The door slid open with a heavy rattle.
Heads turned toward me immediately. I felt the weight of their gazes from every corner of the room.
What is it? I only missed one day...
I ignored the attention and took my seat, but almost instantly, two girls approached my desk.
"Morning, Takanashi-kun."
"I heard you caught a cold. Are you feeling better now?"
These two had really been talking to me a lot lately. It wasn't exactly a bother, but I couldn't help but wonder why the sudden interest.
"Yeah, I slept the whole weekend. I’m fine now."
"I see. That’s good."
"If a friend stayed sick for too long, the kind Natsumi-senpai would be heartbroken, after all."
I’d wondered why they were being so friendly, but... could these two be part of the rumored Natsumi Yuzuki Fan Club?
"Hey... by any chance, are you two members of Natsumi-senpai's Fan Club?"
"Yep!"
"You've finally taken an interest. Let's get along! A friend of Natsumi-senpai is a friend of ours."
The pieces finally clicked. So that was it. But wouldn't they usually view me as a pest for being close to her?
"As far as the fan club is concerned, don't you find me annoying?"
"Not at all. Natsumi-senpai is friendly and great at looking after her juniors, so she's popular, but she doesn't actually have many people she treats as true friends. There are plenty of people who are jealous, sure, but our ironclad rule is to treasure Natsumi-senpai's friends."
"Stealing a march is forbidden, so it would be a different story if you were actually aiming for Natsumi-senpai herself—friend or not. But since Takanashi-kun is with Satsukawa-senpai, everyone feels relieved."
"Huh!?"
Wait, what? Me... "with" Sara-senpai?
"Oh? Everyone in the fan club knows, you know. You're pretty easy to read."
"And Satsukawa-senpai clearly treats Takanashi-kun as someone special, too."
There was no way... No, if that were the case, wouldn't someone have said something to me by now?
"If you ever have trouble with Satsukawa-senpai's Fan Club, we’ll help you out."
"Those guys are total creeps, but their unity is incredible... which I guess makes them even creepier."
I didn't recall them ever doing anything to me personally.
"They're just a bunch of cowards who can't do a thing in front of Satsukawa-senpai herself. As long as you're with her, you're safe."
"They've done things that caused trouble for Natsumi-senpai too, so we're basically enemies. We’re on your side, Takanashi-kun. If anything happens, come talk to us."
"Er, thanks?"
The first bell rang, signaling the start of the day.
"Well then, it must be tough right after recovering from illness, but do your best today."
"Thanks..."
I understood the situation now, but still... a fan club, huh? I wondered if Sara-senpai even knew her own fan club existed, and what she would think if she did.
Lunch break arrived, and I headed out to the flowerbed.
Since I’d been on a strict recovery diet until yesterday, it felt like ages since I'd had a proper meal.
When I reached the flowerbed, preparations already seemed to be finished. Given the distance from the classrooms, the second-years should have arrived here first, but even so, they were remarkably fast.
"Sorry to keep you waiting!"
"Hello, Takanashi-san. We only just arrived ourselves, so please do not worry."
"Hello, Takanashi-kun."
"Hello to both of you."
As Senpai stood up, she walked directly toward me. Ah, I guess she really is going to check...
"There doesn't seem to be any change compared to this morning."
She placed her hand on my forehead, then reached out to check the temperature of my neck as well, her touch lingering for a moment before she finally stepped back.
"............"
Natsumi-senpai was staring at us, her mouth hanging open in a daze.
"Y-Yes. I feel fine physically, too."
"I am glad to hear it. However, I will check on you after school as well, understood?"
What was she planning to do after school? She surely wasn't expecting me to go to the Student Council Room, was she?
"Now then, shall we have our meal?"
"Yes, I'm actually pretty hungry..."
"...How are you both acting like nothing happened? Do you really think that's normal...?" Natsumi muttered under her breath.
"Natsumi? Are you not going to eat?"
"I'm eating, but I'm just troubled because I've been full since this morning."
"Please be careful not to overeat, all right?"
"......"
For some reason, Natsumi-senpai directed a sharp glare my way.
The afternoon homeroom finally ended.
My health condition hadn't exactly worsened, but between the fatigue of my first day back and the likelihood that I still had a slight fever, I felt completely drained. I wanted to get home and lie down as soon as possible.
"Are you okay, Takanashi-kun?"
"Your complexion isn't bad, but... you look like you're struggling."
It had been a while since a classmate had spoken to me with such genuine, simple concern. It made me a little happy.
"Yeah, I'm a bit wiped out. I think I need to go home and lie down..."
I had told Takanashi-san that I would check on him after school, but I wondered if he was still in his classroom.
He was still recovering from illness, and he had been running a slight fever earlier...
Although it was only a short meeting today, I couldn't skip out on my Student Council duties. In truth, I wanted nothing more than to walk him all the way home myself.
He'd seemed alright during the lunch break, but I knew I couldn't be careless.
It looked like homeroom was over for his class; students were already streaming out into the hall.
I pulled the door open.
"Excuse me."
Takanashi-san was indeed still inside... wasn't... he?
...What was this? Who were those two?
I caught myself. He was just talking to his classmates. What was I doing? This would not do. I had to remain calm.
Perhaps I should wait for them to finish?
...But even so, wasn't their distance a little too close? They were being far too familiar with him.