As they were about to reach school, they happened to run into a few classmates.
When they saw Asaba and Mitaka walking together, they were all surprised.
"That girl looks like someone from our class, right? If the teacher hadn't called on her yesterday, I wouldn't even have known her name was... was... what was it again?"
"Mitaka, I think. All I remember is that she hardly ever talks, so she hasn't left much of an impression on me."
"Anyway, I think she's really weird. She's always staring at us with this strange look in her eyes. Don't tell me Asaba's coming to school with her?"
"I don't know why, but Asaba seems pretty close to that Mitaka girl. It was the same in class yesterday. None of us, not even the teacher, knew her name, but Asaba could say it even though he'd only just arrived. Could they have known each other already?"
"..."
At that moment, Asa Mitaka could also faintly hear those classmates talking about her.
Although she was annoyed by what she heard, she no longer cared as much as before.
Those classmates weren't her friends anyway, and she didn't want to approach them, much less try to please them, so they could think whatever they wanted.
As long as Asaba wasn't like them, that was enough. Makima was also one of the few friends she could get along with.
After school that afternoon, Asaba Kotone escorted Asa Mitaka home just as he had that morning, while Makima went home ahead of them on her own.
"Thank you."
At her front door, Asa Mitaka thanked Asaba Kotone.
"Please be careful while you're at home, too. If anything dangerous happens, you can call me anytime."
Asaba Kotone said this before leaving.
He had exchanged phone numbers