┆
“Staaaaare...”
………….
“Staaaaaaaaaare...”
…………………….
“Staaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaare...”
……Haa.
I glanced toward the hallway.
“!”
She was hiding her body but not her blonde hair. She was keeping watch on me in a very obvious way… Also, she was glaring at me quite intensely. It seemed she was still holding a grudge about what happened on Saturday.
It was a gloomy Monday that had been cloudy since morning. The probability of precipitation was 70 percent. Thunderstorms in some areas. On such a terrible day, Kuonji was acting like that. Naturally, Ryuya and Neika weren't going to miss it.
“akki. Did something happen with Rila?”
“No, nothing… I think.”
“Hey, hey, hey. Akito, there's no way she'd be like that if nothing happened.”
He was so right that I couldn't even manage a comeback. But to be honest, I didn't know why she was angry. Kuonji and I should feel the same way… or so I thought. She hates me, and I see her as my natural enemy. I just told her that honestly, so I couldn't understand why she got so furious and was now avoiding me.
“Well, don't make her cry too much, Akito.”
“Yeah, yeah. You have to treat girls like they're made of eggs.”
After saying those random things, the two of them walked off together.
I must have stepped on a landmine back then… but I had no idea what the landmine was. Help me, Dora-e-mon.
┆
In the end, the morning classes finished without anything special happening (though she glared at me the whole time), and lunch break arrived. Just as I was about to eat with Ryuya and Neika as usual—
*Thwack.* Something hit my head.
It was a crumpled piece of paper… When I opened it…
『Gather at the landing in front of the rooftop.』
It was written in cute, rounded handwriting. The sender was… well, it had to be her.
“Hmm? Akito, are you going somewhere?”
“Yeah, just for a bit. You guys go ahead and eat.”
“Alrighty.”
“akki, see ya later.”
Seen off by the two, I headed to the designated spot while avoiding prying eyes. Once I got there, even though it was lunch break, the hustle and bustle from below couldn't be heard. It was quiet.
Kuonji was sitting alone at the very top of the stairs. She had her head tucked against her knees, as if trying to hide her face.
But… I really wished she would stop sitting like that. Her pinkish panties were visible.
“…Uh… I'm here.”
“…………”
She raised her head slightly and stole a glance at me. Looking closely, her face was bright red. I couldn't tell if it was from anger or embarrassment.
“…………”
“…………”
Silence fell between us. As I was wondering what to do, Kuonji slowly let out a breath and looked up. She stared at me with firm eyes, as if she had made up her mind.
“Sanada, about Saturday… sorry. …I'm sorry.”
“…Eh? Sorry, what are you apologizing for?”
“…In the heat of the moment, I said I hated you.”
“……Wait? Eh? …Heat of the moment?”
“Um… does that mean, in reality, you don't actually hate me?”
“Don't get the wrong idea.”
“ah, okay.”
“! No, that's not… ugh…!”
…I didn't get it. I hadn't understood her before, but lately, Kuonji was even more incomprehensible…
“An-Anyway! I'm really sorry!”
“…Alright. I don't really get what you're apologizing for, but for now, I understand.”
“…You're honest, aren't you?”
“Because I really don't know. It's better to be honest than to fake it and have it become a pain later, right?”
“*Pfft.* What's that?”
Oh, she laughed. I thought so on Saturday too, but she really is cuter when she laughs.
“Don't tell me you called me here just for that?”
“That's not it. It's just… well, for better or worse, we are connected by the 'Red Thread of Fate,' right?”
Kuonji raised her left hand. I raised mine too. There, without a doubt, was the red thread connecting us. I was already used to it by now.
“Yeah, I guess so.”
“So I thought. If that's the case, we should stop being enemies.”
“…What do you mean?”
“Um… well, that… getting along might be impossible for now, but… let's try to get to know each other…”
Hmm, I see? So Kuonji also wants to get along with me. …Wait, why did I think 'also'? That makes it sound like I want to be on good terms with her too.
When I shook my head, Kuonji started fidgeting with her fingers.
“If we… if we knew more about each other… there would be fewer misunderstandings…”
“…Misunderstandings?”
“! N-No, that's not what I meant! Just a figure of speech!”
“ O-Oh.”
I decided not to think about it too deeply. Even if I did, since I didn't know her well, I'd probably just end up overthinking things.
“But, we talked before about not suddenly changing our attitude at school, right? What are we going to do?”
“Th-That's why… like… outside of school, maybe…?”
“ I see, outside. Sure.”
“Right, I knew it'd be a bother if I suddenly said something like th—…huh?”
Eh. Why did she have such a surprised look on her face?
“If we're going to get to know each other, we might be able to act more like ourselves outside than at school. It's fine.”
“Is… Is it really okay…?”
“Yeah. Then, let's exchange addresses so we can decide where to go.”
I launched the messaging app, LIME. Seeing that, Kuonji also launched LIME with a dazed expression.
“Alright, let's do the furufuru. Here, furufuru.”
“ F-Furufuru…”
“…Oh, it worked. Okay, I'll message you when I get home. Later.”
“ Y-Yeah…”
I went down the stairs, step by step. I looked at the 'New Friend' newly registered on LIME.
【Riran】
………….
“YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!”
┆Riran┆
“…………”
Stunned. I was currently experiencing the full weight of those words.
I didn't understand. It wasn't quite a date… but I managed to make a promise to go out somewhere together. Not only that, something unexpected happened.
Added to LIME, a 'New Friend'.
【Sanada Akito】
“…………”
………….
“NEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!”