Two days later.
Monday morning. Haruya was running to the classroom with a black-haired beauty.
The reason was simple.
Haruya overslept this morning and was about to be late, so he was in a hurry like this.
The student next to him is also hurrying because she is about to be late.
Without saying anything to each other, they just sprinted towards their destination.
Perhaps because most of the students have already arrived in the classroom, there was hardly any crowd.
When they hurriedly arrived at the front of the classroom—huh?
Haruya inadvertently twisted his neck.
The reason was that the female student who had been running next to him until just now was standing next to him…….
Are they in the same class? But if she’s standing next to him like this, that’s the only thing that makes sense.
Haruya peeked at her from behind her long hair and gazed at her standing next to him.
(I feel like I’ve seen her somewhere, but this feeling… Oh, come to think of it, is she the girl I had a little interaction with during the incident with Himekawa?)
I think we interacted at a crepe stand. It was when I was walking home with Sara.
In short, the girl in front of me right now is…….
(She’s that S-class beauty, right……)
She’s such a high-class beauty that some male students rate her as such.
It seems that Haruya has a strange connection with S-class beauties, much to his chagrin.
While ordinary male students would be lucky, it was a stomach-churning feeling for Haruya, who didn’t want to stand out at school.
As he prayed not to stand out too much, he reached for the door to the classroom—.
“You’re both late…. Come to the staff room later.”
When he turned around, the homeroom teacher was looking at Haruya and the others with a scary smile.
“You didn’t make it in time, did you? …… Well, that sucks.”
“I… I understand.”
“Well, get into the classroom. It’s time for homeroom.”
As they entered the classroom with the teacher, naturally, they attracted the attention of their classmates.
(Damn it…… I shouldn’t have stayed up late reading shoujo manga last night. I couldn’t stop thinking about Nayu-san.)
Even though we parted like that, I never received a message from Nayu afterwards.
It’s impossible not to worry about it.
But Haruya didn’t know how to proceed after yesterday, so he decided to summon Nayu through the requirements of shoujo manga, and spent the night reading shoujo manga.
As a result, he stayed up late, and that’s why he was late like this…….
“Well, let’s start homeroom. As I mentioned the other day, about the club activities—”
Although the teacher mentioned [club activities], Haruya didn’t have the luxury to pay attention to such things now.
The contents of the homeroom that had been talked about since earlier didn’t enter his head at all.
That’s because Haruya noticed that an unpleasant aura was emanating from the back of the room.
(Kazamiya… He’s definitely going to pick a fight with me…… He’s probably going to talk about how envious he is of me being late with an S-class beauty.)
With a feeling of reluctance, he sighed, and the teacher, Tokoyami, made an unnecessary comment.
“Well, that’s it for homeroom, but Takamori, and—”
After looking at the list once, she called out “Akasaki,” Haruya’s last name.
(…That teacher, I don’t want him to call my name…… You know, because I’d stand out. And you won’t say anything unnecessary after this, will you? Please don’t say anything, I beg you.)
But Haruya’s feelings were in vain, as Tokoyami mercilessly said.
“Both of you, come to the staff room later. That’s it for homeroom.”
With a click-clack, the teacher, who was still wearing heels today, left the classroom.
Ha ha ha, Haruya could only laugh bitterly as he was being patted on the shoulder by Kazamiya, who seemed to be saying “Tell me more.”
“Akasaki, things are getting interesting without me knowing.”
“Isn’t it just that we came late together… I have to go to the staff room.”
“H-Hey, I’m not done talking yet—”
In order to avoid Kazamiya’s inquiries, Haruya hurriedly left his seat.
As he prayed strongly that things wouldn’t get any more troublesome, Haruya left the classroom.
Tokoyami was standing in front of the door to the staff room.
Perhaps because she had to prepare for the first period, she seemed to want to keep it short.
Haruya thought he had hurried, but the S-class beauty seemed to have arrived earlier than Haruya.
After confirming that the two of them were together, Tokoyami quietly spoke.
“Both of you are not the type to be late normally…… There must have been some reason. But being late is being late. I want to impose a penalty. What do you think about running around the school perimeter after school today?”
(That’s so old-fashioned……)
Haruya couldn’t help but make a sarcastic remark in his mind.
These days, I’ve never heard of punishments like standing in the hallway or running outside.
The teacher intended to joke half seriously, adding just one phrase, ” ……I can’t force it, though.”
To Haruya, who smiled wryly,
“After school, we just need to go around the school, right?”
Without any disturbance, Yuna asked, focusing on Haruya.
(Huh, really… Do we have to run?)
As the teacher nodded, she left the scene without paying any attention to Haruya.
Left behind, Haruya could only be dumbfounded.
“You and her are quite alike…”
While watching Yuna leave, the teacher muttered.
“Huh, um… Where exactly?”
She is the class’s beatuies, an unattainable flower. Meanwhile, he’s just a nobody in the class, the one who is in the shadows. Objectively speaking, he couldn’t see any resemblance at all…
“You’re hiding your true self. I think you’re also quite similar in terms of half-hearted actions. So, it’s good to reset your feelings by running around the perimeter.”
“……”
He felt like his heart was gripped.
Instinctively turning to look back at the teacher, she chuckled before saying,
“Kidding. It’s just an adult’s nonsense based on intuition. Don’t worry about it.”
“…………”
How much does this person understand about him?
As Haruya froze in the unfathomable atmosphere, he felt a tap on his shoulder.
“It’s almost time for first period. You’d better hurry back to the classroom and get ready.”
“Y-Yes.”
With doubts lingering, Haruya hurried back to the classroom.
As expected, upon returning to the classroom, he was bombarded with questions from Kazamiya, “What were you doing with Takamori-san? What did the teacher say?”
READ THE ORIGINAL TRANSLATION AT GADGETIZEDPANDA.COM
Later that day, during lunch break, Haruya was cornered by Sara on the rooftop.
Her eyes were anxious, with her eyebrows slightly furrowed.
“Nothing happened with Yuna-san, right?”
“We just happened to be late at the same time.”
“If… if that’s the case, then it’s fine. Oh, this pork stew Akasaki-san made is delicious.”
The other day, Sara’s cheeks melted as she savored the pork stew she had made.
Since they started secretly meeting on the rooftop, Haruya and Sara had been exchanging contents for their lunches.
After sipping some tea, Sara timidly spoke up.
“Akasaki-san, when you were in junior high school …… What kind of club activities were you involved in? “
“……Just the go-home club.”
Haruya momentarily choked on his words, taken aback by the unexpected topic.
He felt guilty for lying.
Glancing at Sara, he found her looking at him seriously.
“I’m convinced that you were in some club in middle school. You’re trying to hide it… you must not want to talk about it.”
“…………”
Still, Sara continued without looking away from Haruya’s eyes.
“I want to share whatever burden you’re carrying, Akasaki-san. It may be presumptuous of me but…”
Despite the complex emotions welling up inside, Sara’s determination was firm.
Given the circumstances, keeping everything hidden seemed troublesome.
Instead of being repeatedly asked about his club activities and recalling unpleasant memories, it might be better to just tell what club he was in.
Haruya made a light-hearted comment to deflect from the topic.
“……I was in the track and field club, doing long-distance. Well, I quit the club for various reasons.”
“Is that so?”
Sara seemed surprised that he was being so straightforward, shaking her head lightly.
Then she continued.
“…I’d like to see you running, Akasaki-san.”
“It’s not like I’ve stopped running… I’ll run if I’m about to be late or if someone’s chasing me.”
In response, Sara shook her head modestly before giving him a gentle smile.
“I’m not asking about that, you know?”
Haruya understood.
He understood, which made him feel ashamed and filled his heart with regret.
What Sara wanted to know was whether he was running with genuine feelings.
Whether he was running with the same feelings he had when he was in the club.
There’s a difference between just running and running with strong determination.
As he nibbled on the strawberry Sara handed him, he couldn’t help but feel embarrassed.
“I’m sorry. This is my apology for touching a nerve.”
“If you understand, I’d rather not talk about this topic anymore.”
“I can’t do that. I’m very grateful to Akasaki-san for showing me how to live my life.”
Looking up at the blue sky, Sara wore a gentle smile.
“…Just this one last thing.”
She turned to him suddenly.
With a refreshing breeze blowing, Sara’s hair fluttered.
“Whatever happens, whatever I hear, I’m on your side, Akasaki-san.”
He wished she hadn’t looked at him with those sincere, innocent eyes.
Haruya chewed on the strawberry Sara gave him
The taste was strangely more sour than sweet.
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