47 Na?veté - Part 5 (1/2)
Once Chase leaves through the door, I let out a sigh.
”Why did you two have to make him cross-dress for this? He looked so embarrassed about it.”
And the teasing didn't make it much better. You guys are really lucky that he's such a forgiving person.
”Yeah… we did go a bit too far, didn't we Sig?”
”H-hai… I guess so…”
”But Scarlet, please understand that this was something that we absolutely had to do. There's no two ways about this.”
”A-absolutely. If we had not, then we would surely regret it for a long time desu.”
”I'm not even going to ask so let's just drop it for now. Where should we meet up with Leyla, Nick?”
”Uhm, I think it's safe to say that she ran to the newspaper clubroom the moment classes ended. She might even be there right now.”
”Hmmm… I guess we should hurry up and drag her out of there before Jen and Chase show up.”
”Y-yeah. You and Sig handle that. Don't worry about me. I'll be watching over you. From afar.”
”From afar… what are you talking about? Are you scared of her or something?”
”D-don't be ridiculous! As if the leader of the 'Fated Ones' could be scared off by some thot!”
”Leyla has a crush on Nick.”
”Idiot! Don't just tell her that!”
”Hmm… Didn't Sig just say that you liked girls with glasses? Isn't this a good thing then?”
”Don't be fooled by her deceptive charms! She's wearing those glasses SPECIFICALLY to seduce me! I will not fall for it… I am the leader of the 'Fated Ones'… I will uphold my oath…”
Really? Don't get me wrong, Leyla's a bit weird, but…
You'd think that her being weird would make them like a match-made in heaven or something.
Instead he's going on about some delusions of her wearing glasses just for him.
”Oh whatever. Let's go Sigmund.”
”H-hai… Then Nick-kun, we'll see you around.”
”Yeah…”
The two of us exit through the door, leaving our great leader behind in the clubroom.
As strange as it was that he didn't want to come with us, we don't have the time nor the freedom to be debating stuff like that.
We have to get Leyla out of that room ASAP.
”So, where exactly is the newspaper clubroom? I've never been there before.”
”Ah, here. I'll lead the way.”
Sigmund takes the lead and I follow behind him.
Ahh, I remember having to wear that disgusting hoodie of his when we took the train downtown.
Did he ever end up washing it?
I hope he did… It smelled really bad.
To be honest, I'm kind of curious about it now.
I might have a bit of a bond with it now after wearing it for so long.
Maybe I should get a little closer…?
Just a little…
Just close enough to get a good idea of what it smells like…
”Hey Scar-chan.”
”H-huh?! O-oh. Um… What is it?”
That was close. I almost did something really embarrassing back there.
”To be honest, I feel really bad right now.”
”Um… Is it about making Chase cross-dress? Don't worry, if he really hated it that much he wouldn't have actually went along with it.”
”No not that. I mean you and Momo.”
”Oh, that…”
Yeah, he did have feelings for her, didn't he?
”Do you hate her now? Because of the thing with Chase?”
”…”
He's asking a question I really don't want to answer right now.
But is it really okay to just ignore him?
I mean, he's only asking because he cares about both of us.
”…”
”I don't, really.”
”You don't?”
”Of course not. Why would I hate her for locking herself up with Chase behind my back? It's not like she betrayed trust or anything, right? It'd be unreasonable for me to hate her over something like that. In the first place, the two of us weren't really dating so there's no reason to be upset about it right?”
”Really?”
”… No.”
Just thinking back on how it made me feel, the frustration and anxiety I felt that day…
”I still don't get why it doesn't bother you, Sigmund. If anything you should be more upset than I am.”
”Should I?”
”Of course you should! Doesn't it bother you how similar those two are?! Even when they're with their friends, they still kinda stick out don't they? It's just… I dunno. They're there but they're not. It's like they're both looking at something far away that normal people like you and me can't see. So I guess… I was scared. That the thing the two of them were looking at just happened to be one and the same. I couldn't… I can't lose Momo. And as embarrassing as it is for me to admit, I can't lose Chase either. If something happened in that room, then…”
”Why are you pushing Momo-chan away if you need her so badly then?”
”I don't know… I guess it just feels like I should. Like, maybe if I show her how angry it's making me then she'll get the picture and let things play out like they should.”
”…”
Why am I saying all of this? And to a guy, no less?
Something must be wrong with my head these days. I never thought I'd be venting to Sigmund of all people.
”Scar-chan is a Grade A tsundere, isn't she?”
”Stop calling me that. I'll get angry.”
”Hehe. I'm serious, though. Why don't you just tell her how you feel instead of getting angry at her? She really loves you. She said it herself.”
”I-I know that, but…”
”And Chase does too.”
”… That's a bad joke.”
”Y-yes, sorry.”
I sigh.
”I guess you're right… It's going to be hard to get over it, though.”
”A lot of things are. But, I think it would be sad if you guys stopped being friends over a guy.”
Huh…
Stopped being friends over someone of the opposite gender.
That's kind of like Nick's story, isn't it?
The two boys who got into a fight over a girl.
If we keep going on like this, then something similar might happen.
That kind of betrayal of trust between friends can't be fixed so easily.
But I think if I act reasonably about it then we should be able to fix this as friends
It's just that… it's kinda hard to be reasonable about something like this.
”We're here.”
”A-ah, right.”
We both stop in our tracks as we arrive.
The plate hanging above the door clearly has the words ”Newspaper Club” carved into it.
I can't help but wonder if the reason they haven't rebranded is because it'd cost too much to replace that.
Surely our oh-so wealthy Student Government can afford such an expense, right?
Ah, probably not for a club with only one member though.
”Okay. Here goes.”
Sigmund knocks on the door.
”Remember, don't get caught up in her pace. Just stay-”
Before he could finish his sentence, he was interrupted by the sound of footsteps practically hurling themselves at the door, coupled with the door itself violently swinging open.
The whole thing left us both in a state of shock.
”YES? JENNIFER, MY QUEEN? ARE YOU ALREADY HERE FOR YOUR INTERVIEW?”
”…”
”…”
”Ah, excuse me. Scarlet, right? Jennifer's friend? And…”
She seizes up Sigmund for a moment.
”Woaaaaah! What an odd combination! Well well well, hmm… This is very interesting! Yes… If I didn't know any better, I'd think that Scarlet was helping with her boyfriend's campaign instead of her best friend! Why, who'da thunk that Scarlet Sterling and Sigmund Jackson would be visiting me together like this? Well, with that confession you made at lunch on Wednesday I'm not the least bit surprised that you opted to help Chase over Jennifer. Ah young love! Must be nice…”
”You're barely a year older than us…”
I sigh.
”A-anyway, I came here because I actually wanted to talk about my stance in this upcoming election. You know, for an interview.”
”Hmmm…. Yes, interesting! I'm sure the public would LOVE to know! What with him completely breaking your heart by doing things with Momoka behind your back. Very interesting indeed, yes yes yes!”
She's so energetic… She's saying these blunt things yet she's practically bouncing up and down with joy. Is she even sane?