Chapter 66 – The Simmering Esprit

 

“Sui-kun~ Lunch~”

 

As I was about to start my banquet with Makoto, a soft voice echoed through the class.

 

“Who’s that?”

 

Makoto pointed his chin at the source of the voice, a certain person standing at the door.

 

“Kazawaguchi Kozue-senpai.”

“Senpai? She’s a third year?|

“She’s my girlfriend.”

“I see… Wait, what?!”

 

Makoto raised his hands mimicking civilian A at a gunpoint. Cold sweat dripped from his chin, his jaw trembled incessantly. 

 

His eyes darted between me and Kazawaguchi-senpai.

 

“You got a girlfriend?!”

 

Tsuru entered the conversation at this timing. She looked astonished like a scientist who encountered a bizarre phenomenon that couldn’t be explained by science.

 

“Girl, chill.”

“I can’t help it, okay? You’ve been babbling about not wanting a girlfriend like an idiot for the longest time… Was that a joke?”

“Always has been. In truth, I’ve always wanted a girlfriend.”

“I can’t believe this… What about Arina-san?”

“There’s nothing going on between us.”

“But…”

“Well, I don’t want to keep her waiting, so excuse me. My bad, Makoto, the banquet is canceled.”

“Stop calling it a banquet! We’re too old for this kind of joke!”

“In exchange, eat with Ruka instead. Oi, Ruka! Makoto wants to have some quality time with you!”

 

Ruka blushed and turned her head down when she heard me. But I could see from where I stood that she gave me a thumbs up with her right hand. It was a fact that Ruka and I could communicate with each other without exchanging any words, so I responded to her by sending her my encouragement via my brain waves.

 

“See y’all later.”

 

I took my lunch with me and went to Kazawaguchi-senpai’s side.

 

“Thank you, darling~”

 

She said that in a soft voice before she hugged my left arm and leaned her body on it.

 

“Senpai, you’re too close… Everyone is staring…”

“Does it bother you?”

“Yes, it does. I don’t want to be called by the counselor…”

“Fine~”

 

She released my arm. Despite her sleepy expression, Kazawaguchi-senpai was surprisingly bold. I felt embarrassed by her action, so I turned my face away from her.

 

Seeing this, she made a mischievous smile.

 

“You’re so cute~”

“…”

 

D**n it! I can’t even give her a tsukkomi!

 

*   *   *

 

*Arina’s PoV

 

I always hated the cold.

 

I had to constantly move my body around and dress up heavily to protect my body against the cold. The black tights were practically inseparable from my legs during this season and I couldn’t bear to wear any less than three layers of clothing. Scarf became a necessity and without gloves, I could feel my life force being drained by the cold. Even so, it wasn’t enough, my ears were still exposed to the cold, so I needed to arm myself with ear muffs later.

 

The year will change in less than half a month. I realized that it had been quite some time ever since I met him.

 

Sakaki Sui, the boy who brought colors to my monochrome world. My world was always clad in black and white but that boy single-handedly painted my world with beautiful colors. Little by little, bit by bit, my daily life turned vivid because of his efforts.

 

“Are you cold, Arina-san?”

 

Shirona came to talk to me. I started talking with my classmates recently and she was the person I talked to the most.

 

After the Rose Garden was disbanded, I followed his advice to change myself and try to get closer to my classmates. Naturally, I got along better with them and the number of times when I had to pass my time by reading had decreased dramatically.

 

“Yes. I’m bad with the cold.”

“I see. My mother is the same, she’s bad with the cold too. She said that drinking ginger tea helps, you should try it out!”

“Is that so? I’ll give it a try…”

 

Actually, I tried drinking it before, but it didn’t work. I’ve tried various other drinks too, like lemon tea and hot cocoa but the result was the same, so I stopped trying. My body condition was quite peculiar, it seemed.

 

Last night, I called him because I was curious about Shirona’s confession. I knew that I had no rights to interfere with his life but curiosity won me over.

 

His answer made me feel relieved. The moment he confirmed that they didn’t end up dating made my body feel lighter than usual. But at the same time, I started to hate myself for feeling that way. And now, seeing the girl in question act like nothing happened made me feel an indescribable amount of guilt.

 

I decided to stop thinking and get some hot cocoa to warm myself up, so I stood up and left my seat. Walking around the cold hallway was tough on me, thus I wrapped the scarf tighter around my neck, buried my face inside it and went into the direction of the nearest vending machine.

 

Before I passed the staircase, I caught a glimpse of a certain someone’s back. Sui’s. We barely missed each other as he walked down the stairs.

 

Eh?…

 

He went down the stairs with an unfamiliar female student in tow, shoulder to shoulder, like a pair of lovers. The girl tried to lean even closer to him but he seemed rather uncomfortable seeing her action.

 

Were they dating?

 

But, that guy had been babbling about wanting to be single forever. Besides, he just dumped Shirona yesterday, could it be that he dumped her because of this girl? Then, what about his confession to me back in the Rose Garden? Was I getting ahead of myself by feeling happy about his confession?

 

I started to get annoyed. He didn’t tell me anything and left me in the dark like this. I quickly bought hot cocoa from the vending machine and went back to the classroom.

 

Muu…

 

I gripped the cup with both hands and sipped it.

 

Seriously, if he wanted to go out with someone, he should have told me about it first. Why couldn’t he do that? It isn’t even that hard!

 

I took another sip.

 

I noticed one of my classmates glancing at me before looking away seemingly frightened. I probably made an unpleasant expression without being aware of it. He once said that when I got angry, my face looked like a snake trying to swallow a huge rat. When I first heard that, I immediately threw an eraser right into his face but looking at the current situation, he was probably telling me the truth.

 

Now that he possibly has a girlfriend, if I were to meddle with his life, it would probably make him feel uncomfortable, so I decided to let him be. But nonetheless, I was still curious about his relationship, so I decided to investigate it by myself.

 

Since I saw him go down the stairs just now, there was no way that he would be back to his class right now, hence I went to his classroom.

 

I tried to hide my emotions and opened the door to his class. Everyone who saw me looked frightened, maybe I made another scary expression without realizing it. They asked each other about Sui’s whereabouts but I wasn’t looking for him this time, therefore their efforts were pointless.

 

I glanced around the classroom, found the person I was looking for and went straight to him.

 

“W-What is it? I-If it’s Sui you’re looking for, he went outside…”

 

Takane Makoto. Apparently, he fell in love at first sight with me and got dumped by me. He was the person who knew about Sakaki Sui the most as far as I knew. Currently, he is having lunch with Mimori Ruka.

 

“Come with me.”

“W-Wait, I-I’m still eating.”

“I see. Come with me.”

“I’m still eating!”

“I’ll give you ten seconds, or else…”

“…I got it… Ruka, can you wait for me?”

 

Ruka nodded her head.

 

I dragged Makoto to the corner of the class and stood imposingly to prevent him from escaping. It seemed to work as he was trembling in fear. 

 

I whispered to him.

 

“Did that guy get a girlfriend?”

“…I-I’m not sure…”

“How are you not sure? Aren’t you his caretaker?”

“I’m not! I was surprised too, you know? Suddenly this girl came to the class and called him out. Sui said she’s Kazawaguchi-senpai and she’s his girlfriend…”

“She’s a third-year?”

“Yeah… I’ve never seen her before, so I don’t know the details of their relationship… That’s all I know, can you please let me go?…”

“Alright, go back to your love nest then.”

 

I ignored the slumped Makoto and went back to my classroom.

 

I sipped my cocoa again, which had become considerably cooler.

 

So he got a girlfriend…

 

Relationship talk was one of the staples in something widely known as ‘girls’ talk’ but before this, I never had interest in it. The fact that I got bothered by his relationship with a girl that I didn’t know made me befuddled.

 

I thought that relationship talks wouldn’t bother me at all since I kept cursing and dismissing everyone who confessed their love to me, but now…

 

I have to look up into this…

 

I made up my mind.