The Fifth Chapter: [The Eighth Day of School] Shiina Went in Swinging (Thanks to Kurikara Ten'yo)

A new week.

After a brief weekend, the students returned to class.

The student dormitory.

Shiina pressed her forehead against the cold mirror. Her breath left a hazy mark on its surface.

She still vividly remembered tossing and turning in bed last night, despite deliberately trying to go to sleep early.

She had prepared herself for this long ago, but now that it was time to actually make a change, Shiina found it unexpectedly difficult.

Today was Monday. The weather was sunny, and the temperature was just right.

Shiina decided she would talk to Kujo today, no matter what!

Even if it was only to say a simple hello.

She wanted to become friends with Kujo!

To make that happen, Shiina was making a constant effort to improve her appearance.

The route from the dormitory to the school building.

Shiina walked toward the classroom with her backpack on, silently rehearsing the kind of opening line ordinary students used to make friends.

She had left early this time, so she unexpectedly ran into some students who had just finished their morning exercise.

She remembered that two of them were named Koenji Rokusuke and Ayanokoji Kiyotaka.

They were both in Class D.

Shiina was good at remembering names.

That was how she recognized the two first-years.

Then,

Shiina gradually quickened her pace.

She wondered if arriving at the classroom early might mean she would run into Kujo there by chance.

Her thoughts never strayed far from him.

Kujo was tall and handsome. Compared to the other students in class, well... he also seemed like the calculating type?

He didn't look at all like a student his age.

The atmosphere around him was more like that of an adult man, almost like a teacher.

That was just her intuition.

She had no real basis for it.

Besides, Shiina hardly ever saw Kujo during class. As far as she could remember, she only caught sight of him occasionally, close to the end of the school day.

Suddenly, a frightening possibility crossed Shiina's mind.

What if something came up today and he didn't come to class at all?

Or what if he refused to talk to her?

Should she tactfully tell him that she wanted to become friends?

Hmm...

They were classmates, after all. Asking to exchange contact information shouldn't be too much, right?

Right?

With her heart in her throat, Shiina waited the entire day.

At last, during the final class, she finally saw Kujo sneak into the classroom.

"Phew~"

Shiina breathed a sigh of relief.

The dismissal bell rang.

After answering Ryuen's questions, Sakagami finally announced that class was over.

Once Sakagami left, Shiina noticed that none of the students in the classroom immediately chose to leave.

Everyone in the class seemed to accept Ryuen Kakeru's leadership.

And when Ryuen and the others made no move after the bell rang, the rest of Class C didn't dare leave on their own. They simply waited for him.

That was how much Ryuen had intimidated his classmates over the past week.

But today, he looked as if he were avoiding someone?

How could that be?

She must have been imagining it.

Even Ishizaki, who had acted that way a few days ago, had become one of Ryuen's lackeys. After class, he followed the group to get Ryuen's schoolbag.

As the students of Class C gradually filed out of the classroom,

Shiina kept an eye on Kujo.

He didn't hurry to leave. Instead, he stood alone by the window, his gaze fixed outside.

Shiina couldn't help wondering what he usually did, what he thought about.

And whether he liked girls like her...

A little while later,

Kujo naturally turned his gaze toward the only person who hadn't left the classroom.

Shiina noticed him looking at her, of course.

She tried to keep her expression steady as she considered what to do next.

After a while,

Shiina realized that Kujo's eyes were still on her.

Had her lipstick worn off?

Was there something wrong with her hair?

Could there be something strange on her face?

Oh no!

Shiina raised her head and met Kujo's gaze.

To her, he seemed to avert his eyes from hers at lightning speed.

It looked like Kujo was about to leave the classroom.

No!

He couldn't!

Shiina clenched the hem of her skirt with her left hand. When she saw Kujo's gaze shift toward the door, she started to panic.

All the carefully prepared phrases flew right out of her mind.

"Kujo-kun..."

The words she wanted to say were so simple, but she just couldn't raise her voice.

Shiina spoke softly, with a faint tremble that was difficult to notice.

Looking at Kujo's puzzled expression, Shiina summoned all the courage she had and continued:

"Kujo-kun, do you like books?"

All the opening lines she had planned evaporated in an instant. What came out instead was the question the girl had most wanted to ask.

Even if she was only fooling herself, if he could say that he liked them...

Then everything would fall into place.

Shiina also knew that being asked such a question out of nowhere was strange.

Things certainly wouldn't go the way she imagined.

But before she could ask anything else, Kujo replied bluntly:

"Shiina, I don't read much. I'd rather work toward the life I want after graduation than read about other people's stories."

Kujo-kun is so mature.

Shiina let the thought slip out before she could stop herself.

But she quickly realized something was wrong.

Because Kujo's answer clearly meant that he didn't like reading.

Shiina began to feel afraid.

She could already tell that he was about to turn her down.

Shiina panicked.

"So, if I could get Kujo-kun to enjoy reading, do you think you might change your mind?"

As soon as she finished speaking, she saw Kujo's expression change.

His eyes showed clear discomfort, as if he were trying to figure out how to turn her down gently.

Of course.

She had never made any friends before, so naturally she had no idea how ordinary students went about making friends.

It was normal to fail.

Things couldn't go smoothly right from the start.

If it didn't work today, what about tomorrow?

And if not tomorrow?

The day after?

No!

Shiina didn't want to keep putting something important off.

Once she had made up her mind, all she could do was try to smile naturally and softly whisper to the boy standing before her:

"I just like Kujo-kun."

As soon as she said it, Shiina felt her face grow hot.

Those words were the limit of what she could manage. She probably hadn't even realized how bold she was being.

But she meant every word.

Shiina had laid it all on the line.