Ichinose smiled, her smile especially warm in the afternoon sunlight. "If there's anything you don't understand, you can ask Kitagawa-kun. He's really good at explaining things."
Hearing that, Kitagawa Kai looked up at Shiranami Chihiro and nodded. "Sure."
"Okay! Then I'll have to bother Kitagawa-kun later." Shiranami agreed, but her gaze drifted involuntarily to the overly close distance between the two of them.
Kitagawa-kun, you're a great guy, but I can't let you get any closer to my Honami-chan.
Sorry.
That was just how the battle for love went.
"Kitagawa-kun, could I ask you about something?"
Shiranami's voice was a little louder than usual, standing out especially clearly in the quiet library.
"Of course." Kitagawa Kai spoke first, his eyes understanding, as if he'd already seen through something.
Ichinose nodded warmly too. "Chihiro-chan, what are you having trouble with?"
Shiranami Chihiro pushed her notebook toward him and pointed at a math problem. "This Lagrange interpolation..."
She had chosen this problem after careful thought. It was a difficult type of question, and solving it would take enough time.
Five minutes-no, ten minutes. At least, that was what Shiranami thought.
Kitagawa Kai took the notebook.
He solved it in an instant.
Kitagawa Kai picked up his pen and started explaining the problem to the girl. "Shiranami, you can do it like this..."
The moment he began, Shiranami Chihiro's gaze fell on his face without her meaning to. His straight nose, tender gaze, and the focus peculiar to men gave him a unique charm.
His explanation was clear and concise, each step going straight to the heart of the matter. But half the girl's attention wasn't on the content. It was on the person explaining it.
This guy's actually pretty good-looking.
Wait, what am I looking at?
The thought suddenly popped into Shiranami Chihiro's mind, and she immediately startled herself.
Why had she noticed that? Wasn't she supposed to be focusing entirely on how to stop him from getting close to Ichinose?
Kitagawa Kai finished explaining the main points, put down his pen, and looked up at Shiranami. "Do you understand?"
"I-I understand!" Shiranami Chihiro hurriedly nodded, her cheeks starting to burn uncontrollably.
Ichinose smiled warmly beside them. "Kitagawa-kun explained that really clearly. Chihiro-chan, you can keep asking if there's anything you don't understand."
Shiranami Chihiro couldn't understand why Kitagawa Kai could solve problems so quickly and explain them so clearly.
It didn't make sense.
"Th-then what about this one?" Shiranami flipped to another page in her notebook and pointed somewhat hurriedly at another problem. "The convergence of Fourier series..."
This time, she'd chosen a genuinely tricky problem.
He solved it in an instant again.
"Chihiro-chan..." Ichinose's voice held warm concern. "Are you all right? You look a little..."
"I-I'm fine!" Shiranami Chihiro hurriedly shook her head, but her voice trembled a little.
She looked down at the few words on her scrap paper. Her throat felt dry, and her heart was beating abnormally fast.
The sunlight outside had shifted again. Shiranami Chihiro's planned "battle for time" had barely begun before it ended in failure.
Six in the evening.
Ichinose Honami said goodbye to the last few classmates and watched them leave the library. Only then did she let out a soft sigh and turn toward the long table by the window.
Kitagawa Kai was still sitting there, packing his schoolbag.
"Kitagawa-kun, you really helped a lot today. I didn't know you were so capable."
"You could have managed it too. It just would've been more tiring."
Kitagawa Kai stood up and naturally turned to Shiranami. "Shiranami, want to go eat at the cafeteria together?"
"Huh?"
She paused, then nodded. "S-sure!"
When they walked out of the library, the evening breeze blew in with a chill, carrying the faint fragrance of cherry blossoms from around campus.
Shiranami Chihiro instinctively reached out with both hands and hugged Ichinose's right arm.
"It's a little chilly this evening..." Shiranami explained softly, though her fingers tightened slightly without her realizing it. "Don't you feel cold, Honami-chan?"
Ichinose blinked, then gave her a gentle smile. "A little. Thanks, Chihiro-chan."
"By the way, I think the cafeteria has special Curry Pork Cutlet Rice tonight. That's your favorite, isn't it, Chihiro-chan?"
Shiranami nodded vigorously, her hand around Ichinose's arm swaying lightly. "Yeah! Special Curry Pork Cutlet Rice is the best! Honami-chan remembers so well!"
"Because the last time you ate it, your eyes narrowed with happiness."
Shiranami's face turned even redder, this time because she was happy that Ichinose remembered what she liked.
Being this close to Ichinose, being able to smell her faint fragrance, gave her a peaceful sense of contentment.
Kitagawa Kai walked on their right, quietly listening to their conversation.
"What's your favorite dish at the cafeteria, Kitagawa-kun?" Ichinose suddenly turned her head and asked him.
"I'm usually not picky, but I like the cafeteria's fried shrimp best."
"Ah, that really is good!" Shiranami lifted her face from Ichinose's shoulder, her eyes bright. "The sauce is especially good."
Kitagawa Kai nodded lightly. "It is. The sauce has just the right balance of sweet and sour."
"And the batter isn't greasy at all," Shiranami added. "I've tried fried shrimp from other places, but none of them compare to the cafeteria's."
Ichinose smiled warmly. "Listening to you two, I feel like trying it next time."
As the three of them talked, they reached a corner where several cherry trees were in especially full bloom.
Shiranami secretly glanced at Kitagawa Kai out of the corner of her eye.
This guy... really is pretty handsome.
The thought surfaced uncontrollably again. Shiranami quickly shook her head, trying to fling the idea away.
Just then, Kitagawa Kai suddenly turned his head and met her gaze directly.
Shiranami jumped and hurriedly looked away.
Oh no, oh no. He noticed. Will he think I'm weird? Will he think I...
In the fading light, she saw Kitagawa Kai reach out, his movement gentle and natural as his hand approached the top of her head.
"There's a cherry blossom petal in your hair."
Kitagawa Kai's fingers brushed lightly through her hair, so gently she could barely feel them.
He opened his palm upward, revealing a pale pink cherry blossom petal.
"Th-thanks..."
"No problem."
"Chihiro-chan, there's a petal in your hair too. It seems the cherry blossoms really like you."
As she spoke, Ichinose Honami also raised her hand and plucked a petal from the other side of Shiranami Chihiro's hair.
"Let's go," Ichinose said gently, linking arms with Shiranami. "If we don't get to the cafeteria soon, the Curry Pork Cutlet Rice will really be sold out."
"Okay..." Shiranami Chihiro nodded and hugged Ichinose's arm again. But this time, her thoughts were nowhere near dinner.
That petal... why did he help me remove it?
If it had been Ichinose, it would've seemed perfectly natural.
But the always-languid Kitagawa Kai had noticed me and even reached out to remove it?
That didn't make sense.
Unless...
Shiranami quickly shook her head, trying to fling the dangerous thought away.