Early in the morning, the sun was already hanging high in the clear blue sky, its golden warmth making the air feel stifling.
As time crept toward the end of June, the weather gradually began to grow hotter.
"Rikka, did your sister tell you about that?"
The group from Aoyama Apartments walked together on the way to school, and Sato asked Takanashi Rikka.
"Yeah."
Takanashi Rikka nodded quietly, looking far less lively than usual.
"What is it?"
Doma Umaru asked curiously.
Sato hesitated for a moment before saying, "Takanashi's sister is going to France for further studies for a while."
"Huh? Then wouldn't Takanashi have to live alone?"
Doma Umaru said in surprise, her gaze instinctively turning toward Takanashi Rikka.
Sato also looked at her, and seeing her quiet demeanor, he could not help but sigh softly.
Last night, he had talked with Takanashi Toka for quite a while.
During the time when their father passed away and their mother left home, Takanashi Rikka's world had collapsed. She began to refuse to accept and believe in this real world.
She always believed that her father was still alive, still living on the other side of the Unseen Horizon.
Takanashi Toka had tried countless times to wake her up, to make her accept reality sooner. Because of this, the sisters had argued countless times.
But such a blow seemed unimaginable for Takanashi Rikka. She refused to admit her father's death, firmly believing in another world, and saw Takanashi Toka as the Priestess who stood in the way of her going there.
But both Takanashi Toka and Sato knew that, deep down, Rikka understood very well.
She was only constantly hypnotizing herself, forcing herself to believe in that illusion she had created.
Because she understood this truth, although she often went against Takanashi Toka in daily life, in reality she depended on her greatly. She was now the person closest to her.
Faced with Takanashi Toka's impending departure, Takanashi Rikka fell into confusion and panic.
And Sato had no better way to resolve it for the time being.
...
"There's still a month until summer vacation..."
After arriving in the classroom and just sitting down, Sato heard a somewhat emotional voice from behind him, Kirito.
He turned his head to glance at Kirito and saw him staring at his phone with anticipation.
The private mixed high school followed a two-semester system, which meant that at the end of July there would be about twenty days of summer vacation. Counting from now, there was not even a full month left.
Sato smiled. "What? Waiting to grind games during summer vacation?"
"Of course! During summer vacation, daily game time is freed up to twelve hours!"
Kirito said excitedly.
"Tch."
Knowing the truth, Sato could not help but click his tongue. Those guys from the Hero Association really knew how to play, even adjusting game time based on the summer schedule.
"Huh? No way. Nohara, you and Kirigaya are talking about games first thing in the morning?"
Isshiki Iroha leaned over, having caught part of the conversation, and immediately looked at the two with disdain.
Kirito gave an awkward laugh.
Sato, however, retorted without hesitation. He glanced at Isshiki Iroha and said, "What's wrong with guys talking about games? If I remember correctly, weren't you just talking about cosmetics with someone?"
"What's wrong with girls talking about cosmetics?"
The two looked at each other, both showing expressions of mutual disdain.
Seeing this from behind, Kirito could not help but twitch at the corner of his mouth. You two are really something. Showing off your affection here?
"Isshiki, what did you come here for? Don't tell me you're here to brag about getting another love letter."
"How did you know I got another love letter?"
"Why? That's a good question."
Sato seemed to look at Isshiki Iroha with approval before leisurely saying, "Probably because when someone was bragging about it, her voice was a bit too loud. Half the class already heard it."
"Half the class is an exaggeration, isn't it?"
Isshiki Iroha could not help but say.
"The classroom is small. If it's quiet enough, even a pin dropping can be heard throughout."
"So, which foolish guy wrote you a love letter this time?"
"You're the foolish one!"
Isshiki Iroha rolled her eyes at Sato, then played with the hair by her ear and said, "I don't know. I threw it away."
"Why?"
Sato asked in surprise.
"Because right now, I suddenly don't feel like dating. And if I read it, it would be awkward if I ran into him in real life."
Isshiki Iroha suddenly turned and gave Sato a bright smile.
"This kind of trouble is something someone like you, who has never received a love letter, wouldn't understand!"
This time, Sato unusually did not argue back. Instead, he let out a long sigh, rested his cheek on his hand on the desk, and sighed faintly, "Yeah... how come I never got one..."
If you really thought about it, he was not bad-looking. In this looks-maxxing era, not having received a single love letter was just too strange...
Even if he might not necessarily accept one, not receiving even a single letter was still a bit disheartening.
Hearing this, Kirito felt as if he understood everything, and his gaze toward Sato was full of helplessness.
If there was anyone to blame, it could only be you.
Not to mention how you go to school with Nishimiya every day, stirring up rumors, just the way you act so lively with Isshiki in class already makes things look bad.
And besides that, there are all sorts of other things...
For example, every club you join is full of girls...
Or how you have a good relationship with Yukinoshita from the second year, greeting each other whenever you meet, enjoying a privilege no other boy in the school has...
And then there are people who have seen you walking to school with several girls...
You might be the only one who does not know, but the legend of a scumbag has already spread throughout the school...
If Sato knew, the tears of grievance would probably fill the entire Pacific Ocean.