Episode 76 – They say even the sun can be cloudy sometimes

Recently, I, Fujibayashi Sana, have been attending school diligently and without tardiness.
This is probably due to the fact that, unlike before, I have made friends.

I used to be a loner at school. Perhaps because of my appearance, I didn’t have a good reputation around me, and to top it off, there were even strange rumors about me.

That’s why I couldn’t bear to go to school. It was unbearable for even me to be looked at in a strange way.

Recently, however, I feel that going to school is not so bad.

The main reason is that I have made a friend.

Yuri and Nanamin, who are in the next class. Since that forest school, I have become good friends with them. Especially with Yuri, we said some nasty things to each other in the beginning, but now we are very good friends.

The rest is ……　I don’t know what to call Arase, friends or whatnot. It’s not like a bad friend, or a …… skipping buddy? A teasing partner?
I don’t know myself, but I think I’ll put him in the category of friends.

After I made such a friend, I started to think that going to school was not so bad.

“She’s been coming to school a lot lately, hasn’t she?”
“I wonder why. ……”
“It’s scary.”
“But it’s so erotic. ……”
“If I get down on my knees, will she let me have sex with her?”
“Hey, She can hear you.”

However, coming to school is not always a good thing.
The reputation of me among the people other than Yuri and the others has not changed at all.

I knew I shouldn’t have come.
With that thought, I got up and started to leave the classroom.

I open the classroom door and step out.

“……Ouch!”

Then someone bumped into me and I fell on my butt.

“Oh, I’m sorry.”

I apologized reflexively.
To her that was holding her head, I reached out my hand.

“Ouch….Ah, Fujibayashi-san. Thank you.”

When I took her hand, I didn’t realize who it was until she took my hand. It was Takimoto san, who had been a good friend of mine at the forest school.

Since that day, although I am not as close to her as I am to Yuri and the others, she is a very special person who talks to me, even though I am actively out of the picture in the class.

Sunshine.
Unlike me, she is always at the center of the class with a smile on her face.

But today, her smile seems to be somewhat clouded.

“What’s wrong?”
“Eh?”
“No, you don’t seem fine.”
“Uh, Ummm, yeah, nothing! Oh, by the way, the chime will be coming soon. If you’re going somewhere, you’d better come back soon!”
“Hmm, I will. Thanks.”

I left the classroom after saying that.

And after that, I spent the rest of the day observing Takimoto-san.
The reason was that I was somewhat curious about her.

I don’t have any friends in my class, so I often get help from Takimoto san
So I thought that if she was in trouble, I would like to help her.

“Somehow, this is so Arase ish”

Before, I never cared about other people. In fact, I didn’t care about other people at all.

Recently, after I made a friend, no, even before that, I started to get involved Arase. Since I started to get involved with Arase, I felt like I had changed a little bit.

I wondered what Arase would do in such a situation, and I thought that I would help her.

Then, as I was observing, I noticed that Takimoto-san sighed many times.
No one around me pointed out that there was something wrong with her because she was still acting as usual, or should I say, sky-high.

“Suika, let’s go to the next classroom.”
“Ah, yes. I’m sorry, you go ahead! I’ll go to the bathroom first!”
“Roger-“

We had to move classrooms for the next class.
Once Takimoto-san turned down her friend’s invitation, she stayed where she was, thinking she was going to the restroom.

“Haa. ……”

Apparently, her troubles were serious.
She was alone and sighed heavily.

“Takimoto-san.”
“───! Eh, Fujibayashi-san was here?!”
“I am. I was sitting there the whole time.”
“I-I’m sorry. I didn’t notice you!”
“Anyway, what’s bothering you?”
“Eh? Uh, Umm. ……”

Takimoto-san’s eyes swim. It seems she can’t lie to me.

Okay, say it. Say it, Sana.

I boldly spoke out the thoughts I had been keeping in my heart.

“Well, you know… You always help me when I come to school. W-we are friends….., right?”

I was able to say it. I was embarrassed to say it myself, but there should be no problem saying that about the relationship between me and Takimoto-san.
Unless I’m being self-centered, it’s not ……, is it?

“Thanks…..! Yes, I know, but it’s okay! This is my problem!”
“……”

But my feelings didn’t reach her. I knew it wouldn’t work out like it did with Arase. I was a little depressed about that.

“Ah, but I’m glad you cared! Thanks, Sana-chan.”
“……!!!”

The depressed mood I was in earlier was blown away when she suddenly called me by my name.

“Um, we’re friends, is that bad?”
“…it”
“Eh?”
“I’m totally fine with it! Can I call you Suika too, Takimoto-san?”
“Yes, that’s fine.”

In this way, I got to know Takimoto san——Suika better

◆

“So what do you think, Arase?”
“……Yeah, I think it’s good.”
“You didn’t answer at random?”
“No, no.”

After school.
I was ambushed by Fujibayashi. And because she said she wanted to talk to me, I brought her to my house.
This sounds a little bit suspicious.

Let me correct it. I brought her to the cafe where I live, Casablanca.

“And what do you think of that?”
“I don’t understand the context.”
“You see… Suika is depressed, but she won’t tell me why. I was wondering what I should do. I’m just trying to make friends with her.”

It seems that Suika is the one who has been kind to Fujibayashi, who has started to attend school but is not a part of the class.
And officially? She wants to help her friend solve her problems.

“You have a cute side, don’t you?”
“—Haa!?? What are you talking about?!”

Fujibayashi was a little upset and her cheeks flushed.

I made a mistake. I accidentally slipped up.

Fujibayashi had looked happy when she and Yuri became friends. I’ve heard a lot of strange rumors, maybe she didn’t have many friends before.

“So what should I do?”
“That’s easy. Arase should listen to what she have to say.”
“You want me to do something for you?”
“Because, Arase, you’re good friends with Suika, aren’t you?”
“Well……I guess it’s not so bad.”
“Besides, you’re good at this kind of thing, aren’t you?”
“I’m not really good at it.”
“Well, then, it’s decided! Shall we go to your room afterwards to thank you?”
“Hey, what do you mean? Wait, I haven’t decided what I’m going to do yet!”
“Eh, do what? You mean you want to do me?”
“You’re talking too loud!”

After that, I was disturbed by Fujibayashi’s pace, but somehow managed to get back into the conversation and ended up listening to Suika’s problems.