Eyes, everywhere we looked. They were all fixated on us as we got closer to the school gate. Kids with the same uniform as us were not able to stop gossiping about us, and every one of them just had one question in mind. Just where have we disappeared for so long?
Ai stuck close to my almost hiding herself from everyone. She was more timid around people than before, and anyone could tell that. She had the character of a cheerful, extroverted girl known by everyone in the school, but this difference in her behaviour could be noticed by even the blindest of people. I can already guess the type of things that are being said around us, but I decided not to pay heed to them. Most of them are going to piss off Ai anyway.
"Don't pay mind to them," I said to Ai, and she looked up to face me, and I shot a big smile at her. Her shoulders got a lot more relaxed, and she smiled back at me as radiant as before, enveloping everyone around with the cuteness emitted from Tsubaki Ai.
