Chapter 44 Idiot

For the first time since last week, I was finally able to have a one-on-one conversation with this friend of mine. It wasnt long since the last time we had a talk like this, but it felt like its been ages. After all, this dumbass had been avoiding me all day long.

Idiot Seriously, youre such an idiot If you act like that in front of everyone, of course Id have no choice but to meet you like this Even Yuu conspired with everyone to help you Seriously, whats with all of you?

It seemed like she found out. Well, I had been watching Amami-san since we started our scheme. Even in my eyes, it was obvious that she was bad at sneaking around, let alone in the eyes of her best friend. Her movements were way too conspicuous.

Thats on you. If you didnt try to avoid me, none of this wouldve happened, you know?

T-thats

She came here because she had no other choice. But it seemed like she hadnt made up her mind about whether she wanted to talk about it.

Though, with the way she was acting, if I were to put a little pressure on her, she would probably start to talk.

Well, whatever. Lets finish our job first. Amami-san said that everyone had gathered around half the amount we needed.

Are you okay with that?

I mean, I called you here mainly to do this. Or do you want to talk first before we start working? Im fine with that too.

Lets do our job first

Okay then, Ill open the storage, so dont run away.

I hate you Idiot

She didnt say that out of hatred for me, but rather because she was sulking.

I mean, if she actually hated me, she wouldnt act meekly like this. I knew her well enough to know that.

I unlocked the storage room door and went inside.

In anime and manga, this would be the beginning of a scene where a boy and girl got locked inside a dark storehouse and no one would find them until the next morning. Sadly, reality didnt work that way. The door could easily be opened from inside, and the room had a lamp installed in it. That kind of cliche event would never happen in real life.

Uhh Amami-san said the cans are inside a big black trash bag Is this it?

I turned the light on and looked around the room and saw a big black trash bag to my right. I heard that they sorted the cans by their colors, so counting them shouldnt be difficult, but it would still be tedious.

We should split up our roles. Asanagi, start counting the colors that had fewer numbers. After were all done with this, Ill take everything back to the classroom.

Mmm

Well, I had a lot of things to talk about with her, but I still need to prioritize our job.

This group is black colored Yikes, there are still cigarettes and other junk in there. Seriously, is it that hard to clean the cans properly first before you collect them? Asanagi, hows your side?

No problem here. Maybe we should put the dirty cans aside and wash them properly first before taking them back to the class. Ill warn everyone about this, so we wont have to deal with this in the future.

Alright, Ill leave it to you.

Mm.

The more we worked together like this, the more I realized that Asanagi and I were on the same wavelength. She understood my intentions and I understood hers. Everything proceeded smoothly because of this.

Im starting to feel hopeful toward our exhibit now.

Outside of conversation regarding our work, the storage room was enveloped in silence.

The only sound that could be heard was the clanging of the empty cans.

It felt awkward.

It wasnt the first time that we did something without saying a word to each other, we did this a lot whenever we were reading manga or watching a movie together.

But those times never felt this awkward. Unlike those times when we were absorbed in whatever we were doing, this time, it was clear that she was consciously trying not to talk with me.

Ugh.

As we were working, our eyes would occasionally meet and whenever that happened, we would immediately turn our gazes away.

Normally, we could always talk about trivial things to fill this silence, like pizza, B-movies, manga, games and so on But, I couldnt just bring those topics up at this moment.

Hey, Maehara.

What?

Arent you curious?

Curious about what?

About why Im avoiding you.

You want to talk about it?

No, I dontBut at the same time, I know that this situation shouldnt be dragged out any longer Especially the things with Yuu

All three of us, me, Asanagi and Amami-san, were trying to repair the crack that had formed in our relationship.

To Asanagi, Amami-san was her best friend while I was her kindred spirit.

Of course, the best case scenario for her would be for us to make up rather than being estranged like this.

Still, I couldnt help but wonder.

The source of this whole thing was the fact that Asanagi didnt tell Amami-san about our relationship. She said that she couldnt find the perfect timing to tell her, but they were together all the time, no? There shouldve been at least one or two times when she could bring up the topic.

To tell you the truth

Mm?

I want to know whats on your mind. Ive been brooding over it throughout the weekend, but I thought that it would be best if I give you more time And then Monday came and you suddenly started to avoid me I dont understand what youre thinking.

Sorry.

Dont be. Everyone has something that they want to keep to themselves. Like me for example, I never told you about my parents situation, right? I assume youre similar to me. Your problem probably isnt something that I should hear.

To other people, those things might be trivial, but to the person themselves, that wasnt the case at all.

Of course, you could tell me if it makes you feel better. But, Id rather not force you to talk if you dont want to.

While I wanted to know the reason why she did all this, I also wanted to respect her feelings. That was why I decided to leave it up to her.

Call me indecisive, but I couldnt help it. This was my first time having to deal with people like this, I was just trying my best to be mindful of her feelings,

In short, I have a lot of questions to ask you, but if you dont want to tell me, I can always wait.

Are you sure? What if I end up not telling you anything at all?

Then, it is what it is, I guess.

Though that would make me feel sad.

Anyway, thats that. Lets finish our work quickly. If we dont, the other classmates will be suspicious.

The talk didnt solve any of our problems, but my chest felt lighter after telling her all that.

I guess being able to talk properly with her was good enough for me.

Fine

Huh?

Dont mind me

What are you on abou!

The moment I tried to turn around to look in her direction, a sweet smell entered my nose as a warm feeling enveloped my body.

It took me a few seconds to realize that Asanagi had embraced me from behind.

Eh? Ehh?

Maehara You idiot

I was too panicked to notice what kind of feeling was contained in her words.