Chapter 6 (1/2)
Setoguchi Hina
Birthday: August 8
Horoscope Sign: Leo
Blood Type: A
Yuu’s younger sister Knows about Natsuki’s feelings and seems supportive of her…?
Always cheerful and positive
——-
practice 6
“Ah, I can see the moon”
In the empty classroo her chin in her hands
Come to think of it, she re thes like, “The harvest moon this year onderful,” and “After the Autuht switch”
It had becoe fro out short sleeves for long sleeves as the weather got cooler
‘I’d joke about how I’ to joke about…’
Turning away from the , she turned on her cell phone, which she’d left lying on the desk
Instead of a newappointment The results of the art contest that she’d submitted to at the end of summer vacation would be announced soon
“I wonder if it’ll just be the same as always…”
Frowning at her own comment, Natsuki laid her head down on the desk
‘My head feels like such a mess lately…’
After what had happened during sus between Yuu and Natsuki had been aard
She hadn’t been crying because so on between her and Koyuki, but because of how aggressive Yuu had been
Just as she thought she’d cleared up that , Yuu had thrown another question at her
“Then what about Ayase hugging you? What was that all about?”
When he asked that, she traced back her memory, but couldn’t think of a proper proper The only way to find out would probably be to ask Koyuki himself, the other party involved in this
‘I just told the truth… Although I didn’t bring up Koyuki-kun directly, of course’
However, Yuu hadn’t been satisfied with that kind of answer, and ever since, he’d been acting cold
‘I couldn’t possibly confess to his are like this…’
Glancing up, her eyes fell on Yuu’s desk
Checking that no one else was in the classroom, Natsuki slowly stood up
“…He uses his desk to take notes, huh?”
Tracing the fah
Although it was the exact sas here and there that defined it as Yuu’s
“I guess it’s okay for just a little while…”
Pretending not to notice her heartbeat quickening, she slowly pulled out Yuu’s chair
Pro herself that it would only be for a minute, she sat down in his seat
“Gosh, I feel like so this…”
“Natsuki? What’re you doing?”
A voice called to her out of nowhere, and with a startled scream, Natsuki jumped up from the seat
Standing in front of the door was, luckily enough, not the owner of the desk
“H-Haruki? What’s up? Did you forget so? Wait, this isn’t even your class”
“Wow, good job on delivering your own punchline”
Haruki grinned, and gave a small salute
Whether or not he noticed how flustered she was, the way he acted was the same as usual
‘It’s okay Maybe he didn’t notice that this is Yuu’s desk…’
“So Natsuki, what are you doing at Yuu’s desk?”
As he bluntly called her out, Natsuki’s face turned beet red
Waving her hands around defensively, she stuttered out, “No, um, this isn’t…”
Haruki gave a quiet, uninterested hum, and steadily came closer
“Well, I just ca I let him borrow Excuse me”
Reaching inside Yuu’s desk, he pulled out a thick dictionary It was full of sticky notes, and the worn cover showed that it had been used a lot
“…An English dictionary?”
“Mnment to do”
“Ahh! Right, Haruki, you’ve always been terrible at English, huh?”
“Shut up I’ ya, I’ll be totally fluent one of these days”
Natsuki let out a sigh at his usual joking reply
But immediately after, Haruki asked her another direct question
“And what about you? Those confession rehearsals… Still not ready for the real deal yet?”
“…W-Well… about that…”
The very first person who had let her do a confession rehearsal had been none other than Haruki
Even after her planned confession to Yuu had ended up as a rehearsal as well, Haruki still gave her advice nu, “I won’t help you practice, but I’ll at least hear you out”
He had given her valuable advice frouy’s point of view
‘But I can’t tell his have been between us after what happened at the park’
She had only told Haruki that they’d stopped doing confession rehearsals because she was busy with the contest deadline, but now that she was only waiting for the contest results to be announced, she couldn’t keep using that excuse anymore
As Natsuki stood there unable to answer, Haruki shrugged helplessly
“…Sorry to disappoint you”
“Nah, don’t worry about it It justfor you, so hurry up and confess like your life depends on it! Well, maybe I shouldn’t make that joke”
“Haruki, that’s not funny”
Even though she was being serious, Haruki burst out in laughter
“…Just kidding I shouldn’t be chastising others when I’m not much better”
Haruki sat himself down on Yuu’s desk and looked up at her
Natsu blinked, surprised to see her childhood friend s with self-mockery
“Wait, I didn’t know that you had a crush on someone too!”
“Sure I do So with that?”
As Haruki answered gruffly to hide his embarrassment, Natsuki shook her head violently
“Of course not! I’ for you too!”
“Well that was a quick response”
Haruki pouted, but quickly returned to norain
‘I see So Haruki has a crush, too…’
She hoped that Miou was the one he liked, but she hesitant to ask that herself
So instead of asking who his crush was, she asked hi she was curious about
“How come you haven’t confessed to her, then?”
“…I want to focus on finishi+ng the movie, first”
Using her childhood friend instincts, she knew that Haruki was lying
Although, it feltthe whole truth
‘Guess I can’t force him to say why if he doesn’t want to’
Just like Haruki had done earlier, Natsuki si
“In that case, why not try doing a confession rehearsal?”
“…What?”
Haruki’s eyes widened, as if she’d just asked soeous
Judging by his reaction, Natsuki realized he , and quickly explained more clearly
“I don’t irl you like, but…”
“Oh, you mean with you?”
As usual, Haruki was good at catching on, and when he helped her finish her thought, she nodded
“Yeah! When I tried actually confessing, even if it ended up being just practice in the end, I was really nervous And after I told him I liked him…”
Her heart started beating noisily as the memories from that time resurfaced
Natsuki placed a hand on top of her cardigan, where her heart was, and smiled at Haruki
“I’ to him for real next time”
“…Really? Good for you”
Haruki showed a soft smile
It was a gentle smile, as if he had someone in mind, as well
‘I didn’t think he could s work out for him’
No matter who it was that he liked, Natsuki promised herself that she would support him
Of course, she was rooting for Miou too, but this was a different s to reach, noend
Haruki, who had decided to do the confession rehearsal, started practicing quietly to hiht away
He ht words to confess with
‘I guess I’ll wait out on the veranda so I don’t break his concentration’
As Natsuki started walking to thein the back of the room, she was called to a stop by a serious voice
“Sorry to make you wait I’m ready now, so whenever you are too”
“Ah, okay…”
Haruki looked more nervous than she’d ever seen him before
Watching hi noisily, as well
‘Even though I know it’s just for practice, this isme nervous, too…’
One step at a time, Haruki closed the distance between them
Natsuki looked down unconsciously, and stared at his shoes as he came closer
“…Hey—”
His tre voice echoed in her eardrums
She finally brought herself to look up, and saw that his face was a brighter red than even the sunset outside
“You irl’s not the one I like…”
Haruki took a deep breath before continuing
“I like you!”