The bell rang, and the fourth period was finally over. I slumped my body onto my desk upon the realization that lunch break was finally here. For the first time in a while, this is the only time I've felt relaxed since last week. Well, aside from the fact that this is the only time I'm going to feel relaxed, I decided to just bask in the feeling.
The reason for that was, in fact, rather simple.
In the past week, I've been unexpectedly bombarded by tons of people who I know and don't know alike. I'm so relaxed that I could practically do anything I wanted to as if yesterday's sickness didn't even exist.
But for now, I think I deserve a little break from listening to my teachers speaking nonstop on the front.
I placed my arms on my desk and laid my head up top and started to take a little nap.
I had basically little to nothing to do since, well, there wasn't going to be anything. Senpai-san is currently busy with her club activities, according to the message she gave to me earlier. She sent it when classes were still going, and when I attempted to message her back, saying it was bad manners to use the phone during classes, the teacher caught me in the act, and now I'm phoneless. At least until I go to the faculty to politely get it back. I'll even lick my teacher's shoes if it comes to that extent−get a hold of yourself, Yuuji.
Miku is also busy with class president stuff, and I am of no obligation to help her, even if she is my friend. I've been a class president once, and it is a pain to handle things, I tell you. It's not that bad when you've got a helper, but sometimes, they themselves slack off from their jobs, so I can't exactly rely to them, either. By the way, this all happened when I was in middle school.
As for Ayase Shimamura, well, she's probably enjoying my lunch as I monologue to myself. As I've officially proposed last night, I was going to deliver her my lunch every morning, with the payment of one head pat.
I've actually gotten myself some very valuable information about her. Wait, why am I starting to sound like Kentarou? Anyway, let's brush that off for now.
***
I woke up earlier than usual, same time my sister wakes up, which is around four to five in the morning.
I stepped out of my bed, and after unwrapping my whole body, I felt shivers running down my whole body. The early morning breeze entered my window, and it was cold. It felt much cooler than a cold shower in the morning.
I made my bed and started heading towards the bathroom to wash my face off. I half-expected it, but it seemed that Yuumi was now there, and she seemed to have beaten me with the face washing. She was now wiping up her face.
"Oh, Yuu-nii. You're uff earrhy," she said as her voice was muffled by the towel. I occupied her spot, and she placed her towel on her shoulders. "Does it have to do with whatever happened last night that made you go home late?"
As expected of my little sister. She caught on quick with just minimal amount of information.
"Well, something like that," I said as I finished wiping my face with my own towel.
"You dating Miku-chan-senpai now?"
"Okay, how the heck did you get to that conclusion?"
We both started heading downstairs to do, well, for Yuumi to prepare the breakfast and lunchbox. I really appreciate her doing all these things just for her worthless big brother. I could brag about her with my friends, which is just Kentarou, Senpai-san, Miku, and I'm not sure if I can include Shimamura-san, but yeah, and feel proud about it.
Since I had nothing better to do, I followed Miku all the way to the kitchen and just started watching her do whatever the heck she was going to do. I'm usually asleep at times like these, so this is actually my first time seeing my little sister cook for me in the morning.
As usual, she just makes omelette rice for breakfast, and for my lunch.
"So, when are you actually going to get a girlfriend, Yuu-nii?" she asked as she bit a spoonful of her omelette rice. "It gets pretty lonely once you enter adulthood without someone by your side, y'know?"
"You're still in junior high, so don't speak as if you already know about the world of adulthood," I said as I bit a spoonful of my omelette rice. "But regarding your first question, I'm not quite sure."
To be honest, I never actually thought about it that much. The only thing I've been working on since I entered junior high was just studying, trying to make friends, and comforting other people. The second one didn't really have any promising results, though.
First, let's define girlfriends. They're like your friends, best friends, childhood friends, any type of friends, but the only exception is that you can get intimate around girlfriends.
Now, let's define their personality. They're always with you wherever you go, you always hold hands with each other, and best of all, you enjoy each other's company. They're definitely the best people in the world.
But for me, my ideal girlfriend would be someone who's well-behaved and quiet around in public, and noisy, loud, and annoying whenever they're around me. Someone who can take care of themselves, and someone who can rely on me sometimes.
I haven't thought about girls any other way than just being friends, so I'm not even sure if my preferences for an ideal girlfriend could even fit anybody.
But, now that I thought about it, there is someone that fits all of the things I had just listed down…
"Hey, Yuumi?"
"Hmm?"
"Can I consider you my girlfriend?"
She slammed her spoon beside her plate so hard I thought I just heard the plate crack. She started rushing to eat her food, and some unexplainable pressure is telling me that I should match her pace. We both finished at the same time, and both clapped our hands while saying our thanks.
"Yuu-nii, I love you, but please stop acting like a weirdo."
"But that was a genuine question."
"That makes it all the more weirder," she said as she stood up and took my now empty plate of omelette rice. "I'll take care of the dishes. You go prepare for school now."
"But it's still─"
"Prepare. For. School. Now."
"Ma'am, yes, ma'am…"
My little sister can be cute, smart, and reliable, but at the same time, she's terrifying. Well, despite all that, I still love her like a proper older brother.
I exited our house when I was finished preparing, and took a different route than I usually take when I'm about to head to school. As stated from our promise last night, I needed to go to her house at around six, when she's about to head out. Fortunately, I just happened to wake up earlier than our promised meeting, so I headed out to her house first thing in the morning.
The first thing I realized was that it was way too cold. I never thought this cold lingered this early in the morning. I was getting the shivers yet again. It was cold enough to even pierce through my clothes. The fog was so thick as well, most likely due to the time.
I dismissed it, and started heading to Shimamura-san's house. Now that I thought about it, thanks to Yuumi, I went out earlier than usual because she urged me to, making me prepare for school before her. Little sister, shall I buy you the most expensive pudding money can buy? Nah, she'd want to have homemade pudding rather than store-bought ones. Maybe we can make one together on the weekend, which is about five days from now?
As I passed through the second street, Shimamura-san's house appeared just when I entered the following street. It was five houses away from the crosswalk, and since it was a little early in the morning, the morning fog was obscuring my view, so I couldn't see well.
What caught my attention, however, is a figure of a young lady happily skipping outside the house's door and cheerfully opened the gate of her house. Then, she started walking towards my direction as she was happily humming a music that I have not an iota of idea is.
The fog must've been thick, so she didn't spot me that quickly. I took out my phone to turn on the flashlight, and flashed it her way. She reacted, and she seemed to have let her speed down.
But just when she was beside me, she literally walked pass me like I wasn't even there.
"Uh, hello?" I tried calling out to her, just in case she didn't know it was me. I even tried flashing the light towards her again.
But instead, no luck. She didn't drop her speed, she didn't respond, and she didn't even look at me. I started to catch up to her.
Next thing I knew, a hand was already in my collar. It was so quick that I didn't have time to react due to how the fog was thick.
"..."
I kept silent. She kept silent. We kept silent. After a bit of analyzing, it was Shimamura-san's hand holding in my collar. It was really tight, and it even felt like she was trying to lift me up.
I started to speak.
"Y-Yo," I said, giving her a half-baked greeting.
She didn't speak. I couldn't even see her expression. We were this close together, yet I still can't see her very well.
After a few seconds, she responded with her own words.
"Did you see anything?"
"How 'anything' are we talking about here?"
"Elaborate everything you saw."
Well, I really didn't know if that was going to help with my current situation right now. But, nevertheless, I still tried explaining to her.
After a few minutes, I finally stopped rambling. She let go of my collar, and then stared at me real hard.
"I see. In other words, you're a stalker."
"Well, considering my actions, I suppose I may be a stalker…"
"Don't just take people's words so casually."
She sighed, and then held her hand out in front of me.
I didn't know what that meant, but I just took her hand, considering she offered it to me.
She jumped back.
"Not that!" she shouted. "My lunch!"
I didn't see her face, but her ears seemed to flash a gentle strawberry red for a second.
After letting out an exaggerated "Oh," I opened my bag and grabbed my lunch box, giving it to her.
"Ah, right, your headpat…"
"I'm surprised you remember."
"I'd rather not."
She did a 45-degree bow and offered her head towards me.
***
What happened next, well, you already know about it.
As I was in the verge of falling to the world of slumber, someone spoke to me, but I could hear almost nothing. I did see a figure approaching me, but due to the class's chattering, their voice were swallowed by a louder one.
I raised my head, and saw a beaut—
"Nope, not a beauty."
"Huh? The heck you sayin'?"
"Nothing."
A girl appeared before me, interrupting my visit to the dream world. This certain girl's name was Rin Satou, and she happened to be Miku Akiyama's longest friend.
"Ya done minglin' with Mittchan, scum?" she asked.
I forgot to mention, she absolutely and utterly despises me from the bottom of her heart.
As I've mentioned before, Miku and I became close friends in less than a month, and Satou-san is interpreting it as me stealing Miku away from her, which is definitely not true, by the way.
She was just the typical high school girl you'd find just about anywhere. Well, a "gyaru," that is.
According to Miku, Satou-san wasn't always like this, but when they barely got to hang out with each other ever since the were placed in different classes, Satou-san slowly turned into this. All I can really sense from this girl is danger.
But even so, despite her transformation, her affection towards her longest friend is still the same, so Miku was thankful for that.
"What do you mean, 'mingling?' You make me sound like the bad person here," I placed my head on top of my hand. "Besides, she's the one who got close to me, so whatever she does is completely unrelated to me."
"So her visitin' your house is completely unrelated to ya?"
"Where the hell did you hear that?" I muttered. "But yeah, it's completely unrelated to me. She only visits there to read manga, watch anime, and play games, and her partner in all of those is my sister."
She sighed.
"Whatev'. That ain't why I'm here, anyway."
"Why would you mention Miku, then?"
She brushed off my question.
"Ya should take care of that friend of yours before I kick the crap for good."
"Friend?"
As far as I know, I've only had two friends, which means I could interpret her words as taking care of Senpai-san, or taking care of Kentarou. But even if she did have business with either of them, what problem would arose that even the Rin Satou was involved in it?
"Which friend?"
Oh, that actually came out good.
"The annoyin' one."
Oh come on, stop confusing me, they're both annoying.
"Can you elaborate?"
"The boy. If I remember correctly, his name was… Cookierou Fatsubara?"
"Kentarou Matsubara."
"Right, him."
That sounded like she did it on purpose.
"I've heard from my fellow friend that he was being a nuisance in the literature club. I haven't checked yet how annoyin' he might be, but he seems to be annoying, and I ain't checkin' anytime."
Despite her way of speaking to me, believe it or not, she actually get along with many people in this school. She probably knows most of the people in my class.
"You could've just checked on him. Why would you need to see me?" I asked
"Believe it or not, I can't hold myself around him."
"You like him?"
"Want to get punched?"
I'll admit that Kentarou is really annoying, but he's not that annoying around me. Besides, he gives me interesting stories, so I can't really say he's annoying. But he is still quite annoying sometimes.
Also, how annoying Kentarou really is around her that even the friend-with-almost-everyone Rin Satou can't stand her? I ought to need to find that out.
"I'm guessing you want me to check in on him?"
"Yeah. I just need to know just how annoyin' he is from someone he's close with."
She's making it sound like I'm annoying as well.
"I can do that."
And so, I started to resist my urge to fall asleep and rose myself from my desk, going to Kentarou's clubroom.
Closing in, I realized that there weren't much people around the third floor of this building.
It's mainly used for third-years and clubs, so I guess some of the senpai are eating out right now. I did pass through some people on the way to the literature club, ranging from the acting club to the gaming club. Both these clubs are really famous, unlike the Literature club. Last time I heard, they were almost close to shutting down due to the lack of student from the recent graduations of the former third-years.
I knocked on the door, and someone spoke from the other side of the door, specifically a girl. She seemed to sound serious.
"Who is it?"
I froze at the voice which was directed at me. Even though we were on the other side of this door, I could feel her gaze pierce not just me, but the door as well. I was feeling shivers already.
"I-I'm a friend of the member of this club. M-My name is Yuuji Akamatsu, and the said member's name is Kentarou."
After I finished speaking, a good ten seconds of silence passed by, before the door opening, and someone speaking.
"Are you the guy Rin sent over?" she asked—well, I thought she did.
The door opened, and I couldn't see anybody that opened it. There wasn't anybody around when it opened, but my assumption was wrong when I casted my gaze downwards.
There was a head full of hair. Her eyes were covered with bangs, and her mouth was small and delicate, kind of like resembling that of a cat. Really, all I could think of was she was a loner.
But the thing that surprised me the most was…
"…So shor—Ow."
Yuuji Akamatsu here. I'm getting pinched on the cheek so hard because I commented on a girl's height. Really, that was an accident. Status report: I'm still getting pinched.
I'm currently sitting in front of a table, placed into it was a large bag of salted potato chips. There's three of them, actually.
The girl, which was supposed to be in front of me, wasn't on the other side of the table. As I've stated on my report, I'm still getting pinched, so she's still pinching my cheeks. It feels kind of numb now.
"So what was your name again?" their cold voice asked me, as if threatening me.
"Yuuij Akamatsu…"
The girl beside me, which was actually a second-year, is much more shorter than me. If she were to have not gotten out of the clubroom and concealed her identity, I would've stayed terrified. But, to be honest, she looks really cute, if I'm even allowed to say that to her.
She let go of my cheek, and I started wiping it. Then, she took a chip from one of the opened bag of chips, and ate it.
"Feel free to take one."
"Ah, yes."
Despite her offer, I didn't take one. I wasn't in the mood to eat, anyway.
"You said you were looking for Kentarou, correct?" she asked after she finished munching on the chip. "He's still not here."
"You call each other by your first names?"
"I didn't really want to, but he forced me," she said. "Anyway, I've got a question for you."
"What is it?"
"Is your friend some sort of masochist?"
I was not expecting that question. It confused me so much that I needed to freeze up and process what she had just said, which took just about a few seconds.
"...What?" I asked, trying to make sure I hadn't misheard what she had just said.
"Like I said, is your friend a masochist?"
Yeah, I'm pretty sure I hadn't misheard that.
"Not that I'm aware of, no."
It's only been for a while, but I don't think of him as that type of person. Sure, he might be an otaku, but does that necessarily mean he's like those people?
Wait, thinking about it logically, I don't have any right to say that. The reason Kentarou became friends with me in the first place is because I could put up with his attitude. Other than knowing he's an otaku, I pretty much know nothing about him. Besides, I've only known him for about three weeks.
And so, I change my statement.
"...Actually, I have no idea."
"I see…," she said. "This is going to be a real problem, then."
"How so?"
Suddenly, the door slammed open, and the person who opened it was none other than my friend, Kentarou Matsubara.
"Hey, Yui! I'm here—huh? She's not here today?" he asked. "Also, what's Yuuji doing here?"
"Yui-chan isn't here today," our senpai said, giving Kentarou a death glare.
"Ehh? Even though I went out of my way to buy her a gift…" He, however, didn't seem to mind it.
"A gift?!"
Suddenly, someone came jumping out of the locker in the corner of the room. It was, yet again, another girl. She looked like a second-year, but that would be if she was compared to this senpai beside me. Looking at her tie, she was a first-year, like us.
"Yui, you weren't supposed to show yourself," the senpai said, heaving a sigh.
"Ah! You're right!" the girl, Yui, shouted. "But it's a gift…"
Why were you even hiding anyway? I think.
Yet once again, the senpai heaved another sigh.
"What's your gift, Kentarou?" she asked.
"It's shortcakes!"
"Mm-hmm. Make sure to give me some."
Wow, that was an instant change in personality. Very impressive of Kentarou.
"Don't worry, don't worry! I thought Prez would be here as well, but it seems like she's not here again. I have enough for everyone, and that includes you, Yuuji."
We spent most of the break eating shortcake. According to Kentarou, the piece that was supposed to be for their club president, Akiko-senpai(he didn't tell me her last name), was instead given to me.
It seems like she hasn't been going in this club for a few weeks now. It started way back when Kentarou hasn't joined this club yet. He only met Akiko-senpai because she needed to welcome him. Other than that, he hasn't seen him since.
"How can we even get her back to joining this club?" the girl beside me, Rika Yamaguchi-senpai, asked as she sliced another piece. "Thanks to Kentarou joining, me and Yui got to see her after three weeks, but that seems to be it. I was hoping she'd come back here after you joined, but it seems you were completely useless…"
"Well, there's nothing we can do about that," said Kentarou.
It might just be my imagination, but it feels like Kentarou is ignoring all of Yamaguchi-senpai's insults. Is this what she meant about him being a masochist?
I finished up my portion and started to suggest something.
"Why don't you visit her?" I asked.
"We tried, but she seems to be going home everytime school finishes. Even yesterday was the same," said Yui Hikari as she happily ate the cake.
"Visiting her doesn't only require going to just her classroom. How about her home?"
"We'd love to, but even I don't know her address," said Yamaguchi-senpai as she alternated between the shortcake and the potato chips.
We didn't get any good ideas at all. We kept silent for a bit, only the sound of munching could be heard.
I'm someone who can comfort people, but if I can't meet with the person directly, how am I supposed to know what to do if I can't tell what position they're in? I'm pretty sure Hikari-san, or perhaps even Yamaguchi-senpai, wouldn't know Akiko-senpai's state.
"I got an idea!" decalred Kentarou. "Yuuji, you know Matsumoto-senpai, right?"
"Yeah, what about it?"
"Well, considering Prez and Matsumoto-senpai are third-years, maybe they're both in the same class?"
"I do know Senpai-san's class. It's 3-A."
I glance at Yamaguchi-senpai, trying to make sure if my assumption of both Akiko-senpai and Senpai-san are in the same class.
"You know a person from the Three Deadly Beauties?" she asked. It seems like she got my message wrong.
"Well, kinda." I just go along with her question and answer truthfully. "We both had a senpai and kouhai relationship back in junior high. We were both a member of the literature club back then."
"I see. Well, Akiko-senpai is in 3-A as well. It's weird coming from me, but I think maybe Kentarou's plan could perhaps work."
"Then, it's decided! Yuuji, go get Matsumoto-senpai to visit the back of the gym after school! I already have the perfect plan established!"
"I'll try, if she's not busy."
***
"Eh? Kouhai-kun, don't you remember Aki-chan?" Senpai-san asked over the phone.
This was after lunch, when I went to the faculty to get my phone. I dialed her when I was walking back to my classroom.
"Aki-chan?" I asked.
That was how Senpai-san called Tanaka-senpai, who was the president of the literature club back in junior high. They were classmates that time.
"Of course! She's the one who made her debut in her first-year junior high, and I was in the second-year. You know, Akiko Tanaka-chan?"
"Oh, Tanaka-senpai, huh? It's been a while, so I forgot her first name."
"So what do you want me to do?"
"Well, she's kinda been neglecting her work as president in the literature club." The senior high one, of course. "She hasn't been showing up lately. Do you know why she'd do that?"
"Hmm… I don't exactly remember Aki-chan doing that sort of stuff back in junior high…"
"Right?"
When we first met, she was kind of cheerful. She didn't show any kinds of weakness, and she fit in the club just fine. She was the president, after all.
"Well, actually, it did happen, back when we were both first-years."
"Oh, really?"
Considering I was two years off from their grade, that would mean I was still in the fourth or fifth grade in elementary, way back before I even got to meet them. I was probably still in my switching phase.
"Yeah. It didn't show much, but she was stressed when we both formed the club. She said something about 'not wanting to let other people down,' and that's been eating up at her."
I guess those types of things happen sometimes. That happened a lot with me back then, so I guess I'm a source.
"So when two members joined, she started participating less and less with the club activities, as if neglecting it. And you know, I was right."
"That sounds kinda bad."
"Sure is. Once I found out that she was doing that, I kind of just let her consult to me. Like how you comforted back then, it was really helpful."
To be honest, I didn't expect much back then. I wasn't expecting for Senpai-san to be my friend, and I wasn't expecting anything in return. All I wanted to do was to comfort her. But now that I did gain something, which is Senpai-san's friendship, I guess I'm kind of happy with that.
"Well, Kentarou suggested something of you talking to her and getting Tanaka-senpai to go to the back of the gym. I'm not really sure why, though. Said he's got a plan or something."
"Well, if you don't need my help, then I guess I can ask her for that."
"Just stay on standby," I said. "They might need you."