Episode 50 – Flowers on both hands (but airtight)

Strange. Why on earth?

I repeat in my mind.

Karikarikarikari

The sound of writing notes with a little bit of pressure echoes through the classroom of only three students.
I look at the two girls surrounding the desk.

One is a very serious student who is studying earnestly. And the other is a less-than-serious student, who is clearly bored, with her mouth agape, and her hands occasionally pausing.

Ah. She yawned.

But why? Why is the air so heavy?
It should have been perfect.

I was in trouble because Fujibayashi was almost forcing me to teach her my studies, and I came up with a strange idea. Let Asagiri, one of the most brilliant students in our grade, watch both of us!
I came to such a conclusion, and after making an appointment to study with Asagiri, I was able to make it through the day perfectly.

The two of us never seem to get along. From time to time, Fujibayashi would ask Asagiri questions about her studies, to which Asagiri would respond.

Then, what is the cause of this heavy atmosphere?
When I thought about it, there was only one answer that could be derived.

….. my fault?
What, maybe it’s my fault?
No, no, no, no, wait, wait. It is true that Fujibayashi’s comment earlier was very unfavorable.

It almost turned out that I was the pervert who made Fujibayashi send me pictures of herself in her underwear.
I get chills even now.

◇

“Arase, here I come! By the way, I’m wearing the underwear I sent you a picture of yesterday……., eh?”
“Eh?”
“…… underwear? What do you think this means?”

This was exactly what I meant when I said the air was chilled and hardened.
The air was chilled and frozen, and the ballpoint pen of Asagiri, who was just now trying to teach me how to study, snapped with a clatter.

“Ahh. Yeah, excuse me.”
“Hey, wait, Fujibayashi!”

I was about to get up and chase after Fujibayashi, who was trying to run away, when someone grabbed me by the shoulder from behind.
I slowly turned around and saw a smiling Asagiri. I am just scared. I felt a deep-seated fear.
I couldn’t help but think. Why doesn’t future vision work in times like this? I thought to myself.

“You. Are you making Fujibayashi san send you a picture of herself in her underwear? Or rather, what kind of conversation is it that you want to see?”
“Oh, let’s calm down. You’ll understand.”
“…… pervert.”
“There’s a big misunderstanding here.”
“I knew you were a pervert.”
“No, I’m not.”

She was back to the same unapproachable Asagiri as before.
The first time in a long time, she looked at me with disdain.

“What’s the difference?”
“That was Fujibayashi’s way of making fun of me ……”
“Blaming others is disgusting.”
“No, I’m serious!”
“…………, can you swear to it? I didn’t ask her to send me a picture of her underwear, like that.”
“Yes!”
“Then say it.”
“Eh ……”

Out loud? What’s with the shaming?

“Come on!”
“I swear! I didn’t ask her to send me a picture of her underwear……
“…………”

Hey, that’s so embarrassing. What are you making me swear? I don’t have to swear!

“Well, I’ll believe you when you say so.”
“I don’t get it.”

I feel like I lost something.

“B-by the way, what do you prefer?”
“Yes?”

What kind of question is that?

“…………. Anyway, it’s absolutely wrong to let a girl send you a picture of herself in her underwear so casually!”

After a pause from her unintelligible question, Asagiri blushed and began lecturing again.

◇

Later, seeing me like that, Fujibayashi took pity on me and came back to clear up the misunderstanding.

If Fujibayashi had come back, I would have wanted her to come back sooner.
And since then, the atmosphere has been the same as it is now.

I am sure that the incident is still lingering in the air.

…… Studying in this air is also very uncomfortable for me.

“F-Fujibayashi?”
“What?”

She answered in a grumpy tone.

“Are you mad at me?”
“Why do you think?”
“……!”

I know this pattern.
Someone asks you why, and you don’t understand. In that case, the response is, “Why don’t you understand?” In that case
But even if you answer correctly, they say, “Why didn’t you do that in the first place when you knew?” It is a so-called “deadlock.
In other words, I am stuck. What should I do?

“I-I don’t know. ……”
“Haa. …….”

I was given a big sigh. Ugh, the pressure is …….

“Right hand.”
“…… what?”
“That injury! I didn’t hear that!!!!”

So that’s what …… was in a bad mood about.
Come to think of it, it had been like that since Asagiri explained it to her when she was asked about the injury earlier.

It’s true that I hadn’t seen Fujibayashi since my injury, so I hadn’t told her.
It wasn’t something I bothered to say on line.

“This is …… that, I’m sorry.”
“I don’t mind. Of course I would worry…We are F-friends right”

After a twang and a pout, Fujibayashi said shyly.

“I’ll be careful next time.”
“Well, I wouldn’t want that to happen again.”
“I guess so.”

Apparently, Fujibayashi’s mood had improved a bit.
But there was one more person. There was one more person.

“A-Asagiri.”
“What?”

A glare.

Her eyes are sharp. It’s that look. It’s a sharpness that reminds me of the first day at my new school. Or rather, it’s the same reaction as Fujibayashi’s.
First, a jab. Jab and see what happens.

“This problem…….”
“Oh, this is it. This is how…”

Asagiri was cold, but she was very patient.
I thought she was angry, but I guess not. Like when I first asked her, I couldn’t read her thoughts.

” ……It’s like that Are you listening to me?”
“I’m listening, I’m listening.”
“I see. Okay, say what I said one more time.”
“…………, that’s it. Use the cosine theorem.”
“Are you up for it?”
“…… Sorry.”

Oh, now she’s mad at me. I understand this. Not, I’ll make sure to work on it before she really gets mad at me.
I was just about to put that in my mind when I felt a gaze on me.

“What’s up …, Fujibayashi?”
“It seems like …… the two of you are getting closer?”
“!?I. N-No!. I-It’s not like that!”
“You seem strangely anxious,……, and there’s something fishy,……,”
“That’s right. I’m just learning from her. Fujibayashi had the same thing happen to you.”

I follow Asagiri. I’m sure Asagiri wouldn’t want to be seen that way with me.

“…………”
“Hmm?”
“What’s ……?”
“Anything. Asagiri san, tell me about this place.”
“What? Yes. This is …….

What was that all about?
Still, I don’t know what’s going on, but I’m glad to see that Fujibayashi seems to be taking her studies more seriously.
Or was it my imagination that she was angry?

Well… Now that the air is a little better, I’m going to concentrate.

◆

“So, Fujibayashi san, are you okay?”
“…… what?”
“You and Arase were going to study together, weren’t you? Were you okayI was there?”

I was told that by Asagiri-san in a whisper.
I had assumed that was going to be the case since I had only invited Arase to join us.

So I was surprised that Asagiri-san was there, and a little angry at Arase for not telling me about it.
But that didn’t mean I didn’t like the three of them.

“No, it’s nothing,…… true, but that’s only because Arase is the only one who I can casually ask out, and Asagiri-san is smarter than I am. And if I was going to ask you to teach me, I would have preferred it that way by far.”
“I see. So it was only a misunderstanding. ……”

Asagiri-san mumbled a small last part.
I didn’t catch much of it.

“By the way, I seem to have interfered somehow, is that all right?”

I asked casually. He was studying alone with her until I arrived.
The first time I saw her, I thought she looked a little different from the way she looked today. No, to be more precise, I felt that Asagiri-san was treating Arase differently than before.

“I wouldn’t mind that myself. (If I think about it, it’s hard to know what to talk about when it’s just the two of us all the time.…) Plus, I was rude before, and I wanted to apologize again.”

“Well, that’s all over now, isn’t it? Come on. You apologized to me back then.”

She said something strange. I’m sure we got heated and said things to each other that we didn’t want when we were climbing the mountain, but I’m sure that’s been worked out.

“No, I don’t know how to say it,…… but I had a chance to look at myself. I wanted to get to know Fujibayashi san a little better, too. Once again.”
“……!”

I was shocked when I heard that.
It was the first time anyone had ever said such a thing to me.

“What? Wait, ……?”

I found myself taking Asagiri’s hand.

“Let’s be friends. I’ll be friends with you.”
“Eh?…Eh?”
“Asagiri-san’s first name is Yuri, right?”
“Yes, it is, though…”
“Then, can I call you Yurii from now on? I’ll call you Yuri from now on! You can call me Sana.”
“Oh, um, …… what? Um, ……, Sana?”
“Yes! Yuri! Actually, there’s a place I want to go with you, do you want to go after this?”
“What? Eh?”
“Okay, let’s go.”
“Wai……”
See you later, Arase!~”

I was so happy to have a “friend” that I immediately took Yuri with me and left the classroom.

◆

“…..What about study?”

I muttered to myself in the classroom left alone.