The Girl's Feelings

Fresh off a major victory, Hasebe was in exceptionally high spirits. Smiling, she looked at Bai Ye.

"I just drove away the person you like. You're not mad at me, are you?"

"When did I ever say I liked her...?"

"She treated you like that, and you still humored her. And you say you don't like her!" Hasebe pouted.

"..."

To be fair, he didn't dislike Horikita. He knew what kind of person she was.

But she was usually so cold toward him that it still annoyed him a little. That was why he'd let Hasebe drag him away—to take Horikita down a peg.

Besides, he had ulterior motives for pursuing Horikita, and he couldn't tell Hasebe why. So all he could do was let her assume what she wanted.

"Nothing to say, huh? Still, I don't think she's good enough for you. If you're going to get a girlfriend, you should find someone who's nice and pretty."

"Someone like... you?"

"W-What...? I never said I meant myself!" Hasebe puffed out her slightly flushed cheeks and punched him in the chest.

Thinking about what she'd just done, hadn't she made it look like she was actually trying to steal a guy...?

She'd only been trying to help him.

But why did she care so much about him...?

Thinking back to what had happened last night, her gaze grew hazy again.

"Um... Little Yeye, could you call me big sis one more time?"

"Did I call you that?" he asked, playing dumb.

"Yesterday... Never mind." Hasebe sounded dejected.

She couldn't exactly admit she'd been pretending to be asleep. If she told anyone she'd spent the night in a boy's room pretending to be asleep, there was no way she could explain it.

Now she didn't even feel like eating.

After school that afternoon, Horikita didn't speak to him again.

He couldn't be bothered to keep chasing after someone who was so cold to him. For now, his priority was getting closer to Hasebe. He could leave Horikita alone for a while.

With Horikita no longer getting in her way, Hasebe had no rivals. She dragged him out to shop that afternoon.

The moment they entered a boutique, her mood inexplicably lifted. She happily browsed for herself, and every so often she held things like hats and scarves up against him.

To a third party, the two of them looked so close they might have been a couple... No, more like siblings.

Anyone could see how reluctant he looked, except Hasebe, who seemed not to notice at all.

"Let's take a break."

After they'd visited several shops, Hasebe led him to a bench and thoughtfully bought him a cup of milk tea.

"This is a thank-you gift. Sorry, I've hardly ever gone shopping with a close friend, so I got a little excited."

"Don't lie. I've seen you shopping with a girl from class before."

"That doesn't count. She was the one who invited me, and I couldn't really relax..."

"So you don't mind doing this with me, then?"

He put on an annoyed expression.

"Is that a problem?"

Hasebe retorted, then muttered under her breath, "You were all over me yesterday, anyway..."

With hearing twice as sharp as an adult's, he heard every word. His face reddened slightly, but he pretended not to hear.

"I don't mind shopping with you. I just wish you wouldn't hold all that weird stuff up against me next time. You even had women's... women's clothes?"

"I can't help it. Little Yeye is so cute. You'd look perfect in women's clothes." Hasebe's eyes sparkled.

"I'm never wearing them in my life. Forget about it," he said coldly.

"Aww, what a shame..."

"Pouting won't work on me."

"Oh." Hasebe pouted.

But the very next second, she smiled. "I've had enough shopping. Is there anywhere you want to go, Little Yeye?"

"Not really. How about the place where we usually sleep?"

"You want to go there again? Do you like sleeping that much? Is shopping with me boring?"

"No. It's just quieter there, so we can talk."

"Then let's go."

Hearing Bai Ye say that, she didn't get upset. In fact, she was a little happy.

After all, this was the important place where their relationship had begun. You could even call it their "secret hideout."

But when they got there, they found that someone had already claimed the spot. A group of people were having a picnic on the flat grassy area below.

The most eye-catching among them was a beautiful girl with cherry-pink hair. She had a gentle, adorable smile that seemed full of warmth, and a curvy figure. Just sitting there, she seemed like the center of the world. Judging by how everyone had gathered around her, she was clearly the heart of the group.

Hasebe felt a little envious when she saw her. She knew who the girl was: Ichinose Honami from Class B. Not long after the school year began, she'd won over her whole class and become well-known in the other classes, too—her reputation even rivaled Kushida Kikyou's.

Hasebe didn't have that effortless ability to make friends with anyone. And the other girl's figure wasn't much worse than hers. So why didn't she seem to have the same worries?

Was Ichinose simply unconcerned about it, or was Hasebe making too much of things?

Seeing Hasebe's distracted, downcast expression, Bai Ye waved a hand in front of her eyes. "See someone you like?"

"What are you talking about? I just... Never mind..."

Hasebe shook her head, then straightened up. "Someone's taken our spot. Where should we go?"

"They haven't taken it. They're not lying down there. They're just having a picnic below us. We can ignore them."

Without waiting for Hasebe to respond, he took her by the wrist and walked over.

Hasebe let herself be pulled along, making a few halfhearted protests before giving in.

Meanwhile, in the distance...

Just as Ichinose was about to speak, Shironami Chihiro, sitting beside her, patted her hand and pointed in the direction where Bai Ye had lain down. "Honami, there's someone over there."

Ichinose followed her pointing finger and spotted a familiar figure. She brightened at first, but when she saw a pretty girl beside him, her brows furrowed slightly.

"Honami, what's wrong?" Shironami Chihiro asked in confusion. "Why do you look unhappy? Are you upset that they're disturbing us?"

"Huh? Did I look unhappy?" Ichinose touched her lovely face, her expression dazed. "You must've been mistaken, Chihiro. Why would I...?"

That was right. Why would she be unhappy? Was it because he had a... girlfriend?

But what did that have to do with her? They weren't even close.

Although he had once told her she was cute...

But he'd probably just said it without thinking. It didn't mean anything...

Even so, Ichinose still felt a faint pang of disappointment.

Just then, a girl from Class B beside them said, "Come to think of it, Ichinose seemed really happy the day she came back from the Student Council. Did something good happen?"

"That day..." Ichinose suddenly remembered what had happened. Her pretty face slowly turned red, and she stumbled over her words. "Was I that happy? It was pretty ordinary."

"No, no, you seemed different from usual. I thought you'd fallen in love, Ichinose."

"..."

After a long silence, Ichinose said, "Someone encouraged me, that's all. Yeah."

Thinking back to that day, she really had been a little different from usual.

But she couldn't help it.

When she was feeling her lowest, a really handsome boy had walked up and told her she was cute, or something like that.

How could she not be happy?

Even though she'd rudely run away.

She'd wanted to apologize afterward, but never had the time. And now that he had a girlfriend, there was no need to bother him.

She didn't want his girlfriend to get the wrong idea.

She shook her head, brushing those strange thoughts aside.

"Let's stop talking about that. Let's talk about something fun instead." Ichinose's warm smile returned, and the other girls smiled along with her.

The conversation moved on.

But after that, Shironami Chihiro, who paid close attention to Ichinose, noticed that Ichinose kept glancing toward Bai Ye without thinking, then quickly looking away.

The strange behavior made her frown.

A sense of impending danger inexplicably stirred in her heart.

She turned her attention to Bai Ye's group, focusing especially on Bai Ye. The longer she looked, the stronger her sense of danger became.

Finally, she drew a deep breath and made up her mind.

"I can't wait any longer."

She was going to confess to Ichinose.