CH 5

~Keiichi side~

“Wait a minute!”

Saejima Nono calls out to Tomoki’s back as he walks unsteadily.

Concerned, he looked out the upstairs window to see what was going on, but that was terrible.

Saejima’s momentum was so intense that he rushed down the stairs, but by that time his voice had already subsided. He thought it would hopefully help Tomoki overcome his difficulty, but it was completely counterproductive.

He should have either stopped it by force or stood there with him.

“…..He went to throw up. He will be there for a while, so let’s talk first.”

I muttered to myself as I watched Tomoki stagger toward the bathroom.

“Even if it’s just by chance, why does Tomoki keep running into girls who don’t listen to him? …… There are all kinds of people amongst girls. Maybe I should seriously go for a good luck exorcism.”

That guy looks like he’s going to pray seriously …… I giggle, and my feet head towards the center of the courtyard. The bewildered-looking Saejima and the expressionless Kohinata noticed me and turned their heads this way.

“Karakusa-kun!? W-What happened suddenly? Ah, oh, it’s the first time I’ve met you! My name is Saejima Nono! This is Kohinata Asuka!”

“Haha, why are you using honorifics? We’re in the same year.”

Furthermore, she bit at the very end.

“But Karakusa-kun, you know, you’re an active model, so you’re a step above me, or something.”

“Don’t worry about it. I’m just getting a little magazine coverage.”

In the first place, I was right near Saejima when she came to the classroom. Well, it seems that she didn’t notice me over there, so it was inevitable.

I’m worried about talking too long and leaving Tomoki alone. Let’s quickly move on to the main topic.

“So, about Sugino Tomoki.”

After all, it seems that she continues to use polite language.

“If you yell that loudly. I’m sure everyone in the courtyard heard you.”

“Haha, I’ve shown you my embarrassment.”

Saejima scratches her cheeks as if embarrassed.

Does Saejima really know that he did something embarrassing? I reply, trying not to let my irritation show on my face

“It was really bad. Like the elementary school thing. Saejima, you know, he never once talked to the people involved, right?　That was just a twisted version of the facts and a rumor.”

“Hee………?”

“He’s never raised his hand in the first place, and he’s never blackmailed anyone. Fighting arguments were an everyday occurrence, but that was mutual.”

“W-Well, how did you know that, Karakusa-kun?”

When I answered that, I could see the blood drain from Saejima’s face. I don’t know if Saejima didn’t want me to hate her or if she understood that she was mistaken.

“By the way, the blackmail thing is that when we were in junior high school, some of my classmates at the time apologized to him when they found out that Tomoki was being treated badly because of a rumor. That’s the rumor that was spread by a student who saw that. So again, Saejima spread the rumor to the students in the courtyard like this.”

Saejima looked horrified and wiggled her body in a small way as she concluded her words, “I’m really ashamed of what I did -“. Kohinata quietly lowered her gaze to the ground.

“W-what about the vending machine thing? It’s true that Sugino-kun lied to you!”

Saejima said such a thing to me, as if she couldn’t accept the reality or didn’t want to admit her wrongdoing.

“In general, is that such a bad thing? Even if he was lying, he was doing it out of the goodness of his heart. It’s not a big deal for a guy to act cool. Besides, did he make any demands because of it? He didn’t, did he? And this time, Tomoki did clean that place.”

“But the teacher said the cafeteria lady was doing it…”

“According to what he said, the case of Tomoki is very special. You should actually ask Akane-san, the person who works in the cafeteria. The actual person who works in the school cafeteria, Akebono, will tell you that he lives alone, so he gets paid for cleaning. It’s only on Fridays, or the day before the last day of school, when there is a lot of waste.”

“……No way…… so really?”

At this point, Saejima finally admitted that she was fully at fault, and she bit her lip and began to chatter tears. Kohinata also remained downcast and completely looked like the bad guy.

” ……gusu ……, if I had spoken properly, maybe this wouldn’t have happened.”

I didn’t expect such words from her, and I was beyond angry and dismayed. A grand sigh escaped me.

“It was Saejima who didn’t listen….. , wasn’t it? That guy said differently many times and told you to listen to others. You didn’t respond to him. It’s not a conversation. You were just misled by false rumors, and you spoke out against Tomoki because of a misunderstanding.”

“Oh no,…… what a terrible thing I did to Sugino-kun,……”

Wiping her tears with the sleeve of her uniform, Saejima let out a few words.

There is nothing more troublesome than a blade wielded with good intentions – I reaffirmed.

Having finished what I wanted to say, I raised my hand lightly and said, “Well then,” as I was worried about Tomoki, before turning on my heel.

For now, I need to get that wobbly guy home.