But the transfer student had said nothing else. He only stared at her with that grin plastered on his face. Her next thought was to run.
He’s crazy.
She must have said something to him, a few words. Not out of consideration, but from instinct. Pushing him away or outright rejecting him could be dangerous. “I’m sorry. I need to get going.” It was probably something like that.
Mio’s heart raced. Now that she was rid of him, she realized how panicked she’d become. A moment later, she understood the feeling better—she was frightened.
Self-pity and shame flooded through her.
Mio remembered what Hanaka and Saho had said during lunch. “Mio gets all the guys.”
A stalker, gloomy, love at first sight. Be nice to him, and he’ll only get more obsessed…
Mio had gone through something like that before. She’d interacted with a boy who was not her type at all—an outcast in class, the unpopular type. Her treating him with her usual care and consideration had caused him to get a crush on her.
That’s why Mio had understood when Saho claimed she got all the guys. It wasn’t a compliment but an expression of exasperation. Mio was always kind to those sorts of boys.
Despite her being told she was popular with boys and knowing it wasn’t praise, there was a part of her that enjoyed hearing it. Mio felt bad about that, and she always regretted getting involved because things like this occurred.
I got carried away and didn’t think. I did it again.
Kaname Shiraishi was not normal. No typical person would ask what he had in that situation.
But she was the one who had given that abnormal boy the opportunity.
She could have delayed the tour to another day and waited for the vice class representative, a boy, to handle it. Could Mio claim absolutely that she hadn’t wanted the out-of-place new student to think she was nice, though?
Not that she wanted him to be romantically interested in her. It wasn’t like that. But Mio always did this. It always turned out this way.
“Is that you, Harano?”
Mio straightened up, alarmed.
She’d thought she was alone, but someone was sitting up in the corner of the room. The track-and-field team had separate changing rooms for boys and girls, but this was the all-purpose meeting room for both. Mio had figured everyone would be down in the quad by now. When she saw who sat up, she exhaled with relief.
“Kanbara-senpai…”
“Whew, that was a nice nap. Sorry, I didn’t get much sleep last night. I told them I wanted to close my eyes for five minutes before practice. Did they abandon me?” He stretched lazily.
Itta Kanbara was Mio’s senpai, an upperclassman member of the track team. Like Mio’s, his event was the long jump. They often practiced together, making him one of the few third-years on the team she was close with. He rolled up his jacket sleeve to check his watch.
“Oh crap. It’s gonna look like I ditched. Tagawa’s gonna be pissed,” he groused, somewhat more emphatically than was necessary.
The casual name-drop of the track team’s faculty adviser was a note of levity that Mio really needed at the moment.
“What’s the matter?” he asked.
“Huh?” Mio blurted out. The question took her by surprise.
“You’re such a model student. You never show up late like this. That’s for bad students like me.”
“Oh, please…” Mio started to object to the usual “model student” praise, but she caught herself. She felt like she might cry; this reminded her of the conversation with the transfer student.
The look in Kanbara’s eyes changed, and the sleepiness was gone, replaced with alert seriousness. “No, really, what’s the matter?”
Kanbara wasn’t very tall, but his features were pleasant. When he stared right at Mio, she found herself thinking he was attractive, as inappropriate as it was given the situation. He had crisp double eyelids, and his skin was tan yet clear, without a single blemish. Before she knew it, that clear, intense gaze had Mio talking.
About the transfer student who’d just shown up today.
About the way she’d felt his eyes on her twice, and the sudden request to visit her house.
Putting it all into words sent a chill down her spine. Kanbara looked more grave now than ever. He leaned forward. “That sounds crazy.”
“It is crazy,” Mio agreed. Mentioning it to someone else had helped alleviate some of the urgency. A hint of a smile formed on Mio’s face. It was strange for someone so stressed.
“I don’t know, maybe I did something that caused him to misunderstand…,” she mused idly.
Because it truly was crazy.
Not just the new student, Kaname Shiraishi. Her train of thought was crazy, too. Telling someone else had turned it into a story. Now it was a piece of evidence, something she could point at to brag about her popularity with boys. Her inability to entirely deny she was a little glad for that worsened the guilt.
Kanbara briskly shook his head. “No, it’s not your fault.”
His vehemence was extremely heartening. He whispered, “I wonder if there’s something we can do about this guy.” Kanbara sat on top of a desk and crossed his legs. “It sounds like he’s got a screw loose. Like he doesn’t know how to communicate with other people properly.”
“I guess you could say that…”
“Definitely. Who’d think what he said was cool?” Hearing it so firmly from a third party proved reassuring. “Maybe he likes you, but it’s bizarre to make such a leap.”
“Do you really think that’s all it is? He’s into me?” Mio asked.
“Why not? Attraction is attraction. I get it—you’re cute and sweet.”
Now Mio was speechless for an entirely different reason. It was the first time in her life a boy had called her cute. Right to her face, no less.
And he was older.
Mio already admired Kanbara-senpai.
“At any rate,” he said to change the subject. Mio couldn’t tell whether he realized his comment had rattled her. “If he tries this again or does something worse, tell me right away. Also, talk to your friends in class and make sure you don’t spend any time alone with him.”
“Good idea…,” Mio replied while trying to control her stirred-up feelings.
“I’m worried about you.” Kanbara’s comment may not have been that deep, but it caused Mio’s heart to stir.