"Good morning."
"Good morning, Natsumi."
Since Natsumi-senpai was already waiting at the convenience store, Sara-san and I joined up with her there.
"............"
Natsumi-san stared blankly at us, her expression unreadable.
"Natsumi, is something the matter?"
When Sara-san spoke to her curiously, Natsumi-senpai shifted her gaze from Sara-san to me, paused to process something, and then finally spoke.
"So, Sara wasn't at our usual meeting spot, so I figured you might already be at the convenience store and came here first. But... which way did you two just come from?"
"Which way? We came from Kazunari-san's house."
Despite being asked for a direction, Sara-san flatly stated she had come from my place without a second thought.
Natsumi-senpai looked predictably exasperated.
"If you were going to go pick up Takanashi-kun, you could have at least sent a message letting me know."
"You're right. So much happened last night that I didn't have the presence of mind to contact you, Natsumi... I apologize."
Well, she did end up staying the night quite suddenly. And my story from last night had been fairly long.
"Sigh... fine. You always prioritize Takanashi-kun anyway. Let's get going."
I was relieved she didn't dig deeper into what had happened last night.
Walking to school with the three of us felt familiar, yet different. The biggest change, of course, was that Sara-san and I were now lovers.
"Man, summer vacation is really over..."
"Yes. There are many events in the second semester, so the Student Council will be quite busy as well."
Thinking about the schedule for the second semester... the big one would be the School Festival. What else was there?
"Let's see, the School Festival, the Ball Games Tournament... oh, and the school trip!" Natsumi-senpai reminded us.
That's right, the second-years had a school trip coming up.
...Wait. That meant we wouldn't be able to see each other for several days.
"Um... how long is the school trip exactly?"
"I think it's a week?"
A whole week... and two more days on top of that? No, stop it, me! I mentally steeled myself for having such pathetic thoughts.
"Is something wrong?" Natsumi-senpai asked, noticing my reaction.
I couldn't blame her for being confused. It probably made no sense to see someone react so gloomily to the dates of their own fun school trip.
"Ah, I had forgotten. A whole week..." Sara-san looked at me, resting her hand on my arm. "Natsumi, I will be canceling my participation in the school trip. Please enjoy it for the both of us."
"Wait, what?! Why would you do that?"
"I cannot bear the thought of being away from Kazunari-san for an entire week."
No, no, no. You can't skip something as important as a school trip, no matter what.
"Sara-san, the school trip is important. You have to go."
I'd need to find the right time to persuade her, but she looked dead serious. I felt like kicking myself for even having those pathetic thoughts for a moment.
"Kazunari-san... to not see you for a week... I..."
"I feel the same way, but you have to go. If you skipped it because of me, I’d never be able to forgive myself."
"Kazunari-san... you'd do that for me?"
"Sara-san, you're the one doing it for me..."
Sara-san gazed at me, looking deeply moved. As the distance between us narrowed...
"Okay, look, it's the first day of the new semester. How long are you two going to keep up this comedy routine?"
It was a perfectly typical scene.
We arrived at school and entered the classroom.
The event-filled summer vacation was finally over, and the second semester was beginning.
Knowing I didn't have to worry about my summer vacation homework made my heart feel incredibly light. I really had to thank Sara-san for that.
"Morning!"
"Good morning, Takanashi-kun!"
"Morning~"
Even students who weren't part of Natsumi-senpai’s or Hayato’s fan clubs were greeting me. After the talk we had yesterday, this simple scene felt newly precious to me.
I noticed the usual trio was missing their usual energy. Yamakawa was frantically working on his homework. If it weren't for Sara-san, that would have been me. Kawamura and Tanaka were trying to help him out.
"Morning."
"Yo, Takanashi. Been a while."
"Morning. From the looks of it, you haven't ended up like Yamakawa."
Yamakawa looked so desperate it was as if he didn't even have the breath to return a greeting.
"Will he make it in time?"
"Doubt it. But he’s at that stage where he knows that and has to try anyway."
"I see... tell him to hang in there."
That was all I could say. Then, the bell rang mercilessly, and morning homeroom began.
The sleepy opening ceremony ended. Since it was only the first day, there wasn't much else on the schedule.
"Hayato, about that thing we discussed... I have Student Council business today, so how about tomorrow instead?"
"Sure. Today is the first club activity of the semester, so I can't be late either. Tomorrow works better for me too."
Hayato had come over during the break, so I told him I wanted to talk. It seemed tomorrow was better for him as well. In that case, I would tell him everything then.
"Got it. After school tomorrow, then."
"Yeah. See you tomorrow."
If I talked to him before Yuzuha made a move, I could neutralize any lies she might try to tell him. I'd tell him to be on guard and just handle things appropriately...
Though, there was always the possibility I was just worrying over nothing.
School ended after a half-day today.
After eating my bento by the flowerbed for the first time in a while and doing the watering, I headed to the Student Council Room.
The teachers had looked after the garden during summer vacation, but they were a bit lax with things like weeding.
After school, the Student Council meeting focused mainly on new semester greetings and confirming upcoming events.
"The School Festival is one thing, but my term as Student Council President is also coming to an end, so we'll be having a Presidential Election," the President announced.
That's right. The President is a third-year, so the handover happens in the second semester. That meant someone would have to become the next President... but Sara-san was the only logical choice.
"If Satsukawa-san runs, we wouldn't even need to hold an election..." one member suggested.
"I have no interest in the position of President," Sara-san replied flatly. "If I have time for such things, I would much rather spend it taking care of Kazunari-san."
".................."
Oh boy. How was I supposed to fix the atmosphere in this room?
"...She called him by his first name."
"...Something definitely happened over summer vacation."
"...Is it true? Are they actually dating?"
"...No way... Satsukawa-san... our Princess..."
"...Wait, what exactly does 'taking care of Takanashi-kun' involve?"
"W-Well, there’s still time for that, so there’s no need to decide right now," the President stammered.
It was rare to see the President looking so flustered. Apparently, he hadn't heard anything from Natsumi-senpai yet.
For today, we finished up after going through the general schedule of events.