Amanatsu and Shinonome stared at each other, their faces deathly pale, frozen in place like statues.
"Nakina..."
"Ah, um, ahaha, seriously, my timing is the absolute worst, isn't it?! Don't worry, I swear I won't breathe a word of what I heard to anyone!"
"That's not it... Could it be that you are too, Nakina?"
To that question, Amanatsu let out a smug chuckle, tracing her upper lip with an index finger.
"My bad, my bad. I'm infamous for failing to read the room, so I have no idea what you're talking about, Shii-chan. Typical of me, right?!"
Where was the brag-worthy point in any of that?
Acting utterly bizarre, Amanatsu kept forcing out hollow, meaningless laughs.
"No, that's not what I mean. I didn't know anything, and I never meant for this to happen..."
"Huh, whatever could you mean? It's not like I'm thinking, Shii-chan is giving Hatsukade-kun the gaze of a maiden in love, which completely overlaps with my feelings, or anything like that. Truly, you know?"
"Nakina?!"
Panicking, Shinonome seized Amanatsu's shoulders and shook her. With a bright red face, she briefly glanced back at me.
"Hatsukade, don't look!"
You're doing that right in the doorway; that's an impossible ask.
"Nakina, calm down too! Let's be rational!"
"Right, right, I don't understand a single thing right now either!"
Acting terribly suspicious as sweat drenched her forehead, Amanatsu spun around on her heel.
"Ah, I think I just remembered an urgent errand!"
"Wait, Nakina!"
"Oh, right! Shii-chan... I was really happy we made up too!"
With a face that looked ready to spit blood at any second, Amanatsu sniffled, gave a thumbs-up, and dashed down the stairs at full speed.
Slipping past the utterly stunned Shinonome, I took my usual spot and peeled open the plastic wrap of my convenience store egg salad sandwich.
"No way... How could this..."
Staring blankly as she muttered that, Shinonome chased after Amanatsu with the stumbling gait of a zombie, while I watched her go between bites of my lunch.
Yeah, this is nowhere near as good as the bakery's egg salad sandwich.
◇
Several days passed.
In the end, by self-reporting her misconduct, Shinonome received a one-week suspension.
It might seem like a somewhat heavy punishment.
I don't know what kind of judgment the school handed down, but I suspect part of it was that Shinonome herself had strongly requested it.
Knowing her, especially after delivering such a dignified apology in front of the entire class, she probably wanted to wipe the slate completely clean.
That fake confession incident was the kind of thing that could ruin someone's life if done to the wrong person.
It was fortunate that Amanatsu was able to return to school, but had things ended differently, a one-week suspension wouldn't have been enough.
Thinking about it that way, it was probably a fair decision.
Having resolved things between the parties involved and properly served her punishment, Shinonome would no longer have any reason for people to point fingers behind her back. I think it was a meaningful suspension for her as well.
As for Katsurama, since I was the victim who got hit, I was told the detailed outcome of the whole affair.
To put it briefly, the school advised him to withdraw voluntarily, and he left.
It was effectively an expulsion.
Well, it doesn't matter much to me, but if he were still around, Shinonome wouldn't feel safe, so this seemed appropriate too.
When the final period ended and I was packing my things, Hiiragi caught my eye as she chatted cheerfully with our classmates.
"So yeah, Shii-chan and I are besties. We keep in touch every day even during her suspension, having girl talks and asking for advice and stuff."
"Huh, Shii-chan just got rejected, so she must be worrying about a lot. What kind of things do you talk about?"
"T-That's a total secret! But, well, it's along the lines of giving my full support to my friend's love life, y'know?"
That girl really talks about romance every single day without ever getting tired of it.
I stood up from my seat and headed for the clubroom.
Inside, Amanatsu was already waiting.
Her back looked gloomy, and she had been like this ever since that incident on the rooftop.
Even when I sat across from her and opened my paperback book, she kept her head down without uttering a word.
Lately, I've been feeling that my life is getting just a little bit derailed.
I had planned to spend my high school life enjoying myself on my own terms without getting tangled up with anyone.
Things went awry because of Amanatsu's fake confession incident.
Ever since then, I can't shake the feeling that I'm gradually edging closer to a point of no return.
Honestly, I'm not the dense type.
Shinonome's remarks, demeanor, and expression on the rooftop the other day.
And the attitude and flow of conversation between Amanatsu and Shinonome.
I can vaguely deduce what it all means.
If I were a guy whose brain was rotten with romance, this might be the kind of situation where I'd rejoice that my popular phase had finally arrived.
However, I have no intention of dating anyone.
That was a vow I made to myself after growing thoroughly sick of it time and time again with my childhood friend.
If I were ever to engage in romance, I wouldn't be able to accept anyone unless they were far more mature and sensible.
No matter how you look at it, Amanatsu, Shinonome, and Hiiragi are all completely swept up and tossed around by romance.
Watching them like this only makes that resolve grow stronger.
"Amanatsu, just so you know, I have no intention of dating Shinonome."
"...Hatsukade-kun, you're really not cut out for youth, are you?"
"I'll take that as a compliment."
"Even if it's an act, if you aren't more dense, the girl won't get any closure."
"Don't seek salvation from others."
"Even at a time like this, you're still so you."
When Amanatsu finally raised her face, her expression was crumpled like a sour plum from stress.
"I don't know how much you've noticed or what you know, Hatsukade-kun, but that's not the only reason I'm feeling down."
"Did something happen?"
"Shii-chan, you know... seeing her stand up so fair and square like that, I thought she was really admirable... And I have something I need to apologize to you for, Hatsukade-kun."
Saying that, Amanatsu looked at me uneasily.
"When I returned to high school, you spread false rumors so it would be easier for me to come back to class, right? Saying the reason I couldn't come to school was that you badmouthed me and drove me into a corner."
"..."
"I really should have told everyone the truth right away. But because I'm selfish, I thought that if things stayed like that, I could keep the spot next to you all to myself. I thought that since you don't date, you'd stay with me and look only at me, at least throughout high school. Even though I knew everyone in class would hate you for it... I'm so sorry."
Amanatsu sniffled, tears spilling over.
Just how many times have I seen her cry by now?
I pulled a handkerchief from my pocket and held it out to her.
"...Here."
"...This is from back then."
When Amanatsu opened the folded cloth with both hands, an Akita dog's face was embroidered in the corner. It was my favorite.
"Amanatsu, that was something I did of my own volition. It's not something you should feel responsible for."
"...But."
"If you felt it was a nuisance, I'll apologize. I'll explain it to the class myself. But if not, just leave it as it is. It would make taking the fall pointless, and as I've said many times, I don't care if others hate me. More than that, I believe it's far more important for you to have an easier time at school, Amanatsu."
"...Ha, Hatsukade-kun."
"Do you understand?"
Nodding repeatedly, Amanatsu wiped her tears with the handkerchief.
"Thank you... I'll wash this and return it."
"Don't steal it this time."
"I-I didn't steal it! Not even once!"
Gazing warmly at the handkerchief, Amanatsu murmured softly.
"You're always so blunt, Hatsukade-kun, but you pull off these gentlemanly things so casually."
"Well..."
I started to continue, then stopped myself.
The only reason these actions are second nature to me is that I spent far too much time with my childhood friend. That girl cries at the drop of a hat. But if I said something like that, the girl in front of me might get jealous and start acting weird again.
"I guess it's thanks to my parents' upbringing."
"Yeah, yeah, you do seem like you were raised well."
This girl really is an easy mark.
◇
Now then, I should probably face my own problems soon.
Unintentionally, I'm the one throwing Amanatsu's emotions into disarray.
I don't have confirmation yet, but if Shinonome muscles in on this too, things could get even more troublesome.
Pushing them away would be easy.
I just have to shut everything out.
The problems they carry are problems they should solve themselves.
I could easily draw that line.
In fact, that's what Masanori did.
Without lingering attachments and without giving her false hope, he rejected Shinonome cleanly.
If my only counterpart were Shinonome, I would do the same.
However, Amanatsu's mental state is far too fragile.
If I abandon her, there's no telling what might happen.
No, am I just being overly meddlesome?
Maybe I'm just looking after her too much out of personal sentiment.
As I thought, would the merciful samurai way be to sever things cleanly with a single, decisive stroke of words?
"Heeey, Hatsukade! Let's walk to the station together!"
As I was walking after leaving school, someone slapped my shoulder from behind.
There was only one person who would act so overly familiar.
Turning around, I saw Hiiragi grinning cheerfully.
Her two best friends were so depressed, yet here she was, completely carefree.
"I refuse."
"Hold on, that's way too cold! I've got something I wanna consult you about! About Nakina and Shii-chan!"
"It's fine. The more you worry, the worse the situation gets."
"Don't mess with me! Let me worry too. Look, even though the two of them finally made up, things have been awkward between them ever since that day. At this rate, it'll be hard for Shii-chan to come back, right? Besides, Shii-chan asks me all sorts of questions about Amanatsu every day. I just wanna help her out."
"What kind of questions?"
Hiiragi gave a suspicious, scheming smile.
"I can't tell you that unless you promise to take my consultation seriously~"
That smile was definitely the kind she wore when up to no good.
However, as things stood, the one who gave me the greatest peace of mind was this girl, who had remained devoted to her crush since childhood.
I tried weighing the risks and rewards in my head... Ah, no good; before I could, my sheer aversion to Hiiragi won by a landslide.
"I'm going home."
"Ehh?! I was thinking we could take our time and talk at my place, too!"
"...At your place, you say?"
At that moment, my heart gave a sudden thud.
What was this mysterious exhilaration?
Subconsciously, my feet were already moving toward the station.
I looked back at the nonchalant Hiiragi.
"What are you doing? Let's go, quickly."
To go see Rooney-kun.