"Alright, class dismissed. Make sure you finish your assignments for Monday."
"""""Yes ma'am""""" (everyone)
Our class finally ended and I got ready to leave. Tonight, I plan to ask Sakurai why she was not sleeping properly for the past few days.
I know that someone like me, an average high school student, should just mind his own business and not bother the 'School Idol' of all people. But, I just can't stand to see the girl who eats with me every day have her health deteriorate day after day.
I first noticed her eyebags on Monday and every day, it just gets worse and worse. It was Monday when I first noticed small bags under her eyes. On Tuesday, I saw that the bags under her eye got larger, but I thought nothing of it. On Wednesday, her eyebags got larger once again. But since midterms were getting close, I figured she was probably just studying really hard to get good grades.
And yesterday, I finally got concerned and told her to sleep properly. She said yes, but I knew that what she said was a lie. Because, just a few hours ago, when I was giving her the lunchbox I made, I noticed that the bags under her eyes were darker and bigger than before. She tried hiding it with makeup but I could still spot it.
Unlike other schools, our school is not strict with make up and allows it. As long as their grades are decent and they don't cause any trouble. That's why Sakurai could use makeup in school.
I finally finished putting everything in my bag and got ready to leave the school. Kento and Hina already left together because they had plans, so I was going home alone. As I was leaving the school, I took the route where I can see Sakurai's classroom.
I stopped near their classroom to look for Sakurai. Apparently, their classes have already finished, but it seems like it just recently finished as there were still a lot of students inside the classroom. And those students were talking about Sakurai.
"It's amazing how persistent Sakurai-san was huh."
"Yeah, even though she collapsed, she still insists on going to class."
"I know right? If I was her, I would've just left and went back home"
I heard 2 boys talk about Sakurai being a model student. And their conversation gave me important information. Sakurai just left alongside other students of class 1-1. This means I should be able to catch up to her.
And with this new information, I hurried back home. Our neighborhood was only 20 minutes away from the school with a train. So I should catch her in time if I took a taxi...
I quickly ordered a taxi and I headed back home. Immediately after arriving to my destination, out the car and ran towards the apartment complex across the street from my house.
Finally, I see Sakurai near her apartment complex. She was only a few meters away from the door when I noticed that her body started swaying. It looked like she was about to collapse again, so I ran as fast as I can to her.
But, as she was about to reach out to the door handle, her body finally gave up. She fell. But at the very last second, I was able to catch her. I was holding her shoulder while her head rests on my chest.
A few seconds after she collapsed, her consciousness slowly came back. Her eyes slowly happened and after seeing me, she sighed in relief and said:
"Oh... it's just you, Inoue-san."
"That... sounded like an insult, you know?'
"Really? Well, I'm just glad that you were the one who saved me."
"Why?"
"Because I know that I can trust you."
Eh...
"Really?... Thanks... I guess."
"Oh, uh... don't worry about it."
Awkwardness filled the area as we both blushed a little.
Realising that we were both getting embarrassed, Sakurai stood up and said:
"Well, thank you for helping me. I shall now take my leave" She bowed and opened the door to the apartment complex.
"Wait, I don't want to leave you alone. You might pass out on the floor again. Let me take care of you this time."
"Eh? Umm... You might try to do something weird with me.."
"Didn't you say that you trust me just a few seconds ago? Also, you know that I won't do anything like that because I'm well aware of your power in our school. And I know that you can destroy my life in school if you feel like it."
"Well...Fine. Just don't tell anyone what you're about to see, okay?"
"Of course. We already decided that we won't reveal our relationship with anyone on Monday"
She sighed and opened the door to her apartment complex. We went inside it and went to her apartment on the 2nd floor. She opened the door to her apartment, and we entered. And what I saw inside her apartment was shocking.
It was clean and was almost empty. Only important necessities were in there. Her apartment was also small. There is only 3 small rooms inside. And there was only a table along with 2 chairs in the living room.
The table was placed near the center of the living room and 2 chairs were right next to it. And on that table, there was a laptop and a pen tablet placed on top of it. There's also sketches of characters drawn in paper.
The characters looked very familiar, so I looked closely and noticed that... They were the illustrations for the game that my dad's company is making. Illustrations of multiple heroines from the visual novel that was currently in development.