The classroom had nearly emptied. Uesugi Hara glanced at Airi, who was still standing there, and Ayanokoji, who hadn't left yet.
"Want to take a walk together?"
Neither of them refused.
On the way back,
Uesugi Hara and Ayanokoji walked side by side.
Airi trailed a little behind them.
"You did really well just now, Airi," Uesugi Hara suddenly said.
"D-did I...?" Airi sounded unsure. "But I still couldn't help Sudo..." Her voice grew dejected.
Her testimony hadn't been accepted, and when it was time to step up, she'd lost her nerve. If Uesugi hadn't been there, she really wouldn't have known what to do.
"Don't put yourself down, Airi. If it weren't for you, Class D would've lost long ago. Isn't that right, Ayanokoji?"
"Indeed." He paused, as if thinking that two words weren't enough, then added, "Without Sakura, Horikita wouldn't have had a chance to shine."
"So don't think you're useless, Airi," Uesugi Hara encouraged her again.
"...Okay."
"By the way, Ayanokoji, you were pretty bold today. You actually did something like that in front of everyone."
"...I think you were more impressive. You actually dared to say Chabashira-sensei was going through menopause."
Ayanokoji admired Uesugi Hara for daring to say that to Chabashira-sensei.
"That? I was trying to bring out Hoshinomiya-sensei's good points. The only way to do that was to compare her to someone else, and Chabashira-sensei was the best choice among the people there."
"Speaking of her, what's going on with your homeroom teacher? You haven't given up on her, but she's given up on you." Uesugi Hara finally asked the question that had been troubling him for a long time.
Thinking of Chabashira Sae's baffling behavior since the start of the school year, Ayanokoji fell silent.
"...I don't know what she's thinking, either."
And