My Tsundere Childhood Friend, Who Was Always Haughty, Suddenly Showing a Sharp Increase in Affection and Directing Intense, Heavy Emotions Toward Me - Chapter 8-9

Chapter 8: That’s Why I Became Sana’s Accomplice, So Don’t Betray Me

“How does this feel?”

“Thanks, it helps.”

Sana wrapped the tape around my finger with just the right strength. She had grown a lot compared to back then when she poured a ton of disinfectant on without thinking. As I thought about this, Sana sat on the bed.

“Aren’t you going back to the gym?”

“Yeah, I’m thinking of resting a bit more before going back.”

“Sana, you don’t have much stamina, do you?”

“That’s why I don’t like sports much.”

That’s why Sana often skipped P.E. class with some excuse since way back. In fact, during the fourth-grade sports festival, she went with me to the nurse’s office after I fell, but it seems the real reason was to avoid the tug-of-war afterward.

“But this time, I came with you because I was worried about Haruto, so be happy. If it wasn’t you, I wouldn’t have bothered coming along.”

“I see, so skipping is just a bonus, huh?”

“Hey, I said something nice, so don’t ruin it with that kind of comeback.”

“Sorry, sorry.”

As I said that, I sat next to Sana. She looked a bit surprised.

“Are you planning to skip too, Haruto?”

“Well, it’s more like I have no choice but to skip.”

“What do you mean?”

“Look, if I go back alone, it’ll look suspicious, right?”

“I see, that’s true.”

If both of us are late, we can brush it off, but if I go back first after we went to the nurse’s office together and Sana doesn’t show up, people will definitely suspect she’s skipping. So I decided to stick with her.

“That’s why I became Sana’s accomplice, so don’t betray me.”

“I won’t betray you. If I get caught skipping, we both go down.”

As soon as Sana said that, she lay down on the bed. She’s totally planning to chill here. I mean, even if we’re childhood friends, how can she be so carefree in front of a guy like me?

“The bed in the nurse’s office is surprisingly comfy.”

“I don’t really want to rely on the nurse’s bed too much.”

The last time I lay on this bed, I was suffering from a high fever, so it’s not exactly a good memory. Plus, I had to leave early and go to the hospital, where they told me I had the flu, so I was stuck at home for a while.

“Don’t say that, Haruto. Try lying down. It’s pretty comfy.”

“…Alright, just for a bit.”

Curiosity got the better of me, so I lay on the bed. Sana was right—it was super comfortable.

“This bed is pretty nice.”

“Right? I could fall asleep like this.”

“If you actually sleep, you’ll end up skipping not just P.E. but the Math A class afterward too.”

“That would be bad.”

Unlike me, Sana isn’t great at studies, so skipping class could hit her hard. Since our high school has one of the top academic rankings in Okayama Prefecture, the classes are pretty tough.

After enjoying the bed for a few minutes, we decided it was time to head back to the gym. That’s when it happened. Sana stood up from the bed first, lost her balance, and fell toward me.

“Kyaaa!”

“Oi!?”

Caught off guard, I closed my eyes. When I opened them, Sana’s face was super close. It’s been a while since I saw her face this close, but she’s still ridiculously pretty. As I thought that, a third voice suddenly echoed in the room.

“Hey, what are you two doing in the nurse’s office!?”

It was the school nurse, who had come back at some point. I finally realized why she said that and felt the blood drain from my face. Sana was leaning over me on the bed in a way that definitely looked like a misunderstanding.

Also, why is Sana breathing a bit heavily? We managed to clear up the nurse’s misunderstanding, but since we got caught skipping, we both got scolded by our homeroom teacher.

—

Chapter 9: I’m Not Haruto’s Girlfriend, So It Doesn’t Matter

About a month had passed since starting high school, and it was now May. The classmates, who were nervous in the new environment at first, had gotten used to it, and the unique vibe from the start of school was gone.

Today, the mood in the class was much brighter than usual. That’s no surprise since tomorrow was the start of the Golden Week holiday.

“Five days off starting tomorrow is awesome.”

“It’d be perfect if we didn’t have homework.”

“Then, are you gonna skip it, Akiya?”

“No way, if I did that, I’d definitely get called out and chewed out.”

Akiya and I were talking about this after homeroom ended. The conversations of the classmates around us were all about Golden Week too. As I thought about that, Moene Shindo, a central figure among the girls in our class, spoke to us.

“Tomorrow, some of us from the class are going to karaoke. Wanna come, Kawaguchi-kun and Kurosaki-kun?”

“Sounds good, I’ll join. What about you, Haruto?”

“I don’t have any plans, so I’ll go too.”

There were still classmates I hadn’t talked to much, so joining in to bond seemed like a good idea. That’s why I decided to go along with Shindo-san’s invitation.

“Okay, can you show me the QR code to add you to the LIME group?”

Prompted by her, Akiya and I opened the LIME app and displayed the QR code for adding friends.

“Oh, sorry. I forgot my phone is still in my locker. Wait a sec.”

Saying that, Shindo-san left the classroom. The lockers were in the hallway outside, so it was a bit of a hassle to go get stuff from them. I wondered if there wasn’t enough space to put lockers in the classroom. While I was thinking, Sana suddenly stood next to me.

“What are you doing?”

“Oh, some classmates are going to karaoke tomorrow, and we got invited, so we’re trying to add each other as friends.”

Sana had her usual expression, but for some reason, I felt a weird pressure I couldn’t quite explain. Then, Akiya, who didn’t read the mood, butted in.

“Yeah, Haruto’s not cheating or anything, so don’t worry.”

“I’m not Haruto’s girlfriend, so it doesn’t matter.”

When Sana heard Akiya’s teasing words, she got flustered for some reason. At the same time, the strange pressure I felt earlier disappeared, and I never figured out why. As we were talking, Shindo-san came back.

“Sorry for the wait, you two… Oh, perfect, Sana-chan’s here too. Wanna join us for karaoke tomorrow?”

“Sure, since Haruto’s going, I’ll go too.”

“Then, Sana-chan, can you show me your LIME QR code?”

“Oh, I’ll add Haruto to the group, so we don’t need to exchange. It’ll save time.”

“That makes sense. Then I’ll leave Kurosaki-kun’s invite to you, Sana-chan.”

After that, Shindo-san finished adding Sana and Akiya as friends and started talking to other classmates. She was probably trying to invite as many people as possible.

“I think we’re done here, so let’s head home.”

“Yeah, see you tomorrow, Akiya.”

“See you both tomorrow.”

Sana and I left the classroom and headed toward the school entrance. Just like in the classroom, the students in the hallway were all excited about Golden Week.

“It’s kinda surprising that you’re joining a class outing, Haruto.”

“There are a lot of classmates I don’t know since it’s different from middle school.”

“I see, so you’re trying to be a bit more social.”

“Exactly.”

Back in middle school, more than half of our classmates came from the same elementary school as Sana, Akiya, and me, so I knew most of them. But high school was different, so that’s why I decided to join this time.