The Approaching Presence

After having lunch together, the students belonging to Class A and Class D went their separate ways.

"Hey, what exactly do you mean by that? Isn't it way too obvious that girl likes you? Are you really okay with this?" The moment they were alone, Kamuro Masumi stared at Toru Hasegawa with the intensity of someone determined to get to the bottom of things.

"Hmm... is this something you find hard to accept?"

"Of course! A girl's feelings are a very important thing; you should respond to them properly," Kamuro Masumi said as if it were obvious.

"And then what? What happens after I respond?" Toru Hasegawa countered. "Do you really think that would make both parties happy? It shouldn't be that simple, right?"

"You guy..."

"I was a bit surprised that you asked me out during the break." Toru Hasegawa signaled for Masayoshi Hashimoto to step aside, and the latter silently walked into the distance.

"So what? After seeing you do something like that, the things I originally wanted to say just wouldn't come out." Kamuro Masumi scratched her head, looking slightly irritated. "Hey, let me confirm something. The reason you intentionally handed me over to Sakayanagi—it couldn't be the same as your attitude toward Sakura, could it?"

"Perhaps."

"Don't give me that vague answer!"

"You're right... are you satisfied now?"

Kamuro Masumi clearly became even more agitated. "I don't even know if I should judge you as a good person or a bad person."

"The definitions of good and bad are too broad. People are just people." Toru Hasegawa smiled indifferently.

Kamuro Masumi's favorability inexplicably reached 80; Toru Hasegawa had no idea what she had been imagining all this time.

"Tomorrow, just you and me..." Kamuro Masumi suddenly became bashful. "Can you keep me company?"

"I must refuse. I have a feeling there's some ill intent behind this." Toru Hasegawa turned her down flat. He couldn't just assume the purpose of her actions based on a simple favorability rating, and besides, he really needed to avoid extra activities right now.

Upon hearing this, Kamuro Masumi glared at him fiercely. "My concern was truly wasted on a dog. Suit yourself!"

With that, she stormed off in a rage.

Seeing Kamuro Masumi leave, Masayoshi Hashimoto approached.

"You made her angry, didn't you?"

"Hmm... it seems so." Toru Hasegawa felt a knot in his stomach; he felt like he might have truly misunderstood her...

I'll go apologize another day.

"But I really didn't expect you to handle a Class D girl so quickly. You really are something." Masayoshi Hashimoto changed the subject with a cheeky grin.

Toru Hasegawa shot him a sidelong glance. "I think you might have some kind of misunderstanding about me."

"Are you sure you won't use her as a breakthrough point for Class D?"

"She doesn't have that much value."

"As long as someone is in another class, they have value. You should know that better than I do." Masayoshi Hashimoto held Toru Hasegawa in high regard.

"You still haven't seen the point." Toru Hasegawa sighed. "Then let me ask you, why do you think Kushida appeared here today?"

"Eh?"

"Think about it slowly yourself. I've decided to go apologize to Kamuro-san right now." After saying this, Toru Hasegawa opened his phone, but then he suddenly stopped in his tracks.

"Um... can I borrow your phone?"

Toru Hasegawa, who had wanted to escape the scene, turned back to borrow a phone from Masayoshi Hashimoto in great embarrassment.

"You don't mean... you don't even have Kamuro-san as a contact?" Masayoshi Hashimoto, who had been about to seriously ponder the meaning of Toru Hasegawa's words, couldn't help but laugh.

"Yeah, it's quite a failure on my part that we're desk-mates yet I don't even have her as a contact."

After getting the phone from Masayoshi Hashimoto, Toru Hasegawa just briefly checked her current location before returning it to him.

"Thanks."

With that, he jogged toward Kamuro Masumi's location.

She hadn't gone very far, and Toru Hasegawa found her in a shop selling ornaments.

The moment Kamuro Masumi saw him, she tried to leave.

"Wait!" Toru Hasegawa called out to her. "I want to apologize for what I said earlier. I'm sorry, I took things for granted."

"...It's fine. I was at fault too; who told me to have impure motives from the start?" Surprised that Toru Hasegawa had chased after her to apologize, Kamuro Masumi spoke after a moment of silence.

"Thank you for accepting my apology. By the way, we probably don't have each other as contacts yet. How about we add each other now?"

"I thought you would keep forgetting about this." Kamuro Masumi suddenly smiled. It was rare to see a smile on her usually tense face.

"Can't be helped." Toru Hasegawa was dazed for a moment, then said with a serious expression, "After all, school contacts come with a feature that lets you check the other person's location."

"...What did you say?"

This piece of information seemed rather significant.

"How about it? Knowing this, are you still willing to add me as a contact?" Toru Hasegawa asked with a mischievous smirk.

Kamuro Masumi glared at him fiercely. "You really are a dark-hearted character. An average person wouldn't have noticed that, would they?"

"I'm sorry, Hashimoto-san told me about this. So, is he a dark-hearted character?"

"...Never mind. It was my fault for dwelling on that."

Kamuro Masumi sighed helplessly; in the end, the two of them had successfully exchanged contact information.

With both objectives achieved, Toru Hasegawa was just about to leave when Kamuro Masumi called out to him.

"Wait a second."

"Is something wrong?" Toru Hasegawa turned back, feeling a bit puzzled. Generally speaking, wouldn't it be better to be alone here?

Kamuro Masumi glanced left and right, and only after confirming there was no one else around did she walk over and whisper into Toru Hasegawa's ear:

"You don't actually have to keep doing this all the time. Would you like to relax a little?"

"..."

Toru Hasegawa fell silent. A strange sensation began to spread deep within his heart, and it was quite a while before he spoke:

"Are you trying to touch my heart with this? If so, congratulations, you've succeeded."

Kamuro Masumi had clearly come closer to the essence of his existence than Masayoshi Hashimoto had. Although he had suspected it before, this confirmed it for certain.

But people cannot truly control their own desires; once they have tasted sweetness, greater desires naturally sprout.

Regarding this point, Toru Hasegawa was no exception.

He had always helped others with ulterior motives; he was not truly a saintly person...

And this fact made Toru Hasegawa feel extremely uncomfortable.

"No, I'm just giving you some advice as a friend. I just feel like there's something about you that I don't quite understand. Anyway, keep it up."

Kamuro Masumi said, feigning indifference.

"Oh, and you don't need to come out with me tomorrow either. I've already said what I wanted to say."

"Mm, I will remember what you said to me today."

Toru Hasegawa smiled. Even if only a little, he had indeed been touched by her for a brief moment.

But that was all it amounted to.