Three days passed after the Aizawa Incident (*Missionary Work for Natsukawa). Ever since that lunch break, Aizawa never came to meet me, and the comfortable albeit lonely days I previously had restarted to turn into the norm again.
Oddly enough, although I don't know why, since that day, whenever I woke up, I was greeted by a 500-yen lunch box. Dear mother, did you by any chance watch everything from start to finish? If I were to put a meaning on this, then it must be the signal for me to step onto the frontlines.
"—Groaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!"
It wasn't just me. The fearless men around me were using their inherent physiques to push forward. As for myself, Sajou Wataru, I am merely a small fox, borrowing the authority of the tigers as I kept slipping between them, seeing no other way to participate. My, what a broad back—Yeah, I'm human trash, nice to meet you.
With me practically seeing red…from the blood rushing to my eyes because of the pressure around me, I grabbed some butter rolls and milk. This school store really isn't fit for the culture and literature-type of man. If you're unlucky, you'll end up with a few broken bones. But no worries, Mom, I got a fairly good catch today.
When I returned to the classroom, I heard loud voices coming from the inside. Not to mention that one of them sounded oddly familiar despite not belonging to this class. I kinda don't want to go back right now, actually.
"—No no no, please accept this! This is my apology for causing such a mess before!"
"I keep telling you that you don't need to worry about it! I didn't even do anything!"
"Just give up and accept it, Aichi!"
"Why are you on her side anyway, Kei!?"
Taking a peek inside, I could see a female student with familiar fluffy and cozy brown hair close in on Natsukawa. From the sounds of it, they aren't fighting at least. But, I can tell that things would turn more bothersome if I joined in.
"I'll just leave it here for you, Aika-sama!"
"Ah, w-wait a second!"
"Bye-bye, Renachi~"
As I was hiding next to the door to the classroom, the girl, Aizawa, I had been flirting around with as of late, or maybe not (*Definitely not), came running out of it. Getting a glance at her face, she seemed pretty happy. She then ran the opposite way of me, heading up the stairs to the upperclassmen classrooms. I'm glad she's brimming with energy as always.
I acted like I hadn't seen any of that, and walked inside the classroom. As I headed to my seat, my seat neighbour to the left, Natsukawa, caught on to my presence. Normally, she'd give me a sharp scowl, but rarely enough, she just gave me an annoyed look. Thank you very much. More, please.
"…Aizawa-san was here a second ago."
"She was brimming with energy, acting all respectful…did you do something, Sajocchi?"
"Not really…I just told her about the greatness that is Natsukawa Aika."
"Hey!! What did you tell her!?"
"Ehh…So despite eating with such a cute girl, you were always talking about Aichi?" That's Sajocchi for you."
It is my duty to spread the word about Natsukawa Aika. I can proudly declare that I am her No.1 fan, and I will keep this position whatever it may take. But, what am I seeing? Why does Aika-sama have 20x limited cream puffs from the school store? How could she survive through that hell that requires you to put your body on the line…
When I glanced at the cream puffs, my gaze overlapped with Natsukawa's, who let out a sigh.
"Ah, these? Renachi got them from her boyfriend, apparently."
"Glad they made up again~"
"Eh, seriously?"
"Yep yep~" Ashida added, to which Natsukawa showed a nod herself.
Since Aizawa's affection towards Arimura-senpai hadn't disappeared, I was aiming for the best-case scenario of them getting together again, but I didn't expect it to happen this quickly, let alone easily. Guess me talking about how much of a scum a high school boy can be really helped a lot, yeah.
"She talked about having found a common interest or something like that."
A common interest? Probably something after she started meeting with me. Though, I doubt they didn't know each other's hobbies when they were dating…
'I guess…it'd be that first-year Natsukawa for me.'
—Ahhh.
"What a shame, Sajocchi~ Renachi already threw you away~ Poor little guy~"
"Mm, I don't really mind. I got some great memories out of it."
"H-Huh…!? What do you mean by that!?"
"Renachi has a boyfriend, you know! You're the worst~!"
I feel like both of them got the wrong idea, but it sadly wasn't what they imagined. Aizawa might look doable with that brown hair of hers, but combining affection and cham together, she is more like a precious existence to us boys. Even getting to talk with her alone was like a reward. I can live off a butter roll for the rest of my life—No, probably not, I'm sorry.
As I was gushing about how being a boy is simple happiness, both Natsukawa and Ashida gave me a disappointed look.
"I've gathered what I wanted to gather, so what's it matter?"
Since it felt like they were denying my entire existence and the things precious to a boy like me, I gave a bothered response. For a boy that isn't popular, just talking with a cute girl is enough to keep on living, okay?
"Hmm? Then you're fine being hated by Aizawa-san?"
"I mean, I wouldn't be happy about it, but…I don't have any expectations. Not to mention, the second a girl as cute as her starts talking to me for no reason, I'd be doubtful. It was clear that Aizawa was plotting something, and I used that to enjoy a bit of talking with a cute girl. It's the high-level technique of a skilled man like me."
"…Aren't you getting oddly desperate?"
"No no no, I'm just trying to show how—"
"That's not what I meant."
"…?"
I felt the air around me growing a bit restless, so I tilted my head in confusion. Why is Natsukawa giving me such a sharp gaze all of a sudden? And what's that serious look on her face for? Not knowing what was going on, I looked over at Ashida, who equally gave me a dubious expression.
"H-Hold on a second. What's going on? What am I supposed to say here?"
"Nothing, really~ Just thought that, despite going on about how much you like Aichi, you were pretty infatuated with another girl. Kinda gross."
"Gross…"
I don't know why, but Ashida's words sounded much more sharp than usual, like knives stabbing me into my heart. However, telling her to quit was equally hard. After all, now that I had come to terms with my own specs, and looked at reality a bit more, if you told me to honestly fawn over Natsukawa, I'd compare it to me running a marathon with no finish line.
"I'm not going to force any contact. But, just being talked to is a time of bliss for someone that isn't popular at all. As I said, gotta gather what I can."
"I don't understand that."
"Well duh, of course you wouldn't, Natsukawa."
"..."
When I returned an argument, Natsukawa glared at me. I mean, aren't you popular enough…Just walking down the hallway, all of these sporty bastards would ask for your contact information, I know about it! The second interview is with me, so looking forward to working with you!
When I heard everything from Aizawa, it felt like she had ideals too big for her own good, pushing them onto Arimura-senpai. That's why, including him, I explained that we men aren't any ideal living beings, with questionable thoughts all the time. On top of that, I explained how much of a goddess Natsukawa is (*which was the main goal).
Aizawa temporarily broke up with Arimura-senpai, but she couldn't erase the feelings she had inside of her. That's why, after hearing me out back then, she must have realized that even boys have despicable parts to them, and desired to get back to how things were before. At the very least, Arimura-senpai had 'something' that kept Aizawa attached to him.
But, I'm different. Natsukawa doesn't have any special feelings for me, and even if there were any, they'd vanish right away. After all, I don't have this 'something' with me.
"W-Wait a second, Sajocchi! Did you just call Aichi 'Natsukawa'…!?"
"E-Enough of that already!"
"Ehhh!?"
"W-With this, other people won't get the wrong idea anymore! This is much better!"
"A-Aichi…!"
Since the person in question says so, even Ashida can't argue about it. I move into the direction that will make Natsukawa benefit the most, it's a Win-Win. Yet, why doesn't Natsukawa understand where I'm coming from?
The answer is simple. The environment the both of us see is entirely different. That's why our values don't align.
"What's up, Sajou! Getting hate from your beloved Natsukawa!?"
Having returned from the school cafeteria, Yamazaki spotted us, and immediately went to tease me with a grin on his face. The others around us joined in. Since they barely got any more teasing material with me and Natsukawa as of late, they must be desperate for this.
But, this might be a good opportunity. I don't mind raising Natsukawa's popularity some more, but it could seem unnatural if I just went on praising her like this…What should I do? Maybe I should go with this.
"Yamazaki…We're in the middle of our divorce meditation, so shut up for a second."
"W-Who'd be married to someone like—!"
"Gyahahaha! The heck is that about!"
"As Yamazaki is her secret lover, I request 2.5 million yen as compensation…!"
"Huh? Eh, what?"
"Yamazaki-kun, you're the worst~!!"
"Ehhhhhhhh!?"
I don't need to be understood by her. In the end, the environment we both live in is far too different. With our thought process and values different to such a level, I can have one-sided feelings for Natsukawa, and if being involved with me just brings misfortune to her—
"Natsukawa-san, are you okay!?"
"Ehh…!? No, I'm…!"
Watching from the sidelines is more than enough for me.