I woke up from a dream. It kind of felt like a bitter memory, but a sweet one at that as well. It was sweet enough that my eyes tear up a little. Actually, from the looks of the wetness of my desk, I was definitely crying. Good thing I wasn't sobbing, I think.
Classes has just concluded. I didn't realize it until now, but it looks like I'm the only one left in the classroom. Maybe I started to cry when they all left? Well, who knows.
I stood up from my seat and placed my textbooks back in my bag. After that, I headed out the door. I wanted to have an ordinary Tuesday, with no one going in my way to interrupt it, and after passing by, someone suddenly called out to me.
"Hey, scum," Rin Satou said with a very rude tone. "Yui says you're gonna join us."
I wasn't particularly frightened with her, but seeing that Satou-san just appeared right behind me and spoke with the tone that resembled that of the tiny senpai earlier gave me the chills.
"Hikari-san? Why?" I asked.
The literature club currently has some circumstances that they're dealing with. Specifically, they're trying to get their president, Akiko Tanaka, to come and join them again since she hasn't been appearing in the club for weeks now. Well, she did come to the club once to greet a new friend, which happened to be my friend Kentarou Matsubara, and hasn't joined since.
I'm not part of the literature club, so it should make sense that I don't get mixed up with their troubles. However, one of the members that isn't my friend is calling me over now. Is it a confession? Yeah, like heck.
"No idea. Go ask her later in the side of the gym."
She started pulling my hand vigorously and heading out the door. I almost dropped my bag on the process. Moreover, her grip on me hurts. How strong is she?
During the way there, I didn't say a single word. I held back the pain of her mighty grip and kept walking and walking further into the school grounds. I did have a vague idea of why she would call me out there.
Satou-san and I came from our classroom, taking a ten minute walk all the way to the side of the gymnasium. When we reached a dark alleyway between the gym's wall and the school's wall, we both saw Rika Yamaguchi-senpai and Yui Hikari-san, together with my friend, Ayane Matsumoto, also known as Senpai-san.
"Ah, they they are," Yamaguchi-senpai said when she saw both of us. She was eating a bag of potato chips, just like in the clubroom.
"Come here, come here!" urged Hikari-san as she flapped her hands. I wasn't sure if she wanted to scream of whisper due to her excitement.
We approached the side of the wall, just enough for us to be concealed in the darkness, and standing in the middle of the shade was Kentarou. He had his hands balled up, and it looks like he was shaking. Despite that, he was looking rather courageous, with a smile plastered on his face as if to hide the millions of pain he was feeling. Perhaps I'm exaggerating it a bit too much, but he is smiling.
"Wow, Kentarou really is taking the initiative, huh?" I said.
"Indeed," Senpai-san answered. "When I suggested that I could maybe replace with him, trying to persuade Aki-chan to come attend clubs again, he refused, telling me that he was the one who's supposed to do this."
"Yeah, he sounded really cool, like a hero!" commented Hikari-san.
"Cool," I gave a dead response.
Despite my tone, it really did seem like he looked like a hero right now.
I imagined a scenario where Kentarou was a prince saving the princess, Tanaka-senpai, from a very big and very bad monster called "Neglecting." He was still on a journey, with the shaking of his hands being the trouble on the way to the monster's lair, and his smile being the persistence and victory he keeps earning.
"Oh, look! Prez is here!" Hikari-san whispered. Like earlier, I couldn't tell if she wanted to scream of whisper because of her excitement, but she nonetheless held it in.
We were on the right side of the gym between walls, and Tanaka-senpai walked towards the left side, the closest in the hallways. She couldn't see us, but we could perfectly see both of them.
I could hear sounds from an electronic speaker nearby, which kind of surprised me.
"Ah, he turned it on," Yamaguchi-senpai said while holding some sort of speaker.
"What's that for?" Satou-san asked.
"Listening. Since we probably won't be able to hear their conversation from here, I put on advance measures and asked him to have a microphone hidden in his pockets and turn it on when she's near."
Yamaguchi-senpai was surprisingly good with this.
As she had just mentioned, the sounds that came from Kentarou's direction was transmitted into the speaker so we could hear them. It was also set to low, so as to not attract Tanaka-senpai's attention.
We could now hear their conversation, but it feels to me that we shouldn't even be listening. And I'm not sure, but even Satou-san feels the same way.
"So you're the one who called me out here?" Tanaka-senpai asked, her voice getting caught by the microphone. It was all muffled, but we could hear it to some degree. It sounded really scary.
"Yes," Kentarou said, his smile faltering. He started to wipe his hand behind his pants, probably the sweat building up.
"So? You needed to request one of the Three Deadly Beauties just to call me?"
"W-Well, I heard that you're pretty close to her, so…"
Tanaka-senpai glared at Kentarou.
"Who did you hear that from?" Tanaka-senpai asked, placing her right hand on her side.
"She's probably talking about you, right?" Yamaguchi-senpai asked, munching on her chips. Seems like it was directed at me.
"Yeah, probably…"
"Could you both be quiet?!" Hikari-san asked, so we both did and kept listening.
"Sigh… Just tell me why you called me out here."
"W-Well, alright…"
He cleared his throat with a cough, and then took a deep breath before speaking. This time, his tone was clear, his hands weren't shaking, and the smile of his disappeared as if he was treating the entire situation earlier as a joke.
"The truth is, I wanted to see you again."
…Woah, he said that line that could possibly trigger a flag? Not only that, he said it so boldly and confidently that I'm questioning if he's even my real friend.
I stare at my companions next to me. Yamaguchi-senpai was chipping away with her chips as if to say "Wow." Really, she had almost no reaction. Senpai-san was looking at both of them, and looking as if she had just seen a confession. However, the most peculiar faces I've seen in them all was both Satou-san and Hikari-san. Specifically, Hikari-san was wearing no expression at all, whilst Satou-san was looking at Hikari-san with worried eyes.
I tried talking to Hikari-san, but before I could even speak a word, she ran away. Not just her, but Satou-san as well. She chased after Hikari-san while quietly shouting her name. Senpai-san noticed her, but Yamaguchi-senpai was just staring at them. But suddenly, she spoke to me.
"Why don't you chase after them?" she asked. "It seems like Yui is about to cry. Satou doesn't seem like the type of person to comfort somebody either."
"Yeah, you should! Kouhai-kun's the best when he's comforting people. His methods are a bit questionable, though," said Senpai-san.
"Who do you think I am?"
While I would like to see the outcome of what's about to happen to Tanaka-senpai and Kentarou, I feel like I should listen to Yamaguchi-senpai. My instincts tell me so, as well.
"Fine," I said. "But that's easier said than done. Where can I even find her?"
"Either at the rooftop of the abandoned building, or the playground near here. I recommend going to the rooftop first."
I know where the abandoned building is. After all, that was where all the previous clubrooms were located. However, they added more path to the current building, making every single club fit in one floor, so they abandoned that other building. They should be using it for school supplies. As for the playground, I often pass by that, so I should be good.
"Thanks. I'm off," I said as I started running, chasing after the two girls that fled out of here.
***
A princess once had a hero.
He was someone that could defeat monsters with just a simple slash, someone who conquered demon kingdoms to give to others, and someone who always persisted in any battle he participated.
"Haaah… Haaah… Phew, am I exhausted…"
I was currently walking out of the playground near our school. Even though it didn't take a while to reach that, but it was still exhausting, since I started at the gym, which was really far from the entrance gate.
Right now, I was leaning at the entrance of the abandoned building. I could see two sets of footsteps due to the dust that formed in the floor, so I could pinpoint their location.
I know that Yamaguchi-senpai said that I should start at the building, but I was somewhat overthinking things, so I instead went for the playground instead. I already knew it was a bad idea , but I went for it anyway.
Walking up top the stairs(because I was too tired to run), I could pretty much feel the cold atmosphere here. It was really scary. Other than that, it was silent and kind of dark, so I could find this place useful when I want to vent some stress.
Seeing light shining through the door, I entered the rooftop. I could hear sobbing behind the stairs rooftop, so I headed there, bracing myself from seeing a girl crying again after a long time.
"Umm… Hikari-san?" I called out.
"Eep!!"
"Woah!"
She suddenly screamed when I called out to her, and then covered her whole face like a child trying to be invisible when playing hide and seek.
"Are you a ghost?! A monster?! An evil spirit?!"
"U-um…"
"Waahh!! Please don't eat me!!"
Now it just sounded like she was crying horribly. Adding the fact that it was me who made her cry like that, I felt absolutely guilty.
"Don't worry, Hikari-san! It's me, Akamatsu!"
"H-Huh?"
She slowly started to lower her hand to unblock the covered face of hers, and started talking to be with her voice shaking.
"Akamatsu…kun?"
"Yes, it's Akamatsu."
I started to approach her while distancing myself, and started leaning on the wall she was leaning on. For now, I just tried starting a simple conversation
"Where's Satou-san?"
"…She couldn't follow me," she said. "She's kind of a scaredy-cat, you see."
"I find that hard to imagine."
After all, with that personality of hers, how can I possibly believe her words?
"It's true, though. The moment I ran through the entrance, she stopped by the stairs when I climbed there. She's even much more of a scaredy-cat when we watch horror movies. Always clinging onto me."
She's acting much more of a normal high school girl that I thought she was. Putting it frankly, I'm quite impressed.
"Sounds like she's handling life good without Miku," I said quietly.
"Hm?"
"Just talking to myself."
Silence then started after that. I started wondering for a bit.
Why did Hikari-san run away when Kentarou said that potential flag trigger? That wouldn't have happened if she didn't have any feelings for him. But then again, the fact that Kentarou can sometimes be seen as a creep can minus some good points about him.
There really is only one conclusion. And that is—