…d morning.
Of course, that’s what Sousei wanted to say. However, he couldn’t get his voice to come out properly. He started coughing instead.
“…ood…cough…ood…cough cough… G-g-good…morn…ing…”
“What are you even saying?!” Asumi Shiramori bent over laughing.
“…Ha. Aha-ha…” Sousei laughed as well.
Sousei’s face was twitching. No, it wasn’t just his face. Pretty much his whole body seemed like it would spasm at any moment.
With that, Asumi suddenly fell silent. All expression disappeared from her face, sending Sousei into a panic.
…Is she mad? Did I do something strange to make her mad…?
The expression “scared to death” popped up in his mind.
…Well, I have died before. And not just once or twice. I even died five times last night! It’s weird that I’m suddenly feeling scared to death while I’m still alive…
He had no doubt that it was all due to Asumi being silent.
Should I apologize? Would that help…? But what should I apologize for? And how…?
Sousei was starting to seriously consider an apology for which he couldn’t see a correct answer.
“We got to see each other, huh?” she said quietly. Asumi had been whispering, or rather, murmuring.
…We got to see each other, huh…?
Sousei’s mind felt like the inside of an empty school gym. In there, Asumi’s voice just kept echoing.
We got to see each other, huh?
We got to see each other, huh? We got to see each other, huh? We got to see each other, huh?
We got to see each other, huh? We got to see each other, huh? We got to see each other, huh? We got to see each other, huh? We got to see each other, huh? We got to see each other, huh?
But this school gym was empty. So who was hearing the voice? Was it Sousei? Then Sousei had to be in the empty gym. And that would mean it wasn’t empty anymore. They weren’t even in the school gym in the first place. This was their classroom.
What is this feeling…?
“Ee-hee.”
Asumi suddenly made a strange noise. She immediately pressed both hands to her mouth. “Ugh, I’m being so gross. Sorry, let me try again later!” Asumi said with a red face.
Sousei watched, stunned, as she turned on her heel and quickly rushed off.
What a cute creature…
Sousei Takarai wanted to become a normal high school student like everyone else. At the moment, he wasn’t doing a very good job.
Sousei was getting a lot glances from his classmates and hearing whispers like “What’s that all about?” “You’re kidding,” “Seriously?” “Hmm, how’s that gonna go?” and “That can’t be true.” This was definitely not part of the normal high school life that he had envisioned for himself.
But it’s not like I don’t understand how they feel…
Asumi had greeted him personally, and it didn’t particularly seem like she did it because she happened to be going that way. What in the world could that have been about? Could it be that the two of them had a special relationship? Was that possible? Their classmates were suspicious and puzzled.
It is me, after all…
Even during class, Sousei couldn’t get Asumi out of his head and ended up glancing at her a few times. If he was being honest, it was at least ten—thirty-two times, to be precise.
Because of that, they made eye contact several times—six times, to be exact.
The first and second time, as soon as he thought We made eye contact, they both looked away.
The third time was longer. But it was still only about three seconds. Sousei wasn’t able to maintain eye contact and turned away first.
The fourth time was right after that. Sousei was curious and looked back at Asumi. She was still looking at him. They looked at each other for about five seconds but couldn’t stay like that. Their teacher had started talking about something, so they both faced the front again.
The fifth time, Asumi hid the bottom half of her face with her hands. Without really knowing why, Sousei also covered his mouth with his right hand. Asumi acted as if she was going to burst out laughing when he did that. She looked down and tried hard to suppress her laughter. Sousei watched her do that for about ten seconds or so.
The sixth time was especially memorable. After looking at each other for several seconds, Asumi started moving her mouth. She wasn’t making any sound, though, of course, since they were in class. Sousei guessed that she was mouthing words. Asumi was trying to communicate something to him using the shape of her lips.
It seemed to just be a couple syllables. Asumi was repeating the same word over and over. Eventually, Sousei realized what it was.
S
O
U
S
E
I
Maybe it’s my name…?
Sousei pointed to himself, and Asumi smiled and nodded.
Is Shiramori…human? A Homo sapiens? It’s like she’s a different species—honestly, it’s like she’s a cute creature from another dimension.
Even someone like Sousei found things like baby animals cute. They were round and fluffy, stimulating an instinctual desire to protect them. Undoubtedly, baby animals evolved to have a form that compels others to protect and care for them, making it more likely for them to be protected by parents or family members and increasing their chances of growing up and leaving offspring of their own.
But what about Shiramori…?
Did baby animals and Asumi have anything in common?
He could probably say that Asumi had some roundness, but that didn’t seem quite right. Naturally, she also wasn’t fluffy.
I dunno…
When class ended and their five-minute break started, Sousei became overwhelmed and left the classroom. He headed straight for the restroom, but he didn’t actually need to go. He came back out just as fast as he went in.
But returning to the classroom would be unpleasant.
…I get the feeling…that it’d be unpleasant…
With no other choice, Sousei aimlessly wandered down the corridor. Before he knew it, he was walking so quickly that he was startling other students as he passed by them. He consciously slowed down, and by then the five-minute break had ended. He hastily returned to the classroom to find that their teacher had already arrived, making Sousei’s entrance awkwardly noticeable. As he headed to his desk, Sousei couldn’t get Asumi out of his mind. But what if he looked at her and they made eye contact?
I maight become unoble to move…
Sousei’s brain was starting to lose its grasp on language. Where did his normal high school student life go? Where had it been in the first place? Sousei didn’t know anymore. He didn’t have the slightest idea.