CH 3

 Chp. 3: It’s a secret!

As expected, I was getting tired of being surrounded by people since morning

(I’m feeling that this classroom has become a festival-like place since morning)

・・・

One of my classmates invited me to join him for lunch, but I said no and slipped out of the classroom to go for a walk and buy something on the store

[Ugh...]

I arrived at the store a little later than than the others, but the crowd was at its peak, and I flinched at the incomparable hustle and bustle of my classroom

(From now on, I’d better bring my own lunch)

I let out a sigh as I looked at the margarine cobbler I managed to get my hands on

It looks bland and tasteless, but fortunately, for a growing kid like me, the portion is large

I wanted to eat lunch in a place where no one is around, so I wandered around school looking for a place where I could be alone

However, such place is really hard to find

I even went to the back of the school building, but there was a female student there that I didn’t know

[Hmm, Is that?]

I was about to leave, but then, I spotted something familiar. Something you won’t see in the city, that’s why it caught my interest

A petite schoolgirl with frizzy hair who was crouching in front of me was also looking at the thing

Therefore, I decided to approach that girl 

[Ugh, the fruit doesn’t grow well… I wonder if the fertilizer is bad? or-]

[Is that a zucchini?]

[Oh my God!]

[Oh, sorry to scare you. But those yellow flowers are zucchini, aren’t they? The purple one next to it is eggplant, and the white one is shishito… There’s also corn, right?]

[Eh? Yes! Yep, that’s right!]

The place was a flower bed

It is surrounded by a long and narrow brick wall, but somehow the soil has been heaped up toward the center to create ridges, where vegetables are planted

Usually, I’m not the type of person who actively speaks to girls at their first meeting

In fact, I didn’t know what to talk about, and if I hadn’t had the need to talk to someone like Nikaido-san, I would’ve passed by

But this time, I couldn’t help but call out to her

[Are you pollinating? Zucchini won’t grow if you don’t pollinate the female flowers, you know]

[Eh?]

[Eggplants will produce more if you cut off the excess flower and shishito peppers if you remove some of the branches]

[Ohh...]

When I pointed out the problem, the female student hurriedly took out her notebook from her skirt pocket and flipped through it. 

Her eyes flick back and forth between the flowers bed and the notebook, and her face turns red

Incidentally, my knowledge is of the level that even a child who helps out in the fields in the countryside would know. So it’s nothing worth to brag about

[You know a lot, don’t you?]

[I used to work in the fields in the countryside. Is this a gardening club or something?]

[Ah, yes. This is the gardening club]

[You grow vegetables… for a gardening club?]

[That… as expected, this is weird, isn’t it?]

[Nope, it’s perfectly fine, Tomatoes are used to be ornamental, and I like vegetables flower, too]

[Eh?]

In fact, I was more familiar with vegetable flowers rather than the flowers in the flower shop

(Also, I used to get some money if I helped out in the fields)

When I smiled and replied with such thought, the girl’s eyes fluttered in panic, as if my reply was unexpected　

Her appearance was somewhat like a small animal.

[.... What are you doing?]

A voice that sounded like a bell was heard from my back

But… the tone of the voice had a hint of dismay in it

[Ah, Nikaido-san]

[Mitake-san, the fertilizer you applied for has arrived at the club building]

[Eh? Ah, thanks for the info, Nikaido-san. I’m on my way then]

The owner of the previous voice was Nikaido-san, the girl who was sitting next to me

After hearing Nikaido-san’s story, she ran out to the club building as fast as she could

After Mitake-san left the gardening area, Nikaido-san puts her hands on her hips, stares at me with her eyes, and bring her face closer to me

[Hmmm…. Picking up girls on your first day at your new school? I wonder if that’s your type of girl, Kirishima-kun!]

[No no, that’s not it]

When I see her very pretty face close to mine, I feel a sense of dread. Not only that, she also had a strange aura that made me back away

Her familiar words and attitude, it was as if she had thrown away a face that she’s been keeping for years 

[I didn’t mean to pick on you but, we looked similar]

[Similar? With who?]

[My grandpa and his sheep]

[Ahhh, Those sheep that we started to raise them to eat weeds, but they were always interested in the vegetable plants and start eating them]

[Yep yep, when I saw them with their curly hair while wandering around the vegetables are---]

[Pfft, Hahahahaha!]

She burst into laughter after she heard my answer

After that, she slaps me on my back　

[Honestly, what a horrible person you aren’t you, Hayato? Asking me out because I looked like one of your sheep]

[Oi! Take it easy on me, won’t you, Haru… ki?]

I don’t know why those words came out of my mouth. The last word was a completely questionable

I don’t know why I said such thing

I stare at her intensely

[Ah, Nikaido-san, here I am. Do you have a minute?]

[Yes, what is it?]

[Wa-! OI!]

Someone from my school called her out

But right after she got called out, she returned to her usual expression and speaking tone

[Shhh...!]

She turned to me as she left, putting her index finger on her lips and smiled wickedly

[What the hell was that?]

Various of questions ran through my mind at once, and after that, my chest feels heavy