"Kazuma, your attitude toward Saki Yoshida is a little strange," Akane Nanao said as she sat beside him. She placed a piece of fried chicken into his lunchbox and asked curiously, "Isn't she part of that popular-girl group?"
"I'm curious about that too," Kazuma shook his head. "How did they even end up together? Saki Yoshida is completely different from those girls—their personalities are total opposites. Still, for a dependent-type girl like her, it's not impossible…"
"You really know a lot about her."
"…"
Ignoring the subtle tone in Akane Nanao's voice, Kazuma was genuinely puzzled. To be honest, it was unexpected that a girl like Saki Yoshida didn't have a wish list. Could it be that her wish had already been fulfilled?
Judging by her current association with Izumi Nogami and the others, she had indeed made some friends.
"And that Tazaki—I didn't expect him to be a pervert too," Akane Nanao said with a look of disgust. "I never thought he was a good person to begin with. Hmph."
Ever since the Coach Tougou incident, Akane Nanao had become increasingly sensitive.
With his secret exposed, not only Akane Nanao but even Saki Yoshida wanted nothing to do with him anymore. He left alone, head lowered.
"But compared to all that," Akane Nanao said, focusing on something else entirely, "there's something I care about more." She turned to Kazuma with a serious expression, her eyes filled with sincerity. "Kazuma-kun, what you said earlier—was it true?"
"What?"
I've said a lot of things. Which one are you talking about?
"What you told Izumi Nogami and the others about your family—was that true?"
"Nanao, you don't think I was lying to them, do you?" Kazuma replied calmly. "Of course it was true."
Kazuma nodded.
Akane Nanao didn't suspect anything at first, but her expression gradually grew more complicated.
"No wonder… no wonder you're always hungry and never have anything to eat. I was even thinking about exchanging LINE contacts with you and becoming friends, but you don't even have a phone."
He's so pitiful.
Unable to restrain herself, the girl suddenly hugged Kazuma, pulling his head into her arms and pressing it firmly against her chest. Her voice carried a mixture of tenderness and doting as she spoke.
"It's okay, Kazuma. You're not alone. I'll always be by your side."
"If you don't mind… you can think of me as your family."
Kazuma: "..."
So big. And so soft!
Kazuma had long since grown used to the female protagonists in these hentai worlds casually handing out fan service without warning. After hearing her words, he even felt that—well, maybe he really was quite pitiful.
Lost in her emotions, Akane Nanao failed to notice that not far away on the playground, someone else was also sinking into despair. Katase Shoya stared in disbelief at the scene before him—the girl he liked hugging another boy in such an intimate and ambiguous way.
"Akane..."
...
"Seriously, I got suddenly dragged away by Shirakawa-sensei during lunch to help out, so I couldn't eat with you guys at all," Kanna Hiiragi complained after school. Seeing Akane walking with her head lowered and looking unusually dispirited, she added,
"Akane, what's wrong? You seem kind of down. I heard about what happened at noon—wasn't everything resolved?"
"It's not because of that..."
Akane Nanao let out a quiet sigh.
"I found out a bit more about Kazuma today. You weren't there at noon," she said softly.
"This morning, I was thinking of exchanging LINE contacts with him, or at least emailing him—it would've been more convenient. But Kanna, can you imagine it? Kazuma doesn't even have a phone."
"Huh? No way."
Kanna froze in surprise.
"It's true. Not having a phone is a small thing. The real issue is that Kazuma doesn't have any relatives. I only just learned about his background. He's really… so pitiful."
When she thought about his lonely figure—always sitting hunched over in the corner of the classroom—Akane Nanao felt a sharp ache in her chest.
"Is that so?" Kanna Hiiragi suddenly remembered the money transaction she'd had with Kazuma. He had said it jokingly at the time, mentioning extra pay, but now that she thought about it, perhaps he'd been hurting inside, hiding it all behind a smile.
Her mood sank as well.
"We should help him more," Kanna said, clenching her small fist. Five thousand yen was far too little. Next time she asked Kazuma for help, she should give him more. That way, she could support him—and also give herself a proper excuse to spend more time with him.
"Yeah. Someone who lacks love is bound to crave warmth. There isn't much we can do, but at least we can show him more care and attention."
Well, now I finally have an excuse to pack lunch for Kazuma every day.
"By the way, have Izumi Nogami and her group stopped causing trouble? They actually dared to bully Kazuma..."
"Um, I don't think Kazuma will get bullied anymore..." After all, even Coach Tougou had ended up being bullied by him. Because of that incident, Akane Nanao now trusted and relied on Kazuma quite a lot.
Kanna Hiiragi couldn't help but laugh.
"Yeah, hiding a snake in his clothes was really something. Now all the girls in my class think he's a total weirdo. Several of them were gossiping about him this afternoon."
As she spoke, she laughed at herself and teased,
"Akane, I heard you confronted those girls from Izumi Nogami's group at noon. You were really brave~."
"I was just too emotional and couldn't control myself at the time."
Akane lowered her head shyly.
As the two girls continued talking, their mood gradually eased. Just as they walked out of the teaching building and prepared to head home, they saw Katase Shoya hurrying toward them.
"Akane, wait—"
Akane paused briefly, then quickly regained her composure and smiled.
"Katase-kun, is something the matter?"
Her expression seemed unchanged, as though nothing had happened, but Katase clearly felt that the warmth in her tone was gone, replaced by distant politeness.
"I wanted to ask you about the baseball club..."
"Ah, I already told the advisor today that I want to quit the baseball club," Akane said, clasping her hands together.
"I'm sorry, Katase-kun. I don't really want to go there anymore."
Is it because of Coach Tougou?
"Anyway, it's all in the past, so you don't need to worry about it."
That was all she said.
"How could I not worry?" Katase suddenly grew agitated.
"What about us? Have we moved on too? We clearly liked each other, so why—
And I saw it at noon. You and that boy… you were hugging—"
Hugging that closely during lunch break… just what did you do?
"You saw it?" Akane Nanao remained calm.
"Katase-kun, no matter what, the past is the past for me. Besides, we were never dating. As for liking each other… yes, I did like you before. You're an outstanding person. I just never expected things to turn out this way."
She continued softly,
"But now that things have come to this, I can't go against my heart. To me, Kazuma is a special person. Katase-kun, I still see you as a friend. As for anything beyond that… I'm sorry."
"..."
Katase Shoya stood there motionless as Akane brushed past him and left without looking back. Loneliness slowly crept into his rigid figure.
Kanna Hiiragi turned to look at her friend. Because they were so close, she was genuinely surprised by Akane's change.
"Kazuma is a special person, Akane… I can't believe you said that. Do you really like him?"
Akane's cheeks flushed red. She casually hugged Kanna's arm and said,
"Hey, let's not talk about that. Come on, let's go."
Although she didn't answer directly, the shy expression on her face already said everything.