If Her Flag Breaks Volume 1 Chapter 2

Flag 2: The Indomitable Magician Quietly Approaches

The day after Souta transferred.

The excitement of the previous day was like a dream. Other than Kikuno, the only person who would actively seek him out to talk, people stopped approaching Souta after class.

As the daylight waned in the noisy classroom, only one word described Souta sitting at his seat — lonely.

His figure evoked loneliness.

“They don’t so much as glance at him, is this reality… Has everyone already lost interest in the transfer student?”

Nanami sat sideways on her chair, expressing her honest opinion of Souta.

However, the classroom atmosphere was less that of ostracism so much as… that feeling of ‘the new transfer student seems to like being alone and doesn’t want to interact, so let’s just let him be.’

Souta didn’t seem to care at all. “Oh, that’s because…” he replied:

“After a flag breaks, it won’t reappear that easily. If something special happens, the flag could reappear or a ‘Flag Recovery’ flag might appear…”

“This mechanism is quite annoying…”

Human relationships might indeed be like this, it’s just that this flag thing is too exaggerated — Nanami understood this implicitly. As the bell rang, she turned to face forward.

However… there was a pair of eyes secretly staring at them.

The eyes’ owner looked breathlessly at Souta, who hadn’t left his seat, for the entire class and seemed to nod with determination…

Lunch break.

The students either started eating lunch with three to five friends around a desk or went to the cafeteria together. A lively atmosphere filled the classroom.

In contrast, Nanami and Souta were too quiet, staring at their respective desks and quietly nibbling on the salty bread they bought that morning.

Their loneliness was so strong that people couldn’t approach them, adding even more loneliness and falling into an endless negative spiral. FYI, the word spiral definitely wasn’t used because it’s a cool word. Spiral.

Based on her excessively protective mentality, if Kikuno was there it would be impossible for Souta to stay in that loneliness spiral, and they would definitely be eating lunch together. Unfortunately, in order to give advice to those who volunteered to study abroad, Kikuno was attending a lunch gathering hosted by the Student Council and wasn’t in the classroom.

Suddenly, a shadow approached this singular space.

It was an approachable girl, a beautiful girl-next-door type person. Each grade generally has one of those.

If Nanami’s beauty was like a rose, hers would be a cherry blossom that rouses people’s protective instincts.

She had shoulder-length hair with big bows swaying on both sides highlighting her cuteness.

“Hi, my name is Mahougasawa Akane.”

The girl… Akane smiled gently and suddenly brought her face closer — close enough to feel her breath — and surprised Souta, who stiffened.

The thing that made Souta’s expression most tense was that…

The flag… It’s been raised…

A friendship flag flapped on Akane’s head.

“Ah, I hope you don’t feel repulsed! I’m not a suspicious person, I’m a mysterious classmate, okay?”

“You’re mysterious?!”

So suspicious it might explode.

“Excuse me… what does this mysterious classmate want from me?”

“I'm Akane-chan, though?”

“... Mahougasawa-san, what do—”

“I'm Akane-chan, though?”

Souta was interrupted by Akane halfway through his sentence.

“... Akane, what do you want from me?”

“Oh! It’s the first time a boy used my first name directly.”

Souta glanced at the friendship flag, which had been splashed with a hint of pink.

Akane also blushed pink, matching the flag. She didn’t seem to notice the subtle movements of his eyes. She asked generously:

“Can we eat a bento together?”

Honestly, Souta didn’t really want to interact with people, and most importantly, he was more apprehensive than happy at the thought of having lunch with two girls in the classroom. After all, he was a sensitive boy in his teenage years, so this was an expected reaction.

“... It’s bothersome.”

“He thinks I’m a bother!!”

Akane’s friendship flag broke, and Souta was relieved.

Nanami was already peeking at them through the corner of her eyes while drinking from her milk carton. At this time, she leaned over beside Souta’s ear and asked:

“Souta, was the flag raised?”

“Yeah…”

“Did you break it?”

“Pretty much…”

“Oh.” Despite her disinterested expression, Nanami looked into Souta’s eyes, which were filled with self-contempt and self-pity. This guy was torturing himself.

“I won’t be a bother, so can we eat lunch together?”

“Huh?!”

Since Akane’s flag had been broken, Souta thought she should have left already. Yet she stubbornly stayed and continued trying. Souta was absolutely flabbergasted.

“Did it not break?”

Nanami murmured, letting go of the straw in the carton.

“How can this be possible…”

Souta was sure that the flag had been broken and looked above Akane’s head… but —

“It-it rose again…!”

He saw the friendship flag rise again.

Having broken countless flags, Souta had never seen a flag recover so quickly.

Seeing Souta speechless, Akane tilted her head in confusion.

“Can we?”

“Holy…!”

Maybe thinking that Souta’s silence indicated permission, Akane relaxed and brought an empty seat next to Souta’s desk.

Nearly going with the flow, Souta frantically tried to break the flag again as Akane put down the chair.

“N-no, how should I say this… After all… I’ll be teased if I have lunch with girls… you know what I mean?”

“... That makes sense, sorry.”

Seeing the friendship flag break and disappear again, Souta sighed in relief.

… But before the sigh even came out, a new friendship flag had already popped up.

“I’ll eat after Souta-kun has finished eating, so can we sit together?”

“You don’t understand what I’m saying at all?!”

“?”

Souta was scared silly, and Akane tilted her head in confusion, smiling gently.

“But-but, it feels a little rude to eat first, though?”

“...”

Souta didn’t think that she could understand him at all. This kind of situation was desperate, almost like fighting a pull chain in the middle of a room.

“Can’t I?”

“I’m not saying that… You can’t… No, I’m just saying…”

Attracted by the ruckus, even the classmates who had their flags broken started glancing towards Souta with interest.

“See, everyone’s looking…”

Souta lowered his head, looking extremely distressed. Akane, almost crying, looked around at her classmates.

The spectators crossed their arms in unison, thinking about the best solution for this situation. After contemplating a while, they all looked to the center of the classroom together.

They looked at the wisest person in the class — the academy’s living dictionary, the sage Ryuukishibara Tsumugi. Currently, she was nibbling a rice ball.

Her face and body, even if you relaxed the standard, was at most just at the level of a middle schooler… No, this description is still wrong. She looked completely childish, just like a little girl.

Despite her immature appearance, there were rumors that she had been living here even before the academy was founded. How many years she had repeated was a complete mystery. It was one of the seven wonders of the school.

There were other mysteries about her, too. For example, she only wore school uniform’s shirt and coat over a belted kimono — this outfit would surprise every passerby.

If someone asked her about this, she would sigh: “You don’t even know how to wear a kimono? Western tea has poisoned you to forget…”

However, she still wore large lace hair accessories. In this regard, her appreciation of beauty did not distinguish between East and West.

Under the gaze of the whole class, Tsumugi understood the situation, thought quickly, and immediately stood up.

“Everybody listen up!! The weather today is great!! It’s warm and sunny, so go out and eat!”

Tsumugi chewed on her rice ball and put on her geta. She walked out of the classroom, geta clicking on the floor.

“Oh, how befitting her title of Grandma! Great idea!”

“Of course Bento needs to be eaten outside!”

“The courtyard, let’s go to the courtyard!”

Then, everyone started talking again and left the classroom single file. When they realized it, only Souta, Akane, and Nanami, unable to bear the atmosphere, were left in the classroom.

“... Nobody’s looking anymore?”

“Something’s wrong with those guys’s problem-solving methods…”

Akane successfully caught Souta’s attention and smiled at him; Nanami scanned the empty classroom in cold sweat.

“Can we eat bento together?”

“... Yes.”

Since it had already gotten to this point, Souta lost the courage to refuse.

The friendship flag, which had been broken more than once, was raised once again, and broke Souta’s heart to the brink of collapse.

As Akane excitedly sat down on the newly-arranged chair, Nanami also turned her chair 180 degrees.

“Nanami-san, do you want to join us?”

“In this situation, if we were the only one facing forward to eat, wouldn’t we be the only one without friends?”

Nanami acted unexpectedly cute in this situation.

“Wow! I’m so happy!! Actually, I’ve always wanted to find a chance to get along with Nanami-san. But I couldn’t find a chance… Ah! Souta-kun, you have many weaknesses… you could even say that your whole body is covered with them!”

“... Is it really?”

Akane’s carefree words… The aggrieved Souta’s mouth twitched and he asked Nanami:

“... Hey Nanami, is Akane this kind of ‘jerk’?”

“This airhead is a super rich heiress, hmph.”

Nanami replied imperiously, implying that Souta was wasting her breath. Souta wanted to punch her.

“Oh, what’s wrong? Are you investigating me? How am I a rich heiress… my grandfather just happens to be the president of a consortium, that’s all.”

“Consortium?!”

“Isn’t the Mahougasawa Group quite famous? You don’t know?”

“... I’m not familiar with the consortium industry.”

Consortium industry… What the hell is a consortium industry…? Nanami gave Souta a strange look, but Akane smiled.

“My business isn’t important. Speaking of which, Nanami is a princess.”

“A princess?!”

“You aren’t familiar with the princess industry either?”

Where did this industry come from…? Nanami gave Akane a strange look this time, but Akane kept beaming.

“Nanami’s actually the thirteenth princess of the Principality of Bladefield!”

Huh?! That wasn’t a metaphor, she’s a real princess?! Souta’s eyes widened, causing Nanami to look resentful.

“To put it simply, it’s just a small country in the European countryside. And there are ten princes and fourteen princesses. We rank second-to-last. If we stayed home, we would just be an eyesore. So we were sent to this Far East island country. We are only a princess in name.”

“......”

“S-so what…?” Seeing Souta staring blankly at her, Nanami retreated slightly and asked.

“I don’t have any money though?!”

“We’re not running a royal scam on thou!!”

The ‘royal scam’ refers to the crime of posing as a royal and using fake connections to scam people.

“If Nanami wants money, I have some, okay?”

“Don’t need it!”

Souta saw the rare sight of a princess refusing a donation from a rich girl.

“You’re right. There’s something more important than money. And that’s friendth— Ow!”

“She bit her tongue!”

“She bit her tongue at the most important part!!”

Akane, who bit her tongue was about to cry. So Nanami and Souta ran around babbling: “Friendship is great!” “Long live friendship!” to make Akane’s tears give way to a smile.

“Absolutely! This spirit of mutual protection is friendship! It’s a shining gem!”

Akane happily held Nanami and Souta’s hands and turned towards them. Although Akane’s sappy lines made the two rather uneasy, they forced a shaky smile. They’d have a headache if she really cried.

Then, in the predicament of holding hands with a rich heiress, Souta wanted to secretly withdraw his hand before she thought that Boys’ hands are thick and hard, it’s so disgusting~. Suddenly, Akane faced him and said:

“A boy’s hand…”

Akane’s face stiffened slightly and she paused for a moment. Souta couldn’t help but think ‘as expected’ with a pained expression about as bitter as 99% pure chocolate.

“... is really strong! Other than perhaps my father, it’s the first time I held hands with a boy.”

Seeing Akane’s friendship flag flutter more energetically than before, Souta’s expression was so painfully bitter that it became as bitter as 100% pure chocolate. That said, 100% purity wouldn’t be chocolate, it’d just be cocoa.

“Why does Souta-kun have such a tangled expression? Is it because you indirectly held hands with my father?”

“... That’s not it. But after all, I didn’t think Nanami really was a princess… how do I put it… Although I’ve always thought that Nanami’s speech pattern was different from a normal person’s… but… really? You guys are actually Her Highness the Princess and Miss Heiress of a tycoon… I feel really out of place.”

“Not a tycoon, it’s a consortium, though?”

Akane raised her index finger to correct the mistake, and Souta, not well-versed in the tycoon industry, asked her:

“What’s the difference?”

“They’re all the same.”

“Didst thou not sayest it was different?! If thou actually thinkest they are the same, why didst thou just correct it?”

“...... Then they’re not the same.”

After being exposed by Nanami, Akane became depressed. Souta forced a smile and asked her again:

“So then, what’s the difference?”

“...... They’re all the same.”

“We’ve hit a wall.”

Let’s just stop talking about this, search it up yourself later — Souta thought, Akane also thought, and Nanami thought too. Young modern people are probably not concerned about financial news, and that’s a serious problem. At the same time, young people not caring about other young people is also a very serious problem.

“It’s a little late to say this kind of thing now, but is it really okay for me to talk to the Princess and Miss Heiress on equal ground…?”

Souta kept his distance a bit, and Akane shook her head very sadly.

“Please don’t use honorifics. Because we are classmates.”

“Art not thou using honorifics…”

“...... Then let’s use honorifics together.”

Akane hesitantly let out an “Ahh…”, while Nanami burst out.

“We will not!”

“Souta-kun, Nanami is a princess, so it’s not her selfish refusal, it’s me forcing her to do something she can’t do.”

“We know how to use honorifics! Nobody forced me to say that!”

Akane tried to be too clever and ended up rubbing Nanami the wrong way. Something similar was probably said before. ‘Rubbing the wrong way’ would be cute if written in hiragana and katakana.

“Then, I hope you try to use them.”

“... Please allow us to refuse.”

““Ooh, very princess-like.””

“Sh-shut up! There definitely won’t be a next time!”

Nanami’s white skin reddened and she looked away in shame and displeasure.

At this point, Akane said she left her tea-filled water bottle at her seat and walked slowly to the back of the classroom.

Souta took the opportunity to whisper to Nanami:

“... That girl is a bit strange… no, she’s really strange. Though she seems like a good girl.”

“... Yeah. Although we are not very familiar with her either, she is cute, gentle, likeable, cheerful, friendly, and always surrounded by friends… It feels like she has everything that thou lacketh.”

Nanami didn’t seem to realize that this sentence applied to herself, too.

“Don’t say it out loud…”

Why do those kinds of people voluntarily come and talk to themselves…? Just as Souta thought this, Akane came back. She looked at them with interest. Although she didn’t hear what they said, she smiled bashfully and asked:

“Souta-kun, do you have a very good relationship with Nanami?”

“Who would have a good relationship with this kind of dithering guy?!”

Nanami roared before Souta had a chance to say anything.

“Even maggots are indispensable creatures for Spaceship Earth since they clean up animal corpses, right?”

“Who said he was a maggot? I would never say such a disgusting word!!”

Since the two were constantly hopping the line between good and evil, Souta couldn’t figure out who was right and who was wrong.

“... Akane, why did you want to talk to me?”

“Right. Thou hast so many friends and art welcomed everywhere, so why would thou payest attention to this kind of person?”

Worried he would continue to be teased, Souta felt a sense of crisis and asked Akane. Nanami also joined in, also interested.

Faced with such blunt questions, Akane twirled her fork, her expression a bit troubled. “Ummm…” After thinking for a while, she put down her fork and said:

“... Ummm—I saw a lonely person, like a puppy drenched in rain or a kitten mewling in pain, so I couldn’t ignore them.”

““Treated like cats and dogs?!””

Nanami and Souta blurted, shocked.

At the same time, Souta soon began to think dark thoughts.

“That means that Miss Heiress helps pitiful cats and dogs from her high standing above, right?”

Upon mumbling this disdainfully, Souta hated his own immaturity. Letting out his anger like this was shameful.

However, when one enters hell, torn to pieces by lively optimism… He who falls into the earthly abyss often feels that goodwill is a burden.

Well, what was just said is just like someone who had hit rock bottom venting their remaining emotions from that time… No, perhaps they’re still crawling the depths of hell.

Souta didn’t want to say that kind of thing but also didn’t want others to notice, so he inevitably tried to alienate himself. At least, that’s what Akane thought.

She pondered it, but…

That’s too lonely. Too sad… Too hopeless, isn’t it? she decided.

“No! It’s not like that!”

Akane didn’t care about being misunderstood. She just couldn’t stand Souta’s attitude — how Souta couldn’t bear to trust other people, so he kept tormenting himself with loneliness

Akane shook her head desperately and repeatedly stressed:

“N-no, no! Souta-kun… how do I put this, barks and purrs cannot be mentioned in the same breath as you, I just think it’s really tragic!”

““Not even considered the same level as cats and dogs?!””

Souta, slumped his shoulders, feeling exceedingly miserable. Nanami put her hand on Souta’s shoulder, telling him not to take it to heart.

“Isn’t this a good thing? A gloomy child like thee needs this kind of friend. Get along with her, okay?”

“Really? Souta-kun, as long as you don’t–don’t dislike it, do you want to be friends?”

“I don’t need…”

“Rejected immediately!!”

Hearing the normally timid Souta say this, Akane was hit hard.

At the same time, Akane’s friendship flag broke with an adorable noise… but just like before, a new friendship flag immediately popped up.

“Why? My mother said that friends are the life’s treasures. U-uh… so… treasures are important… I’m just saying that… that… if treasures didn’t exist, they would no longer be shiny, no longer beautiful and polished… So, if you have to clean it up… after you sweep it into the dustpan, there wouldn’t be anywhere to throw it.”

“How did the conversation turn to trash cans?!”

Akane struggled too hard to persuade them, so much so that she eventually could not find a way to make them understand.

“Basically, in Akane’s mind, friends are like trash cans, so it fits Souta perfectly.”

“Nanami, what do you mean by that?!”

“Nothing like that, nothing like that. Souta isn’t so much a trash can as a bento box!”

“So I’m a box, huh…”

Souta isn’t a flower to be sheltered in a box. It was hard to tell whether Akane’s consolation counted as consolation or not.

“Anyways, I… don’t want to bother others others. Whether it’s Akane or anyone else.”

“I want to bother Souta-kun!”

“You…”

Hearing Akane’s unreasonable outburst about inducing more suffering, Souta was about to reproach her. But Akane continued, cutting him off.

“Also, I want to be bothered by Souta-kun! That’s what friends do! And… I just can’t ignore the lonely person in front of my eyes!”

Akane’s addendum made Souta give up on his rebuke, and he turned away to escape Akane’s unwavering gaze.

“Just don’t worry about me…”

“Hold on, Souta!”

Seeing that Souta was about to say something she couldn’t ignore, Nanami pulled on his ear.

“Wh-what do you want…?”

“It’s rare for someone to want to be thy friend. Thou art not permitted to break her flag!”

“But…”

“Dost thou want to humiliate girls?”

“Where’s the problem…?”

Seeing Nanami and Souta pretty much arguing, Akane sadly held the tip of her fork in her mouth.

“Is it not okay to be your friend?”

“I believe a friendship between males and females is impossible…”

“So sad…”

“I just said not to break it!!”

Souta was hit behind the head with an unopened package of Klim Puri. (Note: Nanami later ate it with great relish)

“Even if you say that…”

Alas, it was too late. The friendship flag on Akane’s head had snapped, and Akane’s eyes filled with tears.

“Sure enough, it broke, right, Souta?”

“Pretty much…”

Souta was relieved, thinking it wouldn’t recover this time. Against all odds, Akane regrouped and, without giving anyone else time to breathe, said:

“Ah, b-b-b-b-b-but, we can begin with an attempted friendship, what do you think?”

“She’s still not yet satisfied…? Isn’t that wording just like ‘attempted murder’…”

“Indeed.” Akane nodded in deep agreement. Souta looked above Akane’s head in disbelief.

“It clearly broke several times… But it still stands…”

He saw the freshly broken flag give way to yet another new flag.

“This Mahougasawa Akane chick is unexpectedly persistent… Isn’t she perfect for thee…? No matter how many times her flag breaks, it quickly recovers. Even if thou hurtest her heart, she will still face thee with an unyielding spirit.”

“Huh… I feel like that’s pretty terrifying…”

“Thou, who can see flags and decide their fate, art the one who is terrifying, alright?”

Well said.

Nanami and Souta quietly held a council. Akane ignored the two, quietly worrying to the side.

“Attempted friendship isn’t okay either…? Hmm… In this case, then the step before attempted friendship… acquaintances… a nodding acquaintance… hmmmmm… more one-sided… stalker? Is stalker okay?”

“Don’t go there!!”

“......”

Nanami was the one who initially recommended that the two be friends, but she soon began to doubt whether she made the correct choice.

“Since you don’t like stalkers, how about being friends?”

“... Do whatever you want.”

“Hooray!”

That’s pretty much a threat.

Watching Akane softly raise her arms and shout hooray with a smile, he felt his mood gradually improve for some reason.

This may be Akane’s unique characteristic.

Nonetheless, this must be…

This must be a temporary whim of Miss Heiress, thinking that he’s interesting.

After the novelty subsides, she would definitely lose interest immediately — that was what Souta thought.

Though he’d soon realize that this train of thought was a huge mistake.

“But I’m kind of happy that Souta-kun’s willing to say such not-so-pleasant things to me.”

“... What?”

“I think that when I’m sad, it doesn’t matter if other people pamper me. But when I’m the one doing the pampering, there’s always this warm fuzzy feeling in my heart.”

“Akane, is it really okay even if you get hurt?”

“Souta-kun thinks I might get hurt and is worrying about me. That makes me really happy.”

Seeing Akane smile bashfully, Souta frowned.

“... You really are a strange chick.”

Souta’s tone was no longer hostile nor malicious, and Akane looked jubilant.

“But even if you’re friends with someone like me, you still wouldn’t be happy, right…”

Souta’s expression darkened like before and he lowered his head slightly, worried — but he also seemed kind of happy.

“Art thou an idiot? Souta. That kind of thing is for them to decide. How can it depend on what thou sayest?”

Nanami snorted and chewed her Klim Puri flatbread.

Akane nodded enthusiastically, agreeing with Nanami.

“Yeah! Nanami said it really well. Just talking to Souta-kun makes me really happy! I might feel a bit self-conscious saying this, but… there are many people close to me, so when I meet someone more distant, it’s a new experience… This is someone that I haven't seen around me so far, an unfamiliar kind of person… an unidentified creature… Yes, an unidentified life form.”

““A UFAO?!””

A chupacabra appeared in Nanami’s and Souta’s minds at the same time. Wanna suck blood?

“Souta-kun, Nanami, you guys are really in sync. You’re actually quite close, right?”

“We’re not close! Rather, our relationship is really bad. So bad that, given the opportunity, we would steal this guy’s leftover bread in exchange for the not-very-tasty bread we are eating right now.”

“My leftover bread is Klim Puri, the very thing Nanami’s eating right now, though?”

Having saved the bread for last, Souta was looking forward to eating it. He grieved a little when he heard this bad news.

“You guys are really similar. That’s great, I’m so jealous--”

“......”

Nanami stared hatefully at Akane wiggling.

Wasn’t it true that friendship can still be established in spite of very different values? Nanami and Akane were polar opposites, and Souta started to feel that Nanami and Akane may yet make a good pair.

The evidence was…

“... Before, ye shall become two peas in a pod and become the envy of everybody else!”

“Actually, I’ve always wanted to become closer with Nanami.”

Hearing Nanami’s slightly lonely words, Akane held Nanami’s hands tightly and smiled. At some point, ‘Nanami-san’ had become ‘Nanami’.

“Wh-why me?!”

“... Whenever I see a lonely person, or a puppy drenched in rain, or a kitten mewling in pain, I just can’t ignore them!”

“Treated like Souta?!”

Nanami was even more shocked at this than Souta was when he was just compared to a cat and dog.

“Nanami regrettably feels like a person of spoiled arrogance, which has always made me interested in her.”

“What dost thou mean by ‘regrettably’?”

“Just that, in the phrase ‘spoiled arrogance’, the ‘spoiled’ part outweighs the ‘arrogant’ part!”

“Shut up!!”

Souta looked at the arguing girls with an magnificent smile, neither forced nor a smirk, and said:

“I for one think that Nanami and Akane can become very good friends.”

“What?! This troublemaker also has a flag for us?”

Nanami pulled on Souta’s ears again, quietly roaring.

“I don’t know… I basically only see my own— or rather, I should say, flags that have to do with me…”

That is to say, Souta was only able to see the flag for that morning’s accident because it also involved him — with this understanding, Nanami thought: This ability seems convenient but isn’t really convenient; it seems to be a convenience, but that’s not entirely the case…

“Just like that! That’s what makes people think you two are close! Physical contact is proof of a good relationship! Can I pull on Souta-kun’s ears, too?”

“Sure?”

“Don’t pull on people’s ears for no reason!”

“So it’s allowed if there is a reason?”

“Sure?”

“Nanami, no stop seeking schadenfreude! Anyways, what’s so fun about pulling on ears…?”

“Causing mischief… That kind of fun, probably?”

“What a terrible relationship!!”

“No it’s not, no it’s not! That feeling of ‘even if you cause them mischief, they’ll still laugh and forgive you’ is definitely proof of a good relationship.”

Oh, that’s how it is, that does make sense— Souta smiled faintly in agreement, and Akane’s cheeks went slightly red. Joy emanated from the depths of her heart, and she couldn’t help but smile.

“That’s my friend! Looks like you really get me! Souta-kun, you’re really, really charming when you smile! As long as you smile like this a lot, your loneliness will definitely disappear!”

“Ah…”

Souta wasn’t used to being praised so directly in person, so he inadvertently shrugged, and his smile became forced. Seeing this, Akane exclaimed, “Ah, what a waste of the cool smile just now…” Her hands even began to quiver.

Having eaten her bread and sucked her milk carton dry, Nanami smirked playfully and said:

“But Akane, if he wasn’t lonely anymore, wouldn’t you lose interest?”

“In my mind, a laughing Souta is more important than a lonely Souta. This is a historic moment, okay? One small step for mankind, one and a half small steps for me!”

““Close enough!!””

“You guys are really in sync… That’s great, I also want someone to be in sync with me.”

“Why do you need to envy other people? Akane, don’t you also have many strengths?”

Nanami lightly squeezed her empty milk carton and broke eye contact, her expression that of shy admiration. Hearing Nanami’s words, Akane’s smile bloomed.

“R-really?! Like-like what?”

“... Well… like wanting to eat with me and Souta, right?”

Seeing Nanami laugh with a little self-deprecation, Akane laughed with an expression of “Isn’t that normal?” She then fell into deep thought with an “Eh…”

“Is it better to eat alone?”

““You had a conversation with yourself?!””

“Only you guys are getting closer. It’s not fair, it’s not fair!”

However, supposing that Akane and Souta ate half their lunch and then Akane ate the remaining half with Nanami, anyone would think that the relationship between Souta and Nanami was deteriorating.

In this way, the three unexpectedly similar people happily ate their lunch in the classroom. Outside, a group of people quietly observed the situation.

“... So, we can probably go in now?”

The rest of the class, who had been driven out of the classroom, searched for an opportunity to go back in.

Translator notes and references

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