Chapter 3: No Intention of Changing (Intro)

Introduction

On Thursday evening, I saw Ichinose while heading back to the dorms.

Ichinose is usually always surrounded by students of both genders. However, today she surprisingly appeared to be alone. For some reason, I couldnt sense any of her usual ambition in the way she was moving. I wonder if the reason shes alone is because she took the initiative to stay away from her usual groups of friends? At the moment, shes definitely the person in our school year whos flooded with the most attention.

Thoughtlessly involving other people in your own rumors may lead to them getting caught up in a second disaster.

It wouldnt be surprising for Ichinose to think something like this. I thought back to Kanzakis conversation with Hashimoto a few days ago.

Should I try calling out to her? I thought about doing so, but

I felt a presence behind me and decided against it.

I took out my phone and turned on the camera.

Changing the active camera from the one on the back of my phone to the one on the front, I nonchalantly took a peek at the situation going on behind me.

There were two first-year students on their way back to the dorms.

One of them was Hashimoto.

He was just walking normally, but given what happened the other day, its difficult to think of this as a coincidence.

Is he tailing me?

However, while I was in the processes of confirming that, the other student began to approach me.

She was walking up to me without the slightest bit of hesitation.

I immediately turned off the camera and put the phone in my pocket.

Ah, um, Ayanokouji-kun. Do you have a moment?

The person who called out to me from behind was my classmate, Mei-Yu Wang.

Because her name can be difficult to pronounce, people refer to her as Mii-chan. Though calling her that in my mind is already somewhat embarrassing.

Right now Are you free for a little while? I have something Id like to consult you about.

Consult with me? She and I have barely ever spoken with one another until now.

You could even say this was practically the first time she came to talk to me face to face.

It doesnt seem like theres someone other than her either

Looking over, Ichinose continued walking back to the dorms without noticing me.

At this point, jogging over to catch up with her would just end up looking strange.

Im sorry, youre busy arent you

No, Im just heading back to the dorms. It should be fine.

With that, Mii-chan looked a little happier as she let out a sigh of relief.

As I was speaking with Mii-chan, Hashimoto passed us on the way back to the dormitories.

However, he didnt look in my direction or say anything.

So, you said you wanted to consult with me about something?

Speaking about it here Its somewhat

She restlessly looked around at our surrounding. It seems like talking while walking back to the dorms isnt suitable for what she wants to talk about.

Is that so?

As I expected, it wouldnt be possible to ask her something like: Since the dorms are pretty close by, would you like to talk about this in my room?

Moreover, I cant suggest something like going to Mii-chans room instead.

What do you want to do?

Instead of making the decision myself, I decided to just let Mii-chan choose where we go from here.

After a little thought, Mii-chan suggested a location.

How about the cafe if thats alright with you? Though we might be somewhat late in heading back home afterward.

Since she herself wanted to go to the cafe, I didnt have any particular reason to decline.

Even if Ill be a little late getting back, the walk only makes a difference of 5 to 10 minutes, which isnt a big deal. Following Mii-chans suggestion, we headed off to Keyaki Malls cafe. Though, were just two people who dont know each other very well. We ended up walking somewhat of a distance away from each other instead of side-by-side.