"I let someone borrow ten thousand points just like that. I really am a failure."
Looking at the mere twenty thousand points left on his phone, Chiba Yu couldn't help murmuring before sighing and putting it away. Then he got up from his seat.
"We've eaten about enough. We should head back."
Seeing Karuizawa Kei across from him, still excited after receiving the points, Chiba Yu couldn't help reminding her.
"Huh? You're leaving already?"
Chiba Yu looked at her in surprise. "What, do you want another dessert?"
Just thinking about that sickeningly sweet cake they'd had earlier made Chiba Yu feel queasy. Why could girls stomach food that sweet? He couldn't understand it.
"If you want to stay longer, I'll just go on ahead by myself."
With that, Chiba Yu picked up his backpack with one hand, looking ready to leave right away. Seeing this, Karuizawa Kei hurriedly stood up.
"Wait! Fine, let's go, but why are you in such a hurry?"
Chiba Yu didn't pay her any mind and simply headed for the door.
Watching him walk farther and farther away, Karuizawa Kei puffed out her cheeks and complained as she hurried after him. "Honestly, slow down!"
Summer was a season that couldn't be called good, but couldn't be called bad either.
Though it was already past six in the evening, the blazing afterglow still hung in a corner of the sky.
Boys and girls walked together along the school corridors, laughing and joking as they passed. And I, like a leaf forgotten in a corner, quietly watched it all...
"Hey! Can't you walk a little slower? Do you have any idea how exhausting it was to catch up with you?"
Just as Chiba Yu was alone, sighing wistfully over the season, the ill-timed voice behind him shattered his thoughts and brought him back from his reverie.
Behind him, Karuizawa Kei stopped, panting and complaining. It was clear that even this not-so-long walk had been difficult for someone like her, who rarely exercised.
"So why are you still following me? We shouldn't have anything else to do, right?" Chiba Yu asked, tilting his head in slight confusion. There wasn't a hint of displeasure in his tone.
"What do you mean, following you? I just happen to be taking this route back to the dorms. You're reading too much into it!"
Anyone could tell that Karuizawa Kei's words sounded like a classic tsundere response, but Chiba Yu didn't suspect a thing. "Oh, I see. Then we're going the same way."
"..." Even Karuizawa Kei couldn't tell whether Chiba Yu was pretending or genuinely that oblivious.
"Forget it. Let's just get going."
Not knowing what he'd said wrong to earn that resigned tone from Karuizawa Kei, Chiba Yu decided it wasn't a big deal and continued walking with a placid expression. This time, though, he had a blonde ponytail by his side.
"Those people over there... are they Kushida and Ayanokoji?"
Halfway along, Chiba Yu spotted several familiar figures ahead. Looking closely, he thought they were Ayanokoji Kiyotaka and Kushida Kikyo from his class.
"Huh? Looks like it. And the one beside them... is that Ichinose from Class B?"
Seeing them gathered together, Chiba Yu immediately guessed why they were there—to find evidence that Sudo had acted in self-defense, and to ask Class B for help.
Just then, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka and the others noticed them too and turned around. Their movement drew everyone else's attention.
"Chiba! And Karuizawa!"
As soon as she saw them, Kushida smiled and waved. Even though Chiba Yu didn't want to join the crowd, he had no choice but to go over.
"Hello, Chiba. And hello to you too, Karuizawa," Ichinose Honami greeted them warmly as soon as they approached.
Ichinose couldn't help being curious about the person Kanzaki had been paying so much attention to. They'd only exchanged a few words in the library last time before parting ways, and she hadn't expected to run into him here. As for the girl beside him... she seemed familiar too. Was her name... Karuizawa?
Compared to whatever Ichinose was thinking, the two boys from Class D, Ike and Yamauchi, were already completely stunned.
"Chiba! I can't believe you betrayed us behind our backs!" Ike clutched his chest and put on a dramatic act.
"Exactly! You're practically invisible in class, so how'd you manage to find a girlfriend before we did?"
Well, sorry for being invisible. But don't you know I've practically been driven crazy by all those girls lately?
Chiba Yu furrowed his brow slightly. "You've got it wrong. Karuizawa isn't my girlfriend. We just happened to go out together to buy something."
"And if you really had to say, Karuizawa and Hirata are the ones most likely to get together. There's no way it'd be me... Ow!"
The sudden, sharp pain in the sole of his foot forced Chiba Yu to stop mid-sentence. He turned to Karuizawa with a wounded, confused look.
"Hey, what's gotten into you all of a sudden?"
"Heh. Don't you know you shouldn't talk about a girl's love life in front of her?"
"Wow! I had no idea you and Karuizawa were so close, Chiba!"
Kushida had been watching the two of them interact. Her sudden remark made them both turn toward her.
"Huh? How did you get that idea?"
"Huh? How did you get that idea?"
For a moment, the two stared at each other, eyes slightly widened.
"Why are you copying me?"
"Why are you copying me?"
Everyone fell silent. Ichinose finally broke the quiet, covering her mouth as she giggled.
"You two really are close," Ichinose said with a smile.
"Are you and Chiba looking for witnesses too, like Hirata?" Kushida asked, tilting her head with a finger against her chin.
"No, we just..."
"Yeah, but we haven't found any leads yet."
Karuizawa cut off what Chiba Yu had been about to say. When the others heard they hadn't had any luck either, their expressions darkened further.
"But we in Class B can help look for clues."
"Huh! Really? Thank you so much—"
"Eek!"
While Ayanokoji Kiyotaka and Ichinose were discussing things, Chiba Yu leaned close to Karuizawa and quietly asked, puzzled, "Why'd you have to say that? This sounds like a lot of trouble."
"Well, we couldn't exactly tell them we'd spent two hours drinking coffee, could we?"
Fair enough. Compared to being berated by everyone after telling the truth, Chiba Yu decided to keep quiet.
Afterward, Ichinose promised that she'd get Class B to help once she returned. Chiba Yu didn't know what she meant by that, but would it really be so easy...?