I noticed something was off with Amanatsu right after our conversation on the stairs.
Simply put, our eyes met way too often during random, fleeting moments.
And yet, every time our gazes crossed, just as I thought her face was flushing red, her expression would instantly darken and she would look away.
She still hadn't returned my handkerchief either. Feeling uneasy, I finished the last class of the day and was packing my things into my bag when I overheard the voices of a blonde gyaru and Amanatsu.
"School's finally over, ugh. Seriously, what's even the point of studying contemporary Japanese? We can talk in everyday life just fine, so there's literally no problem, and I'm living proof. You think so too, right, Nakina?"
"I-I wonder about that..."
At that, the blonde gyaru let out an "Ah," and pressed her hands together in front of her face.
"Speaking of which, I'm super sorry about yesterday's punishment game! I totally didn't expect you to legit cry that hard, Nakina."
"It's fine. You've already apologized a bunch."
"I really thought it'd be more of a funny joke, but thinking back on it, it was totally uncool. Sakura-chan is deep in self-reflection!"
"Ehe," the gyaru giggled, sticking out the tip of her pretty tongue.
Several boys stared blankly, utterly captivated by the sight.
Her name was Sakura Hiiragi.
The girl who occupied the undisputed top position in our class.
Well-proportioned looks paired with a model-like build.
Rumor had it she had tens of thousands of followers on social media under the handle "Sakura Cherry."
Well, not that it had anything to do with me since I didn't use social media.
Besides, what was with "Sakura Cherry"? No matter how you looked at it, it was totally redundant.
Her "proof" regarding her Japanese language skills had completely collapsed.
"Uchi is sorry too, Nakina. I did a bad thing. But you could've just said so if you didn't want to do it."
Next, a short girl with a bob cut hugged Amanatsu from behind.
She was Emiri Shinonome.
According to the guys, she was the class's cute "healing" presence. Her charming looks supposedly tugged at boys' heartstrings or whatever.
Incidentally, the very girl claiming she should have just spoken up was the exact person who had cornered a reluctant Amanatsu with "Aren't you being a total buzzkill?" She had the personality of a cesspool.
These two were the ringleaders who had pressured her into the fake confession.
There had been other girls there, but they had just read the room and laughed along.
Judging by the mood among Amanatsu, Hiiragi, and Shinonome, it seemed the issue of Amanatsu crying over the fake confession had been settled.
Whoever Amanatsu hung out with was none of my business.
To begin with, our connection was the kind of relationship that would end as soon as she returned my handkerchief.
(Good thing they made up...)
Just as I muttered that in my mind and moved to stand up from my chair—
Shinonome spoke to the guy sitting across from me in a loud voice that echoed throughout the classroom.
"Ah, hey, hey, listen, Masanori-kun! Yesterday, Nakina confessed to Hatsukade!"
Wait, she literally just apologized, so why is this girl blabbing about it?
Right in front of the victim, no less.
Without paying me any mind, Shinonome swayed her small body in high spirits and approached the boy named Masanori-kun.
"Well? Aren't you surprised?"
"...A confession? Is that for real?"
"Well, it was a fake confession, though!"
"So they're not actually dating."
"Ahaha, it was a fake confession, so of course not!"
Wait, didn't you say to date me for about three days and then dump me?
What happened to your memory?
Then, Shinonome beckoned the other girls over.
"Sakura, back me up! It was a punishment game for losing at Daifugo, right?!"
"Right, right. By the way, I totally swept every round of Daifugo."
"Sakura's stats are way too unfair, being good at everything she does. Ah, yeah, Masanori-kun, so then, because Amanatsu lost and said she'd do whatever, it turned into a fake confession!"
"What?!"
Amanatsu's voice rose in shock.
Well, naturally. The way she phrased it made it sound like Amanatsu had taken the initiative.
Now then, what should I do about this hellish atmosphere?
I was clearly being targeted here, yet amazingly, not a single person had noticed my presence.
Just how nonexistent is my shadow?
Amanatsu alone, however, had been darting glances at me for a while now, her face turning pale.
"Um, ahaha, shouldn't we drop this topic? It's not something to talk about with people who have nothing to do with it."
When Amanatsu said that, Shinonome curled her lips into a smirk.
"Aww, could it be that you're in shock because plain old Hatsukade rejected you, Nakina?"
"Shii-chan, what are you saying?!"
"You're trying to hide it from Masanori-kun because you're embarrassed, right? That has to be it! Ahaha, there's no need to care just because you got dumped by a guy with as much presence as a telephone pole."
Having been casually treated as part of the background scenery, I was reaching my limit.
I stood up briskly and spoke.
"Do you have a second, Amanatsu?"
Wah?!
Don't react like I just made a surprise entrance out of nowhere.
I've been here the entire time, so that's ridiculous.
"Amanatsu, about that promise we made during lunch break—I'd like you to get on it soon."
"...A promise?"
"Did you forget? You said you'd clean the clubroom to apologize for tricking me."
"Eh, ah, was that it? Y-Yeah, I forgot! Let's go!"
Amanatsu stroked her chest in relief, putting on a forced smile.
As I followed her hurried exit from the classroom, I stopped once and turned back toward Shinonome.
"Ah, by the way, my heart skipped a tiny beat because the fake confession came from Amanatsu, but if it had been you, Shinonome, I would've turned you down on pure reflex."
"Hah?! Why?!"
"I mean, Amanatsu's a hundred times cuter than you."
"H-Hatsukadeee!"
"Oops, look at the time..."
With people like this, being compared to someone in their own circle stings the most. Even more so when it's against someone they look down on.
My original plan had been to replace her with some random girl when Amanatsu gave me the fake confession.
Well, at any rate, it meant the rejection line I'd spent all night thinking up hadn't gone to waste.
◇
Inside the cramped, dust-scented clubroom, I sat on a chair facing Amanatsu.
It was fine and all that I had pulled her out on the spot, but I had nothing to say.
Amanatsu fidgeted, kneading her fingertips.
Observing her again, you really couldn't tell at first glance that her appearance was a high school debut. A petite face brimming with charm, and an overall soft demeanor that felt slightly airheaded. She had bragged that it was the power of makeup, but if that were true, all of humanity would have to be as cute as her for things to balance out.
"A-About what you said earlier..."
Amanatsu murmured quietly, and I tilted my head.
"Which part?"
"...The part about me being cuter than Shii-chan."
"Ah. Shinonome's dumbfounded face was pretty hilarious, wasn't it?"
"Nobody asked about that!"
"Then what do you want to hear?"
"...Ah, no, I just wondered if you really meant that."
Amanatsu turned an expectant gaze toward me.
"A hundred times might have been an exaggeration, but it's an objective fact that you're cuter, Amanatsu."
"I see... Ehehe."
Amanatsu's eyes narrowed into a soft, squishy smile.
What value was there in getting complimented by a gloomy loner like me?
"Thanks for saving me. We didn't actually promise to clean the clubroom, did we?"
"It would've been awkward for you if things stayed like that, right? The mood was heading toward badmouthing me."
"Y-Yeah... Everyone's so weird. Hatsukade-kun isn't plain at all."
"Huh? What are you talking about?"
"Eh?"
"Amanatsu, you're being a little strange."
"Why am I the one getting attacked here?!"
"Because me being plain is an objective fact."
"...Y-You're way too self-deprecating."
"A fair assessment and an insult are two different things. Shinonome's intention was the latter, so I just fired back."
Before I knew it, Amanatsu had stood up, puffing out her cheeks in a pout.
"T-That's not true! Hatsukade-kun isn't plain in the slightest! I think anyone with a firm sense of self is without exception cool!"
"Alright, I get it, so calm down."
"You don't look even the slightest bit happy?!"
"Because I don't care about other people's opinions."
"...Other people... I mean, that's true, but still, 'other people'... Ugh."
Slumping back into her chair dejectedly, Amanatsu looked around the clubroom.
Books were packed tightly onto the shelves against the wall, and various pieces of junk were scattered in the corner of the room.
"By the way, what is this room?"
"The Comprehensive Entertainment Research Club's room."
"Huh, so you actually do club activities, Hatsukade-kun."
"I don't do anything. I've never even seen a member other than myself."
"Ah, so you're in the go-home club."
In this school where the culture of mandatory club participation remained, there were several slacker clubs composed entirely of ghost members. This clubroom, filled with a mix of classics, light novels, and aged manga magazines, was one of them.
"I come here occasionally to kill time. What club are you in, Amanatsu?"
"The Handicrafts Club, along with Shii-chan and the others. Even the third-year president said she didn't know where the clubroom was."
Just disband that club already.
"I'm jealous that you have a place to catch your breath like this."
"You don't need a gloomy place like this, Amanatsu."
"I-I do need it! How much care do you think I have to take every single day in the classroom?! Girls' conversations are incredible, you know! It's a nonstop back-and-forth of stabbing and slashing in perfect unison! If you let your guard down for even a second, you get sliced clean across the back from behind!"
"Just to confirm, you are talking about friends here, right?"
"Yup! Ahh, reading the room has gotten even harder since the fake confession. I have no idea how I'm supposed to interact with everyone starting tomorrow."
"Why bother associating with them if it's that painful?"
"Because they're the first friends I've made since elementary school..."
"Elementary school?"
"Ah!"
There was a clatter as a chair tilted.
Amanatsu flapped her mouth open and closed like a goldfish.
"T-That didn't count!"
"..."
"I had friends, totally normally! It wasn't that bad!"
"I haven't said a word."
I felt like I caught a glimpse of why Amanatsu yearned so much for the sparkling, popular girl lifestyle.
Her face had turned terribly pale after that slip of the tongue.
"This is the worst. My high school debut got found out, and now even the fact that I didn't have friends... You're totally creeped out, right?"
"Why would I think that? If anything, just how hard did you work, Amanatsu?"
"...H-Hatsukade-kun?"
"I thought I gave you enough credit, but I was still way off. Aren't you kind of amazing?"
"...!"
I had no intention of imitating her, but if someone told me to do the same thing Amanatsu did, I could say with certainty that it would be absolutely impossible.
"Huh, what's wrong? Your face is red."
"I-It's nothing."
Murmuring breathlessly, she directed a strangely feverish gaze at me.
Right then, the clubroom door abruptly swung open.
"Ah, there you are, Nakina! I was looking for you!"
"Sakura?!"
Sakura Hiiragi walked into the room.
"W-Why are you here, Sakura?"
"You got snatched by Hatsukade, so I came to check on you out of worry."
Having said that, Hiiragi pointed a finger at me.
"Hey, don't you think what you did earlier was totally out of line?!"
"What are you talking about?"
"Because of you, Hatsukade, Shii-chan got put in a terrible mood and it was awful! It's such a pain, so go apologize to her."
I couldn't tell if she was being serious.
I couldn't comprehend why I was the one who was supposed to apologize.
A cold wave of calm washed over my mind with surprising speed.
"I didn't say anything weird, did I?"
"Hah?! No, no, no, you were totally instigating by saying Nakina's a hundred times cuter!"
"If you heard that as instigation, does that mean you and Shinonome secretly think Amanatsu is cuter deep down?"
"W-Why would you jump to that?!"
"Then, can I take it that you consider Amanatsu below Shinonome, Hiiragi?"
"...What are you even talking about, seriously?"
When I smirked, sweat formed on Hiiragi's forehead as she rapidly darted her gaze back and forth between me and Amanatsu.
"Hurry up and answer."
"I-I can't say something like that! We're friends, so neither of us is above or below the other!"
"Look who's talking. Because compared to the other guys, you clearly look down on me, don't you?"
"...I don't."
"I'm sure you heard from Amanatsu, but I saw the scene where you were trying to make her do the fake confession. You said it back then, right? 'Hatsukade will be happy to make a faint, once-in-a-lifetime memory too, right?'"
"...Ugh."
"Isn't that a remark you can only make if you look down on someone?"
Like playing a game of tsume shogi, I closed off my opponent's escape routes one step at a time.
When I let out a mocking scoff, Hiiragi visibly grimaced.
"...I didn't mean any harm by it."
There it was, the classic criminal excuse.
I don't remember, I had no malicious intent.
"Who would ever believe that?"
"I-It's the truth! Hatsukade is always a loner, so I thought even if it was fake, getting confessed to by Nakina might make you a little happy!"
"Your brain is way too happy-go-lucky. What would you have done if I actually liked Amanatsu?"
"...T-That's... But you didn't like her, right?"
"That's just hindsight. Sure, I don't have a single millimeter of romantic feelings for Amanatsu. But if that had been the case..."
"Ah, fine, I get it, I get it, I was in the wrong, okay?! I'm. Sor. Ry! Happy now?!"
"No, I don't sense any sincerity. Bow your head lower."
"Ghh... I am very sorry! What is your problem?! Sigh, let's go, Nakina... Nakina?"
Hiiragi grabbed Amanatsu's arm and tried to start walking.
However, Amanatsu, standing there in a daze, didn't budge an inch.
"...Ugh... You... You didn't have to put it so bluntly..."
"Nakina... Wait, no way."
Peering into Amanatsu's face, Hiiragi gasped and stared intently at me.
"Hmm, aha, so that's how it is."
With a suggestive smile, Hiiragi's lips curled up like a crescent moon.
"Come on, Nakina, let's go."
"Okay."
Keeping her eyes fixed on me the entire time, Hiiragi closed the clubroom door.
That was a whirlwind of a development.
By the way, what was with that meaningful expression?
In the end, my handkerchief wasn't returned once again.