Chapter 81: Jealousy and Distinction

“…Say, Fuyuka?”

“What is it, Asahi-kun?”

 

With the two groups met up for a sightseeing tour of Chinatown as planned, Asahi called out to Fuyuka, who was walking next to him.

“Is it just me or…are you mad at something?”

 

“I’m not. It’s just your imagination, Asahi-kun.”

“O-okay…”

 

Asahi was intimidated by her crisp words.

Fuyuka said it was just his imagination, but her expression said otherwise.

In contrast, Chiaki and Hinami were laughing happily at each other in front. They were chewing on the steamed meat buns they had bought on the way, and were making out as usual.

Asuka, who was all over Ryoma as she had declared, also had a happy smile on her face.

As he was watching her, his eyes met Asuka’s as she suddenly turned around. She began to make eye contact with him like she was conveying something.

‘Sorry…and…good…luck?’

“What’s with that?” Asahi smiled.

Fuyuka’s face became even more cloudy when she saw Asahi’s expression.

“…Asahi-kun, you seem to be getting along with Miyamoto-san, aren’t you?”

Fuyuka spoke in a flat voice. Her gaze was fixed on Asuka.

“We get along…? Well, we’ve been talking quite often.”

 

Asahi replied, remembering that Chiaki had said the same thing to him.

“Is that so?”

Fuyuka turned her face away from Asahi after listening to him. They’d never even looked at each other once since they met up in the first place.

Fuyuka still looked unhappy and vague. As he was wondering why she was so unusual, Fuyuka’s footsteps came to a halt.

“What’s up? If you’re not feeling well, we can inform the teacher…”

 

When Asahi also stopped and called out to her out of concern, Fuyuka shook her head.

The others who were in front and didn’t seem to notice anything strange about the two walking behind them.

“Do you just…talk often with Miyamoto-san…?”

Her voice was a little shaky, a change from the flat voice she had used earlier.

Asahi’s eyes met Fuyuka’s for a moment, who had an anxious expression on her face, and she immediately slumped down again.

Asahi tilted his head, failing to grasp the intent of the question.

He didn’t know what Fuyuka wanted to say or what she meant to ask.

Still, he couldn’t get any more hints.

“We’re just regular friends.”

As a result, the answer was bland.

However, it seemed that this was what Fuyuka was looking for.

“…I’m glad.”

 

“Glad?”

 

“Ah, it’s nothing. I was just talking to myself.”

Fuyuka displayed an expression of relief on her face. Her appearance was gentle and calm as usual.

“You two are just friends, right?”

“I guess…but does it bother you that much?”

 

“I mean…”

Fuyuka’s cheeks turned pale as she wriggled her mouth and stumbled over her words.

“Kagamin.”

Fuyuka called out to Asahi. At that moment, he felt his heart jump.

 

It was a different way of calling, but Asahi knew exactly that it was still calling him.

It was the nickname that Hinami had almost given him, and the nickname that Asuka had come to call him.

“How do you…”

 

“I heard Miyamoto-san say it.”

“I see.” Asahi nodded.

He then tilted his head.

“What about it?”

 

“I thought it would be nice…since you two seem to be getting along so well.”

Fuyuka, whose cheeks had become even redder, looked up at Asahi.

That appearance was very cute and adorable.

Seeing her appearance made him want to tease her.

“Are you jealous?”

As far as Asahi was concerned, it was supposed to be a joke.

Fuyuka would reply to the joke with a joke of her own.

That was what he had assumed.

“…It’s a secret.”

 

How should he interpret those words?

Fuyuka smiled as her face turned slightly red.

Once again, Asahi’s heart quietly rumbled, and then he felt a stinging pain.

 

“On the other hand, you seem to be getting along with Yamada, don’t you?”

“Yamada-kun, is it?”

“…Look, the way you address him changed.”

 

‘That was pretty pathetic.’ Asahi thought to himself.

However, he just wanted to take this opportunity to ask her something that had been bothering him.

 

“I suppose, I think we’re good friends because our interests match.”

The pain in his chest sharpened as he heard the affirmation without hesitation.

Ryoma told him that he and Fuyuka often talked about romance novels. Asahi also had seen the two of them discussing their recommendations several times since they’d been in the same class.

She looked so happy and gorgeous in that way.

And Asahi was decidedly bewildered, and his heart ached.

“But,”

Fuyuka broke the conversation short.

“Only you, I will call on a first name basis, Asahi-kun.”

Asahi was not so insensitive as to not realize what that meant.

In a roundabout way, he was being told that he was special.

As Asahi’s face grew hot, Fuyuka took a step closer to him.

He could sense from her expression that she was in a good mood all of the sudden.

“Were you jealous?”

 

“…It’s a secret.”

 

“I suppose we’re the same in this regard.”

 

She smiled and lightly flipped herself around to turn her back on Asahi.

“We should go. We’ll be left behind by everyone else.”

 

“Yeah. We better get going.”

 

They lined up and started walking together.

Then they walked a bit and stopped again.

“…I don’t see them anywhere.”

“…I don’t see them either.”

 

As they continued onward, they couldn’t find anyone familiar.

The crowds were getting bigger and bigger, and the clouds were getting darker and darker.

“We might…have been separated from the group.”

 

One problem gone, another problem came.

They looked at each other and then laughed.