Episode 27 – The Lonely and The Jealous

“Whoa, no way, ……?”

When I got out of the bath and received my phone from Yomi-san, who I had left it with so that I could concentrate on fighting for a month, I couldn’t hide my surprise at the impossible number of notifications that appeared when I turned it on.

The number of message notifications that appeared on the screen was 999.

It must have been completely maxed out.

It’s not just Minato and the class rep, but also a lot of former classmates.

…… No, but.

The number of notifications in the chat app is very bad indeed, but if you check the number of incoming calls as well, it’s very serious.

However, unlike the chat app, this one looked like the class rep was calling me constantly.

“It was very sudden indeed, ……. I guess everyone was so surprised that they were sending messages.”

I smiled bitterly and looked at the messages from everyone.

I stopped scrolling when I saw Saotome-san’s name.

[ What exactly happened with this transfer? ].

When I opened the message from Saotome-san, it had a different feel to it than before.

She didn’t use emoticons, nor did she have the usual soft and gentle atmosphere.

Could this be a sign that she’s noticed it?

If her intuition wasn’t so bad, her other face, Nekoto-chan, would have noticed that I was on the move behind the scene.

Her situation would have changed drastically, and she would have been led to believe that this was the consequence.

I can’t make excuses for what happened, but I don’t want her to think it was her fault.

If that happens, she will blame herself because she is so kind.

And she might drag it out for a long time.

So, I hope I can deceive her somehow.

As I was thinking about this, the screen of my phone switched to the incoming call screen.

I looked at the name and saw that it was “Nikaido Sayaka”.

This is the class rep’s real name.

My phone is shaking in my hand because it’s an incoming call, but why?

What I feel like this represents is the anger of the class rep.

I’m afraid to answer the phone.

But I can’t just sit here and not answer.

I’m sure the class rep has a lot of questions she wants to ask since I was suddenly trying to disappear without permission.

If possible, I would like to continue to be friends with her even if we have to be separated.

There’s a good chance that she’ll move to Tokyo when she goes to college, and there are plenty of ways to keep in touch with her even though we’re far apart.

There’s no way I’m going to destroy the relationship we have.

I made up my mind like that and pressed the answer button.

“Hello–“

“Why didn’t you pick up right away?”

The moment I picked up the phone, I heard a loud voice that made my eardrums keel over.

It was a terrible shout.

It was also a tearful voice.

“Sorry …….”

As the class rep yelled at me in tears, I could tell how she felt and I apologized to her.

Then, with a small sniffling sound, I heard her voice.

“Oh, even if you apologize, ……. Why are you suddenly changing schools ……?　Why don’t you come to school ……?”

The class rep was a little distraught and asked me in an uncharacteristically weak, infantile voice.

I felt sorry for her, but I tried to keep my voice as gentle as possible and just told her the truth.

“I’m sorry, but it’s necessary.”

“What’s …… that for? Is it for Nekoto-chan?”

The class rep was there when the incident happened.

And since I was alone and separated from the others, she probably imagined that some kind of exchange had taken place.

I think the class rep is a little too intuitive.

“No, it has nothing to do with Nekoto-chan. It’s my family’s business.”

Telling the truth about her here would not help.

Rather, I thought of the possibility that Nekoto-chan might not like it, so I quickly lied to the class rep.

“Is it really the truth ……?”

“It’s true, I’m being sent to a relative’s house in Tokyo.”

This way, that kind, caring girl wouldn’t be able to step in.

It was a dirty trick, but I couldn’t help it because I couldn’t explain it properly.

“…………”

As expected, the class rep was unable to say anything.

I’m sure she thinks she’s going to hurt me if she says something bad.

It’s a cowardly way to take advantage of a kind girl, but it can’t be helped because I can’t let her step in.

But of course, I don’t intend to let it end like this.

“Don’t worry. It’s not like they’re going to treat me badly.”

“But …… if you go far away from me, I won’t be able to see you …….gusu~.”

“It’s not like this is an eternal goodbye, so don’t cry, class rep.”

“No, I’m not crying. ……!”

When the class rep heard my words, she immediately denied them.

She’s crying no matter how you listen to her, but she’s still a strong girl in a weird way.

“I see. But it’s not goodbye forever. I’m sure I’ll be back for a long vacation, and if I want to talk to you, I can call you or use chat apps like this. So you don’t have to consider it so seriously.”

Dad would stay, so I could go home for the long vacations.

And if they had any problems or got into trouble, they could talk on the phone like this.

So there is no need for the class rep to cry about anything.

“…… Kazehaya-kun is a very cold person, aren’t you ……?”

“Eh!?”

I thought I was trying to be nice to her, but she said something I didn’t expect, and I was surprised.

The class rep continued to speak to me.

” Are you sure you will come back every time you have a long vacation ……?”

“Ah, yes.”

“You’ll be in touch every day, won’t you, ……?”

“Un.Understood.”

I can only nod to the class rep’s words, who sounds as if she’s clinging to me, probably because she just took a kind of preemptive strike.

I felt that if I denied even the slightest thing here, I would be called a cold person again.

And just like that, I was kind of pushed into it, and in the end, I promised to call her every day.

It was the result of a conversation that went on without me really understanding.

However, the voice of the committee member was a little brighter when she hung up the phone, so maybe this was a good thing.

–is what I thought, but …….

“Was she more lonely than I realized ……?”

“–Can you please stop creating new problems when I take my eyes off you?”

“==eh?”

Remembering the state of the class rep earlier, I let out a mutter to myself. And before I knew it, Yomi-san was standing behind me and gave me a disapproving look.

I didn’t sense her at all…….

“Yo, Yomi-san, ……?　How long have you been there, ……?”

“Who knows?”

I was not sure how long she had been there, so I asked her, and she tilted her head with a blank expression that did not allow me to read her thoughts.

It seems that she is trying to play dumb.

However, she didn’t intend to stop there and opened her mouth immediately.

“I don’t care who you make a promise to, but if you have to agonize over it later, Yomi will have no hand in it.”

“Well, what are you mad about ……?”

“Nothing. ……”

I don’t understand what happened, but Yomi-san turned her head and walked out of the room.

She seemed to be angry or sulking, but what on earth was wrong with her?

And what does she mean she has no hand in it if I agonized over it ……?

–I was wondering about Yomi-san’s attitude and words, but at that time I never imagined that I would soon learn the answer.

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TN: Well, it’s gonna be awkward..

IMPATIENT MTL READER

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