The following day, on my way home, the sun was already close to setting.
Having the clubroom to myself for the day, I lost track of time while reading in silence, until I came to my senses when it already got dark.
The evening scene was just about to set in, half the sky being dyed in a darkish blue hue, with the sun on the verge of vanishing with the night sky.
This was a scene that I rarely get to see with my own eyes.
Being part of the go-home club for the majority of my first year, I usually went home right after class ended. And even though I started attending club just recently, I never really leave this late.
Nevertheless, seeing this kind of scene doesn't seem too bad every now and then. It was kind of the same feeling as reaching the good end of the main heroine's route from the dating sim you spent hours on playing. You get this sense of accomplishment with the sight of the final cut scene flashed on the screen, only to be reminded of the precious time you've lost once the ending credits start to play. I seriously wasted my time back there, didn't I?
I let out a short sigh as that realization came to mind.
As I continued to walk in a steady pace, somewhere within that newly found view was a familiar figure that entered my line of sight.
She was sporting off her poorly worn uniform as she continued to walk straight ahead, with the top-most button of her blouse undone and the ribbon on her neck nowhere to be found. In fact, with her indoor shoes currently out of her possession, you wouldn't be able to tell which year level she was from. She was taking her time as she walked in a slow pace, her lightly dyed hair continued to bounce in sync with each step she took.
She was someone I didn't want to get further involved with, so I'd naturally want to pass her without getting myself noticed. But since that seemed impossible with the given situation, I might as well spark up some small talk. With the difference in our paces completely apparent, it was only a matter of time until I'd catch up to her. It'd be awfully awkward if I passed her without saying a word, only to play dumb and act like I didn't see her by the time she calls out to me from behind. I seriously don't want that.
With that in mind, I picked up the pace and eventually caught up to her, lightly tapping her shoulder with a casual "Yo".
"Ah, Hiro.." Sanae turned to me with a not-so-surprised look, breaking into a small smile as she continued to take steps. "T-this is new, you, starting a conversation with me and all."
"Well, I just wanted to know how things went with you and your friend, I guess. You could call it a part of club activities." I matched her pace as I walked by her side.
"Ah, of course, it's about that.." The smile on her face suddenly seemed to be troubled, readjusting her bag with a weary laugh. "I already gave it to her earlier today, it somehow made her laugh so hard that she couldn't help but forgive me, I guess."
"What's with that, that's a weird way to phase it." I unconsciously blurted out with a small chuckle, imagining how that cruel exchange might have played out in reality. Are you sure the two of you are really friends? "Either way, I'm glad things worked out just fine."
"Mhmm, and it's all thanks to the both of you." Sanae answered with cheerful nod.
I don't really care about the details as a whole, nor do I care about how she was able to pull it off. As long as she said that everything worked out, then that's all that mattered. In fact, in this case, as long as I was able to start and end a short conversation, then that's all that really mattered. The worst possible outcome was avoided. I see, so this is the choice of the steins gate. El psy congroo.
Just as the waves of conversation was about to meet its end, Sanae suddenly brought another topic into light.
"Speaking of which, isn't Segawa-san with you today?"
"Ah, she took the day off because she had something to do. And even if she were here, we don't really leave school together."
"Ehh..is that so," Sanae murmured in a low voice. "So I guess you two really aren't friends huh?"
"...Weren't you listening to me yesterday? I already told you that we're not like that. Are you sure you understand Japanese?"
"I-I just find it hard to beleive okay! Don't treat me like some idiot will you..!" Sanae pouted as she closed in on me, giving me a not-so-intimidating glare. Look, if you want to be threatening then at least do it right. Like how Segawa and Sensei does it perhaps.
As the look on their faces began to flash in my head, I changed my mind immediately.
"Well, that's that. I don't have any intentions of making friends, so I'm sure our relationship would remain as clubmates until the day that club gets demolished." I readjusted my bag as I let out a sigh. "What brought this up again?"
"Ah, w-well, it's because..." Sanae looked away as if intimidated by my tone, looking for the right words to respond with. "It's because...Segawa-san acted differently towards you compared to me, I guess. Something like that."
"Huh? Isn't that only natural? It's the first time you've met her after all."
"No, it's not like that.." She shook her head to deny my words, a sullen expression began to cloud on her face. "It's like, the way that she talked to you was a whole lot different from how it was with me. She was always so formal that it felt kind of stiff, while she seemed to loosen up when it came to you. And the way you two interacted was also fun to watch, I kind of felt left out just by watching from the side. So when you keep on saying that you two aren't friends, I can't help but wonder if Segawa-san...hates me, or something."
Those words awfully struck a chord with me. They were words that I was prone to hearing back in middle school. Being able to blend in naturally with the background, I usually overhear the girls from my class ask similar questions. And one of those lines that stuck with me was the same question that was being thrown at me right now.
'Does she hate me or something?' 'Do they hate me or something?', they ask within themselves and seek answers within themselves, comforting one another with words only they wanted to hear. They were words that were empty and straight-out pointless, they had no definite meaning from outside of their group. In short, they fool one another by avoiding the problem at hand, playing it off with their own shared understanding. And if they had the advantage in terms of numbers, they'd mow the other end down by using underhanded methods. Girls are seriously scary.
Nobody wants to be the receiving end of resentment, it's only natural for a person to feel that way. But needless to say, it doesn't stand as a reason to resort to such lengths.
If it was just any other girl who had asked me that question, I would have gotten that impression and threw the truth right on their faces. Not that ay girl would ask me in the first place.
But since it was Sanae who was asking, it was a completely story. In fact, she wouldn't give off that kind of impression at all.
Knowing Sanae for a decent amount of years, I could more or less tell where she was coming from.
"So basically, it's that. You want to be friends with Segawa, am I right?"
"W-where did you get that!? I don't remember saying it like that!" Sanae answered with a flustered tone, jumping in surprise by my sudden revelation. "Th-though..it's somewhere along those lines, I guess."
As expected.
Sanae Erika is kind by nature.
From grade school up to our first year in middle school, she was always the type of person who'd want to get along with everyone else. She had this whole 'everyone's friend' vibe to her. But as soon as she entered middle school and began to hang out with a certain group of girls, her actions were restrained and her small fumbles were judged. Any move she made that wasn't confirmed by her group got her one step closer to being exiled. This was one of the twisted rules of the world of children. A small price to pay in order to have a sense of self-belonging.
Nevertheless, regardless of the time that she spent with those people, Sanae didn't change. She was still the same person somewhere deep inside.
For a while now, I might have already been aware of that fact, I just didn't want to admit it myself. But I guess it was about time I face the truth head on. Yep, this girl was definitely the type who would write something like 'I want all of us to be friends forever!' on her high school year book. Definitely.
I nodded in my head as I came to terms with the irrefutable truth.
"Well, that's just how Segawa is, you don't have to worry about it too much. I'm sure you'll eventually get along with her."
"H-hiro.." Sanae murmured with a thankful tone, her face clearly showing how happy she was. However,
"Only if you continue to bug her that is. I'm sure she'd get super annoyed at first though."
"Y-you could have at least stopped at the first bit you know..." Her gleeful expression suddenly broke in half, pouting away as she slightly walked ahead. "Geez...now I don't know what I should do."
"Well, just be yourself and I'm sure it would work out."
"Oh, just be myself..huh," Sanae murmured in a low voice, slowing down her pace to match mine once more.
As the night began to settle with the street lights getting lit, a cool, evening breeze suddenly blew our way. It was then when we, along with the waves of conversation, came to a stop.
In front of us two were intersecting roads, completely giving off the evening rush feel. The street across the road was where Sanae was headed, while the street to the left was my route. This was probably where we'd go our seperate ways.
The traffic light on my side was still marked a bright red, making it reasonable to stay dejected where I stood. However, what was strange was that Sanae was doing the same, standing motionlessly on this side of the road.
As I felt that the lights were about to change, I turned to Sanae to pull her back to reality.
"Oi, aren't you going to cro-"
"Hiro..!"
My words were then stopped by a thud on the chest, that soft-sounding voice clearly resounded through my ears. She had this bashful smile as she pressed against my chest, then quickly made her way to the other side of the road, paying no attention to her surroundings.
By the time that the signal lights was dyed blood-red, she was able to make it to the other side, cheeks slightly flushed probably due to her sprint, and expectant eyes that were directed at me. It took me a few seconds to process what just happened, but the the answer still remained vague regardless.
Clueless to what had happened just now, I gave Sanae a questioning look, to which she furtively responded by pointing at her breast pocket.
I checked my breast pocket as I was instructed, only to see something out of place.
Poorly slipped inside was a piece of paper, sending me ominous vibes from just the sight of it alone. In fact, if the middle school me had recieved something like this, I'm sure he'd dig a hole and mindlessly jump in. Heck, I'm sure he'd do more than just dig up his own grave. He'd go as far as making a big deal out of it and make a fool out of himself, which would eventually leave a scar for his future self to remember. Hah..which year was I again when those bastards pulled that prank?
As I was reminded of the scar that my past self had left, what was left in my hand was a small-sized envelop, a black cat sticker serving as the seal. I knew it, this seriously reeked of bad luck.
I removed the seal and opened the envelop, drawing the letter out without holding onto any stupid expectation. And as soon as I laid eyes on the letter itself, I couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief.
The letter that she wrote was no different from before, there was no way you could pass it off as a normal one. But that was exactly why I could tell that it came from Sanae herself.
The message was short and was awfully straightforward. It easily conveyed what she wanted to say. Heck, even Ichika Orimura would definitely get it.
Written within a single line on a ripped piece of paper, probably from the back of your average school notebook, were the exact words: 'Let's be friends again, Hiro!', followed by a dumb looking emoticon that was trying its best to fulfill its purpose. You could have at least used better material right..?
Lifting my gaze to the girl across, her earnest eyes had met mine, expecting an answer from the recipient of the letter.
Being the one on the recieving end, keeping her waiting was clearly out of the question. But with the lack of means to give a response, giving an immediate answer proved to be a hard task.
With the limited choices that were laid in front, I eventually decided to go with the more convenient option.
With that, I grabbed my phone and scanned through long forsaken names from the depths of my contacts. Ironically, no matter how long forsaken they may be, the list of names were awfully short. It reminded me of how much an elite I was.
Through the short time I spent scrolling through my contacts, a long forsaken name suddenly came into view. The name that was registered clearly proved its old age, considering it was a name that I haven't heard in a long time. I should probably change it once I get home.
I tapped on the contact under the name 'Rika' and began to type in a short response. And as soon as I finished scanning through my text, I sent the message with a tap of a button.
Within a matter of seconds, the girl who had been waiting for an answer recieved my message as she took out her phone. And with a quick look at the phone she had in hand, she broke into a warm smile that clearly showed satisfaction.
As that satisfied look began to show on her face, I breathe a short sigh from my side. And not long after, my phone started vibrating, notifying me of a newly recieved message.
I opened the message with my guard completely down, it caught me unprepared that it badly hurt my eyes. 'That's good enough, hehe! See you on monday, Hiro!' were the words that were laid in front of my eyes, different sets of different emojis scattered throughout the message. What the hell is with this text, I can't imagine it as anything but spam mail. So this is where you got that bad literacy from?
Lifting my gaze with a hint of irritation, the sender of that text began to move with the crowd, waving my way with a considerably huge smile. I reflexively waved back against my will.
And as soon as her silhouette was swalloed by the crowed, I decided to go my way as well.
The content of my reply was also simple and straightforward. It was a message that was showered with nothing but the truth, but also at the same time, a message that gave her the answer that she wanted. I merely told her that I wasn't planning on making friends, but talking everynow and then would be somehow acceptable. Now that I think about it, I definitely sounded like a tsundere back there.
I sighed as that realization came into mind.
Regardless, if an answer like that was somehow able to give her satisfaction, then I guess I don't have any complaints.
As the evening grew with the passage of time, a cool, spring breeze began to blow my way. It was the kind of soothing breeze that could calm ones soul, even through the hectic scene of the busy evening streets. It was also the kind of wind, that reminded a loner such as myself, that it truly was spring.
Gotta change her contact once I get home.