Chapter 8 – The Reunion Was Orchestrated Long Ago

Sunday night.

Tomorrow’s a school day, but with nothing in particular to do, I burrowed into my futon and fiddled with my phone.

Unread LINE messages I’d been ignoring. A message with photos from Iroha, a long philosophical text from Suzu.

And from Shino… thirty missed calls again today. Why?

“…I’ll reply… later…”

Weekends like this are honestly exhausting.

I’m currently three-timing, but on school days I somehow manage to keep things running smoothly.

Is that a good thing or a bad thing…?

I closed LINE and opened Instagram.

…I have a DM… Who from?

I mostly use LINE, so I don’t open Instagram much.

“Kurose Kasumi…?”

…Kasumi-chan…?

She was my kouhai in middle school.

We were close since we were in the same club.

Come to think of it, have I not seen her once since starting high school?

With nostalgia filling my chest, I checked the message.

“Long time no see, Senpai~ Do you remember me?”

The text matched the kouhai I remembered.

“Long time no see, Kasumi-chan. Have you been doing well?”

The moment I sent the message, it was marked read.

“Yes! I’ve been doing great thinking about you all this time, Senpai!”

I was startled for a second.

Lately I’ve been getting texts like this from my three girlfriends, so I sensed yandere vibes.

“She wouldn’t be like that, though.”

…She wouldn’t… Even as I thought that, I had a bad feeling somewhere deep down.

And so we enjoyed chatting for a while.

“Fufu, I’ll finally get to see you…”

—————————

Monday mornings are depressing.

I got ready as usual and left the house.

“Morning!”

“Morning.”

With my childhood friend and girlfriend Iroha, heading to school as always…

“Good morni~ng!”

Just as I was about to head to school, I heard an energetic, familiar voice from behind.

When I turned around, there was Kurose Kasumi-chan, whom I hadn’t seen in over a year.

“Kasumi-chan, long time no see.”

“Oh, Kasumi-chan… It’s been a while.”

I’d talked to her yesterday so I knew, but Iroha was surprised since she didn’t know Kasumi went to the same high school.

“Yes, Senpai, Iroha-san, long time no see!”

“About a year and a half, maybe?”

“Really, so nostalgic~”

“Directly, yes, but I’ve seen you two around a lot!”

I think she came to my house once… It wasn’t that far from here, so maybe she spotted us during her commute?

“If you saw us, you should’ve said hi sooner.”

“Well~ I needed mental preparation, you know~”

Seeing my kouhai unchanged from back then made me feel like I’d returned to those days.

Since we didn’t have much time, I suggested we talk while walking, and the three of us headed to school while reminiscing.

Then Kasumi-chan suddenly remembered something and let out a small sound.

“Oh, that’s right—there was something I wanted to tell you, Senpai.”

“Did you need something?”

She glanced at both Iroha’s and my faces.

“It’s hard to talk about here, so could we walk home together after school? Just the two of us?”

“Oh~ Kasumi-chan, it makes me sad you can’t say it when I’m around.”

“I’m sorry, Iroha-san! But it has to be just me and Senpai…”

As expected, humans are creatures who can’t help but want to support their kouhai when asked.

“Okay then, let’s meet at the school gate after school.”

“Yay! Thank you so much! Hehe, I can’t wait for our date~”

“…!”

And so we arrived at school and split up to our respective classrooms.

Kasumi-chan apparently had something she wanted to talk to Iroha about, so she followed Iroha.

After meeting a same-sex kouhai for the first time in a while, she must have plenty to talk about. A smart guy picks up on that and sees them off.

—————————

《side: Yuzuki Iroha》

“Iroha-san, could we talk in that empty classroom for just five minutes?”

“Sure… I wanted to talk too.”

I opened the door and entered the classroom. It hadn’t been used recently—it smelled faintly of mold.

And the atmosphere around us grew tense.

She casually opened her mouth.

“…So you’re still taking advantage of Senpai’s kindness, aren’t you, Iroha-san?”

Her smile vanished instantly, and her tone turned cold.

“You’re the one still playing the two-faced act.”

I wasn’t scared of her like this.

In fact, I’d predicted it. …Just like Ren said, she hasn’t changed since middle school.

Because Kurose Kasumi has always had an extreme dual personality.

“Iroha-san, you’re working hard at your childhood friend girlfriend position without even knowing the truth? How admirable—or should I say… pitiable?”

“You’re the one who doesn’t know anything about Ren lately.”

When it comes to Ren, we almost always end up arguing.

We’re like cats and dogs.

She smiled with a fearless grin.

“Pfft, are you serious? I understand Senpai better than anyone. How’s your morning hair collection going? It’s creepy, you know?”

“…You… Don’t tell me you’ve been stalking us this whole time? That’s way creepier.”

“Who knows…? You can’t even understand Senpai properly. …Getting so worked up with that scary face… Did I hit a nerve?”

The argument was about to heat up even more when the bell rang, cutting us off.

“Haah… I guess it’s time to head back. Looking forward to working with you from now on, I–ro–ha-san.”

As if you actually mean that… I swallowed those words and returned her sarcasm.

“Likewise, Ka–su–mi-chan.”

Haah… She really is someone I can’t let my guard down around… I’m mentally exhausted… I want to see Ren right now.

《side: Kamiya Ren》

“I wonder if they’re getting along…”

There was a bit of a weird atmosphere… Well, it’s been a while!

I dismissed it as my imagination and focused my attention on the first period quiz.