Sumire and I entered the Class 1-1 classroom together.
My seat is the second one from the back by the window. Behind me as I pulled out my chair, Sumire placed her bag on her own desk.
There was a seat change before the long weekend.
Ever since it was decided that we would change seats, Sumire had been praying to something the whole time.
Hoping she would get a seat near Aoi-chan.
I had brushed it off lightly, thinking things wouldn’t work out that easily.
When I drew the seat-change lottery and thought, “Lucky, I’m near the window and toward the back,” Sumire somehow drew the seat right behind me.
I was like, “Seriously?”
Sumire was half-mouth open, ascending to heaven.
Thinking back, I’ve never been in the same class as Sumire even once.
We didn’t overlap in elementary school, and in junior high, Sumire went to a private school different from everyone else.
So, the current situation is pretty fresh… or rather, it feels strange.
“Nfufu.”
Sumire wore a smug smile the moment she sat down.
Looking at my face as if wanting me to say something,
“Nfufufufu…”
She kept grinning. Yet she didn’t say a thing.
“You’re creepy…”
“Stop saying I’m creepy?”
“You’re gross…”
My shoulder was gently smacked.
Even so, she looked happy. Sumire-chan is in a great mood.
Deep down, I’m actually relieved that Sumire is behind me.
Because I would’ve hated it if some noisy person or weird person was behind me.
Only…
All day long, I feel a gaze burning into my back.
From this position, I can’t see Sumire during class. I don’t know what she’s doing either.
But Sumire can see me. She keeps watching me.
It’s been like that since the very first class in the morning.
Well, if it’s my imagination, it’s my imagination… yeah, I’m sure it’s just my imagination.
The class ended before I could really focus.
It was break time, and the air in the classroom loosened up. But the pressure I felt on my back stayed the same.
I mean, my spine feels kind of tingly…
“What are you!”
I brushed my arm away as I turned around.
Sumire, leaning forward, had been tracing my back with her fingertips.
“I’m writing letters on your back, so guess what I wrote?”
Why is she suddenly starting something like that?
Is she an elementary schooler?
Before I could say yes or no, Sumire ran her fingers across my back.
What she wrote was “su”. I could tell pretty well.
And I could kind of guess that she would probably write “ki” next.
Just as expected, that’s what she wrote.
“Do you know what I wrote?”
「”No, hey…”」
“Quietly answer me gently, whispering in my ear?”
Sumire brought her ear close.
What’s with those detailed orders?
“Uhm… I don’t really know.”
“Why don’t you know?”
Why is she putting a little pressure on me?
Why am I the one who ends up getting scolded?
“Then next.”
Sumire placed her fingertips on my back once again.
It’s “su” again. Two letters in a row. What she wrote was “Sumire”.
“—Why did you write your own name?”
“It’s not over yet.”
What Sumire wrote next was a kanji. It looked like “life” or “fate” (inochi).
In short, “Sumire is life.”
“Are you an old-school yankee?”
“Then next, Aoi-chan, your turn?”
Sumire turned her chair sideways and turned her back to me.
Geez, what on earth does she want to do?
Could this also be part of dating in secret? But she’d probably do this regardless of that.
I placed my fingertips on Sumire’s back.
That’s fine and all, but I don’t know what to write.
I can’t think of weird gags like Sumire does.
Besides, taking this seriously feels stupid.
I poked Sumire’s back repeatedly with my finger. Then, it was softer than I expected. It was squishy and felt a little nice.
Sumire isn’t fat nor is she thin.
Just a little thinner than average. Her height is almost the same as mine, too.
But is my back this soft?
“Ahn♡”
“Don’t make weird noises?”
“Don’t touch me in weird ways?”
Sumire turned around with a straight face. What’s wrong with her?
Let’s just quickly write some random letter and get it over with.
“Uhm, ‘su’…?”
“That’s right.”
“Suki suki daisuki?” (Love you, love you, love you so much?)
“No way.”
She only wrote “su” so far.
And I have no intention of writing such a long phrase.
“…’Shi’? Sushi?”
“Correct. I want to eat.”
“Then go eat on your own?”
Sumire let out a nose snort as if she was bored.
No, come to think of it, you’re the one who started it.
“Ah, I get it. Aoi-chan, are you embarrassed~?”
“Of course, it’s embarrassing to do something like this, like an elementary schooler.”
“That’s not the kind of embarrassment I meant, though.”
Sumire-chan looked dissatisfied since things didn’t go her way.
Just when I thought that, Sumire suddenly relaxed her cheeks into a mushy grin.
“Ehehe.”
“What are you laughing at?”
“Ufuhehehehehehehe.”
“Scary, scary, scary.”
The grinning won’t stop.
Her cheeks keep stretching wider horizontally.
“This seat is the absolute best. It’s fun. And being able to date Aoi-chan…”
I quickly raised my finger toward the tip of Sumire’s nose, saying, “Hold on a second.”
“You said it’s a secret, right?”
“Ah, oops, oops, I forgot~”
“As if ‘I forgot’ cuts it.”
Can you really forget after making such a big deal down at the shoe lockers earlier?
On purpose or just being a ditz… the scary part is that either one seems likely.
“Nfufu… It’s a secret, okay?”
Sumire raised a finger, tilted her head, and smiled mischievously.
There it is. Another signature pose-looking thing.
If not for this, it would feel like a peaceful daily life.
Well, it is a peaceful daily life, but…
Secret or not, what is this?
To tell the truth, I thought Sumire would immediately say, “Just kidding, it was a joke.”
But somehow it feels serious. She’s dragging it out way too much.
Could it be that she’s seriously, for real planning to keep going?
If so, it would solve everything if I just put a stop to it right away… but isn’t that hard?
It’s not entirely out of the question that I’d get laughed at for taking it seriously.
Ugh, for now, should I wait and see a little longer?