It's been four days since the face-off at the gym. So far, it looks like Takamoto hasn't done anything to Inoue. Suzuki is also looking like he's having the best time of his youth, going out on dates and being lovey dovey with Inoue. Of course, I'd have no way of knowing all these things if it were only up to me. I know only because of Asamura blabbing about them to me every morning in class. Seriously, no one should ever tell their secrets to this girl. She will absolutely tell the nearest person to her without even realizing it.
"And get this! Suzuki-senpai even took her to Tokyo over the weekend! Waaah! I'm so jealous. I want to go to Tokyo too!"
"Then just go. No one's stopping you. In fact, why don't you just move there for good?"
"The train tickets are so expensive though! And it'll be boring if it's just me."
"Going on a journey alone is actually better than having someone as an unnecessary distraction. You can have a much better and more romantic setting when you have no one else there to ruin it."
Asamura turns her head quickly to me; like she's just heard the most absurd thing ever.
"What do you mean romantic? You're alone! How can you have a romantic time when you're alone?!"
"It's easy. You just go to a very picturesque setting. Ideally, you'd want a slight breeze as well to add to the ambiance and voilà; you've got romance."
"You need someone there with you for it to be romantic! Being alone in a beautiful place is just sad!"
"Says you. And wait a minute, why are you here anyway?"
"What do you mean? I'm walking to school, same as you."
I let out an exasperated sigh. It's bad enough to have to climb this high incline everyday just to get to school. The only pleasure I take from this hike is the relative peace and quiet it provides. Now, even that has been taken away by the loud Asamura.
"No. I mean, why are you walking with me?"
"Geez, how bad is your memory? We bumped into each other earlier on the intersection. I even called out your name three times but you just kept walking!"
Did she ever stop to think that that was intentional? If someone doesn't look back at you after having their name called, then that person probably wants to be left alone. Don't push it. And don't ever suddenly run up to them and slap their back!
"... Nevermind. Forget I asked."
We continue our trek up to school, with Asamura continuing to chatter on about something. I zoned out a few minutes ago to be honest. But as we got closer to the school's entrance, I spotted Kurebayashi standing in the middle of the gate. She appears to be handing out fliers to students who pass by.
"Oh! Reina-chan! Good morning!"
Asamura dashes towards her like a little kid excited to see her mom come home after work.
"Good morning, Asuka-san. I see you're as lively as ever. Good morning to you as well, Sugiyama-san."
"Morning. What're those fliers about?"
She hands a flier to me and Asamura, flashing her usual smile at us. Well, I couldn't think of any student who would refuse to take one if she's offering it like this.
"These are promotional fliers for the cultural festival next month. The music club put up a request to hand these out so people would know about their performance."
I look towards the courtyard and see two members of the music club handing out fliers as well. Though they're going about it in a much louder and cringier way. Well, at least they're not putting all the work on Kurebayashi.
"Did you two come to school together?"
Kurebayashi asks Asamura.
"Well, sorta. I ran into him at the intersection. And we just went together the rest of the way."
It might just be my imagination, but I swear I saw Kurebayashi's smile drop for a second before perking right back up.
"I see. By the way, Sugiyama-san. Would you mind helping me distribute the remaining fliers?"
"Uhh… I have a session with Mr. Hirashi that I need to get to so…"
"Nah, don't worry about it! I'll run ahead and tell him you're helping Reina-chan out. I'm sure he'll understand. Well, see you two later!"
With that, Asamura really does run off towards Mr. Hirashi's office.
"... Give me a stack. I'll head over to that side and get the students who walk by."
"Mmm! Thank you very much, Sugiyama-san."
She hands me a dozen or so fliers before returning to her place and continuing to hand them out to students.
Looking back on it, I don't think I truly appreciated just how peaceful my life was before I met her. I had a routine I stuck to and everything was set for my eventual death after graduation. But these club requests are putting a wrench within the clockwork of my grand plan.
I must admit though, I'm not feeling as angry or irritated about it than I thought. Sure, idly letting the year pass would have been great. But spending the remainder of my life like this isn't too bad either. I just have to make sure I don't get too immersed in all of this.
I don't want my funeral to be ruined by any sort of blooming high school romance comedy crap!