll leave it to your imagination, Kunieda-kun.」

Narrowing her eyes like a fox, Yuuki smiles.

For Haruki, it was quite a difficult fact to accept.

──Does Senzaki Yuuki have a boyfriend?

Well, it shouldn’t be strange for her to have one when she’s so beautiful, but seeing her lonely figure in class, it’s kind of hard to imagine……What kind of guy does this girl who is far away from the real world have a crush on, with whom has even gotten to kiss already?

──No, it’s not like she has stated that it was with her boyfriend……But, if that’s the case, it would be like an extraordinarily unusual pair……

「Still, it is unexpected. I thought you two had a relationship where you had already had a kiss or two, or even done more than that.」

「More than that you say, with what kind of eyes are you looking at us with?」

「With these eyes. However, I don’t dislike that kind of relationship. I guess you could call it platonic. Though I suspect you just don’t know how to ‘do it’.」

「Hey, let’s not talk about this. Senzaki-san, in the end you just want to make fun of me──」

Haruki raised his hips in an attempt to force his way out, but quickly sat back down.

Being pushed back by Yuuki’s thin arms.

「Senzaki-san? What are you……?」

「As a thanks, I thought. That if you don’t know how to do it, I’ll be your first time.」

「First time, you say……」

Haruki’s gaze was drawn to Yuuki’s thin lips. When he moved his eyes from side to side as if to escape, this time a gentle smiling eyes and the bulge of a soft curved breasts became visible, causing Haruki’s cheeks to rise in temperature.

「Kora~ kora~ Don’t open your eyes──At times like this, you have to keep them closed, Kunieda-kun.」

Her soft fingertips gently caress his eyes and both lids close easily.

Soon after, a slight sigh and a faint sweet smell tickled his nostrils, and Haruki’s heart pounded. He fantasized about the warmth and the sensation of touch that Yuuki’s lips would convey to him.

However, that soft body temperature did not come true in the end.

「After all, you sure are naive, aren’t you? Kunieda-kun.」

When the heat covering his eyelids disappeared, Haruki quickly opened his eyes.

Yuuki, who was standing in front of him, was smirking with a hand covering her lips.

「Iya~ haya~ You have entertained me. It’s something that makes your heart skip a beat quite a bit, even if you just bring your face close.」

「S-Senzaki-san……I knew it, making fun of me, like this.」

「Don’t blush so much. I can’t tell if you’re angry or embarrassed~」

「~ ~tsu.」

Haruki gnashed his teeth involuntarily. Even though she knows what she does, what a shameless person she is……

「I’m sorry I kept you for so long. As promised, I won’t ask any more questions about the relationship of the two of you. I have gained valuable experience, but even if I get more involved with you, it doesn’t seem like it will do me any good……No, rather, more than this……」

Muttering to herself, Yuuki walks over to the window for some reason.

「Wai──Senzaki-san? Where……?」

「Hmm? Ahh~ from here, it’s the shortest way to the classroom.」

Yuuki opened the window and moved to the side of the terrace with a bold move not caring that she was wearing a skirt.

「Then Kunieda-kun, I count on you to close the window, please.」

Leaving that behind, she strode along the terrace in her indoor shoes.

──She is a stranger person than I had imagined……Also, doing such a thing without any concern.

She said that her heart skipped a beat, but at least Haruki couldn’t read it in her expression. Even though he had prepared himself to be kissed for real……

With a slightly red face, Haruki walked with heavy steps towards the exit, and opened the door.

「Haa-chan.」

Sayaka was standing there.

Haruki involuntarily stepped back, but Sayaka immediately closed the distance without hesitation. At a distance at which she was willing to let her breasts bump and press firmly against him.

「Who’s, that Girl?」

「Sayaka……Could it be, have you been here the whole time……?」

「Because you said they would be in the infirmary, the committee.」

「No, well, it’s all a misunderstanding. Senzaki-san is my classmate from the seat next to me.」

「Liar.」

With a ‘don’, Sayaka steps forward and slams her body against Haruki.

The soft feel of her breasts was nice, but now was not the time to think of such insolent things.

That being said, since he couldn’t push her either, Haruki had no choice but to keep backing away.

「Even though I was waiting for you……Praying that it would end quickly, so that we could be together.」

「That’s, well……I’m sorry! After the committee meeting, I was tasked with some work. Then, along with Senzaki-san.」

「Together, did you have lunch together? With that girl……Even breaking your promise, with Sayaka.」

「Breaking up, you say……Anyway today, I wasn’t going to make it on time, because there was a lot going on with Senzaki-san as well.」

「Liar. Liar.」

One step, then another, Sayaka gets closer and closer.

When she finally cornered him to the window, losing all escape──Haruki was embraced with the sound effect of a ‘Hagu’ made by her.

「Now, I’ll delete it.」

「D-Delete……?」

「The smell of that girl, and her presence.」

Sayaka rubs and snuggles her body and face.

A warm and soft sensation ran through his entire being, Haruki involuntarily twisted his body.

「Wai──, it tickles me, Sayaka……」

「Not. I’ll keep doing this.」

「What are you saying, maybe the nurse will come back soon……」

「It’s fine. Don’t you like it, Haa-chan?」

「It’s not, that I don’t like it……」

「Why, do you keep saying things like that? Sayaka, even though Sayaka, likes Haa-chan so much. Although I like you a lot. Why Haa-chan, doesn’t like Sayaka?」

Haruki could see tears welling up in Sayaka’s eyes as she asked him in quick succession.

「What are you saying? Of course, I like you Sayaka. How could I not like you.」

「Do you really, like Sayaka?」

「Of course. I like you very much, Sayaka.」

「Then──kiss me, Haa-chan.」

「Eh……?」

「The same thing, with the girl from before. What were you doing here.」

Haruki blushes even more and shakes his head.

「W-Wait a minute, Sayaka. I haven’t done anything with Senzaki-san, if you were watching all this time, even you should know, right Sayaka?

「You were doing it, Haa-chan. You were doing it in your mind. You had that look on your face.」

「In my mind, you say……」

While it was absurd, she was right. Haruki definitely imagined the moment when he kissed Yuuki.

──But for that reason, kissing Sayaka here and now……!

「Please Haa-chan.」

「……tsu」

Sayaka’s eyes, which had glistening droplets, closed silently.

Haruki unexpectedly stiffened. His gaze is drawn to her light pink lips.

Sayaka’s feelings and determination were evident in her tightly closed eyelids and trembling lips.

As if he was being manipulated, Haruki grabbed both of Sayaka’s shoulders.

At that moment, he noticed that Sayaka’s body was trembling like a big wave.

As he was about to bring his lips closer to Sayaka’s face, as if pulled by an invisible thread, a few footsteps were heard coming from the corridor outside the infirmary, and Haruki jumped.

「This is not right, Sayaka.」

Saying so hesitantly, he removes his hands from her.

「After all, this is not right.」

「……tsu.」

「The nurse will arrive soon, moreover, in such a careless manner, something like this──」

As soon as she finished listening to him, Sayaka angrily push away Haruki’s arm.

「Idiot! Haa-chan, you idiot!」

She furiously insulted him and ran out of the infirmary while brushing away her tears.

Haruki let out a deep breath and couldn’t do anything but stand there still for a while.

In the end, he didn’t see Sayaka anymore that day. Even after the classes were over, she seems to have left school by herself before him, so she also didn’t appear before Haruki in his return to home.

Haruki has countless experiences where she gets angry like this, but even so, most of the time they make up on the same day. As night fell, while he was lying on the bed in his room, Haruki was worried that it might take a little longer this time.

「Liar, huh?……」

The words that Sayaka said, escaped from his mouth.

As for Haruki, he has no intention of lying to her.

However, if such reasoning were valid, this would not have happened. He can only lament that he was unlucky after all.

Why did she become such a girl obsessed with Haruki?──Isn’t that some kind of disease?

That’s the question Yuuki threw at him. But once again, Haruki is clueless.

She just wants Haruki. She like him too much. Wouldn’t that be convincing?──After all, is there something strange about our relationship? Such restlessness emerges weakly.

After the incident in the infirmary, Haruki met Yuuki in the classroom, but they didn’t have anything to talk about in particular.

During the afternoon class, Yuuki just stared absently at outside of the window and didn’t show any behavior of interest towards Haruki.

Why was Yuuki so interested in their relationship in the first place? Perhaps it is her way of saying that she is not convinced with the interpretation that they are just very close childhood friends.

Furthermore, Yuuki also said ‘I envy you’.

With what meaning did she say that?

「……Sure is full of things I don’t understand, today.」

He muttered vaguely and rolled onto his side.

No matter how much you think about it, there are things that cannot be avoided. Especially, the girl named Senzaki Yuuki, she is another kind of weird person than Sayaka. Even if an ordinary person seriously thinks about it, it may be useless.

Besides, even Sayaka, for sure, will come to see him again tomorrow with an innocent face. It’s not too late to reconcile after that.

At the same time that he thought that, what crossed his mind was, a memory that he is not sure if it is from his childhood, the dream of that crying girl.