𝙈𝙄𝙎𝙁𝙄𝙏𝙎 ˢᵘⁿᵃ

s. ten

since then, i've been joining koizumi for lunch in her classroom. she seemed irritated because sometimes girls would approach me while we ate, asking if we were dating.

to put an end to the pestering, i simply said yes to shoo them off. but that move only intensified koizumi's dislike for me...

"i'll head to the third-year building and put up more posters. you stay here and keep posting these," she instructed, swiftly grabbing half of our printed posters before dashing off, leaving me to handle the rest.

finally, even though i'm dying for a break, i had a duty to fulfill. "this girl..." i chuckled softly to myself as i glanced at the cat sketched on the poster.

its resemblance to my own cat (anzu) brought a slight smile to my face as i affixed another poster onto the school's bulletin board.

as i searched for more spots to hang the posters, a voice called out, "hey, you." it was narumi. her expression was serious. "uh, me?" i pretended to be uncertain, although i knew she was addressing me.

"yes, you." she snapped, her eyes landing on the posters i held. she furrowed her brow. "i heard you were helping anzu with the book club." she stated firmly.

i simply nodded in response. talking to this girl was the last thing i wanted to do—she had hurt koizumi, and i couldn't bear to even look at her.

"why bother? aren't you busy with volleyball?" narumi probed. her questioning felt intrusive. "why does it concern you that i'm helping her?" i retorted.

"because a guy like you, popular and all, wouldn't bother with someone like her." she remarked dismissively.

the phrase 'someone like her' stung—i realized koizumi hadn't shared much about our past friendship with narumi.

"you two live in different worlds, so why bother..." she trailed off, her confusion evident.

it was clear her perspective was skewed, likely a result of being hurt by atsumu. her words carried the weight of her own emotional wounds.

"i believe there's a misunderstanding about both me and my friendship with koizumi. you two aren't even friends anymore. maybe you should consider not meddling in her life." i stated calmly before turning to walk away.

there was little use in arguing with someone unwilling to accept the truth. "wait," she called out once more.

i halted, turning to face her. "i just don't want anzu's heart to break. i hurt her once, and i don't want it to happen again." she expressed.

i would never. i would never break koizumi's heart. despite my own intentions and desires, i couldn't fathom causing koizumi any pain.

also, does she really believe every popular person is like her ex? sure, her ex-boyfriend was a friend of mine, and what he did to narumi was awful.

however, that doesn't justify her tendency to generalize. "i won't." i assured her before decisively continuing on my way without looking back.

i decided to meet up with koizumi just a few minutes before the bell rang. "suna, good news!" she exclaimed, rushing over to me.

as she spoke, she paused to catch her breath, clearly having rushed over here. the third-years' building was quite a distance from ours.