I was descending the rooftop when he called out to me from behind.
"Hey. Wait!"
I turned around and saw him running towards me.
"What?"
"I just thought we should head back to class together."
"But I'm not going to the class."
"Huh?"
"It's lunchtime and I'm going to the cafeteria."
"Oh. I totally forgot about that. Now you mention it I'm a bit hungry as well. Let's go together!"
He said that with a bright smile on his face. I had no problem with that however I had one question in my mind.
"Just a while ago you were glaring daggers at me and asking me about my relationship with Ichinose. And now you are acting all familiar. Why?"
At that question, he scratched his cheek and looked…..
"How to say this?"
…..embarrassed.
I remained silent urging him to continue.
"You know, that people always say that I'm rowdy and noisy. I have a quick temper and I've been involved in some fights as well. Although people talk to me normally, deep down, I know that they all don't think good of him. So…"
"So?"
"When you called me that I was a good person, it made me kind of happy. It was the first time someone has said something like that to me."
"Um…"
He raised his voice a little.
"Do you think we can be friends?!"
Friends, huh?
I had to ponder a lot on that word. I have had no friends of the same sex before. They were either jealous of me or thought of me as someone arrogant due to my lack of communication with them.
I had a friend of the same sex once before, however it only lasted about a month. He stopped talking to me when he found out that the girl he liked had a crush on me.
So, I've had no friends of the same sex before. I wanted to know what having a friend meant. But at the same time, my past experience told me that I shouldn't trust him. While I was having those thoughts, Koyanagi looked at me, a bit worried.
"Ok. It's fine with me."
I decided to go for it.
When I said that, his face lit with joy, which I thought was honest. He quickly closed the distance between us. He took my hand and shook it.
"I look forward to being your friend!"
"Y-Yeah."
I wasn't used to this so I felt a bit awkward.
"Oh. I think I haven't introduced myself to you. My name is Koyanagi Tomoya!"
"I'm Kobayashi Kaito."
"Kaito-kun, then. Let's go to the cafeteria."
He was using my first name right off the bat. Isn't this friendship going too fast?
I thought to myself while I made my way towards the cafeteria.
As usual, I grabbed a drink. Koyanagi grabbed a sandwich and was munching on it.
"Is that enough for you?"
"I don't have much appetite."
"Oh, really. But you should eat something, otherwise, you may not be able to get by through the class."
I felt as if a second Ichinose had entered into my life.
I suddenly remembered something and asked him.
"So, when are you gonna propose to Ichinose.��
*cough*cough
He choked on my question. He hurriedly grabbed his drink on the table and gulped down.
"What the hell man?! Don't ask such questions suddenly and not to mention with that straight face of yours?!"
He retorted and his face looked a bit red, probably because he had coughed a bit violently just a while ago.
"Oh. Now, this is unusual."
I was about to say something in return to Koyanagi when suddenly a certain female student spoke while approaching us.
"Hello, Kobayashi-kun."
The meek girl behind the big-breasted female student greeted me.
"Oh, hi. Did you two already finish your lunch?"
"Yes."
She replied. It seemed that she was trying her best to talk to me.
During our short exchange, Honami was looking back and forth between me and Koyanagi.
"What?"
"No. I just thought that it was unusual to see you accompanied by someone."
"He's my friend, Koyanagi Tomoya, from the same class."
"Friend?"
She raised an eyebrow in suspicion when I mentioned him as my 'friend'.
"What? Is it really that surprising for me to have a friend?"
"No, no. It's not surprising. But I think it's kind of sudden. Given your situation in this school, I didn't think you would get a new friend in this short time. He wasn't around till yesterday. That means that you became friends just today, right? What happened?"
"Things happened and now we are friends. I know that you are stating the fact, but it still hurts when you say that I don't seem like a person to get a friend."
"Yeah. You are being mean to Kobayashi-kun."
The pink-haired girl also argued on my behalf.
"Sorry, sorry. I didn't mean to do that."
She laughed at her friend and tried to convince her. Judging by how they talked, it seemed that they were quite close.
After a bit, Honami looked at Koyanagi and said.
"You are Koyanagi-kun, right? Twin brother of Jinsho Koyanagi."
"Yeah. You know me?"
"Yeah. You are the only twins in this school after all."
Both of them had a minor exchange before she finally spoke to me.
"I've some work in the class. So, we'll be taking our leave. See you around."
Ichika bowed slightly to the both of us and the both of them left.
"You seem quite close with the two of them."
"I guess. Well, things happened."
"So, which one are you gunning for?"
"None."
I replied almost immediately and he seemed utterly disappointed.
"You are no fun man."
I thought of asking him the same thing that I had asked him before Honami and Ichika showed up. But he beat me to the punch.
"Oh crap. I haven't done the homework of maths!"
Saying that he quickly finished the remaining sandwich and stood up from his seat.
"I'm going back to the classroom to do the homework. You can take your time."
He ran towards the classroom and bumped with a few students along the way.
I slowly finished my drink and went to the classroom.
When I entered, Koyanagi was copying someone else's homework, clearly in a hurry.
I made my way towards my seat. I rested my chin on my hand and gazed outside the window.
"Do you have something to ask?"
I asked the girl beside me, who was taking quick glances at me from time to time.
"That's…."
She seemed a bit hesitant. It was understandable.
When she had asked to tail along, I had denied it and the look in my eyes at that time certainly had given her shivers. She definitely wanted to know what had happened, but after my cold denial, she definitely would be hesitant.
"What happened?"
She asked after a bit of silence; her curiosity winning over her hesitance.
"It was a misunderstanding."
"Misunderstanding?"
She slightly tilted her head to the side.
"Actually, the girl placed it in the wrong locker. She mistook my locker for someone else's and placed it there."
"Who was the girl?"
"I don't know."
"You don't know?"
"I only remember her face. I don't even know from which year she is."
That must have satisfied her as she stopped asking questions.
After the lunch break ended, the classes went by without a hitch.
The final class for the day ended. I started packing my bag and got ready to leave.
I glanced at my neighbor. Her phone vibrated signaling that she had received a message. She held her phone in her hand and started looking at what the message was.
Suddenly, the color drained from her face. She dropped her smartphone with a thud. The expression that she had on her face was something new to me.
She didn't have tears on her eyes, nor were her lips twisted…..but the impression she gave was that she would shatter upon contact.
I had wanted to ask her what's wrong. But before I could she picked her phone from the ground and quickly packed her belongings before leaving.
I had wanted to ask her but then I thought that I shouldn't. Everyone had something that they didn't want others to find out, as did I. She wouldn't want others to invade her private life.
But I knew one thing for sure, that the message was the trigger for her sudden change in expression.