I was ready for anything.
Whatever it took to make amends with Amami-san and more than anything, I didn't want to lose the precious time I had with Umi.
But…
"…"
"…"
After we left the house, we could only walk in silence.
This was so embarrassing…
"Maki, your hand is sweaty…"
"Y-yours too…"
"S-so what? It's my first time doing something like this, okay?"
We were walking to school together while holding hands, with our fingers intertwined. The so-called 'Lover's Hold'.
'…What are they doing this early in the morning?'
'They are… freshmen? The girl looks cute, but the boy is a bit… Is this a punishment game?'
There were a lot of people from our school on the road during this time, so I could hear words being thrown at us. Nine out of ten people were hurling remarks filled with jealousy at me.
Normally, I would probably snap at them, but this time there was something more important than those guys.
Amami-san's 'request', I have to focus on finishing it properly.
"Umi, where's Amami-san?"
"Ten meters behind us… Hiding behind that pole… She's laughing at us…"
"…At least she's having fun, I guess…"
In exchange for breaking our previous agreement, Amami-san, in all her mercy, gave us a condition.
From the moment we left my home until we entered the classroom, we had to walk hand in hand like lovers.
That was all. Once we entered the classroom, we were free to do whatever we wanted. We didn't need to announce our relationship to the whole class.
Then again, entering the classroom hand in hand like that should give people enough hints that we were close, we didn't need to elaborate, people will come to that conclusion on their own.
"Still, I can't believe that someone started a rumor of me dating Amami-san… I was so ready to be confronted by the guys after the festival ended, especially Seki-kun."
"Ah, right. Nina and a few others asked me about it too. But since that rumor was baseless, I managed to brush them off easily."
The rumor came out of nowhere and no one knew who started it. Apparently it had been circulating in the class during and after the preparations for the festival. I only found out about it by chance because I barely had any friends.
Thinking back though, anyone could easily make up those kinds of rumors if they were to consider my circumstances at that time. I was friends with Amami-san, I knew her phone number, and during the festival preparation, we were together often. It was no wonder that some people misunderstood.
But they were slightly off. Amami-san wasn't the one I was close with, it was the girl right next to her.
Sure, Amami-san was attractive, even more so than Umi. But to me, she was nothing more than 'a friend of a friend'.
Apparently Umi told Amami-san about the rumors and to prove them wrong, she planned this whole 'holding hands like lovers thing'.
So far, this method seemed to be effective, save from the embarrassment me and Umi had to deal with.
Although I couldn't see them among the crowd, I was sure that some of our classmates were watching us. I casually glanced toward Amami-san and before I knew it, Nitta-san was there, walking side by side with Amami-san.
Amami-san was trying to stop her from taking pictures, but since she was the gossip-loving Nitta-san, that wouldn't stop her from spreading rumors about us.
"…That Nina… Hehe… I'll make her regret this…"
"…Go easy on her, okay?"
I managed to calm Umi, who had been muttering something dangerous ever since she noticed Nitta-san. After that, we passed through the school gate and went straight to the classroom.
It goes without saying how everything went after that.
Everyone inside the classroom immediately dropped what they were currently doing and sent us curious gazes.
"T-then, see you."
"M-mhm…"
We let go of each other's hands and went to our respective seats and pretended like nothing happened. Of course, our classmates wouldn't let us off easily like that.
'Eh? What? Really?'
'They were on the committee together, so it's possible, but, really?'
'Hey, why don't you ask one of them?'
'No way. Asanagi is scary, you know?'
The other subject of the conversation, Umi was happily chatting with Amami-san, who came a bit later than us while giving Nitta-san an iron claw. (T/N: The wrestling move)
"Okay~ I know that everyone is sick of Monday already, but that won't stop me from starting the class, okay~? …Huh? What's wrong? Why is everyone so quiet?"
"There's nothing wrong, sensei, you can start the class."
"Asanagi-san? Are you on duty today?"
"No, but we want the class to start earlier today, right?"
"But, you guys are acting strange…"
"Oh? Are we now?"
"Eek!"
Yeah, you shouldn't try to reason with her right now, sensei.
"A-ahh. S-sorry… L-let's start the class now!"
After Umi's persuasion, sensei immediately started the class.
"…Uh, Maehara-kun?"
"Sorry. I'll leave everything to your imagination, Ooyama-kun."
Anyway, during the class, Umi acted really cutely. I could see her ears were bright red for the entire period.
My decision on claiming her for myself before anyone could find out how cute she was, was a correct one, I think.