Currently, I am eating lunch in the school cafeteria with the only friend I can talk to in school, Ikeda Kento.
We were actually supposed to eat in our classroom today but...
...
"Yo Haruki-kun, can we eat at the cafeteria today?"
"Hm? Why?"
"Well, you see, Hina got a cold today so I don't have a lunchbox to eat here in the classroom. The tasty lunchbox my girlfriend makes for me..." He bragged. Meanwhile, I just responded with the most unimpressed expression ever known in human history.
"Hehhhh Is that so"
"Oi, at least pretend you 're jealous you know?"
"No thank you, I truly do not care about your lunchbox." I said, as I stood up and got my own lunchbox to bring to the cafeteria.
"Come on Normie, I don't want to waste more time staying here in the classroom."
"Yeah yeah."
Finally, we walked towards the cafeteria as he blabbed more useless things.
...
And that's how we got here.
As I was thinking about these things, however, Kento suddenly called out to me.
"Hey Haruki." he said, while playing around with the spoon he's holding
To which I just responded with a "Hm?" As I continued to eat my lunch in peace.
"Have you heard about the rumors?" He asked with a serious face.
"Rumors?"
"Yeah. Apparently, someone spotted the school idol, Sakurai Fumiko, in a mall with 2 people, one of which is a boy"
So someone did spot us.
Thankfully, I can keep my poker face very well, So I was able to maintain my normal face without showing any reactions to his statements. I decided to act normally, so I just said:
"So? Why should I care?"
This was actually a great question. There are two reasons why I am hiding the fact that I am friends with Sakurai.
First, It'll be annoying if people became aware and they go flocking to me hoping to become friends with Sakurai by using me. This would greatly impact the peaceful school life that I strive to achieve, and my life will become much more chaotic.
And the second one is related to the first one. People who only want to get close to Sakurai because they want to be in a romantic relationship with her will approach me.
Now, I don't like Sakurai in a romantic way, but I wouldn't want my friend to date a guy who only likes Sakurai for her physical appearance and for her fame. Those kind of people are garbage and I do not want to talk to them.
But anyhow, back to my conversation with Kento. He has now turned into a detective and is dragging me into his journey of trying to figure out who the man who went out with Sakurai was... Little did he know that man is standing right in front of him... or maybe not...
"Well, apparently, the one who saw them estimated that the height of the guy was around 180 cm."
"uhuh"
"And what's more is that, the guy was wearing our uniform."
"Is that so?"
I just kept responding in a half assed way. But the next thing he said shocked me.
"And I even have a picture of them!"
Eh?
And with one sentence, my brain went blank.
I can't believe someone took a photo of us...
"You see, the more I look at this picture, the more I feel like I recognise the guy here in this picture." He added.
He then showed me the picture he has. There, I see me, Sayuri and Sakurai... Thankfully, only my back was being shown. So I should be safe if I can play this correctly...
"So, I want to ask you, Can you stand up for a bit and let me observe you? He looks very similar to yo-"
"It's not me. Don't even bother." I said, bluntly.
"Ehhhh... and here I thought your high school life is finally getting interesting." Kento said as he laid his body and arms on the table with a face I could only describe as disappointed.
"Oi, don't stretch there. Besides, did you really think I, the most average high school boy here, could go out with the prettiest girl in this school?"
"Well, I thought some light novel like development was happening, you know?"
Well now, that I think about it, he's right... My situation sounds something straight off a light novel. And if my life really is a novel, assuming that it starts when I first met Sakurai, isn't the first few chapters a straight up clone of a certain fluff novel?
"And about you being average, I saw you properly dressed up once in junior high school, you know?"
He then tried to lift my bangs up, which I cancelled by slapping his hands off.
"Stop it~ I... don't want my first to be taken so lightly." I said, while acting like a shy high school girl.
To which Kento responded with dead silence.
"...Let's hurry eating. Now, I want to forget that we even had this conversation in the first place now."
"Yeah yeah" I just shrugged off what he said.
After we finished eating, Kento went back to our classroom while I decided that I'll walk around the school to take a breather as I still have time left before the next period starts.
I went to an unknown spot in the school, thinking I could just relax there as nobody usually goes in there.
But as I walked towards my favourite spot, I notice someone familiar, sitting on the bench.
I was right, because as I got closer, I could finally recognise the girl sitting on the bench. It was the prettiest girl in this school, Sakurai Fumiko.
I kept walking towards her until she finally noticed my presence.
"Oh, I didn't expect to see you here, Inoue-kun."
"What a coincidence, neither do I." I said as I continued to approach her.
"May I?" I asked, as I pointed towards the bench.
"Sure." She consented as she went on the other side of the bench. Obviously, I chose to sit on the opposite side of her.
As I sat down, I let out a massive sigh.
"It seems like your energy is depleted too." She told me.
"Yeah, how about you? Apparently, someone took a picture of us and spread it around school..."
"Indeed. Many people asked me about it, you know? It was really tiring."
"Ahh I understand... My friend actually was suspicious of me..."
"Eh? Really?" Understandably, she was surprised. After all, no one should've been able to figure it out considering how only my back was exposed.
But it seemed like Sakurai was more surprised about something else.
"Inoue-kun... You have a friend you can talk to in this school?!"
"Oi, don't act so surprised. Even I have a friend you know? Rather, aren't you the lonely one here?"
Surprised by what I said, Sakurai paused for a bit before she replied to me.
"...How so?"
"Well, I think that you know it yourself, no? How the girls around wants to be friends with you just because you're popular."
Sakurai remained silent after I said this, so I just continued.
"And some girls even talks behind your back."
"...That is true."
"..."
"But at least, Now I have someone I can truly call as my friend."
"... And who would that be?"
"Of course... It's you, Inoue-kun." She said, as her mouth curved into a smile.
And her smile pierced right through me. No men can resist such a smile. My mind is now only filled by her precious smile. But I desperately tried to remove from my mind, only to fail. My brain is filled with the image of her precious smile... Gradually, it felt as if my face was heating up.
"...I-is that so..."
"Yes."
Silence filled the air, and with that silence, I could finally calm down. However, this calmness of mine would not last very long.
"You know Inoue-kun. I remember the time we first met. You gave off a pretty bad impression, you know? You even forced that umbrella onto my hands."
"Oh yeah.. I guess that happened... I'm sorry about that, Sakurai-san." I apologised with all my heart, but her response was something I did not expect.
"No, I'd actually like to thank you for that, Inoue-kun. Have you not done that, we never would've become friends. Our relationship would have never formed. I would be more lonely than what you described. Only surrounded by people trying to leech off me. No one can I trust. All of them, I can only consider fake."
"..."
"But thanks to you, I am able to spend time with someone I can trust. Someone I can truly depend on. You have proven to be always there for me whenever I need someone. In this world, you're one of the few people I can trust. And so, I'm glad you forced that umbrella into my hands. I'm glad you treated me like a normal girl, unlike others. I'm glad, because thanks to you, I can finally open up to someone I trust. So, once again, Inoue-kun... I'll say, thank you. Thank you for all the things you've done to me. And one day, I hope to make it up to you as well."
Now that she told me this… I can't just not respond, can I? …
"Sakurai-san... I have to thank you too."
"Eh?"
"Whenever I'm with you, I just feel relaxed. Thanks to you, that feeling of void in my everyday life is gone. You see, before I met you, I had nothing to do, nothing to look forward to. My day was always repetitive. Eat, school, computer and sleep. Every day, every night. Nothing changed until the day I met you. And ever since then, I find myself looking forward to the times we eat together. My life has become more exciting thanks to you. Instead of being alone in a big place every day, I could finally share it with someone. And just like you, I've been able to open up more. Sakurai-san, you might think you've done nothing for me, but you've already done plenty... And I hope to continue this relationship in the future."
"I-I see...." Sakurai said in a shaky voice.
Wondering why she's like that, I finally realised how embarrassing our exchange was... It was so bad that I started to feel lightheaded... I looked at Sakurai and noticed that she was going through a very similar situation as mine right now, so we just stayed silent for a while to try and cool down our heads.
We stayed like this for a few more minutes until we finally recovered. Though this memory will probably be carved onto our heads till the day we die...
I checked the time on my phone and realised that it was nearly time for our next period in class. So I stood up and got prepared to leave. I then looked at Sakurai-san who is still currently staring at nothingness. It seems like she has not fully recovered yet...
As I had no choice, I informed Sakurai-san about the classes instead of letting her brain recover from... that incident.
"Sakurai-san... It's almost time for the next period." I told the lightheaded Sakurai.
"Eh? Ah yes!"
It seemed like she was finally snapped from reality when I called out to her as she prepared to leave too.
As she was preparing to leave however, I noticed that the lunchbox I made her was at her side. Of course, it's fully eaten. So it seemed like Sakurai ate lunch here... so I offered Sakurai company for next time.
"Sakurai-san... If you'd like... You can just text me in Rine* if you want to eat together."
"Eh? ...Ah yes... I'd love to... But didn't you say that you have a friend you could eat lunch with?" She asked.
"Oh, well... most of the time, I'm just a third wheel because he eats with his girlfriend... Today was an exception because his girlfriend got sick, so I'm free 99% of the time."
"I see... I'll keep that in mind then."
"Well, then... See you later Sakurai-san."
"Yes, See you later, Inoue-kun"
Finally, we parted ways... Although, as I was walking back to my classroom, I was still screaming internally because of how embarrassing the situation I was in was...
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH WHY DID I SAY THAT?!?
My mind was in a panic for 2 more hours after that. It's safe to say that my afternoon classes were not fun.
---
A few hours later, out classes have ended and now, I'm currently facing the door to our house. It seems like Sakurai's class ended earlier than usual, so she should be in here now...
I took a heavy breath as I prepared to take my entrance... Finally, I opend the door and went inside...
"I'm home..."
"Oh, welcome back." Sayuri responded.
As expected, Sayuri welcomed me back and when I walked towards the living room, there I see Sayuri and Sakurai... watching an anime.
As I walked past Sakurai, I just said:
"Good afternoon Sakurai-san..."
"Ah... Good afternoon, Inoue-kun."
Seeing our awkward exchange, Sayuri looked confused, but I just ignored her and sat on the other side of the couch, opposite from Sakurai. From left to right, our positions were Sakurai, Sayuri and me.
Tired, I asked Sayuri what they were watching. Apparently, they were watching Sa*kano. And since I liked the show, I decide to watch it with them too.
While we were wathcing the show, I took small peeks at Sakurai... Unfortunately, on my 4th peek, We accidentally made eye contact...
Quickly, we avert our eyes from each other, and our embarrassment comes back as we remember what happened in the unknown garden in school...
----
(Meanwhile, Sayuri's POV)
The hell happened to this two?
----
After we finish a season of the anime, I looked at my phone to check the time. It was already 6 PM, so i asked Sayuri what they she would like for dinner.
"Hey Sayuri, what do you want to eat for dinner?" I asked as I stood up from the couch.
"Hmm... Then, I want to eat traditional carbonara."
"Hmm... We just ate that a few weeks ago... are you fine with that Sakurai-san?"
It seems like Sakurai was surprised when I suddenly called her, so there was a short pause before she answered...
"Ah? Yes, of course. Anything you make is good, Inoue-kun. And besides, I really liked that dish too. So I'm fine with it."
"Okay then..."
Although our exchange was still quite awkward, I just ignored it as I head straight to the kitchen to cook dinner.
(Third Person)
"...Seriously, what's going on here..." Sayuri said as she watched the exchange between the two.
---
We then ate dinner after I finished cooking. Both Sayuri and Sakurai liked the dish, So I was pretty satisfied with myself.
After we ate, we went back to the living room and to watch the second season of Sa*kano.
As we were watching the show, usual atmosphere between me and Sakurai finally came back. So we were able to enjoy the show peacefully.
However, while we watch the show, Sakurai's phone began to ring.
"...Oh, I'm sorry, I'll have to take this." She apologised.
"hm? sure." I said, as Sayuri paused the show.
"Thank you..." Sakurai said as she walked away from the couch.
Unable to keep our curiosity, Sayuri and I decided to... eavesdrop.
"Ah hello? Dad? Did anything happen?" She answered with her usual expression.
"Eh? ... Hospital?"
Those were the only words I could make up from what I heard. After Sakurai said that, her voice suddenly became heavier. And as she kept talking, it became heavier and heavier, untill the entire room's atmosphere was influenced by her.
Me and Sayuri could only remain silent. Of course, we were worried, but we could only listen right now.
"No, don't worry about it... You don't have to apologise, dad... I'll see you later... bye."
And with that, her call finally ended. She stood still for a moment until Sakurai finally said something.
"...I'm sorry about that... Umm... Inoue-kun, I have to go right now... There's something urgent that happened." She said, as she tried to form a fake smile.
"Oh, yeah... don't worry about it…"
She then got prepared to leave.
"As always, thank you for the food, Inoue-kun. Goodbye."
"Bye."
Right after my response, I hear the front door close open and close. It seemed like Sakurai has left our house.
A few moments after the door closed, Sayuri spoke to me.
"Hey nii-san."
"Hm?"
"Did something happen between you and Sakurai that could have caused that?"
"Well... Something did happen, but what happened between us isn't related to what just happened now." I told her as I stood up from couch.
"I see... hm? Where are you going?" Sayuri said as she noticed me walking towards the library.
"I also have an urgent call to make you see."
"Heh~ is that so... Well go ahead then."
"Yeah sure. But I don't even need your permission though?" I told her.
But she just ignored me, so I went inside the library to make my call.
Who am I calling? Well...
...
"Hm yes? Who is this?" the person on the phone asked with a serious tone.
"Ah yes Uncle Ken, It's me, Inoue Haruki"
As soon as I said that, the tone of the voice being heard from my phone had a drastic change.
"Ohoh, Haruki-kun, you calling me is quite rare. So? why'd you call me?"
"Yes, I was wondering if you could look into someone?"
"Hoh~ Haruki is interested in someone I see... Could I ask what's this person's name is first?" The person over the phone asked.
"Of course, Her name is Sakurai Fumiko, student of the same high school as me." I told him, There was only silence for a while.
"I see... it's a girl huh... So? Why do you want to learn more about this girl then? If it's for something bad, then I won't let you." The tone of his voice suddenly becomes serious
Fortunately, I have no thoughts about using the information I'll gain in any bad way.
"Ah don't worry about that, I'm just worried about her..."
"Worried?"
"Yes, A few minutes ago, she was on a phone call with her, and after the phone call, her mood became much worse. I overheard parts of their conversation, and It was related to a hospital, so I'm just worried about her..."
Once again, there was silence for a few moments.
"...Mhm, is that so... Well I guess I could help you with this."
"Thanks."
"But, I have one condition."
"Hm? What is it?"
"Bring her with you the next time we meet. I want to talk to her." He requests
"Eh? ...Well I guess It's fine..."
"Really?"
"Yeah, you'll be meeting her soon either way."
"Is that so? Good then! But anyways, is that all you've called me for? I'll be able to give you information about her in a few hours..."
"No, actually, there's one more reason I called you." I added
"Hoh? What's the other reason then?"
"Can you ask my father to increase my allowance?"
"...why?"
"Because, I finally someone I want to hire to help me with the game..."