Episode 38 – A Day Without The Goddess ( Before)

“Morning, Wait what happened? Your eyes are getting really dark.”
“……..Morning. This is nothing”
“O-Okay…..That’s fine though…”

Today is Friday.
Naka was worried when he saw my face after I got to school.

If I close my eyes, I feel as if I could fall asleep at any moment.
But after today, tomorrow is Saturday. I’m going to go to sleep immediately after I get home…….

Ichikawa san was calm after waking up as if nothing had happened yesterday.
I couldn’t sleep at all.
And even in the morning, we went to school separately today because she had to leave her stuff at home once before going to school.

“G-G-Good morning. Youta”
“Ahh, Good morning”
“Good morning Shinozuka san”

While I was talking to Naka, Suzu came over and sat in the back seat.
The greeting was a little awkward.
But sleepiness prevails and I don’t go so far as to point it out.

“What? Is the tension low?”

So Suzu seemed to have figured out how I was doing.

“I’m sleepy. Leave me alone.”
“H-Haa!? What’s that !! I’ve done so much over here, you should react a little more!”
“That much ?”

What did she do….? A question mark appears in my head with Naka next to me.
Yesterday, I was with Ichikawa san…..Ah yeah, Suzu too!’’

“H-How could you forge—–Ouch!?”

The moment I remembered that, I hurriedly covered Suzu’s mouth.
Dangerous.

“W-What are you doing?!”
“You don’t have to say that!”
“What! You shouldn’t be because you don’t look the least bit embarrassed!”
“No, that’s..”

I’m sorry Suzu, but because Ichikawa san had overwritten my memory, I had forgotten half of it.
If I think about it, that one with Suzu is embarrassing enough when I remember it.
But still …….

Remembering Ichikawa san, my face lights up.
And Suzu makes a face as if she misunderstood something

“The thing is, don’t tell the others okay?’
“Hmm, What should I do~”
“If you say that, I’ll never talk to you again!”
“…….T-That’s not fair!”
“It’s a secret between you and me. Okay?”
“S-Secret….Okay”

Somehow I was able to control Suzu’s outburst
Suzu blushed slightly and then left the classroom as if to escape.
She’s a busy girl.

But if she tried to do that in front of Naka, it would attract attention.

“What? When did Youta become such good friends with Shinozuka san?”
“No…It’s your imagination”

So I fooled him
Ah~, my eyelids are falling off. ……
I couldn’t think of any excuses because of it.

“Komiya kun, Good morning !”

Then, this time, Sakino san, who had just arrived at school, spotted me and calls out to me.
One difficulty goes away and another one comes back.
L-Let me sleep…

But when I saw Sakino san calling out to me, I realized.
Sakino san was alone.

I wonder if she is not with Ichikawa san. They should be going to school together today.

“Good morning, what about Ichikawa san?”
“Aoi? I think she’s having a break today”
“Eh?”
“Do you have something with Aoi?”
“No, not that..”

She didn’t say a word about that in the morning ……
Is there something wrong by any chance?
Did she get sick or something? Or did I lose control yesterday and unknowingly do something …… no, quirky ……? It shouldn’t be.

“She said she had some urgent business to attend to at home.”
“O-ohhh”

I am relieved to hear that one word. I’m glad it was for home.

Hmm? I wonder what Ichikawa san said yesterday when she stayed at my house.
Maybe her parents found out she stayed the night without telling them? It’s not like that’s why she can’t come to school, is it? ……　I’ll call her later to confirm.

Then Sakino san was still fidgeting in front of me after the greeting and didn’t return to her seat.

“H-Hey”

Then she spoke again to me in a hushed tone. she still had something to do.

“Can I have a word with you later?”
“Word? What kind?”
“That’s a secret !!”

Secret….I wonder what she will say.
What did I do to Sakino san?

“Oi oi, Shizuka. What? You want to be friends with him too?”

Seeing me and Sakino san like this, I could hear them laughing.
There is only one person who makes this offensive laugh.

It’s Nagano, the man who approaches us with a silly grin.

It seems like it’s becoming a thing to get involved when I’m talking to someone else.
Does he hate me that much? I haven’t done anything to Nagano in particular……

“What, Kakeru? What’s it to you, Kakeru? It’s up to me which classmates I get along with.”
“Ugh”

But Sakino san stepped forward to defend me and directly contradicted Nagano.
Nagano flinched when he was told in a very clear manner that he did not expect to be confronted

“W-What do you like about him?”
“There’s nothing good or bad about it. I’m just talking to my classmates, right? What’s wrong with that?”

It’s exactly the right argument. It’s annoying to be confronted every time you talk to a classmate.

“At least he doesn’t make fun of others like Kakeru does these days, and that makes him easy to talk to, and unlike Kakeru, I think he’s fun to talk to.”

[I’m used to be like that too] I heard her mutter quietly.
I am sure she is talking about the time I went to school with Ichikawa san before. She had never been made fun of directly, but she had lost sight of Ichikawa san.

“Ha, Haa? You’re saying that guy is better than me?
“I told you there is no good or bad! Why don’t you get it?”

The mood between the two began to sour.

“You should get rid of that kind of persistence. If you’re like that, Shinozuka-san won’t like you either…Kyaa!”
“Hey, you!”
“Ugh!”

I quickly stepped forward to Sakino san.
Nagano became agitated after being talked back, and tried to jam Sakino san with great force.

I don’t think he intended to hit her, but if he had, it is possible that Sakino san would have been scared in some way. No, she may have already been scared.

But nothing really happened. Not even to me in between.

“Kakeru can’t do that either. Calm down a little.”
“Ren…..S-Sorry”

This is because Jinguji stopped Nagano from behind.
Jinguji’s words brought Nagano back to his senses.

“I’m sorry, Shizuka. I’ll have a word with Kakeru. He’s been under a lot of stress lately.
“……….”

Sakino san nodded quietly in agreement.

“Sorry about that, Komiya kun.”
“No….”
“Fiuh”
“Ugh”

Jinguji, smiling for a moment, turns Nagano around.

What a disgusting look in his eyes.
He didn’t say it out loud, but he looked down on me. Such a look.

…… No, He has often been like that

Don’t think of your classmates that way. I think he’s simply a nice guy.

“Tsk. What’s going on …… with both Aoi and Shizuka lately?”
“Yes yes, let’s go”

Swearing, Nagano was taken by Jinguji.

“Are you all right, Sakino san?”
“Y-Yeah…S-sorry. My fault for getting you in trouble again. ……”
“I’m fine, but maybe I shouldn’t have provoked him so much. Nagano seems to be very angry these days.”
“Y-Yeah. Sorry..”

Sakino san apologized and went back to her seat apologetically.

“When did you become such good friends with Sakino san, too?”
“……….It’s your imagination”

Naka had no choice but to mislead once again.

“Et-to, Good morning, what’s wrong?”
“What is this atmosphere?”

Then Suzu, who had just left, and Tohno san, who had just arrived at the school, came in and the doorbell rang.