The school entrance was bustling after class.
“Ah, Yunagi-san! Bye-bye!”
“Yamane-san, see you later!”
“Yunagi-saaan, are you leaving already?”
“In a little while. Kinoshita-chan, do you have club activities?”
“Yeah. What a pain.”
“Hehehe. Do your best!”
Especially for me, Yunagi Shizuno, this was a place with no time to catch my breath.
After all, I had an enormous number of friends and acquaintances.
Even though I was just standing there in the entrance, everyone kept calling out to me about one thing or another.
It was something to be grateful for.
But today of all days, I couldn’t afford to pay attention to anyone.
“Huh? Yunagi-san, what are you doing in a place like this?”
“Ah, just waiting for someone.”
“Oh? Is it Shirato-san? Well then, see you!”
I waved amiably and saw Osawa-san off as she left.
Though there wasn’t any specific connection, they were all my friends.
“……”
As the stream of people thinned out, I let out a small sigh.
That person would definitely pass through here.
I didn’t know when it would be.
But I absolutely wanted to talk to that person today.
“Huh?”
“Ah!”
As I stretched my stiffened body, a boy appeared at the shoe lockers.
Immediately, I straightened my back with a snap and hurried over to him.
“Sakuraba-kun!”
“Yunagi-san. What’s up?”
With his usual expressionless face mixed with a bit of surprise, Sakuraba-kun looked at me.
I could feel my face turning red and my heartbeat quickening.
When would I ever get used to talking to Sakuraba-kun…?
“I’m just waiting for someone!”
“Someone? If it’s Shirato-san, she wasn’t in the classroom.”
Thanks to Kasumi’s cooperation, Sakuraba-kun and I could now talk normally even at school.
Sakuraba-kun seemed to share this understanding, showing no particular concern about our surroundings.
“Yeah. It’s not Kasumi today. Someone else.”
And actually, it wasn’t Sakuraba-kun either.
Of course, if it weren’t for today, I’d want to wait for Sakuraba-kun like this every day to walk home together or go on after-school dates.
But first of all, I think Sakuraba-kun would be a little angry if I waited for him at the entrance without any prior notice.
“Someone else? Well, if I started thinking about your social connections, there’d be no end to it.”
“Uhuhu. I guess so.”
Sakuraba-kun fell silent for a moment, then let out a short yawn.
He changed his shoes as usual and left through the entrance.
He didn’t seem at all interested in the rare fact that I wasn’t clinging to him as much.
Somehow, I felt a little lonely.
But well, that part of him was typical Sakuraba-kun, and I liked it…
“Well then.”
“Yeah. See you later.”
When I waved, Sakuraba-kun waved back with a flutter.
I couldn’t help but relax my cheeks.
Ah, my expression right now probably shouldn’t be seen by anyone.
When he disappeared from view, I felt my body suddenly lighten.
It really seemed like nothing had happened at all.
Which meant that’s how it was.
After that, I continued waiting at the entrance for a while longer.
I exchanged greetings with several friends, and looked back at my text exchanges with Sakuraba-kun on my smartphone.
As I was doing this, the person I was waiting for finally appeared.
“…Ah.”
“…Hello. We faced each other with indescribable, subtle expressions.
“I’ve been waiting for you, Mikura Yuzuri-san.”
“Yu-Yunagi-san…”
Perhaps it was just my imagination, but Mikura-san’s eyes looked red and swollen.
If my guess was correct, she had today…
“…Do you need something from me? Unfortunately, I’m not feeling very well right now. If possible, could we make it another time?”
“Mikura-san.”
At my call, Mikura-san’s shoulders jumped as if startled.
She stared at me with an expression that seemed both wary and confused.
I understood Mikura-san’s feelings very well.
“I’m sorry to bother you, but could you spare me some time right now?”
But precisely because of that, I had decided to talk to her today.