I felt like I could hear the sound of a breeze rustling the leaves in the distance.
Falling asleep while feeling the sensation of Kanade’s lap pillow against the back of my head was quite an exquisite experience.
I wonder exactly how long I had been asleep.
“Ak-kun, it’s time to wake up.”
Called by Kanade, I woke up while my head felt fuzzy. Still sleepy, I rubbed my eyes and pushed my upper body up.
“……Good morning, Ak-kun.”
With my eyes still half-closed, I checked my surroundings and noticed Kanade nearby. She was showing me a smile. However, the situation felt very out of place.
Just a moment ago, I was supposed to have fallen asleep on Kanade’s lap… but for some reason, I was now sleeping on a bed. Looking closely at where the bed was, medicine and white curtains entered my vision, and I realized I was in the health room.
“……Why am I in the health room?”
“Ak-kun, you were sleeping so soundly that I carried you here.”
“Eh. Is that so?”
“Yeah. The school nurse said you probably worked yourself too hard lately.”
“……Wait, what time is it now?”
“17:00.”
“It’s totally after school then……”
“……I’m sorry.”
Kanade apologized to me looking apologetic.
“Why are you apologizing, Kanade? I’m the one at fault for overdoing it, right?”
“……”
Although Kanade was smiling, she had a thin layer of sweat on her forehead.
“……I guess I ended up skipping the afternoon classes.”
“I’m sorry, okay?”
“Like I said, don’t apologize. It’s fine.”
I stood up from the bed.
“Oh, are you alright now?”
As I stood up, the school nurse called out to me.
“Yes. Sorry for the trouble.”
“No problem. But you mustn't push yourself too hard, okay?”
“Yes.”
“It’s a famous story among the teachers that you’re dedicated to your studies…… but I never thought you’d be so absorbed in studying that you’d fall into sleep deprivation.”
“……I’m sorry.”
“Well, learn your lesson and moderate yourself a bit, okay? Don’t make your cute girlfriend worry too much.”
At the school nurse’s comment……
“G-Girlfri……!?”
Kanade’s face turned bright red.
“……Ahaha. Well then, excuse us.”
“Okay~ take care~”
I started walking.
“Kanade……?”
However, I immediately looked back. It was because I noticed Kanade was standing there frozen with her face still bright red.
“……Ah!”
“Ah, you snapped out of it.”
“T-Then, shall we go home, Ak-kun?”
“Yeah.”
We left the health room and went out into the hallway. The sky, which had been a clear blue without a single cloud earlier, was now dyed bright red by the sunset. Today, as always, the melodies played by the brass band club could be heard from the school building.
“Ak-kun.”
Kanade, who was behind me, called out.
“What is it?”
“Sorry. I completely forgot, but here.”
“Hmm?”
Kanade handed me a smartphone.
“……Eh.”
Looking closely, it was my smartphone. ……Just why did Kanade have my phone?
“……Ufufu. It looked like it was going to fall out of your pocket while you were sleeping, so I kept it for you.”
“……”
“……”
“……Oh. So that’s what happened.”
After letting out a sigh of relief, I took the phone from Kanade.
“I thought for sure you had borrowed it to do some tampering with my phone or something~”
“……Ufufu.”
Well, there’s no way Kanade would do such a thing.
“Now then, let's quickly head back to the classroom and go home.”
My head was still spinning, so I thought I’d go to bed early today. ……However, the thing I thought would be a bit troublesome was whether I’d be spoken to by my classmates when returning to the classroom.
No matter how few friends I had in class, if I was absent for all the afternoon classes, the possibility of being worried about by classmates staying behind wasn’t zero.
“……Huh.”
Contrary to my thoughts, there wasn't a single classmate left in the room.
“Ah. Come to think of it, they said everyone was going to the mixer today.”
……Come to think of it, I feel like Yoshihira-kun said something like that this morning.
“I see. ……I hope they’re having fun.”
“Did you want to go too, Ak-kun?”
“……Hmm.”
I hesitated for a moment.
“Not at all.”
However, I still didn't feel any significance in socializing with classmates I wasn't particularly close with, so I gave my answer.
“More importantly, were you okay with it, Kanade?”
“Eh?”
“You were invited too, weren’t you, Kanade? To the mixer.”
“……Oh.”
After understanding, Kanade smiled.
“I don't really care…… I thought it was fine as long as I could be with Ak-kun.”
……Without realizing it, I found myself captivated by that smile of Kanade’s.
“I see.”
“Yeah.”
“……W-Well then, shall we go home?”
“Yeah!”
We headed home together. After returning home, Kanade had dinner at my place, we had a study session, and then she went home.
“Huh……?”
After seeing Kanade off to the station, I looked at the smartphone in my pocket and was surprised. Usually at this time, my phone would have a lot of battery remaining. But today, it didn't even have ten percent left.
Even though I slept for most of the afternoon today, and my smartphone usage time should have been shorter than usual.
……How strange.
---
This is the end of Chapter 5.
In a world where many people are swayed by conspiracy theories, Ak-kun possesses a mentality that doesn't doubt others.
It's not exactly something to be praised, though.