Brooding Guy, Quiet Girl

Chapter 9

I can't focus.

When I think back on it, I feel bad for Reiji-san. I don't know how much time he spent alone under those stairs, but is it right to take it away under his nose?

It's not.

Hm... First I peek through his belongings, then I take away his one place of solitude. The least I could do is apologize, and even if I want to... I can't.

I'm a terrible person.

Ding ding ding!

The bells chime, signalling the end of the lesson. The teacher sees us off, and my classmates take their leave. I stay put, watching everyone else go.

"Ah, Arisu!" Narukami-san taps me on the shoulder. "I gotta rush. You know the way back to the dorm, right? I'll see you there!"

With that, the caped lady runs off, dragging Satomi-san with her.

"Wait, Shion! Just leave me alone with her! I won't touch her, honest!"

"You are full of nothing but lies and deceit!"

Within moments, I find myself to be the only one left. I just feel like I want to leave by my lonesome today. I guess it was lucky Narukami-san had things to do. Knowing her, she'd try to drag me along on her free days.

I... I don't mind her at all, in truth, I enjoy her company. But, I just don't like how one-sided it all feels.

Hm...

Standing up, I hold my bag with both hands and leave the classroom. The hallways only have two or three students chatting, and they're just about to head out.

So, I find it to be an exquisite idea to explore the school. It's a prestigious school which only aristocrats are allowed to enter, so the facilities are twice as accommodative as ones in an ordinary school. At least, that's what Takeshi-jisan had told me.

Seeing my peers luxuriating at the courtyard, I assume the school doesn't close immediately. I suppose I could spare at most half an hour to see what comes my way.

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"-ake up. Wake up."

I feel a stabbing on my head. Well, it's a poke, but the force and pain is equal to that of a grown man stabbing a knife into you multiple times.

Facing upwards, the sight that greets me is... Goddammit. Why her?

"Why couldn't you be a cute girl?" I utter with disdain.

Yukino combs her hair over her earlobe. "So you wouldn't use 'cute' to describe me?" With a wry smile, she continues. "What would you use instead?"

"Annoying, hideous, demonic..." Boobalicious...

She grits her teeth, holding back her anger. "I won't let you get to me again..." She presses her hand against the leg of my desk. "You do know class is over, right? You slept through the last lesson."

"That I did."

"And I find unjust that the teachers never care when you do." She crosses her arms, leaning against the chair in front of me. "Putting that aside, I've looked into the matter of your desk and have found potential culprits."

"Who?"

"I'm not telling you. You'll just act out with violence. I said that I'll handle this."

"Ugh, you didn't care last year, why now?"