CH 26

Monday.

Today is the start of another week of school.

I was up late last night and overslept a bit, so I arrived at school much later than usual, although I wasn’t late.

When I entered the classroom, I saw that many of my classmates had already arrived, and Takayuki had already taken his seat.

“Good morning.”

I greeted Takayuki and sat down in my seat.

“Oh, good morning Takuya!”

Takuya smiled at my greeting and I greeted me back, he was a nice and fresh guy today.

Jii (stare)

“You’re late today, aren’t you?”

“Yeah, I overslept a little.”

“It’s unusual for Takuya to oversleep.”

We continued our conversation.

Jiii (stare)

“Yeah, I played too many games last night.”

“You mean that game you were talking about last night?”

“Yeah, I’ve risen in rank quite a bit.”

Yes, I had gotten hooked on a social game I had recently started on my smartphone, and I had played it until midnight last night.

This kind of game that can be played without limit is dangerous because you lose your sense of time.

I was so absorbed in the game that I found myself straddling the day, which surprised even me.

Jiiii (stare)

“Oh, by the way, Takuya, ……”

“…… ah.”

Takayuki glanced at me awkwardly, and I gave him a slurred reply.

Jiiiiiii (stare)

After giving up, I interrupted my conversation with Takayuki and turned to my neighbor, who had been looking at me for a while.

“……Uhm? Good morning, Saegusa-san.”

I delayed to greet my neighbor, Saegusa-san, who was looking at me in the morning.

But Saegusa’s cheeks were puffed up and she looked clearly unhappy.

It was certainly my fault for talking to Takayuki without greeting her.

But why is she in such a bad mood? I’m just trying to be honest.

“……”

I greeted her, but Saegusa-san did not reply.

As if to ignore my greeting, Saegusa-san, still puffed up, stared at me as usual.

–What’s going on?

I was puzzled in the face of Saegusa, who had been too mysterious since morning.

I look to Takayuki for help, but he replies with a gesture of helplessness, saying that he doesn’t know either.

I agreed wholeheartedly, then gave up and faced Saegusa, who was now deflated like a balloon.

I don’t know why at all, but for the time being, the puffed up Saegusa-san looks like a hamster, and she’s been very cute since this morning.

If this hadn’t been directed at me, I might have been able to look at her smiling for a while.

“…… Shi-chan.”

Saegusa-san finally opened her mouth, and muttered something quiet.

But I couldn’t hide my shock at that single word.

“No, wait, Saegusa-san, that was just for that day…”

“Shi-chan…”

As if to interrupt my words, Saegusa-san focused solely on Shi-chan.

It seems that she has no intention of giving up on that.

As we exchanged words, Takayuki asked, “Shi-chan?” Takayuki tilted his head and muttered in wonder.

In the meantime, it seems that she won’t forgive me if I don’t call her Shi-chan, so I gave up and went back to greet Saegusa-san in the morning.

“…… I get it. I mean, good morning, Shi, Shi-chan?”

In the classroom, I finally said it.

I was worried about my future life at school, thinking that calling Saegusa-san, who was not only the idol of the class but also a real idol until the other day, “Shi-chan” would certainly make me stand out.

However, Saegusa-san didn’t seem to be aware of this, and her puffy face instantly brightened up with a big smile on her face.

And then.

“Yes! Good morning, Takkun!”

Sure enough, Saegusa-san greeted me cheerfully, smiling at me.

As if surprised by Saegusa-san’s words, all eyes in the classroom focused on us at once.

Even Takayuki in front of me muttered, “Ta, Takkun!” he muttered in surprise.

Well, that’s true, isn’t it?

The reaction of everyone was right, because Saegusa-san, who had always kept a certain distance from everyone, suddenly called me “Takkun”.

–Well, it can’t be helped.

On Saturday, I had been calling Saegusa-san “Shi-chan” for a long time, so it’s not right to say something about this situation now.

Yeah, Shi-chan and Takkun, we’ re good friends.

As I prepared myself for this, I couldn’t help but smile at the fact that I was getting so much attention for calling someone by their nickname.

I thought that Saegusa-san’s influence was too great.

Then I spoke again to Saegusa-san, who was smiling at me.

“Well, what can I say, ……, Saturday was fun, wasn’t it, Shi-chan?”

“Yes! Let’s do it again! Takkun!”

Saegusa-san replied happily to my words.

And at the exchange, my classmates all buzzed, “Eeeeeeeehh!” The classmates all buzzed in unison.

Shimizu-san, who was seated a little farther away from Takayuki, smiled happily at me as I decided to let things happen as they would.