"All right, Tobe..." As the little sun, Hayato would not just stand by and watch the atmosphere worsen. Though most of the time, all he did was smooth things over, like now. "Zaimokuza, please forgive him. Tobe didn't mean anything by it..."
"Hayato..." Tobe's little blond head looked embarrassed upon hearing that. "I..."
In truth, Zaimokuza did not feel any better because of those words. If anything, he had suffered a critical hit. After all, careless words were the ones that hurt the most!
"Ahem, ahem..." Seeing this, Takahashi quickly coughed twice to draw everyone's attention to herself. At the same time, she gave Shizuka Hiratsuka a meaningful look, seemingly wanting to...
"Zaimokuza..." Well, there was no need to wonder. Before Shizuka Hiratsuka could react, the observant Hachiman Hikigaya spoke up. "There's something that's been bothering me. Can you take a walk with me?"
"Hachiman..."
"Yeah?"
After Hachiman Hikigaya pulled Zaimokuza away, Takahashi finally gave an awkward laugh. "Did you see that? Tsurumi's ability to spread it..."
Hearing this, Yumiko Miura, Tobe, and the others, who had just been about to tease him some more, finally realized the issue. Right—before Zaimokuza had even returned, Takahashi had already been certain that he would be affected. Looking at it that way, wasn't that little girl kind of terrifying?
It was not just Yumiko, Tobe, and the others. Even Hayato and Shizuka's expressions changed drastically. The more they thought about it, the scarier it became!
Yukino Yukinoshita, on the other hand, remained as calm as ever. She even said, "But I don't think this change is a bad thing. If Zaimokuza can truly do as he said..."
"That's precisely..." Before the young lady could finish, Takahashi interrupted her with a bitter smile. "That's exactly what leaves us teachers at a loss. After