Chapter 7: Uneasy lunch break

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Translator: Soafp

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[Aoi PoV]

As the lunch bell rang, the hallway filled with the lively sound of students’ footsteps and chatter.

“Miyabi, I’ll head to the cafeteria with Konatsu first.”

“Okay, I’ll be there as soon as I finish this.”

Waving lightly to Miyabi, I left the classroom and stepped into the hallway. Almost immediately, a familiar girl with twin tails ran up to me.

“Aoi-senpai!”

The girl who called my name with a charming smile was Konatsu Sasahara, an adorable underclassman I’d known since middle school.

However, just seeing her cheerful smile right now filled me with irritation.

Smack!

“Oww! W-What are you doing, Senpai?! Suddenly chopping your cute underclassman’s head—has all that basketball hardened your brain into a ball too?!”

“Ha?”

“I-I'm kidding! Sorry! Please don't hit me again!”

Konatsu, panicking like a fool, stared up at me as I glared down at her and spoke in a low voice.

“You told Miyabi about Takamatsu-senpai, didn't you?”

“Eh? …Did I?”

Konatsu placed a finger on her chin and let her large eyes wander.

“Don’t play dumb. I already know.”

“Aha… I figured.”

I sighed heavily, feeling exasperated, and started walking again.

“H-Hey, don't leave me behind!”

“You always make me promise not to tell Miyabi, yet you go blabbing yourself.”

“Ah! No, no, Aoi-senpai, you absolutely can't tell Miyabi-senpai about that! Or Hajime-senpai either!”

Konatsu caught up and pouted beside me.

“Yeah, yeah, I know. You trust me to keep my mouth shut, unlike Hajime. I always keep my promises.”

“Of course, that's why I confided in you, Senpai. Because I… about Hajime-senpai—”

“Oh… sorry, did I remind you of something unpleasant?”

“Fufu, Aoi-senpai, you're such a worrywart. I'm fine!”

Seeing Konatsu's innocent smile, I felt a little relieved.

Some time ago, Konatsu had confided in me about a troubling incident.

Well, technically, I had forced it out of her after noticing how down she seemed.

She told me that my childhood friend, Hajime Aizawa, had confessed to her and pressured her into a relationship, which was shocking to hear…

When she first told me, I couldn't believe it. But apparently, Takamatsu-senpai had stepped in and mediated the situation, preventing it from escalating.

Later, when I went to confirm the story with Konatsu, Takamatsu-senpai corroborated everything.

Knowing Konatsu had been through such a tough experience filled me with a deep sense of anguish.

Just hearing her story didn't feel like enough. I struggled with how to help her, wracking my brain over it.

Hajime's actions left me both shocked and angry. Having trusted him as my childhood friend, his betrayal hit me hard as well.

At first, I wanted to believe he'd never do something like that.

But ever since we entered middle school, Hajime and I had grown distant, and by the time we became high schoolers, that gap only widened.

On top of that, his reputation in class wasn't great.

He was always off by himself, rarely talking to anyone.

Whenever someone tried to engage him, he'd often evade them, acting secretive and hard to understand. It wasn't surprising that he was sometimes labeled as “creepy” by classmates.

Frankly, I wasn't sure if I even understood the current Hajime anymore.

Every time I saw him, the memories of our childhood promise would flash through my mind, and I'd be consumed with frustration. That frustration would then turn into self-loathing, making the whole situation worse.

Konatsu had firmly rejected Hajime's confession and made me promise not to tell anyone, especially Miyabi, as she didn't want to complicate their friendship. As a result, I'd kept the matter quiet, even though it weighed heavily on me whenever I saw Miyabi.

“Uwa, the cafeteria is packed! Ugh, why are there so many people?”

Konatsu's voice snapped me back to reality.

The cafeteria was crowded with students.

“You’re the one who suddenly suggested we go with Miyabi. Don't complain now, just hurry up and find us some seats.”

“Ehh?!”

Konatsu pouted as she grumbled.

“Aoi! Konatsu!”

Suddenly, a familiar voice called out.

I turned to see Miyabi running towards us.

“Sorry to keep you waiting.”

Miyabi put her hands together apologetically.

“It's fine, we just got here too… but as you can see, it's chaos.”

“Whoa… it really is packed in here.”

“What? What's wrong all of a sudden?”

Konatsu exclaimed in surprise as she looked at her phone.

“I'm so sorry, Senpai! My friend just called me out of the blue—can we reschedule lunch for another day? I'm really sorry!”

She bowed deeply.

“Seriously… Well, it can't be helped. Go on, then.”

I waved her off, and Konatsu hurried away, glancing back several times as she left.

“What do you want to do, Aoi? I've got some bread I bought earlier. Should we just head back to the classroom?”

“Yeah, let's do that. I still have the sweet potato pie you gave me.”

Deciding to return to the classroom, we turned back.

“Aoi, did something happen between you and Konatsu?”

“Huh? Why?”

“Just a feeling. You wear your emotions on your face when you're not feeling okay.”

“Really? Am I that simple?”

“No, it's just… you've had a habit of bottling things up for as long as I've known you. If it gets tough, talk to me, okay?”

“You're one to talk. You bottle things up too and end up crying to me at the last minute.”

“Come on! That was ages ago!”

“Haha, sorry, sorry.”

Exchanging lighthearted words, we made our way back to the classroom.

“Ugh, thanks to Konatsu, we wasted so much time. Maybe I should make her buy me a juice on the way home. Right, Miyabi… Miyabi?”

No answer.

I glanced to my side and saw Miyabi, her face pale, anxiously looking around her desk.

“What's wrong?”

“It's… gone.”

“What?”

“The book I borrowed from you… it's gone, bag and all…”

“What…?”

Miyabi's face went white with shock. I was just as confused.

At that moment, neither of us knew the chaos that the missing book would soon bring into our lives.