After school in the afternoon, Kamio Tatsuya didn't go to the library like he usually did. Instead, he went straight to the school gym.
In the morning, Ichinose seemed to have been shocked by something, and ran off without explaining.
So Kamio Tatsuya felt it was necessary to talk to her again, at least to check on how she was doing.
But clearly, no one was there. Ichinose hadn't arrived yet, but it did seem like a good place to say how you feel.
He looked at the time on his phone. It was about ten minutes before four o'clock.
Was she not coming?
Just as that thought crossed his mind, Kamio Tatsuya saw Ichinose walking toward him alone.
"Hey, Ichinose."
"Good afternoon, Kamio-kun. What are you doing here?"
Ichinose gave a weak smile, looking not so good.
"Just checking up on you. You didn't spend the whole day like this, did you?"
"Oh, no. I'm just a little worried about what's going to happen later."
That's good, Kamio Tatsuya thought, he wasn't the reason she was upset.
"About what's going to happen..."
"Um, Ichinose... who is this person?"
Kamio Tatsuya was about to say something when he was interrupted by a voice.
He looked in the direction of the voice, and saw a cute girl with short hair. It seemed this was the main character for today.
He could tell by the hostile look in her eyes.
"He's..."
"I'm Kamio Tatsuya from Class D in the first year. Is there a problem?"
Before Ichinose could speak, Kamio Tatsuya introduced himself.
"Why are you here?"
Hearing that, Kamio Tatsuya found it a little funny. What was this girl's problem?
"Hey, that's a funny thing to ask. The area behind the gym should be a public space, right? You can come, so why can't I? Was this area bought by someone? Or did Class B buy it?"
"I, I didn't mean it like that."
Kamio Tatsuya's words made the girl's face turn red, and she seemed flustered.
"Kamio-kun, please don't tease Chihiro."
Ichinose couldn't stand to watch, so she sighed and stood in front of the girl named Chihiro.
"Ichinose..."
The girl named Chihiro immediately looked tearfully at Ichinose, who had a look of sympathy on her face. Things were looking good for Tachibana.
Oh no, was Ichinose really going to say yes to her?
He couldn't let her go down the wrong path!
"Ichinose, even though there's someone else here, I'll just say it straight. If you don't mind, how about being my girlfriend?"
"Huh?"
"No way!"
Ichinose was completely confused, while Chihiro stood up from behind Ichinose with a serious expression, staring intensely at Kamio Tatsuya.
"I didn't ask you. You don't need to answer, Miss Chihiro."
"My name is Shiranami Chihiro. Please don't call me by my first name so casually." Shiranami Chihiro seemed to have flipped a switch, and bravely met Kamio Tatsuya's gaze.
"Okay then, Miss Shiranami. Could you please step aside? I'm still waiting for Ichinose's answer." Kamio Tatsuya didn't give her any respect.
"I said, no way!"
"What are you to Ichinose? Why are you answering for her?"
"I..."
Shiranami Chihiro opened her mouth, but didn't know what to say.
Then, Ichinose put her hand on Chihiro's shoulder. She understood what Kamio Tatsuya meant.
You mean, I should make this decision myself, right?
No!
Actually, I wanted to say that girls loving girls is great, but they can't have kids!
"I'm sorry, Kamio-kun. You're a good person, but I'm not planning to be in a relationship right now. I just want to lead our class to victory, but we can still be friends."
It seemed like she was saying this to Kamio Tatsuya, but she was facing Shiranami Chihiro.
At this point, Shiranami Chihiro understood what Ichinose meant. She forced a smile, nodded, and then ran away without looking back.
It's a shame there were no tears.
Seeing Shiranami Chihiro's reaction, Ichinose wanted to chase after her, but she didn't move.
"It's better to have a short pain than a long one. I think she'll understand,"
Kamio Tatsuya said casually as he walked next to Ichinose.
"Kamio-kun, weren't you worried that I would just say yes?"
Ichinose seemed a little angry.
"That would have been great. Getting a free girlfriend."
Hearing that shameless answer, Ichinose gave a bitter smile.
"Anyway, thank you for today. Otherwise, I probably would have kept worrying about it, and that would have hurt Chihiro too."
Kamio Tatsuya waved his hand, telling her she didn't need to thank him.
"If there's nothing else, I'll head out."
That should make up for the slip of the tongue this morning.
In the evening, after returning to his dorm room, Kamio Tatsuya took out his phone and sent a message to Sakura Airi.
[Is tomorrow okay?]
He sent the message and waited a long time, but didn't get a reply. Was she busy?
After who knows how long, just as Kamio Tatsuya was sitting in his chair thinking, his phone on the desk suddenly buzzed.
[I, I'm sorry, I don't know if I can.]
[You don't need to apologize. You didn't do anything wrong. Whatever happens, just do what you want to do.]
A long time passed again, but Kamio Tatsuya still didn't get another message from Sakura.
The next day, when Kamio Tatsuya arrived at school, he saw Sakura sitting quietly in her seat as usual, head down, seeming to be lost in thought.
It seemed she still hadn't gotten over it. Oh well, it wasn't a bad thing.
Kamio Tatsuya put his bag on his desk, took out his phone, and started typing a message.
[Don't force yourself. After school, I'll come to your place to get the camera.]
Seeing the message from Kamio Tatsuya, Sakura immediately put her hand on her phone, ready to reply.
But I, delete.
I can, delete.
She typed and deleted over and over, and after a long time, Sakura finally clicked send.
[I'm sorry, I'm just useless.]
[It's okay, just take your time. Until then, you can talk to me about anything.]
After school, Kamio Tatsuya walked to Sakura's seat and took the camera from her desk.
"It's okay, just leave it to me."
Kamio Tatsuya's actions naturally attracted the attention of several people who were watching Sakura.
"Kamio-kun, what are you..."
"It's nothing. I'll be attending today's hearing as a witness."
The room suddenly fell silent.
Whether it was Kushida, Horikita, or Sudou, they were all stunned.
What was going on?
As for Sakura, her mind was blank and she couldn't hear the sounds around her.
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