Fujimori Girls Academy, Class 1-B's classroom.
The afternoon sun filtered through the clean glass windows, lazily spilling across the wooden desks. The faint scent of chalk dust and books drifted through the air.
Mr. Kihara's steady lecturing voice sounded as if it were coming from far away, blurring into a drowsy background noise.
By the window, a girl named Reina Tojo sat with her cheek resting on one hand, her fingertips absentmindedly twirling a strand of pink hair.
But her gaze wasn't focused on the formulas on the blackboard; instead, it fell on the courtyard outside.
The grand clamor of the cherry blossoms had already come to an end, and new leaves were beginning to show a fresh, tender green.
An unknown grayish-brown bird, carrying tiny withered twigs in its beak, clumsily yet earnestly flitted back and forth between the branches, trying to build a precarious home.
But clearly, her thoughts had flown much further.
She must definitely have a secret crush on me.
A troubled curve formed at the corners of Reina's mouth.
She slightly adjusted her sitting position, her gaze seemingly casually sweeping toward her diagonal—a back with long, sky-blue hair and slightly curled ends was sitting upright in its seat.
Fujiwara Sakurano.
Her back was ramrod straight, appearing both elegant and focused. Her pen moved occasionally across her open notebook, looking every bit the model student fully immersed in class.
She's putting on quite the act.
Reina let out a helpless sigh in her heart.
This wasn't some groundless delusion born from reading too many shoujo manga.
She considered herself long past that chuunibyou phase where she'd imagine a thousand plots over a small matter. To be so certain now, she naturally had what she believed to be irrefutable reasons.
She lowered the hand supporting her face and instead interlaced her fingers beneath her nose, her expression more serious than ever before.
All right, let's calmly analyze the existing information.
First, the situations that are already clear involve Aizawa Misaki, who is as bright and cheerful as a little sun, and Hayakawa Shiori, who is gentle, graceful, and always wears a shy smile.
Over the past period, these two have already used various direct or indirect ways to clearly convey their feelings to her, feelings that transcend the boundaries of ordinary friendship...
So, what about the remaining two?
Her gaze swept across the corner of the classroom to the cool and aloof Shimizu Yua... and then to Fujiwara Sakurano diagonally in front of her.
One is obviously harboring a secret crush.
And as for the other... her motives still require further observation; she cannot be ruled out as a suspect.
Ah, right, speaking of which, I haven't quite sorted it out yet—on what basis can I be so certain that Sakurano-san has a secret crush?
Does that even need to be asked?!
In Reina's mind, a scene from the lunch break a few days ago instantly flashed back: she had gone to the changing room to retrieve a forgotten jacket and had accidentally glimpsed a scene through the crack in the door—
That Fujiwara Sakurano, who usually looked every bit the honor student, was tightly clutching Reina's ordinary sports jacket to her chest, even burying her face deep into it, her shoulders shaking suspiciously!
If it weren't a secret crush to a certain degree, would someone hold another person's clothes and do that kind of... that kind of "stormy inhalation" action?!
How could that be possible?!!!
A rush of heat, a mix of shame and shock, surged up Reina's cheeks and earlobes, instantly dyeing her fair skin the color of the sunset.
She suddenly lowered her head as if burned, her forehead hitting her interlaced fingers with a soft "thud." She tried to use this clumsy movement to suppress her racing heart and the heat on her face that was almost about to manifest as steam.
Ughhhhhh—!!!
My high school life... what exactly is it going to become?!
This isn't the ideal school life script at all!
"Are you okay, Reina?"
"Huh!?"
A cool, almost inflectionless voice rang out by her ear without any warning.
At the same time, a bottle of cold liquid lightly touched the sensitive skin of her neck.
"Waaah!"
Startled by this sudden attack, Reina shuddered all over and jerked backward like a spooked cat.
Her hands instinctively flailed in the air, trying to grab onto something to maintain her balance.
The chair beneath her made a harsh scraping sound, and with the force of her leaning back, the two front legs dangerously lifted off the ground.
"Thud."
The back of the chair was lightly steadied by a hand reaching out from behind and to the side.
"Click."
Then, the chair's four legs landed steadily on the floor.
The shaken Reina clutched her chest, her heart still pounding wildly.
She stiffly turned her head bit by bit and met a pair of close-up, clear blue eyes that looked like a winter lake.
The owner of the eyes had neat and refreshing short white hair, with the ends trimmed cleanly. Her face was small, her skin a bloodless pale, and her features were exquisite but expressionless, like a meticulously carved snow doll that had forgotten to be given a spark of life.
It was Yukishiro Rin, her neighbor.
"What are you thinking about?" Yukishiro Rin tilted her head slightly, her gaze calmly falling on Reina's still-flushed face. "You haven't moved for seventeen minutes and thirty-one seconds."
"Ah... uh... has it really been that long?" Reina's brain was still rebooting from overload, and she instinctively followed the other's lead before suddenly snapping to. "No! Wait! Isn't it... isn't it still class time?! Rin, don't do that so suddenly! You scared me to death!"
"Class?" Hearing this, Yukishiro Rin blinked in confusion, her long white eyelashes fluttering like butterflies.
She pointed a finger at the top of the blackboard, where an old-fashioned round clock hung. "Mr. Kihara announced the end of class seven minutes ago. It's lunch break now."
"Eh? Is—is that so..." Reina stared blankly up at the clock; the hour and minute hands indeed pointed to the lunch break position.
At some point, the classroom had already emptied out by more than half, leaving only a few scattered students packing their things or chatting. The podium was already deserted.
Looking at Reina, who seemed about to turn into a chibi version with chaotic spiral lines appearing over her head, Yukishiro Rin didn't continue the topic.
She simply shifted her gaze to a bottle of chilled juice she had just placed on the corner of Reina's desk.
Tiny droplets of condensation had formed on the transparent plastic bottle, shimmering in the sunlight.
"Do you want some?" she asked, her voice still without much emotion.
"Uh... yes!" Reina grabbed the bottle of juice almost as if snatching it, twisted off the cap, tilted her head back, and took a huge, gulping swig.
The icy liquid traveled down her throat, instantly extinguishing that mysterious heat on her face and in her heart.
Reina let out a long sigh of relief, feeling her reason and composure slowly returning to her body.
"Phew... I'm back among the living..." She wiped the corner of her mouth, the remaining flush on her face finally fading completely. She then turned to Yukishiro Rin with a slightly embarrassed smile. "Thanks, Rin! You really saved my life!"
"It's just a small thing; there's no need to be so dramatic."
Yukishiro Rin shook her head slightly, her white hair swaying gently. "Next, do you want to go to the cafeteria for lunch together? Today's Set A is hamburger steak, and Set B is tonkatsu."
"Mm..." Almost as a reflex, Reina was about to agree.
However, as the words reached her lips, memories of the past few weeks flashed through her mind.
"...No, no!" Reina quickly shook her head like a rattle, her tone exaggeratedly firm. "I brought a bento today! My mom specially prepared it! Right, bento!"
She patted her shoulder bag, which looked flat and didn't seem to contain a bento box at all.
"I see." A look of understanding appeared on Yukishiro Rin's face. She didn't show any awkwardness or displeasure at being rejected; she simply nodded.
"Okay."
She didn't say anything more, nor did she show any sign of lingering. She simply tidied her already neat desk with efficiency, then picked up her simple dark blue shoulder bag and gave Reina a slight nod.
After that, she turned and walked out of the classroom with steady steps.
Her back looked decisive, without a hint of hesitation.
"...Eh?"
Reina stared blankly at the classroom door, which was still swaying slightly, as a subtle feeling bubbled up.
Am I... being a bit full of myself?
Yukishiro Rin's attitude was as natural as if she were just making a routine invitation.
She held no grudge after being rejected and left without any delay.
In contrast, her own reaction just now, as if facing a great enemy, was practically like having a persecution complex.
"Phew... Reina, oh Reina..." She raised her hands and lightly patted her cheeks, whispering a warning to herself, "Calm down, be rational."
"How could every girl who gets close to you... have those kinds of thoughts about you? The world isn't a dating sim revolving around you. Yukishiro-san is just a genuinely nice person..."
Thinking about it that way, was her blunt refusal just now a bit hurtful?
"Hmm..." Reina rested her chin on her hand and began to think seriously. "Before class starts this afternoon, I should find a chance to apologize to Rin."
"I'll say... what should I say... anyway, I need to express my apologies!"
*Grumble~~*