Chapter 3

The sixth period, where Satoru found himself constantly at Reika’s mercy, had finally come to an end.  

For Satoru, it was a relief, though he was at least grateful that she had kept things quiet enough not to draw attention from others.  

“Well… maybe not entirely.”  

Instead, he found himself roped into a ridiculous agreement, completely dictated by her pace.  

As the school day ended, the students in the classroom all rushed off to their respective clubs.  

At this particular high school, over 90% of students participated in club activities, which was even used as a selling point for the school.  

Somehow, though the logic behind it was utterly baffling, there were students who belonged to two clubs simultaneously, leading to the bizarre claim that the total number of club members exceeded 100% of the student population.  

Among all these avid participants, Satoru stood out as someone who wasn’t part of any club.  

It wasn’t because he disliked sports or anything.  

His main reason was simply that he hated the idea of having his time monopolized by unnecessary obligations at school.  

For him, after school and weekends were meant to be his personal time.  

“Hey, Satoru! Wanna play some basketball with me?”  

“I’ll have to respectfully decline.”  

“Aw, come on, don’t be so cold!”  

Seiya’s words sounded like something out of a manga, but Satoru brushed him off without a second thought.  

This exchange was nothing new—it had been happening regularly since Satoru decided to join the “go-home club” in their first year.  

As such, even Seiya didn’t really expect Satoru to say yes.  

“The Inter-High is in June, right? You must be practicing hard.”  

“Yeah, practice usually ends around 8 PM.”  

“Man… that means you don’t get home until 9, huh?”  

“Pretty much. After that, there’s no way I can manage studying or review work.”  

“True enough…”  

“Which is why you’re going to help me study before tests, right, Mr. Go-Home Club member?”  

“Well, I suppose that’s the least I can do, seeing as I don’t have club responsibilities weighing me down.”  

“That’s the spirit! You’re a real bro!”  

“Honestly, it’s because I can’t bear to see you looking half-dead during remedial classes like last time when you bombed a test.”  

And so, as usual, the two of them walked together until their paths diverged.  

“Oh, hey, Seiya!”  

“Oh, Ruri! What’s up?”  

A girl called out to Seiya.  

Her name was Ruri Amamiya. She was also in the basketball club, serving as the team manager.  

Though Satoru didn’t have much interaction with her, he knew of her well enough.  

The reason? Stories about her love life were constantly circulating.  

In the past year since enrollment, she had already dated and broken up with three different boys from the basketball club.  

Her bright brown hair and loosened uniform gave her a trendy look.  

Some might call her stylish, while others might describe her as “flirty” or even “sl*t.”  

Regardless of opinions, her popularity among boys was undeniable.  

“Oh, Takashima-kun is here too! Hello!”  

“Hello.”  

Ruri greeted Satoru with a gesture that involved peeking up at him from below.  

The move was undeniably calculated, but it had a different kind of impact compared to Reika’s naturally charming mannerisms.  

While Reih=ka seemed effortless, Ruri’s actions felt meticulously designed to appear cute.  

“Coach said we’ll go until around 8 today, right?”  

“Yeah. And we’ve got a practice match all day this weekend. Apparently, we found a really good opponent.”  

“Man, no breaks at all…”  

With Ruri joining in, the conversation naturally shifted to more club-related topics between her and Seiya.  

At times like these, the best course of action was simply to remain silent.  

“Oh, sorry, Takashima-kun, you’re still here.”  

“No worries. It’s an important time for you all, so sharing information is crucial. Besides, I can always talk to this guy whenever.”  

“Sorry about that, Satoru.”  

“It’s fine. This is something you need to stay on top of. I’ll head out for now.”  

“Alright, see you tomorrow.”  

With a casual wave in response to Seiya’s words, Satoru began walking toward the school gates.  

“Wait!”  

“Huh?”  

As he walked, someone suddenly called out to him from behind, out of breath.  

When he turned around, he saw Ruri running toward him.  

“… you need something?”  

“Well… um, there’s something I wanted to ask you, Takashima-kun.”  

“Ask me? What is it?”  

“Do you… have a girlfriend?”  

It was an unexpected and entirely unanticipated question.  

“Wh-why are you asking something like that all of a sudden?”  

“N-no reason! I was just… curious.”  

An unforeseen question from an equally unforeseen source.  

How was he supposed to answer this?

Since his relationship with Reika was being kept under wraps, should he say that he didn’t have a girlfriend?  

Or perhaps he should make it ambiguous about who, but clearly state that he did have a girlfriend? However, doing so would likely lead to questions about who it was and stir unnecessary suspicion, causing trouble.  

“In that case, didn’t Seiya say anything to you?”  

After much deliberation, Satoru ended up bringing up his friend’s name to try and deflect the question.  

“He only said something like, ‘You’re always so indifferent when it comes to romance.’”  

“Well, he’s not wrong about that.”  

“Could it be that you already have a girlfriend…?”  

“If that were the case, don’t you think Seiya would’ve made a huge fuss about it?”  

Sorry, Seiya. I used your name to cover up my awkward evasion, even though it didn’t really help much. I don’t know if I regret it, but…  

“I see… Thanks!”  

“Well then, good luck with club activities.”  

“Yeah, I will!”  

He wasn’t sure if he’d actually managed to dodge the question or not, but since she seemed satisfied, he decided to make his exit quickly.  

“Um, Takashima-kun!”  

“Yes?”  

“Would it be okay if I asked Seiya for your contact info?”  

Asked so directly, it was hard to say no.  

Unable to shake his head, Satoru could only give a slight nod in agreement.  

“Thanks!”  

With a bright smile, she turned and headed back toward the gym.  

“Ugh, I feel like I’ve gotten myself into something troublesome…”  

Between what happened at lunch and now this, he was starting to attract more attention from girls.  

Until now, he’d only ever heard about it indirectly, like when Seiya mentioned something, but now people were starting to approach him directly.  

And the person this time was a girl popular among the boys, who also had a reputation for dating and breaking up with different guys in quick succession.  

He didn’t know what she thought of him, but it was clear he’d caught her attention.  

“Well, I’ll just figure out how to deal with this later… Time to head home.”  

Satoru commuted to high school by train.  

Even though the prefecture wasn’t exactly urban, his home was in an even more rural area.  

That said, being able to commute to school by train was, in a way, a privilege.  

After leaving the station near the school, he would take a train back toward the city center. Then he’d transfer to a small, single-car local line to reach the station closest to his home.  

“Ara, you’re late today. I was getting tired of waiting.”  

“‘Getting tired of waiting’? I’m only about ten minutes later than usual. It’s not like we’re taking different trains or anything.”  

Platform 7, an isolated corner of the station, stood away from the busier parts of the station. At this hour, slightly before the evening rush, hardly anyone used it. This was where Satoru and Reika met again.  

The two came from the same hometown. They had attended the same elementary and middle schools.  

However, they didn’t become conscious of each other until midway through their second year of middle school, so they weren’t exactly childhood friends.  

Even so, they’d been meeting here at the station every day since the beginning of their first year of high school.  

Even though their classes were different and their dismissal times didn’t always match up, they inevitably met here while waiting for the infrequent trains.  

And since no other students were around at this time, Satoru had come to accept that this was a space where he could freely talk to Reika.  

“Hehe, today was so much fun. I got to see so many different faces of you.”  

“If we keep up this pace at the start of the semester, I’m not going to last…”  

“By that, do you mean mind? Or body?”  

“Both, obviously.”  

“Oh my, I don’t recall doing anything that could physically tire you out.”  

“If you think back to what happened during lunch, I think you’ll understand.”  

“What could you possibly mean? I thought it was a cute and earnest display of affection.”  

He’d tried to criticize her lightly, but as expected, it didn’t faze her at all.  

“What part of that was ‘earnest’…”  

He muttered back with a hint of sarcasm, trying to make use of whatever he could from her words. She, in turn, took a seat next to him on the bench.  

Then, as she touched his cheek with her pale hand, she whispered softly.  

“But you still accepted that earnest behavior so easily. And… even if you deny the earnestness, you didn’t deny that it was cute, did you? I really love that about you.”  

“…!”  

He shouldn’t have thrown out sarcasm so carelessly.  

Even though he knew he couldn’t win against her, he still ended up engaging. And every time, she would see right through him and gain the upper hand, uncovering things about him that even he wasn’t fully aware of.  

“When you show me such sweet and gentle sides of yourself, it makes me want to ‘devour’ you again.”  

“W-we already agreed that we’d do that on Friday and Saturday, didn’t we?”  

“And yet, even things I say on a whim, you take them seriously and hold onto them.”  

“T-that’s…”  

“That’s why I want that kindness of yours… right now.”  

“…”  

She leaned closer again, whispering softly in his ear.  

“Just for an hour. Okay?”  

On the deserted platform of a remote station, the intense and twisted interaction between the two high schoolers quietly unfolded.