Chapter 4: Once More, Behind the Gym

The next day, Mao felt she had sorted out her feelings and headed to school as usual.
But as she got closer to the school, she remembered what had happened yesterday and felt a sense of unease stirring inside her.
In the end, it might have been that she only wanted to believe she had things sorted out.

There was still some time before classes began, but most of her classmates had already arrived at school.
However, it seemed that Haruka had not arrived yet.

Feeling a mixture of relief and disappointment, she sat down in her seat at the very front by the classroom window.
As she was taking a moment to breathe, she suddenly heard a gentle voice near her ear say, “Morning.”

When she turned around, Haruka was there before she knew it.
“Ah, good morning…,” Mao replied shyly.
Seeing Haruka’s face up close, it was just as beautifully well-formed as ever, and those eyes stirred Mao’s feelings intensely.

“Hey, can you lend me your ear for a second?”
Mao did as she was told and turned her ear toward Haruka, and Haruka gently placed her hand against it.

“Come behind the gym after school today.”
Haruka’s whisper felt as if she could even sense her breath, and Mao felt a ticklish sensation.

After saying just that, Haruka returned to her own seat.
The sight of Haruka reflected in Mao’s eyes was graceful, and Mao found herself following her with her gaze without realizing it, ending up watching her all the way until the end.
Then, once Haruka sat down, she gave a small wave along with a gentle smile.
Mao waved back, then quickly faced forward.

She had been told first the words she herself had wanted to say.
That meant Haruka felt the same way.
Thinking that, her cheeks loosened, and she ended up grinning.

All that day, she felt as though she was being watched by Haruka, and the teacher’s voice and the words on the blackboard were vague.
It was as if all of Mao’s awareness was bound to Haruka.

When classes ended, Mao hurried out of the classroom and headed behind the gym.
Haruka was in the same classroom, so the more she hurried, the longer the waiting time would be—
but that did not matter to her at all.

Mao waited with her back turned toward the direction Haruka would likely come from.
This time, she vowed that she would greet her calmly, without shouting.

To Mao, time felt as though it would last forever.

“Um, Hanazono-san…?”

She was suddenly spoken to, and when she turned around, her classmate Nezu was standing there.

“They said… that, um… ‘Hanazono-san is waiting’…”
His gaze darted around.
That restless behavior overlapped, in Mao’s eyes, with how she herself looked when she was nervous.

Caught off guard by the sudden turn of events, Mao desperately ran through her thoughts.
And then, she arrived at a simple conclusion.

—Haruka had arranged this situation.

If that was the case, then she could not refuse in this situation.
What he was saying only vaguely made its way into Mao’s mind, but even so, she understood that he held feelings for her.

At the same time, there was also a strong feeling of resistance—from past experience—that told her,
“Boys are no good.”

“Please… go out with me.”
The boy bowed his head.

“Boys are no good…” “I have to refuse…” “The smell of a boy…” “I’m in love with Haruka-san…” “A boy’s flesh…”
Various thoughts ran through her mind, but the answer that finally came out was—

“Yes… I’d be glad to…”

Mao despaired at herself for having been unable to resist her instincts.
At the same time, when she thought about Haruka’s feelings, there was also a part of her that tried to justify it to herself, telling her she could not treat him callously.

They only made a promise to go on a date there, and then she parted ways with him.
It crossed her mind that Haruka might be watching this scene from somewhere.

Thinking that, she looked around, but she could not find her.
Carrying those complicated feelings, Mao headed home.