Vol 1 Chapter 23 (1/2)

“I’ll turn on the light, alright?”

And hence Reiko had come to know yet another thing about commoners; they didn’t call those things lamps or anything, but simply ‘light[1]‘.

Kimito and Reiko were now alone in the cla.s.sroom.

Slowly, the young ladies had come to the decision to call it a day, and they had been invited to swap places and drink tea with everyone.

And so, when the others tried to voice their grat.i.tude towards Kimito, Kae and the other partic.i.p.ants of the last tea party left the room with them, saying ‘We’ll go ahead’.

Well—— they rather took the others with them.

Right as they were leaving the room, they turned their heads and gave some flickering gazes that seemed to be saying something and caused Reiko’s body to heat up. The embarra.s.sment from having her secret known made her feel like her heart was going to stop.

The dim cla.s.sroom instantly lit up.

“I am terribly sorry.”

Apologizing for his carelessness, Kimito seemed a bit embarra.s.sed, and then came back over to Reiko.

He was someone very careful about minding others.

Just as how things came about right now, he indirectly took her and her surroundings into consideration to make sure that there wouldn’t be anything lacking.

It was different from the maids’ behavior, his personality was one of spontaneity.

A splendid person indeed.

Whenever she happened to meet him, it caused her chest to tighten up.

Lately, it had been like that all the time.

Just by being in the same room with him, by being able to see him, something inside of her snapped, and she felt a sensation like that of a summer breeze blowing by.

Just what would one call this? …Even the sheltered Reiko knew what it was.

“Kimito-sama. Thank you very much.”

Reiko bowed with all her heart.

“I cannot put into words just how grateful I am for everything you did today.”

“Well… That’s good, isn’t it? You were able to make up with everyone.”

Upon raising her head Kimito looked a bit embarra.s.sed and was scratching his head.

To have each of them performing different gestures was a sweet sight.

“This happiness I’m feeling, I’ve never felt like this before.”

It was the truth. If you ask why——

“It’s not just because I was able to make amends with everyone… To have Kimito-sama working hard for my sake and thinking up this magnificent event, it makes me very… happy.”

That’s how it was.

Reiko felt a tremendous amount of joy for thinking of her and everything he had done up until now. And on top of that… it answered a hope she had.

Namely, that Kimito-sama didn’t think of her as someone detestable.

Upon thinking that, her chest sprung up and mood was lightening up… It seemed like she’d be able to move on.

And outside…

The sun had completely set. It was around dusk with the faint remnants of the sun tracing a red light along the ridges of the mountains overlooking the school.

The glow reached out to the cla.s.sroom with only the two of them in there.

It felt like a cliché situation right after a school festival.

A sensation that felt as if all the fortune in the world was on her side.

“…………You know…”

At his voice, she was suddenly pulled back to reality.

And then, little by little Reiko noticed.

It felt like she could see that he made up his mind about something in his concealed eyes.

Something really bad.

And she had a presentiment.

I thought that this was something that I had to say.

I felt like this was something that Arisugawa-san would want to know.

“You know, all those plans for today, they weren’t mine—Aika came up with everything.”

I said it.

I told her everything.

About why Aika was always like that.

About how she was frightened to talk to others.

And about the commoner club.

The ‘Commoner After School Experience’ was originally her idea to finally be able to get along with everyone. All we did was in preparation for that.

And then… she had given it all away for Arisugawa-san’s sake.

Without a breather, I conveyed all of her earnestness.

“She is an incredibly good-hearted person, you know?”

And…

“And that’s why I thought that I wanted to do something for her.”

For that I thought it’d be best to get Arisugawa-san’s help.

Since she was idolized by everyone, good-natured, and always worrying about Aika.

“So, you know, I’d, of course, love if Arisugawa-san could lend me her hand and——”

It was at that time that I noticed.

Arisugawa-san’s face had turned dead-pale and she was incredibly tensed up.

“…What’s wrong?”

Seeming to not even realize that I had said something, her eyes looked someplace distant.

Her shoulders were shaking, she appeared bewildered, and she was on the verge of tears. Her face went through various expressions and eventually… turned red.

She turned her back on me and dashed off.

And left the cla.s.sroom.

“——Ah…!”

My reaction was delayed.

For some reason, the expression Arisugawa-san had right before turning her back on me was… one I had never seen from her before.

Arisugawa-san’s feet moved quickly. On top of that, her pace didn’t let up. It looked like she was doing sports.

I was out of shape, but although I got exhausted quickly, I still managed to not lose sight of her somehow and was hot on her trail—she was headed for… my dorm. More precisely, the upper floors.

Aika’s room.

*SLAM*!

Arisugawa-san slammed the door open with a violent sound and went inside.

Hearing Aika’s leaked ‘Eh?!’, I finally managed to catch up.

Aika was lying on top of her bed, her mouth gaping – right in front of her was Arisugawa-san, a.s.suming an imposing stance.

I was standing behind her, so I could only see her back, but even so I could feel the rage oozing out of her and I was certain that she had the same expression on her face as moments ago.

Bright red and her well-shaped lips shaking.

To put it broadly, a face full of contempt.

Frustrated and embarra.s.sed.

There was a scene in the manga that was scattered across Aika’s bed with the exact same impression.

It was like when a character thought they were going to win, but then came off second best as the opponent purposely saved their secret ability.

Aika s.h.i.+fted her gaze to me, seeking for an explanation, but Arisugawa-san swelled up.

A sound started to swell up in her throat and her entire body shook violently——

“I HATE YOU!”

She yelled while pointing at Aika.

“I just— ABSOLUTELY HATE YOU!”