Chapter 12 - Childhood Friends or Fated Acquaintances
Day 4 (Wednesday)
I arrived at the station, passed through the ticket gate, and as I rushed onto the platform, I noticed Mion-san… Izumo-san.
"Morning."
"Mornin'…"
I quickly scanned around and found a line where that smelly old man from yesterday wasn't, so I let Izumo-san go first and lined up behind her.
It's better to guard her from behind in situations like this. Or rather…
"It'd be nice if you had a friend to commute with."
"…"
"Hm? Oh, me? I don't mind at all."
When I replied, she nodded vigorously. It seemed I had successfully deciphered her meaning.
Wait, am I really okay?
Soon, the train arrived, and we both boarded. It wasn't too crowded today.
I figured it would be fine with this level of crowding, but just in case, I took a spot next to Izumo-san.
Suddenly, I felt a gaze and looked around briefly… Bell-buchou was in the next car, grinning at me…
"Morning."
"Shou. You really…"
"Yeah, yeah, I know, flag, flag."
I lightly brushed off Nat and took my seat, and then Iincho came over with a serious expression.
"Ise-kun, you…"
"Whoa, whoa, what's with the misunderstanding, even you, Iincho?"
Anyway, if some strange misunderstanding made Izumo-san uncomfortable, I'd feel bad.
I briefly explained what happened yesterday to clear up Iincho's misunderstanding.
It's a good opportunity, so maybe I should get Iincho and Izumo-san together…
With that thought, I looked towards the front of the classroom and saw Izumo-san staring intently at me.
Yeah, sorry, I feel kind of bad because of me…
When I gave a slight beckoning gesture, she smoothly stood up from her seat and trotted over to me.
"Izumo-san. Well, I guess you know, this is Iincho, the class representative."
"Ise-kun, that's not an explanation. Um, I'm Kashima Kyoko. I'm… the class representative, so feel free to talk to me if you have any problems, okay?"
Iincho, couldn't you be a bit more… straightforward? Like, 'Let's be friends' would be fine, wouldn't it?
Izumo-san, after being told this, looked back and forth between my face and Iincho's.
Hm? Asking what our relationship is?
"Nat and I… Kashihara and Kashima-san, we were in the same class from elementary to junior high. And Iincho has been the class representative forever, so we call her Iincho."
"Rather, an Iincho who isn't the class representative isn't an Iincho."
I feel like Nat just uttered some profound truth, but I'll ignore it.
Hearing that, Izumo-san seemed convinced.
"Nice to meet you…"
she murmured softly.
Iincho looked relieved. I was also a bit relieved.
"Alright, homeroom's starting!"
With the chime, Yata… Kumano-sensei appeared.
She glanced at Izumo-san and me, then seemed a little happy to see Nat and Iincho there.
Yeah, well, I guess the teacher was curious too…
…
…
…
"Alright, I'm off to club. See ya tomorrow, Shou!"
The moment homeroom ended, Nat dashed off. He really loves running, that guy.
Well, well, I guess I should head to club too…
As I packed my things, Izumo-san suddenly appeared in front of me.
"Hm, let's go."
Izumo-san, nodding vigorously, clung closely to me… Was I being misunderstood again?
The gazes of the remaining classmates felt lukewarm somehow. Still, it wouldn't be good to react weirdly here.
Well, Iincho should explain things properly eventually…
"Ise-kun, Izumo-san, you're heading to club activities now, right?"
"Huh, yeah, we are."
As we left the classroom, Kumano-sensei, who should have left earlier, was waiting for us.
Um, if she had business, wouldn't the classroom have been fine?
"I meant to give you the club room key, but I forgot! Usually Katori-san comes to the faculty room to get it, but from today on, I'll hand it to the two of you."
I see, if that's the case, I accepted the club room's card key.
"On days I show up for club activities, I can collect it, but if not, please return it to the faculty room."
"Understood, but wouldn't we be disturbing you if you're having a faculty meeting or something?"
"It's fine! It'll just remind us that it's 'that time already!'"
…Right.
"Well, the key's here, so no one else has arrived yet, I guess."
I unlocked the Cybernetics Club room, located at the far end of the second floor of the cultural club building, and went inside.
Izumo-san quickly sat at her desk and put on her VR HMD, then pleaded with her eyes for me to do the same quickly.
There was no need to delay, so I put it on too and started it in real view.
"Shou-kun, thank you for introducing me to Kashima-san."
Suddenly, Izumo-san… Mion-san whispered to me, giving me a shiver.
"Iincho is very caring and the type who likes to be relied on, so Mion-san, you don't have to hold back."
"Mm… Were you with Kashihara-kun and her all the time?"
"Yeah. Those two were the only ones who were in the same class as me the whole time, I think."
"What kind of relationship?"
"What kind, you ask? Hmm…
Nat, Iincho, and I were always in the same class from elementary to junior high, in the school district south of the station.
In elementary school, Nat and I were treated as a set because Iincho would get mad at us every time we did something stupid. In junior high, we matured a bit, but were we still the same?
When all three of us decided to apply to Mitsumori University Affiliated High School, Iincho was apparently told something like, 'Are you really going to go look after those two idiots again?'…
I roughly explained all that,
"Well, I guess you could call it an old habit, or an inseparable connection."
and concluded with that.
"Hmm…"
Huh? Did something not please her?
"Shou-kun. Call me Mion."
"Eh, no, that's probably not a good idea, is it?"
"Nothing's wrong with it. You call Nat and Iincho by their nicknames, but calling only me Izumo-san feels formal."
No, I mean, that's one thing, but calling her 'Mion' without an honorific is a bit different, isn't it?
Besides, Izumo-san's name is Mio, so it'd be like calling her by her first name without an honorific even if I didn't mean to… I was about to say, but I felt pressure from her gaze.
"Alright… Mion."
"Mm, Shou-kun."
Huh? Izumo-san… Mion, who hardly ever speaks in her real voice, doesn't call me anything, and somehow this feels like a losing deal for me?
As I was thinking that,
"Sorry, sorry, I'm a bit late, aren't I?"
Katori-buchou appeared, as if to interrupt my thoughts.