“Sakura!”
“Sakura~”
“Sakura—”
“Sakura!!!”
After being ambushed by Momoka Aoi in multiple locations—the bushes, the playground, the restroom, the corridor—Akiba Sakura felt completely drained.
All morning, the moment class ended, she would immediately run out to hide from Momoka Aoi, even putting her plan to win over Yuuma Tsugumu on hold for this.
However, it was utterly useless.
Momoka Aoi had been ambushing her all morning.
Although she had dodged the attacks again and again, this couldn’t go on forever.
At this moment, Akiba Sakura was crouching in a corner behind a low wall at a turn on the rooftop.
Since the break after this class was a long one, staying elsewhere would make her an easy target, so she simply came to the rooftop and chose a tricky spot to hide.
But even on the rooftop, Sakura was still worried about being caught by that girl.
‘I really underestimated her…’
Sakura sighed, recalling how Momoka Aoi had been glaring at her even during class today.
A cold sweat broke out on her back just thinking about it.
Although Yuuma Tsugumu had noticed something was off because Sakura wasn’t coming over to ‘bother’ him after class but was instead running out to hide from Momoka Aoi, that guy ultimately chose to turn a blind eye to Sakura’s plight.
It made Sakura’s little fists clench in anger.
‘This Tsugumu guy, he doesn’t even know to help me. He clearly knows I’m in trouble but won’t come to my aid! I was always helping him before!’
Sakura puffed out her cheeks and threw a couple of punches at the air—
“Stupid pig Tsugumu—won’t help me, won’t help me…”
“Who are you calling a pig?”
At that moment, Yuuma Tsugumu suddenly appeared from behind the low wall, his expression not looking too great either.
“Tsugu… Tsugu… Tsugumu? What are you doing here?!”
Hearing Tsugumu’s voice, Sakura quickly stood up and looked at him behind the low wall, her face filled with ‘surprise’.
“Duh—”
Hearing this, Tsugumu almost laughed in exasperation.
“Weren’t you just thinking about wanting me to help you? Why are you asking me why I’m here now that I’ve come?”
“No, no, no, that’s not what I meant!”
Sakura hurriedly waved her hands in denial.
“I meant, how did you know I was here?”
“Pretty normal, right? If you think about it a little, it’s obvious you’d be here. By the way, if I could guess, Momoka probably can guess you’re here too.”
“!”
Hearing this, Sakura instantly squatted back down, poking her head out from the side of the low wall to warily scan her surroundings—
“She hasn’t come up yet. She’s probably still looking for you on the playground right now? But it won’t be long before she figures out you’re on the rooftop.”
Tsugumu spoke rather casually.
Clearly, he was currently thinking of watching the show.
“Don’t just stand there watching me drown, Tsugumu—”
Sakura stepped out from behind the low wall, grabbed Tsugumu’s arm, and pleaded with a tearful face for him to help her through this crisis.
“Tch… don’t wipe your snot on my clothes!”
Seeing Sakura bury her face in his chest, Tsugumu’s heart inexplicably raced a little faster, but he didn’t show it.
He just gave her a symbolic push with his hand.
“This has nothing to do with me!”
“How does it have nothing to do with you? It has everything to do with you!”
Hearing this, Sakura quickly retorted.
She was eager to drag Tsugumu down with her and then cook up some excuse or lie to fool Momoka Aoi.
“What does it have to do with me? Weren’t you two going to talk about some girl stuff this morning? I’m not a girl—”
Tsugumu’s words seemed like he was eager to distance himself, but Sakura understood—if Tsugumu really thought that way, he wouldn’t have come to the rooftop to find her.
And often, times like these were a test of acting skills.
“Please, Tsugumu, you’re the only one who can help me with this!”
“…”
“Tsugumu~”
Sakura’s voice trembled slightly, carrying a hint of a sob as she begged Tsugumu.
“Fine, fine, I give up! Tell me, how do you want me to help?”
One hit and he loosens up, two hits and he crumbles!
Seeing Tsugumu had already agreed, Sakura quickly raised her head to look at him—
“Tsugumu, just tell Little Aoi that when we went to the amusement park, we were actually taking a relative’s kid, and it definitely wasn’t just the two of us going together!”
“…”
Hearing this, Tsugumu couldn’t help but be taken aback.
“What do you mean? This is related to our trip to the amusement park yesterday?”
“Yeah! So I hope when we see Little Aoi later, if she asks you…”
“Are you two getting your stories straight?”
“Eek—”
At that moment, Momoka Aoi suddenly appeared silently from behind Tsugumu, startling Sakura so much she ducked back behind the low wall.
“Hah! I knew you’d be here, Sakura. Still trying to run?”
Momoka Aoi stood with her hands on her hips, looking at Sakura with a smug expression.
“I just made a slight effort and deduced you were on the rooftop, although…”
Momoka Aoi glanced at Tsugumu beside her out of the corner of her eye.
“Although I didn’t expect Yuuma-kun to be here too. Could it be you two were having a secret rendezvous and I accidentally interrupted?”
“No, no, what secret rendezvous? Hahaha… You’re so funny, Aoi~”
“…”
Listening to their conversation, Tsugumu, standing to the side, seemed to have gotten some idea of what was going on.
“Hah! Sakura, you’ve been avoiding me all day today. It really hurts my feelings~ So…”
However, before Momoka Aoi could finish, Tsugumu suddenly patted her shoulder.
“Momoka, there’s something I want to clarify with you. Let’s go talk over there.”
“Huh—?”
Hearing Tsugumu’s words, Momoka Aoi was clearly taken aback.
She then glanced at Sakura and noticed the girl’s eyes were also filled with anticipation.
‘Heh, two sly foxes. Let’s see what tricks you two just cooked up!’
Momoka Aoi didn’t agree immediately.
Instead, she pretended to look at Tsugumu with a face full of shock—
“I get it! Could it be that Sakura confessed to Yuuma-kun at the amusement park, but Yuuma-kun didn’t accept because the person Yuuma-kun really likes is actually me?! I appreciate your feelings, but—you’re a nice guy~”
“That’s not funny.”
Tsugumu rolled his eyes, then turned and walked first towards the corner by the rooftop stairwell.
“Oh, alright then—”
Having her joke punctured by Tsugumu, Momoka Aoi shrugged, her interest instantly waning, and followed Tsugumu over.
“So, what did Yuuma-kun want to tell me?”
“I guess you probably know what I want to say. What happened yesterday was purely a misunderstanding.”
“A misunderstanding?”
Momoka Aoi looked at Tsugumu in front of her with great interest, her inner excitement growing.
‘The more urgently they try to deny it, the more they’re trying to hide something. Does this mean Sakura and Yuuma-kun have actually already established a boyfriend-girlfriend relationship? Just not publicly?’
To test her hypothesis, Momoka Aoi had agreed to come talk.
She wanted to pry the truth out of Tsugumu’s mouth.