Chapter 17
Kanzaki Interrogates
“……”
I was about to take my seat, but the more I looked at Kanzaki, the more her expression and demeanor seemed irritable. So I decided that today I would step outside the classroom for a bit and only return to my seat right before the morning chime.
With that in mind, I started moving from my desk toward the classroom door—when a voice stopped me.
“Ichiiri, where are you going? That’s your seat, isn’t it?”
“Huh? …Ah, it’s nothing.”
Hearing that from Kanzaki, I couldn’t possibly say, “I was going to leave the classroom because your face looked so grumpy,” so I obediently took my seat and faced her.
“……”
“……”
Since I couldn’t figure out why Kanzaki was in a bad mood, I decided to approach her as usual.
“Kanzaki, good morning—”
Just as I tried to greet her as normal, Kanzaki cut me off, speaking abruptly.
“Ichiiri, are you hiding something from me?”
“…Huh?”
Hiding something from Kanzaki…?
I thought for a moment, but nothing came to mind.
“I’m not hiding anything.”
“Really? If you tell me honestly now, I’ll forgive you with just a little foot-stomping.”
“That doesn’t count as forgiving! But really, I’m not hiding anything.”
When I said that, Kanzaki looked into my eyes and, with her earlier irritability slightly subdued, spoke.
“…Maybe saying you were hiding something because it’s not like it’s something you have to tell me was an exaggeration, but I think it relates to your future conversations with Yuzumi-chan. More than that, if I were going to witness it in that kind of situation, I wanted to hear it directly from you as a friend.”
“Directly from me…? Sorry, I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
As I spoke, confused, Kanzaki said:
“I mean about your girlfriend.”
“My… girlfriend…? M-my girlfriend!?”
That power word made me shout out loud for a moment, but I quickly returned to my normal voice.
“M-my girlfriend? What do you mean?”
“What do I mean…? You don’t need to hide it—I saw it myself.”
“Saw it…? What did you see?”
When I asked, Kanzaki showed a fleeting bitter expression, but then tried to suppress it and said:
“You… were holding hands with a cute girl, and that girl was hugging you.”
“…!? That can’t be true, right? I wouldn’t—”
As I tried to refute it, something occurred to me.
“Kanzaki… is this about Saturday?”
When I asked, Kanzaki nodded slightly.
“Yes. It was a date with your cute girlfriend, so you must remember it well.”
Because I see Yuzumi as my little sister, hearing words like “cute girl” or “girlfriend” made me completely confused for a moment—but now it all made sense.
Saturday… that was the day Yuzumi and I went out.
On that day, I did indeed hold Yuzumi’s hand, and she hugged me. I don’t know how Kanzaki ended up seeing it, but apparently she did.
Terrible timing, but first, I needed to clear up Kanzaki’s misunderstanding.
“…Kanzaki, the ‘cute girlfriend’ you’re talking about isn’t my girlfriend.”
“Lies… After doing something like that, you still—”
“On Saturday, the person I went out with was my little sister, Yuzumi.”
When I said that, Kanzaki’s eyes widened in surprise. Then she spoke.
“That child… is your little sister, Yuzumi-chan?”
“Yes.”
“Even though you were being so lovey-dovey…?”
“If it looked that way, it just shows how aggressive Yuzumi’s attack was.”
“…Oh, so she’s not your girlfriend… Thank goodness…”
When I told her the truth, Kanzaki muttered something softly, apparently relieved.
“If this clears up the misunderstanding, then we should… deal with Yuzumi—”
Just as I was about to say that, Kanzaki cut me off.
“No, before that… Ichiiri, do you have time after school today?”
“After school…? I do, but are we doing something after school?”
“…I want to tell you something.”
Kanzaki’s expression was serious, and there was no way she could reveal what she wanted to say right here. I nodded in response.
—And so, after school, Kanzaki and I left the school and started walking together.
