Chapter 209
Who and What Did You Do?
"Ugh, I'm near the front of the teacher's podium. ...Sasaki, switch places with me, please!"
"It's okay, the important thing is that you don't sit in the front row. Be patient, Yamazaki."
"Oh, gosh, I'm behind Yamazaki, hehe. He's so tall, he can't hide from the teacher. But I can play with my smartphone all I want. Just what I expected from 2 highs. Try your best to get 1 high again."
"Murata, this boy is tall, but I doubt his education is high as well..."
"I don't mind if it's Sasaki.♥"
"What do you mean you 'don't mind'...? ...I can't just do whatever I want..."
"Sajou it is, then."
"At least look at me, 'I'm sorry I'm 0 highs'."
"Really? There's no need to worry. Oh, show me where your injury is. I want to see the hole. Can I take a picture?"
"Don't say that like a palm reader."
After the change of seats, the classroom was filled with students greeting each other near them. I was already sitting in my seat in the second row from the right, fourth row from the front, and was already being influenced by the dialog of comics (Stand Up Comedians) Yamazaki, Murata, and Sasaki, who were lined up vertically to the left of my row. I was the last comic as if counting down the three highs, shamefully referred to as high education, high height, and high income. The gal's dark jokes from the integrated middle school were sharp. If I wasn't Big Sis' little bro, I would have been dying like Young Lady that time. ...I probably would have done the same thing.
"Yo, Sajou-kun. We sit next to each other, huh?"
"Yeah, please to meet you. I think I can finally relax my mind."
"Really?"
Iihoshi-san, the Class Rep, was sitting right to my right. Until now, she had always sat right in front of the teacher's podium, so she must have felt cramped during class time. She seemed to be happy to have an inconspicuous seat in the middle of her row.
I wonder if this is retaliation for the fact that she saw me clearly, Iihoshi-san said to me with a wicked smile on her face, as if she had just thought of something.
"...No need to worry. You've changed seats now."
"..."
"Oh no, sorry? Are you in a deep depression?"
"No, I don't have a problem with the seat change... ...it's just that I don't think the timing is right."
"Oh, come to think of it. No wonder I feel that there's some kind of strange vibe going on..."
"Iihoshi-san also has a good sense of sight, huh."
As for Natsukawa, the person in question, she was sitting in the leftmost row, the third row from the front. There were three rows between me and her, she's no longer at a distance that allowed me to talk to her casually. It was a pity because I couldn't see her figure anymore from the diagonal position behind me.
The person sitting to Natsukawa's right was Ogami, who recorded the video of Natsukawa and Ashida's duet, and sent it to me, while I was recovering at home since I couldn't participate in the School Cultural Festival's dissolution party. I do owe you a favor, but that's another story. I'm going to put you on alert. Prepare to be shot.
If I think back, when we switched seats before, and after school, I went home with Natsukawa, and then I met Haru, from the same middle school as ours, and the atmosphere became awkward. ...At that moment, I felt like I was going crazy from happiness and embarrassment. But in the end, I think it was a happy time because we had more to talk about.
However, right now—
"Something happened again... ....You two are annoying. Ashida-chan seems to be having fun on his own."
"...I wonder if it will work this time."
Natsukawa's behavior has been very different since this morning. Ashida was originally just an amused observer when she saw the relationship between me and Natsukawa at the beginning of the first term, but now she's Natsukawa's best friend. It's hard to believe that she doesn't realize that something is going on with Natsukawa.
"Yeah, that's fine. Just don't do anything that will make the atmosphere in the classroom worse."
"I-It's rude, you know..."
"Because I'm the Class Rep."
Iihoshi-san said this with a calm tone and relaxed demeanor. She remained as flat as ever. I wonder, what's the meaning of this strange boss-like aura? ...She's the boss in creating the class group chat and taking action, so her impression of a "great person" is vaguely ingrained in me. She even took the initiative to follow up when the atmosphere in the classroom became more awkward after Sasaki and Saitou-san started dating.
Are Sasaki and Saitou-san finally going to split up? ...Looking at the past, it seems as if they've been destined to sit together since they enrolled in high school, either in front of or behind each other. I thought it would be the same this time, but it seems that fate finally overruled this togetherness. The seat to the left of Sasaki's was now filled by Ashida, and Saitou-san sat on the right seat diagonally in front of Natsukawa's. Oh, well? Is there going to be a rift in their relationship as soon as they just started dating? It seems that I can't drink sake with Sasaki now. I can't drink sake yet.
And I also don't plan to drink sake with him in the future, because I'm sure she'll buy me drinks with impunity, saying things like "I can't ruin the relationship between me and Saitou-san because of that (Clang)." or something like that. I can see him saying, "Don't worry, you're our Love Cupid, right? Hehe," Sasaking considers me his Love Cupid. Yamazaki, please tell me a romance story about how you got involved with so many bad girls. I'll buy you a drink.
Ichinose-san sat on the seat three rows to the left of mine — and diagonally to the right behind Natsukawa's.
♦
After finishing a few subjects, I felt very refreshed after switching seats. Not that anything went wrong, but I always felt a cold sweat down my spine, probably because my head kept wandering.
"...No, that's right."
I waited a little longer to see how she was doing, but I finally peeked out from the corridor at the back of the classroom and saw that Natsukawa was looking glum. I could no longer watch her, and unintentionally, I broke my gaze by leaning my back against the corridor wall and sighed.
"What's going on here?"
"Natsukawa — Oh, hello, Ashida-san!"
"What's going on here?"
"Oh, how dare you pull my arm so suddenly...?"
"Can we talk somewhere else?"
"Y-Yeah, I think so...?!"
Ashida, with a fake smile, inserted her thumb into the gap between the two large bones passing through my right arm. Understanding the structure of the arm and the strength of the fingertip muscles is very important in volleyball. I must take this pain in stride. I'm dragged behind the stairs past the toilet.
"It's about Aichi. You must know something about that, right?"
"Yeah..."
"Is this happening because of you, Sajocchi?"
"Yeah..."
"Hmmm."
Ashida crossed her arms as she circled me, tapping her arm with her index finger. From the expression on her face, I could tell that she was ready to interrogate me and ask, "Now what should we do?"
"S-Slow down..."
"What have you done to Aichi?"
"H-Hey... ...I have some circumstances... ...that I can't tell anyone about..."
"So you can't tell me either?"
"That... ...doesn't just involve Natsukawa. There is another person involved too, and she has her privacy too..."
"Then, just tell me what you can tell me."
Ashida, who was standing in front of me, said with a flat expression, just like I had seen before. Did she see a situation where the seriousness in the words I had spoken so far, or stop acting like an interrogator?
What can I tell you — as much as I can tell you, huh? Well then, there might be a few things. I don't want to let Natsukawa get drawn into this, and I also don't want to burden Ashida with confusion by stubbornly refusing to talk. If possible, I'd rather do things without saying anything, but it's best here to tell Ashida to some extent.
"It's about this left hand of mine. There are other characters involved in this story who caused the injury."
"And who is that?"
"I can't tell you who it is."
"...Then, what else?"
"Well, how should I put it, huh, ...there is money involved in this story."
"..."
Just as I expected, Ashida looked surprised. She shook her head for a moment, then she looked disappointed. I guess it was because she couldn't accept the words that she heard. Without bothering to cover up her disappointment, Ashida continued to ask me more questions.
"...So, why did it make Aichi lose her spirit? I don't understand why the exchange of money could make her like that."
"It's because..."
That's beyond the scope that we can talk about. I can't talk about this to outsiders anymore. I don't want to talk about this to Ashida either. I don't think I need to talk about this when I don't know how she's going to end up, is she going to be the second Natsukawa or is she going to sulk weirdly...?
"─I can't talk about this anymore."
"..."
"Sorry."
"..."
Ashida's expression disappeared again and she looked straight at me. I could only apologize. As I remained silent without looking away, Ashida's facial expression changed as if her energy had been drained, and she began to feel anxious.
"...That kind of thing, huh?"
"...Ashida?"
"─I can't do anything for you, can I...?"
"..."
Ashida finally lowered her gaze to the ground. Looking at that rarely-seen look of hers, I felt as if my chest was tight. At the same time, I felt pain as if many thorns were piercing my body. I think this is the first time I've felt this way about Ashida.
I don't think she's asking a bunch of questions just out of curiosity. I can feel that she wants to do something even though she hates me. Is that why I feel guilty? Natsukawa is depressed, Ashida is depressed, and I'm just being swayed by someone else's fence. But still... I won't give up here.
"Wait. There's still a lot we can talk about here."
"Eh?"
"It's true that Natsukawa became like that because of me. However, I don't think I did it to hurt her or make her sad."
"What do you mean?"
"How should I put it... ...that's — I've already given her a big surprise, sort of..."
"Big... ...surprise?"
"Yeah. Other than that, I'm sure there are other misunderstandings. If we can convey it well, I don't know why..."
The regret that comes from having to feel an injury like that and the vow I made in the future. If I could explain that to Natsukawa and convince her. I can ease the shock I gave her, and she won't continue to feel depressed without realizing that she's afraid of me for doing something abnormal. Maybe so, just maybe.
"...Eh? Is that all you do, Sajocchi...?"
"What? What does that mean... that's all?"
Ashida looked at me with a surprised look. Why are you thinking like that? When I looked back as if to ask, Ashida told me with a puzzled expression on her face.
"Sajocchi — I don't think I'll do anything else to help you."
TL: Reeze27
ED: Reeze27
PR: Reeze27
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