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, Souta didn’t have anybody around him after class ended.

In the noisy classroom, with the continuous passage of time, only one word described a certain Souta sitting at his seat - lonely.

His image evoked loneliness.

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

Nanami sat sideways on her chair, expressing her opinion of Souta without any bad intentions.

However, the atmosphere in the classroom was not so much negligent disregard as… the students feeling that the transfer student seemed to prefer being alone and that he appeared bad at dealing with others, so they deliberately avoided him.

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

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

“This mechanism is annoying…”

Human relations might be like this, it’s just that this flag thing is too exaggerated -- Nanami inexplicably understood this. As the bell rang, she turned and faced forward.

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

The owner of the eyes looked at Souta, who had not left his seat, almost breathlessly the entire class, and seemed to nod with determination…

Lunch break.

The students either started eating lunch with three to five friends around the table or went to the student cafeteria together, and the lively atmosphere they exuded filled the classroom.

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

The loneliness was so strong that people couldn’t come near them, adding more loneliness and falling into an endless negative spiral. As an aside, it’s not that the word spiral is so cool that I want to say it. Spiral.

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

Suddenly, a shadow appeared in this unique space.

It was an approachable girl who could be called a beautiful girl next door, the type that each grade usually had.

If Nanami had a beautiful appearance like a rose, she would be a cherry blossom with an aura that moved people to want to protect it.

She had medium-length hair reaching her shoulders with big bows swaying on both sides, setting off her cuteness.

“Hi, my name is Mahougasawa Akane.”

The girl smiled an easy smile… Akane suddenly brought her face closer - close enough to feel the other person’s breath - and surprised Souta, who stiffened.

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

“The flag… It’s actually raised…”

A friendship flag flapped on Akane’s head.

“Ah, I hope you don’t feel repulsed! I’m not a suspicious character, I’m a mysteriousclassmate, right?”

“You’re mysterious?!”

So suspicious it might explode.

“Excuse me… what’s a mysterious classmate finding me for?”

“My name’s Akane, though?”

“... Mahougasawa-san, why--”

“I’m Akane, though?”

Souta was interrupted by Akane halfway through his sentence.

“... Akane, what did you come here for?”

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

Souta glanced at the friendship flag, his face slightly pink.

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

“Can we eat lunch together.”

Honestly, Souta didn’t really want to interact with people, and most importantly, he felt much more reluctant than happy regarding the situation of having lunch face-to-face 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.”

“I’m thought of as bothersome!!”

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

Nanami was peeking at them through the corner of her eyes while drinking milk 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. The guy was torturing himself.

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

“Huh?!”

Now that Akane’s flag had been broken, she should have left already, but she stubbornly stayed and continued trying. This was a big surprise to Souta.

“Isn’t it broken?”

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

“How can this be…”

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 raise again.

Souta, who had broken countless flags, had never seen a flag resurrect so quickly.

Seeing Souta speechless, Akane had a question mark above her head.

“Is that okay?”

“God…!”

It’s unknown whether she thought that Souta’s silence expressed agreement, but Akane relaxed and brought an empty seat next to Souta’s desk.

Unconsciously almost going with it, Souta bent down slightly and hurriedly tried to break the friendship flag again when he saw Akane place the chair.

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

“... That makes sense, sorry.”

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

… But before that breath was even expelled, a new friendship flag had already popped up.

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

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

“?”

Souta was pretty much scared to death, and Akane tilted her head confusedly with a gentle smile.

“But-but, I feel a little rude to eat first, too?”

“...”

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

“Can’t I?”

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

Seeing that they didn’t know what was so noisy around the transfer student, even the classmates who had their flags broken started peeping at Souta with interest.

“You see, everyone’s looking…”

Souta lowered his head with an extremely distressed expression, and Akane, who was half crying, looked around at her classmates.

The class crossed their arms around their chests in unison, thinking about the best solution at this time. After a while, they all looked to the center of the classroom together.

They looked at the wisest person in the class - the elder who was known as the academy’s living dictionary, Ryuukishibara Tsumugi, who was nibbling a rice ball.

Her appearance and body, even if you relaxed the standard, was at most just at the level of a middle schooler… No, this statement is still wrong. It can be said she looked completely childish, just like a little girl.

Despite her immature appearance, it was rumored that she had lived here even before the founding of the school. How she repeated school for so long 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 a uniform shirt and coat with a belted kimono - this dress always surprised people passing by.

If someone asked her about this, she would sigh: “Don’t you even know how to wear a kimono? The poison that is Western tea has made you forget…”

However, she still wore a large lace hair ornament on her head. In this regard, it shows that her love of beauty in her heart does not distinguish between Eastern and Western.

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

“Listen, everybody!! The weather today is good!! It’s warm and sunny, so go out and eat!”

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

“Oh, befitting the title of ‘baba-sama’! Great idea!”

“Bento needs to be eaten outside!”

“The atrium, let’s go to the atrium!”

Then, everyone started talking again and went out of the classroom. When they realized it, only Souta, Akane, and the Nanami who couldn’t bear the atmosphere were left in the classroom.

“... Nobody saw it?”

“Those guys’s solution is completely fine…”

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

“Can we eat lunch together?”

“... Yes.”

It had already gotten to this point, so Souta lost the courage to refuse.

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

When Akane excitedly sat in the newly arranged chair, Nanami also turned her chair 180 degrees.

“Nanami-chan, do you want to join us?”

“In this situation, if I was the only one facing forward to eat, would I not be the only one without friends?”

Nanami behaved unexpectedly in such a situation, acting very cute.

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

“... Is it really?”

Akane’s carefree act of saying a person has weaknesses… Souta’s mouth twitched slightly, and he asked Nanami:

“... I’m asking you, Nanami, is Akane this type of ‘jerk’?”

“This girl is a super rich girl.”

Nanami replied in an imperial way, implying that Souta was wasting her breath, making Souta want to punch her.

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

“Financial consortium?!”

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

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

The consortium industry… What the hell is a consortium industry…? Nanami looked at Souta strangely, but Akane smiled.

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

“A princess?!”

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

Where did this industry come from…? Nanami looked at Akane strangely this time, but Akane still smiled.

“Nanami is 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 show a very loathful expression.

“To put it bluntly, it is a small, poor country in the European countryside. And there are ten princes and fourteen princesses. I rank second to last. If I stayed there, I would just be an eyesore, so I was sent to this type of Far East island country. I am only a princess in name.”

“......”

“So, so what…?”

Seeing Souta blankly staring at her, Nanami recoiled slightly and asked.

“Sorry, I don’t have any money.”

“Who would bully you using the royal family?!”

This so-called using the royal family to bully referred to the crime of posing as a royal and using high connections to bully.

“If Nanami wants any money, I have some, though?”

“Don’t want it!”

Souta saw the rare scene of a princess refusing an investment from the rich girl.

“You’re right. There is something more important than money. And that is friendthip-- Ow!”

“She bit her tongue!”

“And it was at the most important part when she bit her tongue!!”

Since Akane, who bit her tongue, had an expression like she was about to cry, Nanami and Souta ran around and said randomly: “Friendship is great!” “Long live friendship!” only to make Akane break into happy tears.

“Yes! This type of attitude of mutual protection is friendship! It’s a shiny gem!”

Akane happily held Nanami and Souta’s hands and turned toward Nanami and Souta. Although Akane’s sappy lines made the two quite uncomfortable, they forced a smile. If she really cried, she would cause a headache.

Then, in the case of overlapping hands with a rich girl, Souta wanted to secretly withdraw his hand before the she thought that ‘Boys’ hands are thick and hard, it’s so disgusting~’, but Akane coldly faced him and said:

“A boy’s hand…”

Akane’s face stiffened slightly and she paused a bit. Souta unconsciously thought that this was to be expected with a bitter face. The bitterness level was about as bitter as 99% pure chocolate.

“... is really strong! Excluding my father, it’s actually 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% pure chocolate would just be cacao, which is very bitter.

“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 this… Although I’ve always thought that Nanami’s speech pattern wasn’t like a normal person’s… but… really? You guys are in fact Her Royal Highness and a Little Miss Rich Girl 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 the same.”

“Did thou not say it was different?! If thou actually thinks they are the same, why did thou just correct it?”

“... They’re not the same.”

After being found out by Nanami, Akane became upset. Souta smiled wryly and asked her again:

“So, what’s the difference?”

“... They’re the same.”

“We have hit a wall.”

Just stop talking about this, and check it yourself later - Souta thought so, Akane also thought so, and Nanami thought so too. It can be said that young modern people are not concerned about financial news. Similarly, the situation of young people not caring about other young people is also very serious.

“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 Rich Girl on equal ground…?”

Souta distanced himself a little, and Akane shook her head very sadly.

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

“Are not thou using honorifics…”

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

Akane hesitantly let out an “Ahh…”, while Nanami caused a stir.

“I don’t want to!”

“Souta-kun, Nanami is a princess, so it’s not her willful rejection, it’s me forcing her to.”

“I know how to use honorifics! Nobody forced me to say it!”

Akane made a fool of herself trying to be clever and countering Nanami’s scale. It seems this has been said before. ‘Countering the scale’ would be cute if written in hiragana and katakana.

“So, I hope you try to use it.”

“... Please allow me to refuse.”

““Ooh, a very princess feel.””

“So, so annoying! There definitely won’t be a next time!”

Nanami’s white skin reddened and she shamefully looked away, displeased.

At this point, Akane said she left her tea bottle at her seat and temporarily went to the back of the classroom.

Souta took this opportunity to whisper to Nanami:

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

“... Right. Although I am also not very familiar with her, she is cute, gentle, likeable, cheerful, friendly, and always surrounded by friends… It feels like she has everything that thou lacks.”

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

“Don’t say it so plainly…”

Why do that type of people voluntarily come and talk to themselves…? Just as Souta thought this, although she didn’t hear the contents of their whispers, Akane, watching the two people with interest, came back, smiled, and asked shyly:

“Do you have a good relationship with Souta?”

“Who would have a good relationship with this kind of two-minded indecisive guy?!”

Nanami snarled before Souta had a chance to say anything.

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

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

Since both his side and the other’s were constantly on the line between good and evil, Souta gradually wondered what was right and what was wrong.

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

“Yeah. Thou has so many friends and is welcomed everywhere, so why would thou pay attention to this type of person?”

Worried he would continue to be teased, Souta asked Akane with a sense of crisis. Nanami also joined in, seeming to care too.

With such straightforward questions, Akane’s expression was a bit troubled and she twirled her fork. “Uhhh…” After thinking for a while, she put down her fork and said:

“... Uhhh-- I saw a lonely person, like a puppy drenched in rain or a kitten mewling in sorrow, so I couldn’t ignore them.”

““Like a cat or dog?!””

Nanami and Souta said, shocked.

At the same time, there was a dark thought in Souta’s heart.

“That means that Miss Rich Girl helps poor cats and dogs from her high standing, right?”

After Souta mumbled this a little too disdainfully, he wanted to abandon his immature self. It’s shameful to let out anger like this.

However, the hell that destroys a person’s lively and cheerful spirit… He who falls into such a human purgatory often feels that the goodwill of others is a burden for him.

Well, what was mentioned is just like someone who has experienced the lowest point of life venting their emotions at the time… No, maybe they are still crawling the depths of hell.

Akane thought that Souta, who would not want to say nor let people see this type of thing, would inevitably want to alienate himself.

She thought about 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 couldn’t stand Souta’s distrust of others and him continuously tormenting himself with loneliness - she hated it.

Akane shook her head desperately and repeatedly stressed:

“N-no, no! Souta-kun… how do I put this, barks and meows do you justice, you’re even more pitiful!”

““Less than a cat or dog?!””

Souta, feeling overwhelmingly wretched, slumped his shoulders, and Nanami put her hand on Souta’s shoulder, telling him not to think about it.

“Isn’t this great? A gloomy child like thou needs this type of friend. Get along well with her, okay?”

“Really? As long as Souta doesn’t dislike it, can we 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 a cute sound… but just like before, a new friendship flag immediately popped up.

“Why? My mother said that friends are the treasures of a lifetime. Uh, uh… So… treasures are important… I’m just saying that… that… if treasures didn’t exist, it would no longer be shiny, no longer beautiful and clean… So, if you sweep it away… after it’s sweeped into the basket, you wouldn’t have anywhere to throw it.”

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

Akane tried too hard to persuade them, so much so that she seemed unable to find what to say to make the other person understand.

“In short, in Akane’s mind, friends are like trash cans, so it fits Souta just right.”

“Nanami, what do you mean?!”

“Nothing, nothing. Souta is not so much a trash can, he’s more like a bento box!”

“So I’m a box, huh…”

It was hard to tell whether Akane’s consolation counted as consolation or not.

“In short, I… don’t want to cause trouble for others. It doesn’t matter if it’s Akane or anyone else.”

“I want to give Souta-kun more trouble!”

“You…”

Hearing Akane’s unreasonable, pain-imposing outcry, Souta was about to reproach her but was cut off by Akane.

“Also, I also want to be troubled by Souta-kun! That is what friends are! And… I can’t ignore the lonely Souta!”

Akane’s additional words made Souta give up on a rebuke, and he turned away to escape Akane’s straight gaze.

“I just said not to worry about me…”

“Wait, Souta!”

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

“Wh-what do you want…?”

“Someone rarely wants to be thy friend, I will not allow thou to break her flag!”

“But…”

“Does thou want to hurt a girl?”

“Where is the problem…?”

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

“It’s not okay to be your friend?”

“I don’t think friendship between males and females should be established…”

“So sad…”

“I just said not to break it!!”

Souta was hit behind the head with an unopened packet of Klim Puri bread.

“Even if you say that…”

Having said that, 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 thought it wouldn’t resurrect this time and was relieved. Unexpectedly, Akane regrouped and said without giving anyone else time to breathe:

“Ah, b-b-b-b-b-but, we can start from a failed attempt at becoming friends, what do you think?”

“Not satisfied…? Isn’t it the same as a failed attempt at murder…”

“Right.” Akane nodded, in deep agreement with Nanami. Souta looked at Akane’s head in disbelief.

“It obviously broke several times… It still stands up, though…”

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

“This unexpectedly persistent fellow, Mahougasawa Akane… Isn’t she perfect for thou…? No matter how many times her flag breaks, it quickly revives. Even if she is hurt slightly, she will still face thou with an unyielding fighting spirit.”

“Hmph… I still think it’s very terrifying…”

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

These words were really excellent.

Nanami and Souta quietly held a meeting among friends as usual, and Akane ignored the two people, quietly worrying on the side.

“Failed friends are also not okay…? Hmm… Since it’s like this, then the step before failed friends… acquaintances… nodding acquaintances… hmm… more one-sided… stalker? Would stalker be okay?”

“Don’t go there!!”

“......”

Although Nanami recommended that the two be friends, she immediately doubted whether this person was the correct choice.

“Since you hate stalkers, how about being friends?”

“... Whatever you want.”

“Hooray!”

This was almost threatening.

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

This may be attributed to Akane’s personality traits.

Nonetheless, this must be…

This must be a momentary whim of Miss Rich Girl, thinking that he is fun.

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

Although he would soon realize that thinking this was a huge mistake.

“But, Souta-kun is willing to tell me not-so-pleasant things, so I am a bit happy.”

“... What?”

“When I feel sad, it doesn’t matter when other people spoil me. But when the one spoiling others is me, there’s always this warm fuzzy feeling in my heart.”

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

“Souta-kun thinks I might be hurt and worries about me. This makes me really happy.”

Seeing Akane smile bashfully, Souta frowned.

“... You really are a strange fellow.”

Souta’s tone was no longer hostile nor malicious, and Akane looked full of joy.

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

Souta’s expression darkened like before and he lowered his head slightly, full of worry-- But, he also seemed kind of happy.

“Are thou stupid? Souta. That kind of thing is decided by the other person. Is it really decided by whatever thou says?

Nanami snorted and nibbled at her Klim Puri flatbread.

Akane nodded greatly, agreeing with Nanami.

“Yeah! Nanami said it really well. I’m really happy to just talk with Souta-kun! I might be a little self-conscious saying this, but… There are many people close to me, so when I meet someone alienated from me, it makes me feel fresh… This is something that I have not seen around me so far, you could say it’s an unknown type of person… an unidentified creature… Yes, it is an unidentified life form.”

““A UMA?!””

A chupacabra appeared in Nanami’s and Souta’s minds at the same time. Do you want to suck blood?

“Souta-kun, Nanami, you guys are really in sync. Are you guys really close?”

“We’re not close! It’s better to say that our relationship is extremely bad. Our relationship is so bad that, given the opportunity, I would steal this guy’s leftover bread in exchange for the not-very-tasty bread I am eating right now.”

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

Souta, originally looking forward to the bread that he had saved for last, grieved a little when he heard this bad news.

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

“......”

Nanami stared at the wriggling Akane with eyes full of detest.

Wasn’t it true that friendship could still be established despite vastly different values? Nanami and Akane were polar opposites, making Souta gradually feel that Nanami and Akane may yet be a good pair.

The evidence was…

“... In just a bit, thou shall become alike and be the envy of everybody else!”

“In fact, I’ve always wanted to be closer to Nanami.”

Hearing Nanami’s slightly lonesome words, Akane held Nanami’s hands tightly with a smile. Unconsciously, her name had changed from ‘Nanami-san’ to ‘Nanami’.

“Wh-why me?!”

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

“Like Souta?!”

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

“Nanami feels like a regrettably arrogant yet gentle person, which has always made me care about her.”

“What does thou mean by ‘regrettably arrogant’?”

“It’s just that, in the scale of arrogance and gentleness, the arrogance is relatively higher than the gentleness!”

“Stop being so annoying!!”

Souta looked at the arguing girls with a wonderful smile neither wry nor a smirk, and said:

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

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

Nanami pulled Souta’s ears again, screaming quietly.

“I don’t know… I basically only see my-- I should say flags that have to do with me…”

Meaning that he can only see flags involving him, like how that morning’s accident involved him-- Understanding it this way, Nanami thought, “This ability seems convenient but isn’t convenient; it makes people feel like it’s convenient, but that’s not entirely true…”

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

“Sure?”

“Don’t pull ears for no reason!”

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

“Sure?”

“Nanami, don’t rationalize it by finding joy in others’ sorrow! Getting back to the point, what’s the point of pulling ears…?”

“Seeking trouble… That kind of point, right?”

“Our relationship is really bad!!”

“No it isn’t, no it isn't! The relationship of ‘even if you’re finding trouble for the other person, the other person would just smile and forgive you’ is definitely good proof.”

Oh, it’s like that, that really makes sense-- Souta smiled slightly in approval, and Akane’s cheeks went slightly red. There was joy in the depths of her heart, making her smile unconsciously.

“My confidante! It seems that you understand me! Souta-kun, you’re really, really charming when you smile! As long as you smile like this a lot, the feeling of loneliness will definitely subside!”

“Ah…”

Souta was not used to being praised directly in person, so he unconsciously shrugged slightly, and his smile changed into a bitter smile. Seeing this, Akane shouted, “Ah, what a waste of the cool smile just now…” Her hands even started to quiver.

Having eaten her lunch bread and sucked her milk carton dry, Nanami smiled teasingly and said:

“But Akane, if the other person isn’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. Even if it is a small step for mankind, it is one and a half small steps for me!”

““That’s not much of a difference!!””

“You guys are actually well-coordinated… That’s good, I also want to have someone be in harmony with me.”

“Why do you envy others? Akane, don’t you also have many good points?”

Nanami used her weak grip strength to squeeze her empty milk carton, showing an expression of shy admiration, speaking without breaking eye contact. Hearing Nanami’s words, Akane’s smile bloomed.

“R-really?! Like-like what?”

“... Well… like wanting to eat with me and Souta, isn’t it?”

Seeing Nanami laugh at herself, after Akane laughed with an expression of “Isn’t that normal?”, she fell into deep thought with a “Yeah…”

“Is it better to eat by yourself?”

““Is this an individual interview?!””

“Only you two keep getting closer and closer, it’s not fair, it’s not fair!”

However, even if Akane and Souta have eaten half of their lunch, if Akane and Nanami eat the remaining half, anyone would think that the relationship between Souta and Nanami was deteriorating and breaking apart.

In this way, a group of people was quietly observing the situation outside of the classroom where the three similar people happily ate their lunch.

“... In other words, isn’t it almost okay to enter?”

The class, who had been driven out of the classroom, pondered the opportunity to go back in.

Translator notes and references

Back to Chapter 1

Return to Main Page

Forward to Chapter 3