"That girl just now... was Yanami-san?"
Although Mahiru couldn't hear the sound, she could see Sora's actions. She turned her head and looked back, just in time to see a flash of fluffy blue hair departing dejectedly.
"That's right."
Sora nodded slightly, silently giving a thumbs-up to 'Inmate Eight' in his heart.
Clearly, Anna realized I was helping Angel-sama purify magic power, which is why she blocked her friend and helped keep the secret.
"Mmm... I can hear now." Mahiru, with a blushing face, withdrew her right hand and put her phone into her schoolbag. "Sora-kun, please explain properly. If misunderstandings aren't cleared up as soon as possible, they'll only grow bigger and eventually turn into an insurmountable rift."
"I understand." Sora nodded slightly. "But just explaining is a bit lacking, so... let's buy some snacks first."
"..."
A moment later.
Sora, having stuffed snacks into his schoolbag, left the convenience store with Angel-sama. They then separated by tacit understanding and entered the school grounds one after the other.
Entering the classroom, Sora immediately spotted Anna chatting with her friends.
As if sensing his gaze, Anna turned her head. Their eyes met, and the gluttonous girl puffed up her pink cheeks slightly before silently averting her gaze.
If it were normal, Anna would have already come over to chat and say hello.
But she was currently sulking, signaling that she didn't want to talk to Sora for at least half a day.
Sora wasn't in a hurry. He walked to his seat, sat down, took out his phone, and sent a message to Anna:
"I cracked my head open yesterday. I almost couldn't see you again, Anna."
The message quickly showed as 'Read'.
Anna turned her head to look. Ultimately, her concern won out. She trotted over with quick, small steps and asked in a low voice:
"Sora, what happened to your head?"
"It's a long story..." Sora opened his schoolbag and took out the Pocky biscuit sticks he had just bought. "Let's eat and talk."
Anna gulped. She really wanted to firmly say she wouldn't eat them, but the words that left her mouth were:
"Please, absolutely give me one."
"..."
Sora had told the truth to Angel-sama, so naturally, he wouldn't hide anything from Anna. He lowered his voice and gave a brief account of yesterday's events.
"Sora actually rolled down a mountain. That's so dangerous." Anna's eyes were full of concern, leaning her body forward. "Do you want me to blow on it for you?"
"It doesn't hurt anymore." Sora said softly. "The doctor said it'll heal in a few days."
"Then you just messaged saying you almost couldn't see me again. You were actually scaring me." Anna puffed her pink cheeks. "So mean, you're wicked..."
Sora decisively offered a biscuit stick: "Eat your food."
"Ahm..."
Anna subconsciously opened her mouth and bit down.
Crunch, crunch.
The gluttonous girl, looking like a hamster eating sunflower seeds, rapidly finished the biscuit stick. The rich aroma of chocolate spread in her mouth, causing Anna's eyes to quietly curve into crescents. However, she was still concerned about one thing:
"Sora, what were you and Mahiru-san doing in the convenience store?"
"Naturally, I was helping purify magic power..."
Sora didn't hide anything, clearly explaining the unexpected sudden braking of the train.
"...So that's how it is."
The little frustration in Anna's heart finally dispersed. She pulled a bag of hand-torn bread from nowhere:
"Sora, eat some bread to replenish your nutrients."
Sora didn't refuse and took the bread to eat.
Being able to get a share of the gluttonous girl's snacks is an opportunity an ordinary person wouldn't get.
"Mmm..."
Anna's cheeks puffed rhythmically, her voice muffled:
"Speaking of which, is Sora from the big-end faction or the small-end faction?"
"What?"
A question mark popped up in shock above Sora's head.
"You know, that thing..." Anna mumbled while gnawing on her bread. "Eggs..."
What the hell! This is the classroom, what kind of wild words are you saying!
The surrounding gossiping classmates are already staring in shock. You might not care about face, but I do!
"Why aren't you saying anything, Sora?" Anna tilted her head in confusion. "I'm very curious."
Curious my foot!
You're a girl, don't be curious about such terrible things!
"Phew..."
Anna swallowed the bread in her mouth and let out a long, satisfied sigh. Her voice finally became clear again:
"I already asked Rin-chan and the others this morning. Some said they are big-end, and some said small-end."
Sora was utterly shocked. He couldn't help but turn to look at Anna's friends.
Why would a few girls have that kind of thing?
That's completely illogical, isn't it!
Sora pressed his fingers against his brow, suspecting that he had processed the information incorrectly.
"Explain the question you just asked properly."
"It's about that..." Anna took another bite of bread, her voice becoming muffled again. "Gulp, gulp, gulp..."
Sora was expressionless. "Don't talk while you're eating."
"Mmm..."
Anna tilted her head back and made a forceful swallowing motion. As a result, she seemed to choke on the bread and frantically clutched her throat.
Sora quickly stood up and patted the girl's back, successfully rescuing the gluttonous girl.
"I-I survived..." Anna sprawled on the desk, tears in the corners of her eyes. "If you eat bread too fast, it really is easy to choke."
"Since you know that, don't eat so much in one breath."
"But Sora wouldn't let me eat and talk at the same time..." Anna looked up, her gaze clear but foolish. "When Sora eats boiled eggs, do you crack the egg from the big end or the small end first?"
The corner of Sora's mouth twitched slightly, his expression flat:
"So Anna was actually talking about eggs?"
"Of course." Anna's voice was crisp, muttering as she counted on her fingers. "Last night after showering and going back to my room, I wanted to read a book to increase my literary knowledge. I picked up 'Gulliver's Travels' from the bookshelf. In it, the civil war in Lilliput stemmed from whether to crack an egg from the big end or the small end when eating it. So I was very curious about what everyone else's choice was."
Sora took a deep breath and closed his eyes. "From now on, do not speak while eating."
"That's the second time Sora has said that." Anna pulled a carton of milk from nowhere and took a small sip. "So, is Sora from the big-end faction or the small-end faction?"
"The big end, of course."
"..."
In the blink of an eye, it was lunch break.
A girl with long, straight black hair quietly appeared outside the classroom door, standing on her tiptoes to peek inside.
Before long, a female classmate walked up to Sora and pointed toward the window, her face full of gossip. "Izumi-kun, there's a girl in the hallway looking for you."
"Hmm?"
Sora looked out the window and saw a cute girl with a teardrop mole at the corner of her eye. It was precisely Gokou Ruri.
"Thanks."
With a casual thanks, Sora got up and walked out.
Stare—
Anna, who was originally chatting with her friends, suddenly had the ahoge on top of her head stand straight up, like a radar detecting a thieving cat. She quickly turned her head to look toward the hallway.
"Who is that girl?"
"Why haven't I ever seen her before?"
"Could she be the girl who asked Sora to help find her cat yesterday..."
Meanwhile.
In the corner by the window.
Angel-sama, sitting in her seat, also turned her head, gently pursing her pink lips as she looked over.
Sora naturally noticed the gazes of Anna and Mahiru, but since he had promised Kuroneko yesterday to have lunch together, he couldn't break his promise.
"Good afternoon, Ruri-san."
"Good afternoon..." Ruri nodded slightly, then explained in a low voice. "Sorry, I couldn't sleep last night and played on my phone too late. I woke up late this morning and forgot to charge my phone, so I couldn't send you a message... I didn't cause any trouble for Sora-kun, did I?"
Sora's expression turned serious. "Ruri-san, you arrived at the perfect time."
"Eh?"
Ruri tilted her head in confusion.
"I, you see, don't have any friends in my classroom." Sora's tone was faint. "Now that Ruri-san came to find me, and is even treating me to lunch, others will know that I am someone who also has friends in other classes."
Gokou Ruri: "..."
You're clearly very good-looking. If you didn't constantly say weird things, you would definitely have a ton of friends, wouldn't you!
"With Sora-kun's abilities, making friends should actually be very easy, right?"
Ruri couldn't help but complain in a low voice.
Sora's tone was deep. "Worthless socializing is inferior to high-quality solitude. Just like how cattle and sheep always flock together..."
Before he could finish, Ruri subconsciously followed up:
"Only fierce beasts walk alone?"
Sora was surprised. "Ruri-san knows this quote too?"
"To become a great existence like the Queen of Nightmares, reading extensively is a necessity." The corners of Ruri's lips curled up slightly as she turned and walked downstairs. "Let's go, we're heading to the cafeteria."
Although Sora-kun occasionally says strange things, I inexplicably don't hate it, and sometimes it even feels like we're on the same wavelength... I guess this is what they call 'being on the same wavelength'.
"Anna, Anna~" A gossipy girl approached Anna, her face full of intrigue. "Izumi-kun went downstairs with that girl."
Another gossipy girl leaned in, equally full of intrigue. "I know that girl. She's Gokou Ruri from the class next door. Her skin is so white, and she looks a bit aloof."
"Gokou Ruri?"
Anna's heart skipped a beat, suddenly recalling the contents of the Losing Heroine Diary from a while ago.
Anna was very certain that Sora didn't know Gokou Ruri before; otherwise, she definitely would have noticed.
"So that means..." Anna thought resentfully. "Even though I'm by Sora's side every single day, how on earth did that thieving cat get to know Sora!"
"Hey, hey, doesn't Anna care at all?" A gossipy girl who loved drama chimed in. "Do you want to follow them and see what they're doing?"
"Following people is very impolite behavior." Anna took out her bento box, her smile a bit forced. "It's completely normal for Sora to have his own social life... Let's eat, let's eat!"
"..."
Three minutes later.
Anna turned her grief and anger into appetite, rapidly finishing her bento at the astonishing speed of three minutes. Then, she quickly stood up:
"I'm going to the restroom!"