'Thanks everyone for your hard work! Practice will continue tomorrow, so please go to bed as early as possible! You may go home now!'
After the speech from the third years, we were finally released from our first day of practice. It was scorching hot since morning, but none of the students got heatstroke or any other illness thanks to the student council's and the health committee's measures.
As I was thinking about that, Amami-san approached me.
"Maki-kun!"
"Amami-san."
"Hehe, good work today! I saw you practicing with Umi! Did she work you to the bone?"
"Yeah… Thanks to that, I'm exhausted… It's only the first day, jeez…"
"Hehe, I feel you. It was exhausting for me too! I'm having fun, though!"
She said that, but she didn't look exhausted at all.
Even though I saw her running around the yard earlier, she didn't seem to be out of breath at all. I would bet money that if she ran ten more laps, her expression would stay the same as it currently was.
…I guess we were built different, after all.
"By the way, where did Umi go? She disappeared before practice ended…"
"Nakamura-san asked her to help the student council out since the vice president is out of commission right now."
Of course I wouldn't tell her that Nakamura-san dragged Umi partly because she was bitter about us flirting out in the open.
"The vice president? Ah that cool looking first year? Takizawa-kun, right?"
"You know him, Amami-san?"
"Mhm! Ninacchi made a fuss a while ago about a 'really handsome first year', so I know about him."
Of course Nitta-san knew about Takizawa-kun.
Well, that was a given I guess. With looks like that, no wonder he stood out.
…But even with those good looks, Takizawa-kun still hadn't managed to make Amami-san fall for him, huh?
If Nozomu were here, he would be patting his chest in relief.
"So you'll be going home alone today, huh? I would like to go with you, but I still have some work to do with the backboard team…"
'Amami-senpai~ When will the meeting start?'
"Ah! In fifteen minutes at the workshop! Sorry, Maki-kun, I gotta go!"
"Mhm. Do your best."
"I will! Thank you, Maki-kun!"
With her golden hair fluttered behind her back, Amami-san dashed away.
'That girl is so cute…'
'I know, right? She's cheerful and kind, even to the first years.'
I could hear such comments coming from the boys who were staring at Amami-san.
While being popular wasn't necessarily a bad thing, dealing with people's gazes and expectations seemed tough.
"Woah, are you trying to take your chance to hit on your girlfriend's best friend now that she isn't with you? You look harmless, but you're surprisingly daring, Rep."
"She was the one who called out to me, you know?"
That was a terrible thing to accuse me of, but since it came out of Nitta-san's mouth, I let it slide.
She probably approached me because she saw me here by myself, like Amami-san. Although her way of approaching me was different from Amami-san, the kindness they showed me was the same.
"…Why are you grinning? That's creepy."
"My bad, my bad."
I started to understand her a little better.
Everyone around me were kind people, which I'm grateful about.
However, I didn't expect them to be so worried about me when Umi wasn't around. Guess it was to be expected, considering how we were always together at school.
…Though, we tried to not be conspicuous about it.
"I came over since I heard you were talking about Takizawa-kun. Do you know him, Rep? If so, can you do me a favor? I'll be grateful for the rest of my life if you do it! Can you give me his contact?"
"I don't know him…"
"Eh, really? Well, I guess it's you…"
The thought about telling her about his relationship with Nakamura-san crossed my mind, but I kept my mouth closed. I don't think Nakamura-san would appreciate it if I were to babble like that.
It wasn't like I didn't trust Nitta-san though. Nakamura-san would tell her sooner or later anyway, I was sure of it.
Instead, I told Nitta-san about Umi, who went to help the student council.
"I see, Takizawa-kun is sick… Jeez, if I knew this would happen, I would have joined the student council in a heartbeat."
"You're the same as ever."
"Huh? What did you mean by that, hm? Of course I would act like this. Unlike Umi and Yuuchin, I don't go after the boys in my surroundings! If I don't do it earnestly, I won't find my ideal boy!"
If she had the same dedication toward her studies or work, I would respect her more…
"Huh?…"
Her words made me feel strange.
She said she didn't go after the boys in her surroundings, unlike Umi and Amami-san.
In Umi's case, the boy in her surroundings should be me, but in Amami-san's case…
"Nitta-san, did Amami-san find someone that she likes? Just now you mentioned her going after a boy in her surroundings…"
"Hm? …Ah, sorry, I just said that randomly. You saw that Yuuchin is getting closer to Seki lately, right? Yeah, I just said those words because of that. I don't think she found someone that she likes yet."
"I guess so, huh?…"
I was surprised that she said those words so casually.
As far as I knew, the only boy that Amami-san was close to was Nozomu. I thought that Nozomu's feelings finally became requited, so I almost became happy for him, but it seemed like it wasn't the case.
"Sorry for making you misunderstood like that. Since I'm cute, please let me off with this."
"That's not a good enough reason. Well, let's just say that we are too tired to think correctly and had a slip up, that should be okay."
"…We could go with that I guess. Anyway, I gotta go."
"'Kay, see you tomorrow."
"Mm, see ya~'
I parted ways with Nitta-san and went to the classroom to change into my uniform. There was still an hour before they locked the classroom, but I didn't want to be in my P.E uniform any longer. It reeked of dust and sweat.
Since I took my time in the yard, the bustling atmosphere in school had died down since most of the students had gone home already. The only people who stayed were the backboard groups and the people who were making cheerleading equipment. Even though they were sacrificing their summer vacation time, they seemed to be having a good time.
It was just like last year's festival.
Come to think of it, there were a lot of things to do back then too, but looking back, it was a lot of fun.
Because back then, I always had my 'precious friend' by my side.
"…I love Umi so much."
I muttered to myself as I walked down the hallway.
Whenever I was alone with my thoughts, I always ended up thinking about her.
It was only after I befriended her that I started to live more like a normal student. So it was natural that my precious memories were only filled with her. Though, if I were to see it from an objective point of view, it felt like I was thinking about her a little too much.
From the lottery that made me the committee's representative, the work that we did when we were left alone at school, the beef we had with Amami-san because of a slight misunderstanding, the moment where we held hands on the rooftop… All of them were my precious memories and Umi was in every one of them.
I suddenly had the sudden urge to go to her side right now.
Sometimes, I felt like this. I felt uncomfortable that she wasn't by my side.
"…No, stop thinking about that. I should calm down."
Thinking about her any longer would just leave me in agony. I should get ready to go home instead.
I took off my P.E uniform and wiped the sweat off my body with a spare towel. After that, I sprayed some deodorant on my body. I used to only wipe my body with a single handkerchief, so I made significant progress in this regard.
Well, everything that I used were the things that Umi bought for me… I guess I should think about buying them myself without her telling me next time.
After changing into my uniform, I took out my phone and tidied up my bangs. Then, I sat down and let out a deep sigh.
All I needed to do was to wait for Umi to finish her work. For some reason, the time passed agonizingly slowly.
I took ten minutes to change and stuff. It was great that I managed to finish everything in that short amount of time, but I wished that it took longer than that.
"…Let's take a nap for a second."
Even if I were to set an alarm, I'd sleep until midnight anyway because I was exhausted, so I decided not to— Of course that wouldn't be the case. The teacher will wake me up when it's time.
Now that I think about it, I used to do this a lot back then.
I used my gym bag as a pillow and plopped my head on the desk. I hadn't done this in a while because everyone wouldn't leave me alone at school. It felt good to do this once in a while.
As time passed, my eyelids started getting heavier, so I decided to stop thinking and closed my eyes. I should take a 'nap' until my 'alarm' woke me up.
'Ah, it's that guy…'
"…Hm?"
I heard the classroom door being opened along with someone else's voice.