Soon, the bell rang for class to begin.
On the podium, the teacher was explaining the content of the next chapter, the chalk making a rhythmic tapping sound against the blackboard. But below the podium, very few people were paying attention. A strange atmosphere perated the air, like the calm before a storm.
Everyone was preoccupied with their own thoughts, their gazes drifting toward the sa direction from ti to ti—the boy sitting in the corner.
Katsuragi Keima kept his head down, his fingers dancing flexibly over the handheld's buttons. The character on the screen was currently facing a "carnage" scenario. If he made even one wrong choice, the affection levels of several female characters would plumt.
His expression was focused and calm, as if he were completely oblivious to everything around him. But he could feel it. From the mont he entered the classroom, several gazes had been falling on him intermittently. Those gazes were like invisible threads, entangling him.
In front of him, Karuizawa Kei pretended to look at her textbook, but her peripheral vision kept drifting his way. She held a pen in her hand, the tip poking at the paper for a long ti without writing a single word. She had already poked several small holes in the textbook, but she was entirely unaware of it.
Her mind was a ss. The conversation from lunch break played back like a broken record.
"Do you like Keima-kun?" "I-I would never like a gar nerd like that!" "That's great! Now I can make my move without any reservations!" "I want to ask him out!"
She was the one who said she didn't like him. She was the one who pushed her best friend toward him. And now, Sato Maya was about to take action.
Kei stole a glance in Sato Maya's direction. That person was squirming restlessly in her seat, her face filled with an irrepressible excitent. She kept looking back at Katsuragi Keima and then quickly turning away, unable to hide the smile on her lips.
'She's really going to ask him out...'
Kei felt as if sothing was blocked in her chest, a stifling sense of panic. She wanted to stop it, but what excuse could she use? She had said she didn't like him. She said it with her own mouth. She could only watch helplessly.
On the other side of Katsuragi Keima, Sakura Airi kept her head down, motionless. Her textbook was spread out on the desk, but she hadn't taken in a single word. The hand holding her pen trembled slightly, drawing wobbly lines on the pages—lines she had drawn unconsciously.
Her eyes were still a bit red, but her tears had dried. Her mind repeatedly replayed the conversation she had overheard in the hallway.
"I've fallen for soone." "Keima-kun." "I want to ask him out."
Those words hit her heart like a hamr. Again, and again, and again. Maya-san liked Keima-kun. She was going to ask him out. And she had even asked Kushida-san for advice on how to pursue him. And Kushida-san... was teaching her.
Airi felt her heart being squeezed by an invisible hand, making it painful to breathe. A rival... is there another one? Sato Maya was pretty, had a bold personality, and could talk to anyone. She was so proactive, so brave—brave enough to ask a boy out directly.
And what about herself? She only dared to secretly give him cookies, only dared to watch him from a corner, only dared to write those words in her diary that would never be spoken aloud. How could she possibly compete with Maya-san? Airi lowered her head, burying her face even deeper.
Diagonally across, Kushida Kikyo maintained a perfect sitting posture, a faint smile on her face. The sunlight fell on her, making her look gentle and beautiful. But that smile looked exceptionally stiff today.
Her movents as she flipped through the book were very slow; she could spend five minutes on a single page. Her gaze remained on the sa line of text, not processing it at all. She was thinking about what she had just said to Sato Maya.
Why did she teach her? Was it because she didn't want to expose her own feelings? Or was it because... because of what? She didn't know. She only knew that when Sato Maya uttered the na "Keima-kun," she beca flustered.
'Why is this? Could it be... that I also find Katsuragi Keima very special?'
This thought suddenly surfaced, startling her. Why was it unacceptable? Shouldn't she hate him? Shouldn't she want him expelled? Those nights she spent in his room, wasn't it just to use him as an emotional trash can?
But... why did the thought of him going on a date with soone else make her feel so uncomfortable? Kushida took a deep breath, trying to calm herself down. It's fine. He only agreed to go to the ga center. It doesn't an anything, she told herself. But that indescribable emotion in her heart simply wouldn't go down.
Further away, Sato Maya was completely oblivious to the complex gazes around her. Her mind was filled with her plans for after school.
"First, ask him to the ga center..." "Then I can treat him to dinner..." "I need to learn more about what gas he likes..."
As she thought about it, she couldn't help but let out a small laugh. The teacher on the podium glanced at her. She quickly covered her mouth, pretending to listen seriously, but her shoulders were still trembling slightly. The butterflies in her stomach were already in a frenzy.
Matsushita Chiaki sat next to Karuizawa Kei, her peripheral vision constantly observing the surroundings. She saw Kei's absent-minded state, Airi's red-rimd eyes, Kushida's stiff smile, and Sato's irrepressible excitent.
Interesting, she thought. All of these people are connected to Katsuragi Keima.
She had noticed it long ago. The way Kei looked at Keima was different from how she looked at others. The cookies Airi sent every week couldn't possibly be just out of gratitude. Kushida's frequency of dazing off had increased significantly lately, and every ti she did, she was looking in that direction. Now even Sato Maya had fallen.
'What kind of magic does that boy have?'
Matsushita Chiaki couldn't figure it out. However—Katsuragi Keima might possess extraordinary abilities that could lead the class forward. Matsushita Chiaki needed to find such a person in the class. That was also the reason why she had been hiding her own strength.
The mont the teacher said "class dismissed," the classroom erupted into a stir. Sato Maya was the first to stand up. She took a deep breath, clenched her fists, and walked toward Katsuragi Keima's seat. Every step felt like walking on cotton; her heart beat so fast it felt like it would jump out of her chest. The surrounding noise seed to fade away. She could only hear the sound of her own heart.
Thump, thump, thump.
Everyone's eyes followed her. Kei's pen fell onto the desk with a crisp "clatter." She stared blankly at Sato Maya's back, feeling her heart squeezed by an invisible hand. She's really going for it... She opened her mouth to say sothing, but nothing ca out.
Sakura Airi looked up, her face pale. She watched Sato Maya approach Katsuragi Keima, watching that silhouette get closer and closer, feeling her heart sink bit by bit. Maya-san... is really going to... She lowered her head, not daring to look anymore.
Kushida's smile stiffened on her face. Matsushita Chiaki and Hasebe Haruka exchanged a look.
"Here it cos," Hasebe Haruka whispered.
"The mont of truth," Matsushita Chiaki smiled.
"Keima-kun." Sato Maya stood before him. Her voice was trembling, but she tried her best to sound steady.
Katsuragi Keima looked up. Those eyes were still as calm as a still pool of water. No ripples. "Mm?"
"Um... do you have ti after school?"
The classroom fell silent. It was so quiet one could hear a pin drop. Karuizawa Kei held her breath. Sakura Airi gripped the hem of her clothes tightly. Kushida's fingers dug into her palms. Everyone waited for the answer.
Katsuragi Keima looked at Sato Maya. He was silent for a second. "For what?"
Sato Maya took a deep breath. "I want to ask you to the ga center. I heard you're very good at gas; I want you to teach ." She paused. "Of course, if you're busy, it's okay..." Her voice grew softer, and she was so nervous she felt she might faint.
Katsuragi Keima pushed up his glasses. "What ti?"
Sato Maya was stunned. She thought she had misheard. "You... you agreed?"
"Mm."
"W-why?"
"You asked, and I happen to be free."
'Just like that?' Sato Maya couldn't believe her ears. But the fact was right in front of her. He had agreed.
"Then... then five o'clock! At the school gate!" Her voice was shaking, but a smile had already blossod on her face.
"Mm." Keima lowered his head and went back to his ga.
Sato Maya stood there in a daze for several seconds before turning and walking quickly back to her seat. After sitting down, she buried her face in her arms, her shoulders trembling slightly. It was hard to tell if she was crying or laughing. But anyone could see—she was laughing.
Watching her, the stifling feeling in Karuizawa Kei's heart reached its peak. She felt her heart being wrenched by sothing, making it hard to breathe.
'He agreed. He actually agreed.'
Kei's mind was a ss. Various thoughts sprouted like weeds, tangling together. She rembered what he said the day he rejected her. "A relationship built on lies cannot give you true security." He had rejected her "fake boyfriend" proposal. But now, he had accepted Maya's "date." What did this an? She didn't know.
She also couldn't understand why he had accepted Kiryuin Fuka's date invitation previously.
Sakura Airi kept her head down, motionless, her brain already frantically imagining things. They would go on a date. They would play gas together. They would eat together. They would talk about a lot of things. And then? Then would he fall for Maya-san? Airi didn't dare think further.
Matsushita Chiaki watched this scene, the smile on her lips deepening. She noticed Kei's pale face, Airi's red eyes, and Kushida's stiff smile.
'Classic. Too classic.' She silently noted every detail in her heart.
anwhile, Katsuragi Keima sat in the corner, continuing to play his ga. He could feel those gazes becoming even more intense, like spotlights focused on him. However, this was also within his calculations. If he rejected Sato Maya, her affection for him would surely drop significantly.
After all, Sato Maya was also one of his targets.
While playing, Keima quietly brought up the cards.
[Na: Sato Maya] [Current Affection: 72%]
Previously, Keima thought Sakura Airi was the easier target to capture. But now he discovered that Sato Maya was actually the easiest one. After all, Keima had done almost nothing, yet Sato Maya's affection had skyrocketed.
But this wasn't necessarily a good thing. Compared to the others, Sato Maya's personality was more direct. "This also makes her prone to more radical actions." As for the others, if they saw him interacting intimately with Sato Maya, their affection would surely drop.
Sigh... Keima still needed other thods.
No one listened to the remaining classes of the afternoon. The teacher droned on at the podium, but the students below were all occupied with their own thoughts. Sato Maya was smiling the whole ti, unable to keep the corners of her mouth down. She kept checking the ti, wishing school would end imdiately.
Karuizawa Kei stared at her textbook in a daze, not reading a single word. Her mind repeatedly replayed the scene from earlier—that calm expression on Katsuragi Keima's face when he asked "What ti?" He had agreed so decisively. So naturally. Like he was agreeing to sothing very ordinary. What was an earth-shattering event for her was just "happening to be free" for him.
Sakura Airi kept her head down and didn't look up once. She didn't dare. She didn't dare look at anyone, fearing that if she did, her tears would fall.
Kushida Kikyo flipped through her book, but her gaze was out of focus. What was she thinking?
Matsushita Chiaki occasionally looked at Kei, then at Airi, then at Kushida, her thoughts unknown.
Finally, the bell for the end of school rang. Sato Maya was the first to rush out of the classroom. "I'm going back to change first!" She left those words and ran.
Kei watched her disappearing silhouette and slowly packed her things. Her movents were slow, as if she were stalling for ti. Sakura Airi also packed sluggishly, her eyes fixed on the desktop.
Kushida Kikyo stood up and walked out of the classroom. When she passed by Katsuragi Keima, she paused for a mont. He was still playing his ga, not even looking up. She bit her lip and continued walking.
Katsuragi Keima leisurely packed his things and walked out of the classroom. In the hallway, he felt those gazes fall on him again. He looked back. Karuizawa Kei and Sakura Airi were standing at the other end of the hallway, talking. Seeing him look back, they both looked away simultaneously, pretending to chat about sothing else. Kushida Kikyo stood by the window, looking out, her back looking sowhat lonely.
At exactly five o'clock, at the school gate.
Sato Maya had already arrived. She had changed into casual clothes—a pale pink dress—and her hair had been restyled. She looked much more refined than usual. She stood at the gate, nervously rubbing her hands together. She checked her watch from ti to ti.
5:01. 5:02. 5:03.
Katsuragi Keima walked out of the school building. He was wearing his school uniform, holding his handheld, looking exactly the sa as usual.
"Keima-kun!" Sato Maya went to et him, a brilliant smile blossoming on her face.
Keima looked up. "Mm."
"Let's go!"
"Mm."
The two of them left side by side.
Read ahead and finish this fanfictionby supporting on buyacoffee com/varietl or ko-fi edwriting
User Comments
0 comments from readers