First of all, in Sasaki’s case.
It was a rare day when she was alone.
In fact, this might be a bit of an unfair story for Sasaki.
I barely had any one-on-one time with Sasaki. She was just on the edge of being a friend, but there wasn’t really any particular reason for us to meet alone.
Naturally, I only encountered Sasaki at school, gatherings, or when Shii was around, and during those times, there was often a girl nearby who could stick to Sasaki.
Just recently, one more girl had joined the group.
So seeing Sasaki alone like this was a bit refreshing. Whether it was unfair to Sasaki or not, it was practically the first time I had seen it.
Sasaki was holding some kind of paper in her hand.
Stopped on the street, she looked down at the paper before she began walking again.
Tsuneda was following behind her, and we followed as well.
At a bit of a distance.
I should say it was fortunate—Tsuneda didn’t seem to have any superhuman hearing, as she didn’t notice we were following.
Sasaki entered a jewelry store.
Tsuneda froze at that sight. After contemplating for a while, she ultimately couldn’t bring herself to go in and just loitered in front of the store.
I knew Sasaki was going to buy some jewelry for her little sister, but Tsuneda didn’t know.
I thought about whether I should go tell Sasaki that she didn’t have a girlfriend or not, but I decided against it. There was no point in saying such a thing when she didn’t even know we were following, and all it would do is embarrass her.
When Sasaki came out and started walking again, Tsuneda seemed a bit relieved to follow her again.
Where would she go next?
It was a very natural sight of Sasaki going to the mart at Shii’s request, but she wouldn’t be doing any shopping here. Sasaki and Shii’s house was far enough that you’d have a hard time getting there without taking the train.
The next place Sasaki headed to was a famous dessert shop.
No matter how I thought about it, it seemed like a gift she would give to a girlfriend or a guy friend, so Tsuneda froze again.
No, wouldn’t it be better to just go and say something?
But soon I thought about my past life and shook my head.
I hadn’t been able to talk to pretty girls in my previous life either, so she was probably in a similar situation. People really dislike those they truly dislike.
“Uu?”
When I made a solitary mountain-gazing expression, Koko tilted her head.
As if she had finished her business, Sasaki put the notebook back into her pocket as she came out of the store.
And with a very happy expression, she started walking back the other way.
Tsuneda looked somewhat dejected.
“…Should I go tell her now?”
Yuka, who knew how close Shii and Sasaki were, asked, but I shook my head.
“That would just tell her we’ve been following her this whole time.”
“That’s… true.”
Then I said to Tsuneda, who looked a bit pitiful.
If she were to say something now, it would be better to wait until tomorrow or find a chance later to talk about Shii.
Whether or not they could really become a couple was up to them, but I didn’t want to see Sasaki staring gloomily, lost in misunderstanding—
“…Uh.”
Just as I was thinking we should stop chasing after them, an unexpected situation occurred.
“Hey, Tsubomi.”
It was risky to speak to Tsuneda, who was anxiously following after Sasaki’s back.
The group looked oddly delinquent, with hair dyed all sorts of colors.
I could understand blue hair, but would a teacher really say nothing about a high schooler with pink hair? It was already 2005, wasn’t it? There should be at least one old-fashioned teacher in school.
“Why are you all alone today?”
“Ah…”
Tsuneda’s face darkened at meeting those kids.
The three of us exchanged glances.
While we had the decency not to ignore an underclassman in danger, we weren’t heartless enough to turn our backs and leave. Well, since we did have some decency, it was only natural we would care.
Hastily moving our steps, the girl in front with blue hair spoke.
“You seem to be having fun? Already mingling with all sorts of people. Quite popular, huh?”
“Right. Quite popular.”
“Though it feels like you’re not popular with the boys~”
I was somewhat bothered by that last comment, but the three of us kept moving—
“But you wanted to go to a co-ed school so much, look at you now. Betrayer!”
As soon as I heard that, Yuka and I quickly hid in the alley next to us.
“Uwah!?”
Without noticing us, Koko took a few steps forward, and we quickly pulled her into the alley, causing her to inadvertently shriek.
We hid behind the alley for a moment.
Passersby looked at us strangely, but we didn’t hear any sounds of anyone walking toward us.
“Did everyone take that exam together?”
Tsuneda’s voice was heard, and we cautiously peeked out of the alley.
“You all failed, right?”
With her undeniable factual violence, Tsuneda ended up bullying that group—
…Hmm.
Would it be more accurate to say they were friends?
Anyway, those girls momentarily turned into quiet fools.
“And all the other applications were to all-girls schools…”
“B-but, there were no similar co-ed schools other than all-girls ones!”
Ahh.
So it seemed those girls were not the ones bullying Tsuneda.
Having attended an all-girls school, they probably thought of debuting in co-ed high school together, thinking they’d all try to date a boyfriend or something.
But unfortunately, only Tsuneda was accepted at Hanagawa.
The others managed to enter somewhat prestigious schools together, but they were likely also all-girls schools.
“……”
I understood.
Well, there might be more girls wanting to go to co-ed schools than those wishing to go to all-girls or all-boys schools. Everyone has their fantasies about high school life.
Hanagawa High School was particularly good at fulfilling that kind of fantasy.
Something… made me feel foolish for worrying.
“But you can’t give up the best school for your grades.”
“Ugh! That’s true, but…!”
It seemed that the reason I laughed last time was not because I thought they were bullied, but simply because it was an act of bravado.
“Damn it! This is so frustrating!”
“Even if it’s frustrating…”
Tsuneda said, seeming to be troubled.
She appeared more confident than when she was with us.
But isn’t it usually better for a friend to attend a co-ed school? If a guy is that desperate, wouldn’t it be better to ask for introductions?
But that was a story only when the friend had many male friends. Tsuneda had unfortunately entered a club with only female members.
“Ah, whatever! At this point—”
You should take the lead and go look for men.
I was about to say that when suddenly someone interrupted.
“Hey.”
Out of nowhere, there was a boy talking to Tsuneda.
A boy.
…More accurately, it was just Sasaki.
Did the male protagonist of a harem light novel have sensors to detect heroines or something?
Although it wasn’t particularly dangerous, to an outside observer, it could look like bullying.
Had he perhaps heard their comments from afar?
In any case, Tsuneda already knew his face.
“Gasp!”
The girl with blue hair, who had been leading the bullying, seemed to be shocked by the sudden appearance of the ‘boy student.’
Sasaki was undeniably good-looking enough to have a good reputation among the students.
Since they were Tsuneda’s friends, I figured they would react similarly if they weren’t immune to guys like Tsuneda.
“Tsune-chan?”
“Sasaki-senpai…”
“S-Senpai!?”
Seeing Tsuneda answer with her face flushed and twisted, the girl in front with blue hair exclaimed in shock.
The girl who had just been teasing Tsuneda that she didn’t have popularity with boys seemed incredibly astonished to find out she knew a `male student`.
“What’s going on? What are you all doing to Sasaki?”
Nakahara appeared with that remark and quickly stood next to Sasaki, crossing her arms.
The girls looked like they had just been hit with a hammer to the head.
“…Senpai?”
“Ah, this is Nanami. Nakahara Nanami. A classmate.”
Even with the mention of being classmates, Nakahara’s expression was confident.
No, how is that an expression to have when you’ve just denied the mention of being a girlfriend? Well, even though Sasaki didn’t intentionally say that, it still didn’t change the situation.
“So, does that mean… you’re not dating?”
“…She’s my childhood friend!”
Tsuneda’s voice shot back when Nakahara’s eyes turned fierce, exclaiming.
But it seemed that Tsuneda felt more relieved with that statement.
I wasn’t sure what kind of school life Tsuneda had had in middle school. But if that group was the type of otaku group I was thinking about, they would know one thing.
Childhood friends usually lose in the end.
No, even if they didn’t know specifically, they would have felt reassured by simply hearing the word ‘childhood friend.’
If they were a couple, they would’ve introduced each other as such from the start.
Tsuneda subtly placed her hand on Sasaki’s arm.
Her face was reddening like it might burst, but I figured this was probably the most courageous moment of her life.
To put it another way, it was a national provocation.
“Tsune-chan?”
Sasaki had a somewhat flustered expression, but Tsuneda mustered all her strength and spoke up. I didn’t know where that courage came from. Was it due to the appearance of a rival? Or perhaps the sense of relief from Sasaki approaching her first?
One thing was clear; Tsuneda seemed determined to enjoy their high school years to the fullest.
“I… wanted to return the favor for the last time, so… are you free today?”
“…!”
The nearby girls, including Nakahara, wore shocked expressions.
“Um, that’s…”
Caught off guard, Sasaki found herself in a state of indecision.
“…Shall we go?”
After feeling like I had seen enough, I said that, and Yuka, who had been looking at the situation with an unbelievable expression, nodded.
“I want something a bit bitter to eat.”
“Yeah, I was thinking of that too.”
Otherwise, I felt like my teeth would fall out. I felt overly stuffed from the sweets.
“Uu…?”
“Koko can eat something sweet. Shall I buy you some cake?”
“Wow!”
At Yuka’s words, Koko’s face lit up.
We then headed to the café known for having the most delicious coffee and desserts nearby.
I said I wanted something a bit bitter, but well, chocolate has some bitter aspects to it, so that should be good enough.
…However, I felt like I was forgetting something.
I thought it was related to something about feeling shriveled, but feeling uncomfortable, I eventually couldn’t remember it, and we ended up chatting for a long time before heading home.
It was only after I got home and saw Kagami’s pouting face that I remembered I had said something about feeling “too lonely, you might shrink.”
Becoming an incorrigible daughter, I hurriedly took Kagami to a nearby family restaurant for a family gathering.
Koko seemed genuinely pleased that she could eat delicious food in the meantime.
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