The day after the drinking party, I met Seina in the cafeteria before class. Seina had a rare hangover and looked a bit down.
I sat in the seat opposite Seina at a four-person table.
Seina was slumped over the desk, sipping water bit by bit.
“How was yesterday? Did you manage to dodge it?”
“Someone volunteered this time, so it was fine.”
“Eh? That’s rare. Who?”
Normally, there are never any volunteers, and it usually ends up being decided by a lottery or being forced onto someone, so this year is an exception.
Still, since not many people in our club are eager to do stuff like that, I wonder who it could be as I run through the possibilities in my mind.
Then Seina wore a meaningful look, leaned closer to me, and whispered in a low voice.
“As it turns out, Takuto volunteered.”
“———… Huh?”
It was unexpected—or rather, I was so surprised that my voice came out louder than intended.
Seeing that, Seina made a flustered face and put a finger up to her lips. Then she pointed behind me.
When I quietly turned around, Takuto was sitting nearby.
I hurriedly covered my mouth, leaned in close to Seina, and spoke in a whisper.
“Why Takuto? He’s totally the type who hates doing that kind of stuff.”
“Yeah… that’s true, but the moment someone asked ‘Is anyone willing to do it?’, he raised his hand without a second hesitation.”
I couldn’t imagine Takuto raising his hand without hesitating at all, and my eyebrows naturally drew together.
“The guys are taken, what about the girls? Was it forced on someone?”
“Who do you think Takuto is…”
Seina said that, pointing her chin toward Takuto sitting behind me.
I secretly glanced back. Takuto was talking while surrounded by girls who were probably underclassmen.
“There were tons of underclassman girls who wanted to do it with Takuto, so it came down to a lottery. The competition rate was a staggering 13 to 1.”
Seina showed the numbers 1 and 3 with both fingers and let out a dazed laugh.
Since there should have been about 20 second-year underclassmen girls in our club, it meant almost all of them had volunteered.
“Oh, wow… So, who ended up getting it?”
“Mei-chan. Do you know her? She’s a second-year. She and Hiyori aren’t particularly close either… and Mikoto, you don’t really interact with her much, right?”
Mei, was there a Mei?
Even hearing the name didn’t ring any bells, and I tilted my head in confusion.
Then Seina operated her smartphone and showed me a picture.
It was a group photo from last year’s barbecue, and Seina zoomed in on a girl with a neat appearance sitting in the front row.
“This girl. You’ve seen her before, right?”
“Ah… maybe…?”
I started to feel like I might have seen her talking to Hiyori a few times.
Since our club has a lot of people, I can never remember all the underclassmen. Seina remembers quite a few, so I really admire her.
Well, unlike me, Seina has an approachable vibe, so she probably just interacts with underclassmen a lot more.
“Well, if it got settled smoothly, that’s great then. I’m glad it wasn’t forced on you. I was on edge the whole time yesterday.”
“You asked me to handle it, so were you doubting meー?”
“Um… well, you know…”
As we were having that trivial conversation for a bit,
“Koto-senpaaaai! Seina-senpai toooooo!!”
Hiyori approached with a cheerful voice.
Every single time, she always shows up with perfect timing while I’m at the cafeteria.
Hiyori stood right in front of us with both hands holding a tray. The steaming bowl of ramen and side dish clattered loudly.
“Hello. What a coincidence! Is it okay if I sit next to you?”
“Yeah, sure.”
Hiyori said “Thank you very much” and sat down right next to me.
When I secretly glanced at her, the heart-shaped necklace I had given her was shining at her collarbone.
She hadn’t been wearing it when we met the other day, so I was worried she didn’t like it much, but I was so glad to see she was actually wearing it.
As soon as she sat down, Hiyori laughed upon seeing Seina slumped over the desk.
“What’s wrong, Seina-senpai? You look super sick.”
“Ugh… A hangover~”
“Eh, that’s rare. Were you drinking that much yesterday?”
“I drank a bit too much when I went for a second round with Reito~”
Hiyori’s menu today was shoyu ramen and a half-fried rice set. Maybe because it was still a bit early for lunch, it felt slightly modest.
Normally, it wouldn’t be strange for gyoza to be included with this.
“Oh yeah, was Hiyori-chan close with Mei-chan?”
Seina asked as if suddenly remembering.
Hiyori stopped her hands from eating ramen, thought for a moment, and replied.
“Mei? No, we’re not very close. But Koto-senpai talked with her quite a bit during last year’s freshman welcome party, right?”
“Eh, really? I don’t remember at all…”
Last year’s welcome party would mean when Hiyori first enrolled.
At that time, it was the first time I saw Hiyori, and my head was completely full of thoughts like, “Just what kind of cute girl is this…!!?”, so I didn’t pay attention to anything else.
“Mei doesn’t really like me, so we aren’t that close. We take a lot of the same classes, so I’d love to get along, though~”
Hiyori said that with a cool expression while slurping her ramen.
That casually dropped comment left a small snag deep inside my chest.
Did Hiyori do something to Mei-chan? She’s not the type to bully anyone.
Well, people are people, so everyone has one or two people they don’t get along with; even I really hate Takuto.
“But seriously, I never thought Takuto would volunteer. I wish I had been there to see it…”
“Did you need something from me?”
As I muttered that under my breath, I heard that voice from behind.
Thinking oh no, I turned around to find Takuto standing there with a faint smile.
“Hello Hiyori-chan, how are you?”
Without even glancing at me or Seina, Takuto smiled and greeted Hiyori.
Without taking her eyes off the ramen, Hiyori muttered softly:
“Hello.”
“It sounded like you were talking about me, do you need something from me?”
This time, he looked at me.
I put on a slight smile and replied while looking over Takuto thoroughly.
“Not really? Just that it’s rare for Takuto to volunteer to be on the shopping team. Aren’t you the type who hates that kind of thing?”
“Well, yeah, I figured it might be nice to do something like that for a change.”
Takuto said that, narrowing his eyes and glaring straight into mine. It looked like he was plotting something.
That look felt eerie, and I instinctively made a suspicious face.
Takuto put his arm over the back of Hiyori’s chair and closed the distance between them.
“Hey Hiyori-chan, yesterday was fun with just the two of us, right?”
Hiyori’s shoulders gave a start, and clutching her hands tightly in front of her chest, she looked up fearfully into Takuto’s face.
“What are you talking about? Nothing happened at all, did it?”
“Eh? Come on, you don’t have to lie.”
“Yesterday I was drinking with my classmates, and I wasn’t drinking with Yamaguchi-senpai.”
Hiyori said that in a firm voice, looking thoroughly annoyed.
Takuto narrowed his eyes for just a second, then glanced sideways at me through the corner of his eye.
“Shall we just say it was like that?”
Hiyori didn’t answer; she let out a sigh and gripped her chopsticks even tighter.
I watched that scene in silence.
The depths of my chest slowly grew cold.
——Yesterday. Just the two of us. Fun.
Those words echoed in my head over and over again.
Yesterday, did something happen yesterday?
Could it be that Takuto made her drink a bunch again, and she got drunk like last time? Did something happen with just the two of them?
My eyes darted around. I tried to put on a calm appearance so that my agitation wouldn’t reach Hiyori or Takuto.
Even though Hiyori’s denial looked completely genuine, Takuto’s words made it sound like he was twisting the facts just to toy with me.
At that moment, Seina—who had been watching the scene in silence just like me—placed her cup on the table.
The sharp clack echoed unnaturally clear.
“Hey, Takuto.”
Seina called out to Takuto in that quiet voice.
She slowly sat up, rested her elbow on the table, and smiled at Takuto.
“Nothing really happened, right? You might be trying to fish for a reaction from Mikoto, but I was watching the whole time, you know?”
When Seina said that to him, Takuto couldn’t find words to say and pulled away from Hiyori.
Takuto stayed silent for a brief second before shrugging his shoulders.
“It was just a joke. No need to take it so seriously.”
“For a joke, you’re being pretty persistent.”
Seina’s voice was low and quiet.
Yet, precisely because of that, there was no escape.
Listening to that exchange from the side, I noticed that my own fingertips were trembling slightly.
——Seina said “nothing happened.” That she was watching the whole time.
Even so.
Why do I feel so miserable?
Takuto looked toward Hiyori one last time.
“Right, Hiyori-chan? I really didn’t mean any harm.”
“…………”
Hiyori didn’t say anything more.
Realizing that Hiyori wouldn’t pay attention to him anymore, Takuto turned around and walked away without saying another word.
As soon as Takuto was out of sight, Hiyori let out a long sigh and unclasped her hands from in front of her chest.
“Seina-senpai, thank you very much.”
With those words, Hiyori bowed deeply toward Seina.
In response, Seina waved her hand dismissively and smiled.
“Nah, it’s totally fine. People like that are seriously annoying.”
The two of them started chatting and complaining about Takuto, but I couldn’t bring myself to join the conversation. I still hadn’t managed to regain my composure at all.
Seina said nothing happened, but was that really true?
Hiyori denied it, but was it really?
I felt an anxious fear that the two of them might be conspiring together to hide something from me.
I gripped my hands tightly in my lap. My nails dug into my palms, stinging slightly.
“Koto-senpai?”
Before I knew it, Hiyori was looking at me with a worried expression.
“Um, really nothing happened with Yamaguchi-senpai, so please don’t worry.”
I forced a smile and replied, “Is that so.”
With Takuto gone, the only thing left behind was a terrible atmosphere.
I couldn’t stand that atmosphere anymore and stood up abruptly.
“Sorry, I just remembered I have something to do. I’ll head on ahead.”
After blurting that out, I left the cafeteria without looking at either Hiyori’s face or Seina’s.
I know it in my head.
Nothing happened; Takuto was just making things up.
Even so.
It felt like Hiyori was showing a side of herself she wouldn’t show to me. It felt like I was the only one left out in the cold.
A small thorn remained deep inside my chest, refusing to come out.
At that time, I didn’t yet know that this thorn would eventually grow into an irreparable misunderstanding.