“Today… the weather is really nice, aww…”
Yuuma Tsugumu instinctively raised his hand to shield his forehead from the blazing sun, its rays harsh and scorching.
The long bangs in front fell, just barely blocking some of the blinding light, but they couldn’t stop the waves of heat rolling toward him.
He stood by the vending machine next to the playground, gripping a freshly bought ice-cold cola.
The bottle felt slightly cool in his hand.
At this moment, Sakura Akiba was nursing a leg injury, obediently sitting in her classroom seat.
No need to think—aside from necessary trips like using the restroom, she probably wouldn’t cling to him and run around like she usually did.
He was used to having her trailing behind him, but now that the noisy figure was suddenly missing, Tsugumu felt an empty space around him.
Even his interest in drinking the cold cola faded a bit.
He twisted open the bottle cap and took a sip.
The icy soda slid down his throat, suppressing some of the heat.
Then he turned and started walking back toward the classroom in the school building.
He had only taken a couple of steps when two female students walked by side by side, brushing past him.
Fragments of their conversation drifted into his ears on the breeze.
One of them, with a playful twin-tail hairstyle, was linking arms with her friend and muttering in a tone full of disdain.
“You have no idea, that guy in our class is so boring. He acts all timid, looks just like a small fry—no guts at all! Small fry! Small fry! Yue~”
This was just casual chatter between girls, nothing to do with Tsugumu.
He didn’t pay it much mind, keeping a steady pace forward.
But the word “small fry” pierced his ears, making him abruptly stop.
His body, previously moving ahead, suddenly turned around.
His gaze landed directly on the twin-tailed girl who had just spoken, his eyes locking tightly onto her back.
She wore the same school uniform as him, had twin-tails, a slender figure.
Just from the back, she somehow reminded him of that bratty girl maid at the Soft Cat Cafe—the one who always argued with him and acted cocky.
“?”
A wave of doubt surged in Tsugumu’s heart.
His steps unconsciously halted.
‘Is it her? That girl who works at the Soft Cat Cafe?’
He instinctively wanted to step forward and call out to her, planning to get a clear look at her face.
But just as he was about to lift his foot, the sharp, loud bell for class rang out across the entire campus, echoing between the playground and the school building.
The bell interrupted his movement and pulled his thoughts back.
Class bell meant he had to rush back to the classroom immediately.
Being late would inevitably earn him a scolding from the teacher.
Tsugumu watched the twin-tail figure slowly walk away until she disappeared around the corner of the school building.
In the end, he couldn’t go confirm.
He pressed his lips together, took one last look at the corner, then turned and ran quickly toward his classroom.
—
Rushing back to the classroom and sitting down, Tsugumu couldn’t pull his mind away from that chance encounter.
The whole class period, he was lost in thought.
His eyes seemed fixed on the blackboard, but his mind had already drifted far away.
He kept wondering: was that twin-tailed girl on the playground the same maid who always interacted with him at the Soft Cat Cafe?
Just from the back and body shape, the two were highly similar.
But when he carefully recalled the voice he’d heard, it seemed clearly different from the cafe maid’s voice.
Yet Tsugumu considered another point—many girls speak differently when they’re in normal conversation versus when they deliberately put on a cute voice.
The tone and manner can change completely.
Maybe she was just using a different speaking style, making him feel it was different.
He couldn’t reach a conclusion right away, so he temporarily held onto the doubt.
Lost in his thoughts, he completely failed to notice that the math teacher at the podium had long since observed his daydreaming.
The teacher’s expression gradually turned serious.
The teacher stopped the lecture, raised a hand to knock on the whiteboard, and called out his name sternly—
“Tsugumu Yuuma, please answer this multiple-choice question. Stand up and say which option you pick.”
The sudden call made Tsugumu jolt.
He quickly stood up and looked at the question on the whiteboard, his mind completely blank.
He had been spacing out the whole time and hadn’t listened to the teacher’s explanation at all.
Facing the multiple-choice problem, he just opened his mouth, about to admit he didn’t know, when a very light but clear voice came from beside him—it was Sakura Akiba.
She was quietly leaning in, taking advantage of the teacher not looking, and whispered a quick reminder.
“Choose A, hurry—the answer is A.”
Tsugumu snapped back to reality and answered steadily, “I choose A.”
The math teacher stared at him for a few seconds.
Seeing he got it right, his expression softened.
He waved for Tsugumu to sit down, just sternly reminding him to pay attention in class, then let him off.
After sitting down, Tsugumu turned his head toward Sakura beside him, casting a grateful glance with some appreciation.
Sakura just blinked lightly, a faint smile curling at the corner of her mouth.
She didn’t say much, then turned her gaze back to the blackboard.
But Tsugumu didn’t stay settled for long.
Soon he fell back into his previous thoughts, frowning slightly, eyes vacant, still mulling over which class that twin-tailed girl was in, planning to go confirm after class.
At that moment, Sakura was quietly observing Tsugumu.
She had noticed his daydreaming even earlier than the teacher. Seeing him so lost in thought, she wondered what he was thinking about.
‘What has that idiot Tsugumu been thinking about this whole class? From the start of the period to the end…’
But for some reason, Sakura felt a vague sense of crisis.
However, before Sakura could analyze the current situation, the class bell rang.
As soon as the crisp bell stopped, Sakura slightly turned her body, raised her hand, and lightly tapped Tsugumu’s arm.
She was about to ask him what was going on.
But before she could get a word out, Tsugumu moved faster than her.
He almost immediately stood up, not even noticing Sakura’s action beside him.
Without saying a word, he turned and walked quickly toward the classroom door, his pace hurried, with no intention of stopping.
“Hey… Tsuguo-kun!”
Sakura called out instinctively, but his steps didn’t pause.
In no time, he had left the classroom, completely out of sight, giving her no chance to ask.
Sakura stared at the empty doorway, pouting in frustration.
She looked down at her bandaged ankle, which she couldn’t put weight on, feeling full of complaints but helpless.
Her injured leg wouldn’t let her chase after him quickly.
She could only sit in her seat, anxious.
“Really! Why run off so fast without letting me finish? Idi—ot! Tsugumu!”
She muttered quietly, then slumped onto the desk, her face full of disappointment and confusion.
Momoka Aoi, sitting behind her, watched the whole scene.
Seeing Sakura like that, she immediately stood up, patting her chest with a righteous air.
“Sakura-chan, don’t worry. Your leg isn’t convenient, so don’t move. I’ll go see where he’s rushing off to in such a hurry and find out for you!”
Before Sakura could stop her or tell her not to follow recklessly, Momoka had already dashed out of the classroom like a whirlwind, chasing after Tsugumu.
Sakura froze in place, her hand still hanging in the air.
Looking at the empty desk beside her and the empty one behind her, she was left alone in her seat, stunned.
She could only sigh silently.
‘You two know I’m injured, and yet you both leave right after class without even chatting with me? What are you doing?!’
“Hello there, Sakura Akiba-san~”
Just then, a girl with long, wavy purple hair came up to Sakura, greeting her with a friendly smile.
Sakura looked up sharply and met a pair of light purple eyes.
It took her a few seconds to recognize the girl as the class discipline monitor—Jieyi Shangchuan.
Shangchuan had smooth, wavy purple hair and gentle features.
Usually, she kept to herself in class, did things orderly, and was well-liked.
Seeing the warm and kind look in her eyes, Sakura was slightly surprised, a bit bewildered inside.
Since the start of the semester, she had almost always been glued to Tsugumu and Momoka, rarely interacting much with other classmates.
Others seldom approached her to talk.
This was the first time a classmate had come over so enthusiastically to chat.
Sakura quickly sat up straight, hiding the disappointment on her face, and returned a polite smile—
“Hello, Shangchuan-san.”
Shangchuan took the empty seat next to her, sized her up carefully, and her smile deepened.
Her tone was full of sincere praise.
“Sakura-san looks really beautiful today too. Your skin is so fair and soft, and your features are especially exquisite. You stand out in class.”
The sudden compliment made Sakura slightly embarrassed, pressing her lips together.
She softly returned the praise.
“Shangchuan-san is the pretty one. Your curly hair is so gentle, and you have great aura.”
They exchanged a few pleasantries, but somehow the conversation drifted to Tsugumu, who had just left in a hurry.
Shangchuan smiled and said, “Tsugumu-san was in such a rush when class ended. Don’t you two usually stick together all the time? Why did he leave you alone and go ahead?”
“It must be something important, right? Otherwise, he wouldn’t have left so fast.”
Though she said that, doubts were already rising in her mind.
Shangchuan watched her slightly uneasy expression, a playful glint in her eyes.
She leaned in a little and lowered her voice with a teasing tone.
“Something important… maybe he’s going to meet another girl? Although Tsugumu-san looks pretty ordinary, who knows… maybe he’s popular with girls from other classes?”
At those words, Sakura’s heart sank.
The smile on her face instantly froze.
‘Now that you mention it, if that idiot Tsugumu’s face under his bangs is seen, maybe some airhead really would…’
Thinking that, Sakura quickly shook her head, forcing calm as she retorted—
“No way. He’s so ordinary… how could any girl like him?”
“Oh no, Sakura-chan!”
Just then, Momoka Aoi ran back into the classroom with a panicked look.
Seeing Sakura talking with Shangchuan, she paused in surprise.