The next day.
When I arrived at school around the usual time in the morning, a cheerful-looking Amami-san greeted me.
"Oh, Maki-kun, good morning ~ It's a good day, innit?"
"Ah… Y-yeah, true."
"Jeez, you don't need to act so reserved around me ~"
It was a pleasant day, the sky was blue without a single cloud. But who cares about the weather.
My classmates' looked back and forth between Amami-san and me.
"Uhh… Yuu-chin, can I ask you a question…? Who is Maki-kun…?"
"Eh? Ninacchi, are you joking ~? It's Maehara-kun's name. How could you forget?
"Eh? A-ahh, t-there's no way I could forget something like that…"
She obviously forgot. Not only her, I'm sure everyone in the class also forgot. But that's not the issue here. It's the fact that Amami-san referred to me by my given name.
It was just yesterday that she referred to me by 'Maehara-kun'. Today she suddenly called me 'Maki-kun'.
Some people would definitely get strange ideas about what happened yesterday.
"Yuu-chin seems to be getting along well with Maehara… Did something happen yesterday?"
"Mhm. I made up with Maki-kun yesterday and we became friends. Right, Maki-kun?"
At Amami-san's words, the class immediately went into an uproar. It was like this yesterday, but it got even noisier today.
'Oi, oi, seriously?'
'Amami-san and that gloomy guy?'
'Maybe, he blackmailed her?'
'Blackmail how?'
'You know, skimpy photos, maybe?'
'Are you guys stupid? If I blackmailed her, there's no way Amami-san would cheerfully greet me like this!'
Sadly, I didn't have the courage to shout at them, so I decided to feign ignorance.
Yesterday, when we parted, Amami-san asked me to be her friend and I accepted her request. That was why she referred to me by my given name.
Amami-san called all her friends by their given names. For example, she called Asanagi, 'Umi' and Nitta-san, 'Nina. She also liked giving her close friends nicknames, according to Asanagi.
"I don't know what everyone thinks of him, but Maki-kun is really nice! He doesn't talk much in class and is a relatively quiet person, but he's honest and smart! Just like Umi!"
"No, you're exaggerating…"
Well, I guess I do have some similarities to Asanagi; both our favorite foods and the way we perceive things.
"Not at all, right, Umi?"
"…Sure, I'm your best friend, but, if he comes to hate you because you're too pushy toward him, I can't help you, okay? Yuu."
"Eh, u-umm ehehe ~ Well, I think Umi and Maki-kun will be able to get along well! You should both become friends and exchange your phone numbers already!"
"What did I just say…?"
Not to mention exchanging phone numbers; we texted each other rather frequently, but there was no way that Amami-san knew about that. That was why we decided to gloss over the topic when it came up.
Still, I wonder what would happen if Amami-san saw us when we hung out. After all, our relationship had already disregarded the barrier of gender. We stopped minding that a while ago.
"Ah, right, Maki-kun, do you have any plans for lunch today?"
"Eh? No, not really…"
"Then, to celebrate us becoming friends, let's have lunch together!"
'T-together?!'
Hearing that, the buzzing inside the class got even louder.
"Yuu! No matter how you look at it, that's a bad idea!"
"Really? Maki-kun said he hates being in groups, so being with me alone should put him at ease! Am I wrong?"
"I mean, logically speaking, sure, but… Maehara-kun, what do you think?"
"U-um… Well, if anything, I'd probably be even more nervous if you did that… I think…"
Amami-san was not only the idol of the class but the entire school year as well.
The thought of having lunch with someone like that made my stomach churn.
"See?"
"Then, what if Umi joins? It will be the three of us instead of just two! Besides, Umi was with Maki-kun yesterday too, so everything will be fine! What do you think, Maki-kun?"
"Uhh…"
The problem was that Asanagi was also a beauty, second only to Amami-san.
If I refused her offer again, the whole class would think of me as a stubborn guy and that would be bad… I had no choice but to accept, huh?
"…Alright. Let's eat together…"
"Really? Yay ~"
After hearing my answer, Amami-san raised her hands to the sky innocently.
Is she okay in the head? Being this happy just to have lunch with someone like me… seriously?
"Thank you, Maki-kun! Umi, he gave us the OK!"
"Yes yes, I'm happy for you. Sorry, Maehara-kun, you'll have to deal with our Princess' selfishness."
"Ah, no… I should be apologizing for getting you involved in something like this…"
It couldn't be helped, but I ended up relying on Asanagi here.
There was a saying; 'Help each other in tough times.' While I agree with that saying, I'd rather not rely on others to deal with my problems if possible.
When we returned to our seats, I immediately sent Asanagi a text message.
[Maehara: My bad, Asanagi, I had to rely on you.]
[Asanagi: It can't be helped, it isn't like our relationship is exposed anyway, let's just move on.]
[Maehara: …Right. Thanks, Asanagi, I'm glad that you were there.]
[Asanagi: You're welcome. I'm your friend too, you know? It's a given that I'll help you.] [Besides…]
[Maehara: Besides?]
[Asanagi: Never mind.]
[Maehara: Okay…?]
I put my phone away and looked at Asanagi.
She didn't notice my gaze as she was staring intently at her phone, but I noticed her face was redder than usual.