"Hey, Kurebayashi-san. It's been a while, huh?"
She doesn't respond to Sakakibara Daiki's words. Instead, she averts her gaze towards me; her eyes seemingly asking me "why are you with him?" I turn around to look at Sakakibara Daiki. He has his usual friendly expression on and is still waiting for Kurebayashi's response.
Meanwhile, I'm in the middle of these two and I have no idea what's even happening. From afar, it would look like we're having a Mexican standoff right now. Jokes aside, it looks like neither of them is going to lift this awkward silence.
Well, I sure as hell am not going to be the one to speak first. I look at Kurebayashi again and start blinking rapidly, hoping to get her to react or something.
Her eyes darted towards the side, away from me.
Hey now, is that how you repay me? I sucked up my cowardice and confronted a hulking 3rd year to save you and you can't even bail me out of this?
"Ahaha… Looks like I should go. I'll catch up with you later, Sugiyama-kun."
Sakakibara Daiki gives me a slap on the back before walking away. He then gives Kurebayashi a wide berth before proceeding towards the field's exit. I feel like whatever's happening between them should be obvious to me. But I can't quite put my finger on it.
"I-I'm sorry for being late, Sugiyama-san… I hope my tardiness did not cause too much inconvenience."
Yeah, nice try. You can't just reset back to what you were saying before. You at least owe me an explanation after what you just put me through.
"...What was that all about with Sakakibara Daiki? It looked like you two knew each other."
"S-S-S-Sakakibara who? I'm afraid I haven't the slightest idea of who you're referring to…"
She does her best to keep a poker face up, but it's very quickly falling apart. Huh, looks like lying is also not a strong suit of hers. Add that to the list.
"Fine… If you don't want to spill it, I don't really care. But he will be working with us on the plan. Are you going to be okay with that?"
I'm not exactly lying here. He's not going to get involved… Yet. I plan on telling him tomorrow to help spread the rumor around. I mean, if someone like him were to say something, other people are bound to listen. But I felt something was off about him, I just couldn't figure out what. Maybe Kurebayashi knows what that something is, but I don't really want to force her into telling.
"W-would his assistance really be necessary?"
"Well, no… But if he were to help out, it would make things a lot easier."
"Is that so…?"
No luck, huh? Well, it's too bad but what can I do? Everyone has a can of worms they don't want to open. And it'd be really hypocritical of me to force her into an uncomfortable situation.
"I mean… If you're not comfortable with getting him involved, I can just tell him I changed my mind. It's all good."
I thought that would be the end of that so I started to walk. You know, as a sign for the other person that it's time to leave. But I feel a familiar slight tug on my sleeve that makes my heart flutter just a tiny bit. I turn around and see Kurebayashi holding on to the end of my sleeve.
"I-if it is alright with you… I was wondering if you would be willing to accompany me outside of school."