I nodded solemnly on purpose, and a smile spread across Yuihama's face.
It was really cold today.
The temperature was probably about the same as yesterday.
Yet it felt especially cold.
The reason I had started feeling cold was probably because I had touched warmth.
...Yeah, it was cold.
So walking close together like this couldn't be helped.
× × ×
The distance we walked side by side wasn't particularly long.
It only took a few minutes to walk from Seaside Park to the school building.
Yet this stretch of road felt incredibly far away.
Maybe it was because I had just run such a long distance in the marathon and was more tired than I had imagined.
Or maybe it was because I had fallen and gotten injured during the race. Although Yuihama had briefly disinfected it, the wound still throbbed faintly. I dragged my foot slightly so I wouldn't aggravate it.
Those two reasons greatly slowed our pace.
But they weren't the only reasons.
The biggest reason was probably that I wasn't used to walking while someone held my hand.
The person holding my hand seemed to feel the same way. Yuihama walked a little nervously as well.
A few students leaving school passed us, occasionally turning back to look at us.
That wasn't surprising.
I normally didn't attract anyone's attention. Especially when I was out walking like this, there was no way anyone would be interested in me.
Come to think of it, most people walking around were alone anyway. Who would see someone and think, "That person's a loner! They must be really good at guitar!"?
Note: Hitori Gotoh, the protagonist of Bocchi the Rock!, was the guitarist in a band.
Just one person among countless humans, merely part of an everyday scene. Even if someone