Saturday
A surge of anxiety washed over me as Takanashi-san walked away.
If I failed to convey the words that truly mattered now, I felt as though something would be lost forever—something irreparable.
I believe in you.
You are different from other boys; you are someone I can truly trust.
I still hadn't been able to say those words...
I tried to chase after him, but Natsumi caught my arm.
"...Let’s just calm down for a moment. Let it go for today."
"Natsumi, I’m not finished. I haven't told him what I—"
"Calm down," Natsumi said, her voice steady as she reasoned with me. "I think Takanashi-kun is being stubborn right now. It’s better to give him some space and wait until he’s settled before you try to make him listen. Don’t rush. Just take it slow the next time you see him. But you know what you have to say first next time, right? Lead with that. I’ll do whatever I can to help you."
"……Yes."
I had never felt so pathetic in my life.
I had selfishly assumed that if I just explained everything meticulously from the beginning, he would listen until the end. Because of that, I failed to convey the most important words of all.
I was so used to avoiding male students and rejecting others that I lacked the basic decency to consider the other person's feelings before I spoke.
It was a day that made me realize my own deficiencies with painful clarity.
Then came Monday.
A lunch break without Takanashi-san...
Watering the plants by myself should have been a normal sight—it was what I had always done—but now, everything felt wrong.
When I looked toward the bench, Takanashi-san wasn't there eating his lunch.
I hadn't been able to bring the bento I intended to make as a thank-you.
The hamburger steak I had practiced so hard to master... Would he ever get to eat it now?
I finished my chores with robotic efficiency. When I went to the entrance to change my shoes, I noticed an envelope tucked inside my shoe locker.
"There is one last thing I want to tell you. I will be waiting on the rooftop after school."
Thinking it was just another confession, I was on the verge of tearing it up when the words "one last thing" caught my eye.
No one had ever opened a letter with a phrase like that before.
...Could it be... Takanashi-san?
Monday
I’d been in a gloom since morning, but I didn't want to skip and have the school contact my aunt or my parents, so I dragged myself to class.
I didn't go to the flowerbed during lunch. I just stayed in the classroom, pretending to sleep.
A worried RAIN message came in from Yuji at one point, but I just gave him a non-committal reply.
...I wondered if Senpai was at the flowerbed alone.
Saturday's conversation had made it clear. To her, I was just like all those other idiots. She didn't even trust me.
If I didn't want to see "those eyes" again, I just had to forget about her.
When school finally ended, I started packing my bags slowly, my heart heavy.
It was pure chance that the conversation of the idiots in my class reached my ears.
But... that chance turned out to be a stroke of luck.
"Hey, what’s the plan for today?"
"You mean Yashiro-senpai and his crew?"
"Yeah. Should we go watch?"
"Nah, things might get ugly. I don't want to be labeled an accomplice if they take it too far."
"True. Though I wouldn't mind seeing that haughty Empress crying and screaming for once."
"Aren't they going to film it on their phones?"
...What? What were they talking about?
I knew it was nothing good, but...
Empress?
The only "Empress" these guys would consider haughty... No way... No, it couldn't be.
I feigned composure as I walked out of the classroom, but as soon as I was out of sight, I started sprinting at full speed.
Senpai’s class was 2-B!
In that moment, everything else—my fear of her, my own insecurities, and all my negative thoughts—was wiped clean from my mind.
Someone I knew... someone I couldn't bring myself to turn my back on, someone I still cared for deep down... was about to have something terrible done to her.
If I ignored this and something happened to Senpai, I would regret it for the rest of my life.
I told myself not to think. It didn't matter right now. Even if it wasn't Senpai, I could at least shout a warning.
That was the only thought in my head.
I reached Class 2-B and scanned the room through the open door.
Senpai wasn't there.
What now? I didn't know where they’d gone. Should I search the school?
...No, I might be too late.
Just then, my eyes met a female student looking at me from across the room.
She was definitely the one who had been with Senpai the other day.
She looked surprised for a second, but she hurried over to me immediately.
"Hello, Takanashi-kun. Sorry about the other day. But since you’re here, I guess you weren't the one who called Sara out after all."
"What do you mean? Called her out?"
"Tell me everything," I demanded. "Was Senpai called out somewhere?"
"Yeah, apparently she found a letter in her shoe locker. The phrasing was a bit cryptic, talking about 'one last thing,' so she thought maybe it was from you, Takanashi-san..."
"I didn't send anything. If I had something to say, I’d send it via RAIN."
"Yeah, I told her I didn't think it was you, either. But... she’s in a bit of a fragile state right now."
I didn't have time for a post-mortem!
"Where?! Did she say where she was going?!"
"She said the rooftop—"
I didn't wait for her to finish. I was already running.
Please, let me make it in time!