Chapter 8 | Disturbing Shadows

I parted ways with Youka, who was in a different grade, and changed into my shoes in the second-grade shoe box…and then a familiar voice called out to me.

“Are you on your way home, Kouhai-kun?”

I turned toward the voice and saw Takamiya-san, the student council president, and Yashiro-san, with whom I had lunch, standing there. When our eyes met, they waved at me, and I waved back.

“Thank you for your hard work, Sakamoto-san.”

“Thank you for your hard work, Yashiro-san, student council president.”

Would the student council have skipped the meeting?

No, if it was just the student council president, it was possible. But since Yashiro-san is with her, she is probably simply absent today.

She’s a diligent person. No, the student council president is also diligent, I’m sorry.

But bringing cards to school… I’m not sure if I can put her in the serious category.

When I was pondering over evaluating, the student body president stuttered and suggested something.

“Hey, Kouhai-kun, do you want to go home with me?”

“Eeeee…?”

“Why do you look like you’re dying?”

“Why are you listening to my sister’s complaints anyway?”

“That’s not what I meant. …… Um…”

─Shiina Takamiya was at a loss for a reply.

It had nothing to do with Yuuji’s sister, she just wanted to go home with him, but due to her personality, she was unable to express her feelings well.

In the meantime, Youka, who had finished putting on her shoes, appeared in front of the three of them.

“Sakamoto-senpai, let’s get going.”

“What? Kouhai-kun, who is this girl?”

“Ah, Nakagawa-san, thanks for your hard work.”

“…thank you for your hard work.”

Do these two know each other? I thought they were but Youka and Yashiro were classmates.

And I seriously forgot about it because of the contrast in firmness.

“Sakamoto-senpai and I are dating. So please don’t get too involved with senpai.”

“…Eh? Are you dating…?”

Yuuji could not hide his surprise when she suddenly announced it. He could not understand why she had mentioned it at this moment.

“Youka, why do you say that?’

“No, I thought it would be better to be clear.”

“You didn’t tell Usui when we were with him, did you?”

“…Because that person…maybe…senpai…Anyway, the student council president is different…!”

“Different… Youka, the student council president?”

The student council president knows what’s going on, so Yuuji tries to tell her, “You don’t have to act.”

But Youka interrupts him and forcibly takes Yuuji out of the room.

Yuuji is left to his own devices at this sudden turn of events, but then he realizes that it would be rude to walk away without saying anything, so he says his goodbyes before he is completely separated from the two of them.

“Student Council President! Yashiro-san! Good-bye!”

“…Kouhai-kun…good…bye…”

“…goodbye!”

[Student Council President Takamiya’s Point of View]

─ ─ Shiina Takamiya stared sadly at the back of the departing pair. She didn’t think he had a girlfriend, and she couldn’t hide her impatience and upset.

“I see, she was there, right, even if your childhood friend isn’t there, Kouhai-kun is still cool. But even so, he just got dumped, and he’s getting a girlfriend too fast…”

Takamiya herself is not sure if she likes Yuuji or not.

But it is true that when Youka identified herself as his girlfriend, she was greatly shocked.

Takamiya was severely depressed, but Yashiro apparently could not hide her surprise in another way. She began to talk to Takamiya about it.

“No, no, no, no, Takamiya-senpai! It’s not right!”

“…Eh? What?”

Takamiya raised her face, which had been downcast, and looked up at the junior girl who was taller than she was.

Then, the next moment, Yashiro uttered something unbelievable.

“Because, Nakagawa-san, she’s dating Machida-kun, who’s in the same class as her!”

“…Eh?”

I had been immersed in a sentimentality akin to a slightly broken heart, but that too was instantly blown away. It was such a shock.

“I still can’t get my head around it,” Takamiya said, but Yashiro also seemed to have no time to spare and continued talking without stopping.

“I’m not mistaken! I even heard Nakagawa-san talking with him!”

“… Eh… Eh? Kouhai-kun, are you two-timed?”

“I think that’s probably true. Sakamoto-senpai is such a good person. He’s kind enough to listen to Takamiya-senpai’s stories seriously “

“…T, that’s terrible.”

You’re kidding… if that’s the case, I won’t forgive you. As Yashiro-chan says, he’s a really kind and good boy… and yet.

Also, Yashiro-chan is kind of mean to me.

“What should we do? Shall we go after Sakamoto-senpai now and tell him the truth?”

Of course, that was my intention at the moment I was told.

But even so, he was depressed because he had been dumped by his childhood friend, and telling him up front that she was cheating on him could hurt him even more, so telling him directly was not a good idea. That’s why Takamiya thought it was not a good idea to tell him directly.

And Takamiya also considers another possibility.

“Ummm… we still have to confirm it. There may be a deeper reason that we don’t understand,…… and I’ll talk to Sakamoto-chan about it once, so wait until then, okay?”

“I understand… if Takamiya-senpai says so… but it is true. I was getting impatient because I was worrying too much about it.”

“No. Yashiro-chan is just being nice.”

“Thank you…”

Kouhai-kun… are you okay?

You’re not getting involved in anything strange, are you…?

─Not knowing the situation well, the two decided not to go after Yuuji and the others right now, but to wait and see what happens.

They are going to act only after they have established solid proof.

They made a calm decision… but they sincerely regretted not moving right now.

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