After talking with Azuma, the fifth and sixth periods ended while I still carried a lingering sense of frustration.
I wasn’t exactly a top student to begin with, but even more than usual, the teacher's words failed to enter my head.
What was I so frustrated about, so uneasy about… or rather, so irritated about? As I mobilized every brain cell to search for the identity of that feeling, the sounds coming from the outside world were nothing more than noise.
Even as I say I was mobilizing all my brain cells, it’s doubtful whether that actually meant I was thinking clearly.
Yeah, things like this should be broken down and organized.
In the first place, what "event" am I even angry at? Was there anything to be angry about? Is there even one thing I should be angry about? What right do I even have to…
“Ah, I forgot! Amane-chan, Amane-chan!”
At that voice, which wasn't particularly loud, I suddenly snapped back to my senses. Even though my name wasn't called, I wonder why…?
Looking around, the classroom—where homeroom seemed to have ended without me noticing—was starting to become sparse.
I saw the back of Erina-san as she trotted over to Ichikawa’s seat.
It’s rare to see Erina-san and Ichikawa talking just the two of them. As I watched them absentmindedly, Erina-san turned around and our eyes met.
Then, Erina-san said,
“See ya, Amane-chan! Erina’s told you now, okay~?”
She waved her hand and then approached my seat.
Beyond her, Ichikawa was biting her lip with a frown on her face, looking over here and nodding repeatedly. For some reason, I quickly averted my gaze from her.
“My, my, Takuto-kun, what’s with you looking over here like that? Are you thaaat interested in Erina~?”
Erina-san, who had reached my side, asked with a smirk.
“No, why would I be…”
“Ueeh, that’s even more of a cold shoulder than I expected… Hmm, then maybe…”
Then, her cat-like eyes glittered.
“Maybe you’re interested in Amane-chan?”
“…Not really.”
I replied with a tone so different from before that even I could tell.
“Hmm? Boys who are too possessive get hated, you know~?”
Erina-san gave a meaningful giggle.
Then she lowered her voice slightly and went out of her way to tell me information I hadn’t even asked for.
“You see, that Tokugawa-kun who came to the Rock Club studio yesterday left a message saying he wanted to talk to Amane-chan. He said after school today. It’s what you’d call a ‘summons,’ right?”
…I see.
If that’s the case, Erina-san, isn’t your timing for telling Ichikawa way too late? You said after school today, and right now is that very ‘after school.’
…No, it doesn’t matter anyway. Yeah, it doesn’t matter.
“I mean, ‘Tokugawa-kun.’ Isn’t that guy a senior?”
“Oh, Takuto-kun, you know about Tokugawa-kun. He might have been a senior before, but he’s a classmate now, right? Besides, he’s a fellow UK-dweller with Erina~”
True, they both have experience living in the UK.
“Hey, hey, Takuto-kun.”
Then Erina-san leaned in close to me and whispered in a hushed voice.
“Tokugawa-kun is probably that person who confessed to Amane-chan last year, right~?”
There was a sweet scent on Erina-san’s breath. Apparently, she was sucking on a citrus-flavored candy. Did she always have those?
“I guess so.”
When I gave a half-hearted reply, Erina-san’s voice turned exasperated.
“…Takuto-kun is still sooo Takuto-kun, isn’t he~”
She let out a light sigh.
While I was getting miffed without being able to retort, she said,
“More importantly, look at this, this!”
“Huh…?”
Erina-san happily pointed her smartphone toward me.
On the screen was…
“Is this Hazama…?”
It showed Hazama looking unusually cool.
“Yes! This is from a fashion magazine’s Instagram account, for a feature on stylish handsome high schoolers in the city!”
“Oh… wait, what?”
My Japanese isn't great enough to understand that. I know Instagram exists, but this is the first time I’ve actually seen it. What’s so interesting about looking at photos of people?
“I’m tell-ing you! Kenji’s handsomeness has been discovered by the whole country! The number of likes on this post alone is super high!”
“Ohh…”
Well, good for him…
“Uwah, your reaction is so weak it’s boring… You’re like lightly salted chips…”
“I see.”
Does she mean my reaction is thin and salty—meaning a cold shoulder…?
“Geez, you’re hopeless… Ah, Erina has to go to club now. See ya later~”
With a face that looked genuinely disillusioned, Erina-san waved her hand half-heartedly and left the classroom.
“Sigh…”
Without even knowing what that sigh was for, I started haphazardly stuffing my things, which were scattered all over the desk, into my bag. Then Ichikawa, the only other person left in the classroom, approached my seat timidly and awkwardly.
“Konuma-kun, um, about today…”
“You have plans, don’t you?”
I felt irritated with myself for the way my voice came out—abrupt, expressionless, and for some reason, harsh.
“Y-Yeah…”
Ichikawa just gave that weak agreement and stood fidgeting by my side.
Every single little thing was somehow getting on my nerves.
“…And?”
“Um… er, are you angry?”
“Not really.”
My voice continued to ring out coldly toward her expression as she peered up at me, trying to read my mood.
“…You are angry.”
“I’m not angry.”
Why would I be angry?
What right do I have to be angry at anything?
It’s not like we had a promise to go home together, yet Ichikawa properly came to tell me, so there’s absolutely nothing to be angry about.
…But.
Why do you have to go out of your way to tell me something like that?
“I’m just going to the studio to get my sticks and then going home ahead of you.”
Even though I knew very well that I shouldn't speak this way.
I should have known.
“So, please, take your time.”
Those words were spat out of my mouth so bluntly that I even felt disappointed in myself.
“…What’s with that way of speaking?”
When I looked up from my hands, Ichikawa was staring at me with a glare.
“…What is?”
As if you don’t know.
“Anyway, my business is also at the school studio.”
Ichikawa’s voice grew sharp.
“Ha? Don’t use the studio for something like that.”
“‘Something like that’? What do you mean? You don’t even know what my business is.”
Ichikawa’s words were sharp, cold, and simmering with heat.
“You were called out by a senior, weren’t you? Do you even know why you were called, Ichikawa?”
“I don't know! But you don’t know either, Konuma-kun!”
“I don’t know, and there’s no need for me to know. To me…”
I hesitated for a moment, but then I finally said the thing I probably shouldn’t have said.
“…It has nothing to do with me.”
At my words, Ichikawa closed her eyes and let out a slow breath, as if enduring something welling up inside her, trying to let it escape her body.
“…And here I thought Konuma-kun was an ally.”
Then, she turned a look toward me that seemed like sadness coated in anger.
“Ally… or enemy, that’s not the issue here.”
I had completely reached the point of no return.
Even though I intended to stay an ‘ally,’ some emotion was getting in my way.
“It’s not like… Ichikawa is the one going to confess anyway.”
“That’s true, but…!”
The word ‘confess’ got stuck in my throat but I forced it out, and at that, Ichikawa’s eyes wavered as if she was significantly shaken.
“I mean, why tell me that? What do you want me to do about it, Ichikawa?”
“…Nothing.”
I got irritated again at Ichikawa’s profile as she completely turned away.
“Fine, I’m going home then.”
I slung my bag over my shoulder and started walking away, turning my back on Ichikawa.
““……Idiot.””
Was it me who said that, or was it Ichikawa, or was it…?