The morning after the confrontation with the bullies, Akane was still processing everything. Zenkichi had saved her—Zenkichi, of all people. Sure, he had his moments of unexpected kindness, but to actually step in when she needed it? That was… strange. In a way, it was a small shift in how she saw him. But she wasn't about to go and thank him for it. He probably just did it for the show-off points, she reasoned.
Akane was sitting in her first class of the day, History, with her best friend, Ayumi. Ayumi, unlike Akane, was carefree, outspoken, and a little too fond of gossiping. But she had been by Akane's side since they were kids, and Akane couldn't imagine high school without her.
Ayumi was flipping through her notes, yawning dramatically. "Ugh, I swear, every history teacher sounds the same. 'Blah, blah, blah, this battle happened, that emperor did this.' So boring," Ayumi said, rolling her eyes.
Akane smiled a little, though she was still distracted by the events from yesterday. "You need to pay attention more. History's important. You might need it for the future, Ayumi."
Ayumi shot her a mischievous grin. "I'll be honest, I'm hoping my future involves a lot more sleeping in and eating junk food than memorizing dates."
Akane chuckled, trying to push the thought of the previous day's events to the back of her mind. "I don't think that's how it works."
"Look at you, all serious! You're starting to sound like my mom." Ayumi playfully nudged her. "Anyway, you're the one who should be worried, not me. I saw you with Zenkichi yesterday."
Akane's face immediately flushed, her eyes darting to Ayumi. "What? That's... that's not what you think!"
Ayumi raised an eyebrow. "Oh? Because from what I saw, you and him looked pretty friendly out there with the whole 'hero saving the damsel in distress' thing."
Akane's heart skipped a beat. "We're not friends!" she blurted out, but immediately regretted it. It wasn't that she disliked him, but the idea of being friends with Zenkichi still seemed impossible to her.
Ayumi smirked. "Sure, sure. Keep telling yourself that. You're practically the best of pals now. What's next? Are you going to invite him to your birthday party?"
Akane quickly shook her head, her face now beet red. "I'm not inviting him to anything!"
"Oh, but you will," Ayumi teased, tapping the side of her temple knowingly. "I can already see it. You and Zenkichi, sitting in a cute café together, having coffee and laughing about that time he saved your life. It's destiny."
"Destiny?!" Akane blurted, unable to hold back a laugh. "You've got it all wrong. We're just classmates, that's all."
Ayumi laughed, clearly enjoying the teasing. "You can deny it all you want, but we both know where this is heading. It's only a matter of time before you two start holding hands at the school festival."
Akane rolled her eyes, trying her best to hide her growing embarrassment. "Shut up, Ayumi. You're just trying to get me to say something I don't mean."
"Trust me, if I was trying to get you to say something, I'd be a lot more subtle about it." Ayumi winked. "But seriously, I saw how he acted when those bullies were messing with you. He might be a pain, but I think he cares."
Akane hesitated, the memory of Zenkichi stepping in to help her flashing in her mind. It had been the strangest thing—his usual cocky attitude had disappeared, replaced by something she hadn't expected. "Maybe. But he's still... Zenkichi."
Ayumi snorted. "Yeah, 'Zenkichi.' That's the problem. He's like a walking disaster. I mean, seriously—have you ever seen him pay attention in class? He looks like he's about to fall asleep while the teacher talks."
As if on cue, Akane glanced toward the front of the room where their teacher, Mr. Nakamura, was passionately lecturing about Japan's feudal system. Zenkichi, sitting a few seats away from Akane, was indeed looking like he was about to doze off. His head was propped up by one hand, his other lazily tapping on his desk to the beat of some invisible song.
"See?" Ayumi whispered, trying not to laugh. "He looks like a master student, doesn't he?"
Akane bit her lip to suppress her own laughter, but Zenkichi's ridiculous posture was too much. He looked like a cat ready to collapse into a nap at any second.
"He's just tired," Akane muttered, though she couldn't keep the smile from her face. "I'm sure he's not sleeping, just… resting his eyes."
"Oh, resting his eyes? In class?" Ayumi raised an eyebrow. "Sure, and I'm the queen of England."
The bell rang, signaling the end of class. Students began packing up, and Akane quickly grabbed her things. As she stood, she glanced back at Zenkichi, who was still slouched over, barely moving.
"He's not even moving!" Ayumi said, laughing. "What is he—dead?"
Akane couldn't help but laugh along. "I think he might be. Maybe we should call a nurse."
Zenkichi, as if on cue, suddenly lifted his head, blinking rapidly as if waking up from a deep sleep. He looked around, clearly disoriented, then rubbed his eyes.
"Ugh, what time is it?" he groaned, yawning loudly.
"Class ended ten minutes ago, genius," Ayumi shot back.
Zenkichi looked at her, then Akane, a sheepish grin spreading across his face. "Whoops, guess I was sleeping, huh?"
Akane shook her head, amused despite herself. "You really need to stop doing that. It's embarrassing."
Zenkichi gave a lazy shrug, clearly unbothered by the fact that he'd just slept through half the lecture. "I'm just conserving energy for the real stuff, you know? Got to stay rested for all the important things in life, like basketball."
Ayumi shot him a teasing smile. "Or just not doing your homework."
"Hey!" Zenkichi snapped, suddenly defensive. "I do my homework. Sometimes."
Akane chuckled softly as she gathered her things. "That's the problem, Zenkichi. You only do it sometimes."
Zenkichi grinned mischievously. "And that's what makes life interesting, right?"
Ayumi gave Akane a knowing look, and Akane sighed, trying to keep a straight face. "You're impossible."
"Don't worry," Zenkichi said with a wink, getting to his feet. "I've got it all under control."
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