I... Remember Now!

"Puff..."

Yukino covered her mouth with her small hand, but her laughter still betrayed her.

The Yellow Hair looked at Shuya with extreme embarrassment. "No, Inoue- kun, you... don't you recognize me?"

Why do you say the same thing as Yukino- chan?

Shuya said, puzzled, "I'll just take this opportunity to be blunt. Are you a guy? You keep talking to me, and it's actually quite bothering me. I don't discriminate against guys, but only if you don't bother me."

"Ah!"

The last girl remaining in the "normie group" suddenly started bleeding from her nose, and the Golden Hair impatiently shoved a tissue into her hand.

"Inoue -kun, you're overthinking it. I don't like men."

The Yellow Hair smiled wryly and said, "So, I see... Inoue- kun, you don't remember... Hmm, no wonder, considering you didn't go to school much back then, and..."

"No, what are you talking about?"

Shuya looked confused.

At this moment, Yukino said with a smile, "Inoue- kun, Hayama... he went to the same elementary school as us."

"Holy crap?!"

Shuya startled that he leaned back tactically.

"Wow! There's such a thing!"

That's it...

With a helpless Yellow Hair, Hayama Hayato, spread his hands.

"Puff..."

Hikigaya burst out laughing.

Shuya awkwardly argued, "No, I don't remember you, it must be because we're in different classes..."

Yukino added, "However, Hayama has been in our class for several years."

"Haha, that's why I talked to you..."

Hayama gave a dry laugh.

"... Hahaha."

Shuya gave an awkward laugh.

A moment later, he scratched his head and said cheerfully, "Sorry, sorry, back then I only had eyes for Yukino- chan and Haruno, I didn't pay any attention to anyone else, hahaha!"

"Cough."

This time, it was Yukino's turn to look uncomfortable.

Shuya suddenly had a flash of inspiration. "Ah, could it be...! You're that blond -Yellow Hair who always peeks at Yukino- chan, right?! Haha, I... I remember now!"

"Wait, Inoue- kun, what nonsense are you talking about?"

Yukino's expression changed, as if she had played a trick on herself.

"Wait, Inoue- kun, you've misunderstood."

Hayama was also speechless.

"Wait, what did you just mean?!"

The Golden Hair retriever glared intently at Shuya, occasionally glancing at Hayama.

"Wait, can you guys stop calling me 'wait' so many times? I can hardly recognize 'wait' anymore."

Shuya felt a little dizzy.

The atmosphere in the classroom had been somewhat Shuya and relaxed, and the students found various excuses to slip out of the classroom.

After most people left, Yuigahama looked like she had something to say.

Shuya shrugged and said, "You guys continue, I'll just take a look."

"Inoue- kun, you should leave now."

Considering Yuigahama's feelings, Yukino grabbed Shuya's clothes and pulled him out of the classroom.

Hikigaya also quietly slipped out.

Only Yuigahama and her group of popular girls remained in the classroom, along with a few others who were just watching the commotion.

Yuigahama's intermittent explanation drifted down the corridor.

"... I'm sorry. I feel uneasy if I don't cooperate with others... I'm always trying to read people's expressions... that's probably why I made you angry."

"... How should I put it? I've always been like this... maybe it's because I grew up in a large residential area, interacting with people every day, so I felt that doing that was the natural thing to do..."

"I don't understand."

"... I think so too. Actually, I don't really understand it myself... But when I saw Shu-chan, Yuki, and Hiki, I noticed that even though they always acted alone, they seemed quite happy..."

Seeing them like that made me realize that my approach of desperately trying to please others was wrong...

Yukino became a little nervous listening to this.

"Yukino- chan, it seems you care about her a lot. It's rare to see you like this."

Shuya surprised.

"I'm not as cold-hearted as you, who doesn't even bother to help."

Yukino glared at him.

Shuya whistled, "Hikigaya, did you hear that? Why aren't you helping?"

"What does this have to do with me? Besides, didn't I already speak up...?"

"You should probably stop making those kinds of noises; it's too spontaneous."

"Tsk."

Shuya brushed it off haphazardly, showing absolutely no interest in answering Yukino's question.

"I'm not saying anything more, I'm off. Okay, I'm going to buy a drink."

"Then I'll go too..."

Hikigaya clicked his tongue and followed Shuya away.

He felt awkward staying there.

The sound could still be heard intermittently behind me:

"... So, I also want to try living life on my own terms... However, it's not that I dislike Yumiko. Um, can we be good friends in the future?"

"Hmm, I see. Okay then."

After lunch break, the atmosphere in the classroom returned to normal.

But the Golden Hair was clearly still angry, and kept glaring at Shuya.

Shuya didn't care. There were plenty of people watching him; he'd be too busy to care about each and every one of them.

He's actually in a good mood now; he no longer has to worry about Yellow Hair having any bold ideas about him, which makes him feel quite comfortable.

Yellow Hair played on his phone all the way until school was over, then rushed off to the Soccer Club for training.

When Shuya wanted to go home, the Golden Hair called out to him.

"Don't go yet."

Shuya looked troubled. "Confess? Sorry, you're a good person."

"No, that's not true!"

The Golden Hair exploded.

"Calm down! Shu-chan, can't you listen to Yumiko?"

Yuigahama quickly comforted her, it seemed that what happened at noon had not left any shadow on the group's relationships.

And she casually started calling Shu-chan in class, seemingly because she felt their relationship had been exposed?

"What... what did you mean by what you said at noon...?"

The Golden Hair glared at Shuya.

"Huh? Sorry, I've already forgotten what I said?"

Shuya scratched his head.

"So---! You mean Hayato... he... peeped... at... that... you mean..."

The Golden Hair stammered.

Yuigahama: "You mean he was spying on Koyuki, right?"

The Golden Hair nodded reluctantly, clearly unwilling to admit it.

"That one."

Shuya suddenly realized and comforted him, "Don't worry about it too much. I didn't know him very well back then; I just noticed this incident. He would look at Yukino- chan intentionally or unintentionally. But I didn't mean to say that I liked Yukino- chan."

"..."

The Golden Hair seemed to have suffered a huge blow.

Shuya said, "Don't mind him, I was just saying. After all, he has no chance. Yukino- chan likes me."

"... What nonsense are you talking about? When did I ever like you?"

Yukino's voice unexpectedly reached my ears.

She stood outside the classroom door, and the Golden Hair gave her a hostile look.

Shuya asked in surprise, "Why are you here?"

"We're taking you to your department. Come out now."

Yukino said calmly.

Shuya resigned himself to his bad luck; it seemed he had gone too far yesterday. Yukino- chan decided to personally monitor his every move.

Shuya asked, "But Ayase- chan is coming to my house today..."

"Then the club activities will end a little earlier."

Yukino smiled.

"Cut."

Shuya listlessly picked up his schoolbag and went out, no longer in the mood to talk to the Golden Hair.

Otherwise, he would have said a few more words.

In fact, after this incident, he no longer disliked the Golden Hair.

If she were truly a bad person, she wouldn't have reconciled with Yuigahama; instead, she would have turned against her Yuigahama.

However, she did not.

This speaks volumes.

To judge a person, look at what they do, not what they say—even though their tone of voice was indeed terrible.

Shuya thinking about it and resignedly followed Yukino out.

As the two walked, they heard the sound of hurried footsteps behind them.

Yuigahama caught up with them.

"?"

Shuya asked in confusion, "Another request?"

"No, that's not it! I wanted to help with club activities!"

Yuigahama Road.

Shuya: "Is that really necessary? Most people are just reading or playing on their phones. What's the point of helping?"

Yukino said, "But... Yuigahama- san does have the freedom to do so."