Protection, Love, and Polka-Dot Stockings

Second Year, First Day

"Hey, Najimi-chan~! Need any help with anything~?"

I'm not gonna lie. That voice was sickeningly sugar-coated for some reason. Osana acknowledges it, too, but accepts anyway.

"Now that you mention it, yeah. There IS something I really need help with.. I lost my phone charm, it's in the shape of a cat." Osana explained. To be honest, I thought that thing was locket tight to her phone. Guess I was wrong! "I know that I lost it somewhere in the hedge maze, but I don't wanna go back in there; it's scary! I'm worried I'll get lost and be stuck in there for hours.. I feel bad for asking, but would you be willing to go into the hedge maze and get my phone charm for me?"

"Yes, I'm going to get your phone charm back." Aishi-san bowed and left the plaza, ignoring Osana's relieved thanks. Aishi responded pretty serious-looking, for some reason.

"Anyway, Raibaru, uhh.. do you think that red-headed guy over there is acting a little.. weird..?"

"That guy over there?" I look over to see Konagawa-san, who looked like he was pretending to look away. "I guess so, but I can't really judge him. A lot of kids here are weird, haha!"

"I guess so.. I just feel a little watched sometimes, that's all."

That got my attention. Does Osana feel unsafe around him..? No, I'm definitely overthinking.

"But.. I'm glad I can rely on you to keep me safe, Rai-chan.."

I... oh my god.. I feel my face turning red.. did she just..?!

"O-Oh, uh.. thanks, O-Osana-chan!"

Uuu.. that was.. embarrassing.

Anyway, we started heading for the roof to catch some better breeze. Near the staircase, Osana's phone started ringing. I stayed by the wall to wait for her.

"Ugh, I told you to stop calling me, you creep!"

Hold on.. what..?

I need to listen to this.. what if Osana's being harassed?

"How many times do I have to say it? I'm NOT interested! If you don't stop bothering me, I'm gonna call the cops and- Wait.. what..? Are you serious?"

Oh my god.. is she being.. blackmailed? No, n-no.. this can't be right!

I continue to listen. It's nosy, but.. I think I need to.

"Okay. Okay, fine! I won't call the police." Osana continued. "L-Look, this is a bad time for me. We'll talk about this later. Just.. don't do anything rash, okay..?"

Osana hangs up and mutters something dreadfully.

"Um.. Osana? Is everything okay?" I ask her.

"Well.. no, but.. I'm.. not sure if I should say anything yet. I need some time to think." Osana mumbles to me. "I.. I might be ready to talk about it when classes are done for the day. Somewhere.. private. Maybe the rooftop? B-Behind the air vents?"

At this point, my stomach is sick from worry. "Okay. I'll wait until you're ready to talk." I respond. "..Would you like to take a stroll around the school to take your mind off of it? You still haven't joined a club yet.. Maybe we can check out the clubrooms!"

"Y-Yeah.. yeah! That sounds nice; sure, let's do it!"

The two of us looked around for a while. I'm not gonna lie, it'd be really boring if I wasn't with Osana-chan. For some reason, I thought it'd be funny to consider the delinquents as a club.

Aishi-san ran up to us again, Osana's phone charm in her hand. "Najimi-san~! I found it!"

Osana's beautiful eyes lit up. "Oh my gosh, you actually found it! Wow, that's amazing; thank you so much!"