“If you see any suspicious-looking people outside the school lately, just make sure not to approach them.”
“The first thing you should do is run to a crowded area and avoid getting entangled with them.”
He paused, adding another thought.
“If you’re scared… call a friend or your family. Even if you’re just in the middle of a call, they won’t dare to harass you.”
” — You can also call me. Don’t worry about bothering me.”
“…”
Hearing that, Koharu Miura looked up, her gaze colliding with Sou Kanzaki’s determined eyes.
For a brief moment, she felt a sense of vertigo.
Those eyes, which usually held a gentle smile, were staring intently at her now without a trace of a joke.
The surging intensity of his emotions felt like it might drown her.
‘…!’
‘Why is he looking at me like that!’
Koharu Miura felt as if her throat were stuffed with cotton; she couldn’t even manage a polite response.
‘This is cheating.’
‘This level of contact and behavior — it was true that Sou Kanzaki was the protagonist, and this was indeed a virtual world based on a text adventure game. But the problem was… I’m not the heroine! I’m a side character with an extra script, someone who spends every day thinking about how to keep others from winning Sou over and just wants to survive until the final chapter! Why is this scene being forced on me?’
Her heart hammered against her ribs. Even if Koharu was unwilling to admit it, she could feel the temperature of her cheeks rising rapidly.
That contradictory mix of being touched yet fearful, of almost surrendering to the moment while logically wanting to flee, threw her into a state of imminent overload.
“That… I—I just remembered!”
Koharu Miura took a sharp step back, avoiding Sou’s gaze like a startled rabbit. “…Yesterday, the teacher assigned a preview… and since class is this afternoon, I haven’t looked at it yet.”
” — I have to go back…”
By the time she realized what she was saying, the excuse had already left her lips.
It made it seem as though she hadn’t remembered for the entire time they were on the rooftop, only to suddenly recall it the moment she met Sou’s eyes.
But at this moment, Koharu couldn’t be bothered with whether her logic was sound.
“That… Kanzaki! Thank you for the warning… oh, right, and for the drink… I’ll be careful — “
“I’m heading back now!”
She spat the words out at lightning speed, not even daring to look at Sou’s expression.
After grabbing her bento box and the empty coffee can, Koharu turned and bolted toward the stairs.
“Miura…”
Sou’s voice seemed to reach out to stop her from behind, but Koharu acted as if she hadn’t heard.
She ran down two flights of stairs and only stopped once the burning sensation of his gaze had completely vanished.
Leaning against the wall, she gasped for air.
“Whew… whew…”
Her heart was still thumping wildly. Koharu reached up to cover her chest, the vibrations clear beneath her palm.
‘Calm down… I have to calm down.’
She closed her eyes, performing a sort of emergency self-hypnosis.
‘He’s kind to everyone; he’s responsible toward everyone. It’s not because of who I am that he’s acting this way.’
‘That’s right. That’s all it is.’
‘ — Don’t be conceited. Don’t forget what I’m here to do.’
She slapped her burning cheeks hard, trying to shatter the lingering romantic atmosphere.
Once her breathing had steadied somewhat, she smoothed her messy bangs, took a deep breath, and headed toward the classroom.
……
By the time she returned to the classroom, the lunch break was already half over.
Most of the students had already finished their meals, and the room was filled with a lazy, post-lunch atmosphere.
Koharu Miura returned to her seat and buried her head in her textbooks, attempting to use the dry text to numb her restless heart. However, it was hardly effective.
Just as Koharu was beginning to feel truly restless, the classroom’s front door slid open.
A familiar, energetic clamor drifted inside.
“Hahaha! For real? There’s a hidden way to eat that pudding?”
“I’m serious. I heard it from a student in the next class — a shop clerk told her.”
“Eh… but moving the caramel to the bottom of the pudding sounds a bit weird.”
It was Yui Hori, Mio Sato, and Yuzuki Yasuda.
“Ah! Koharu!”
The sharp-eyed Yui Hori was the first to notice Koharu Miura slumped over her desk. “You’re back! You’re even faster than us.”
“You have no idea how much the cafeteria lady’s hand was shaking today. She gave Yuzuki a serving of curry with only two pieces of meat! I was dying!”
“Eating a little less is no big deal. It’s a good time to diet anyway,” Yuzuki Yasuda replied casually.
The girls gathered around Koharu’s desk, their noisy presence helping to dissipate much of the unease she had felt on the rooftop.
“Welcome back, everyone.”
“By the way, Koharu.”
Mio Sato spoke up gently. “We were just talking about it on the way back — about going to the KTV this Friday.”
“The KTV?”
Koharu blinked, startled. “What about it? It’s already been a few days…”
Thinking of that KTV reminded her of her chance encounter with Arisa Kiyono.
” — Did someone leave something there?”
“No, that’s not it.”
Yui Hori said, waving her hand with an excited expression. “It’s just that it was so much fun! We’ve never sung in such a huge deluxe private room before.”
“That’s true,” Yuzuki Yasuda added with a nod. “It was my first time, and it felt pretty great.”
“We only got to go because of Kondo,” Mio Sato said. “Kondo mentioned she has a membership there, so we can go and sing whenever we want.”
“Eh? Really?!”
Yui Hori was shocked.
“I heard that, too. She mentioned it during some idle chatter,” Yuzuki Yasuda confirmed Mio’s statement.
“Well, that’s really…”
Yui Hori looked thoughtful. “Speaking of which… it’s been pretty hard to find a good place to sing or listen to music lately.”
“Listen to music?”
Hearing a phrase she had been concerned about recently, Koharu Miura instinctively asked out of curiosity, “Yui, do you usually go to concerts?”
In her memory, Yui Hori didn’t seem like the type to go to musical performances.
Yui Hori looked over and answered clearly, “Eh? I do. Like livehouses and things like that.”
“A livehouse?!”
This time, even Mio Sato and Yuzuki Yasuda were surprised. “You? You actually go to places like that? How come we never knew?”
“Well…”
Yui Hori scratched her head. “You guys never asked.”
“Hey, what kind of excuse is that?”
“Oh, come on. I just felt like you wouldn’t be interested, so I didn’t want to bring it up and bore you. After all, it’s a bit rare for girls to go to livehouses.”
Yui Hori explained.
“Rare… is it? I don’t think it’s that extreme,” Yuzuki Yasuda said, frowning. “I know people who watch live performances. I don’t think it’s that uncommon.”
Koharu Miura looked at Yui Hori, but her mind was on Arisa Kiyono. The group Arisa belonged to seemed to…
“But lately, I’ve had really bad luck,” Yui Hori complained suddenly. “The place I usually go to doesn’t seem to have any performances scheduled at all.”
“Why?” Mio Sato asked. “Is it the off-season?”
“I don’t know,” Yui Hori shook her head. “I asked a stagehand I’m somewhat familiar with, and he said it’s because they’re preparing for some big move. Everyone is hunkering down and rehearsing.”
‘A big move? Recently?’
Hearing those words, Koharu Miura’s heart skipped a beat. An inexplicable premonition surged within her.