Chapter 22: Do You Like Suda Toki? 2

“Hey Toki, didn’t we play dodgeball back in elementary school?”

“Dodgeball, huh… that brings back memories. Yeah, we did. Why do you ask?”

“Our school’s dodgeball rules might differ by region, but basically the two strongest players would do rock-paper-scissors. The winner picks first for their team, the loser picks next, and so on. By the end it becomes random rock-paper-scissors and random picks. Since I wasn’t particularly strong at dodgeball, I usually ended up among the last ones left. Looking back now, it’s basically a microcosm of society. People without power always get left till the end.”

“There you go again with your cynical talk. Full ‘Akaishi mode’ today, huh?”

“What the hell is ‘Akaishi mode’?”

“By the way, I’ve got a similar kinda funny story.”

“It wasn’t supposed to be funny though.”

“You and I are rotten friends, right? The term ‘rotten relationship’ means you can’t separate even if you want to. But when you say it out loud like ‘Rotten! Relationship!’ it kinda changes the vibe.”

“No, ‘rotten relationship’ is used for undesirable connections, so even if you say ‘Rotten! Relationship!’ the meaning stays the same. You want the bond to rot away, but it just won’t.”

“Damn, that wasn’t funny at all.”

“Well, most of your stories are neither poisonous nor beneficial.”

Akaishi and Suda were having a meaningless conversation while eating lunch together.

Students admired the cherry blossoms as they ate, took photos with the sakura in the background, then stayed completely silent, staring at their phones while eating.

Akaishi looked at them with cold eyes.

“Those guys are so obsessed with taking pictures with the cherry blossoms and posting them that they don’t even talk to their friends. They only take group photos with the flowers, then spend the rest of lunch glued to their phones. I honestly don’t know what ‘friends’ even means anymore.”

“There it is! Akaishi mode! You’re showing the bad side of Akaishi mode again. Well, people are different. I personally think that stuff is fine.”

“Of course you do. I’ve lost count of how many times you dragged me to festivals and flower viewing events.”

“You were the one jumping around like an idiot enjoying yourself once you got there.”

“T-That’s because once I’m there, I figured I might as well enjoy it to the fullest!”

“Yeah yeah~, that’s just sophistry~.”

“Well… it is sophistry.”

In front of Suda, Akaishi honestly corrected himself without hesitation.

Suda was the complete opposite of Akaishi. He enjoyed interacting with people and liked doing many things that Akaishi disliked. He even actively posted on SNS, which Akaishi had been glaring at earlier.

And yet, for some reason, the two of them got along strangely well.

Suda shifted his gaze away from the girls taking photos of the cherry blossoms and pointed toward another group of students.

“Well, there are also idiots like those guys over there. Everyone’s different.”

Akaishi looked in the direction Suda was pointing. Three boys had taken off their school uniform jackets and were messing around. Two had thrown theirs aside, while one held his jacket in both hands, waving it like a bullfighter taunting the other two.

“That’s pretty stupid in its own way.”

“Ahahaha, it’s hilarious. We’re kinda like that too, aren’t we?”

“We are!?”

“Ahahahaha.”

The two laughed together.

Akaishi and Suda shared a relationship that could be called a honeymoon period. In front of Suda, Akaishi never hid his true nature and spoke in a much more casual tone.

“Oh yeah, by the way, I heard a rumor about you recently.”

“A rumor… about me? That I’m a cyborg or something?”

“You were a cyborg!?”

“No, I’m not.”

Another pointless exchange.

“Nah, nothing like that. It was about you and that… what’s her name again? That wild-looking girl… uh…”

“Hachiya?”

“Yeah, her! I heard a rumor that you and Hachiya-san are going out.”

“Another weird rumor is going around…”

Akaishi had no idea who started it or where.

“Eh, Yuu, you’re seriously dating her!?”

“Is that ‘Yuu’ my name or ‘you’?”

“Doesn’t matter.”

“True. Anyway, we’re not dating at all. Totally off base.”

“Yeah, figured as much.”

Suda added with a bright laugh, “I can’t even imagine you dating Hachiya-san~.”

Who on earth would spread such a rumor, and for what purpose? It was probably just someone’s prank.

“Well, it’s a pointless story anyway. Has nothing to do with me.”

“Exactly.”

Suda and Akaishi nodded in mutual understanding.

“Oh right, Yuu. I posted today’s cherry blossoms on ‘Twique’, check it out.”

“Huh? When?”

Akaishi opened Twique on his phone and looked at Suda’s post.

Suda

The school cherry blossoms are already scattering before I knew it.

(Tap here to view image)

Without hesitation, Akaishi opened the image. A photo of the cherry blossoms in front of them appeared.

“They’re not scattering yet!”

“Hahahaha.”

“When the hell did you take this photo?”

“Just now, in the one moment you weren’t looking.”

“Are you perhaps a pro?”

“You noticed… I’ve been had.”

“Are you perhaps a pro?”

“Saying it twice won’t get you a second point!”

“Haha.”

Akaishi closed Twique and turned off his phone.

“Shall we head back soon?”

“Yeah, time’s almost up.”

With only ten minutes left of lunch break, the two returned to their respective classrooms.

Ding-dong-dang-dong.

“Stand. Bow.”

“““Thank you very much~”””

The school day ended, and the cheerful voices of students echoed in the classroom.

“Hey~ what are we doing today~?”

“I wanna go karaoke~!”

“Ah~ I totally get that~! But purikura is also really good, right?”

“““Yesssss~!!!”””

The students made plans for after school as they pleased.

Akaishi, who didn’t have many close friends in class, quickly packed his bag and left the classroom.

“Ah, wait…”

“Kyoko, what’s wrong?”

Sakurai patted Hachiya’s head twice with a pon pon as she tried to call out to Akaishi.

“Ah…………”

Hachiya’s face turned red after being suddenly patted on the head by Sakurai.

“We have club activities now, right? Let’s go, Kyoko.”

“Ah… yeah, I’ll go, but I have something to do with the teacher first. Sousuke, you go on ahead.”

“She said that, so let’s hurry. Your legal wife is waiting.”

“You’re not my legal wife!”

Takanashi, who had been watching the exchange, cut in and led Sakurai along with the rest of the group toward the broadcasting club room.

“I have to hurry…”

Hachiya hurriedly stuffed her things into her bag and chased after Akaishi.

Akaishi’s high school emphasized freedom but was also serious about education.

He was studying diligently at a self-study desk placed in front of the staff room. While focusing on math, he felt his shoulder tapped twice.

Akaishi removed his earplugs and looked in the direction of the tap.

“Akaishi, got a minute?”

There stood Hachiya, holding her bag beside her face as if trying to hide from something.

Akaishi ignored her and went back to his math problems.

“Hey Akaishi! I’m talking to you!”

“Shut up! This is right in front of the staff room! Don’t try to drag me into your rom-com developments! Be quiet!”

“Wha…… what the…”

He quietly scolded Hachiya, who had raised her voice in frustration, warning her not to cause trouble for others and not to turn things into a typical love-comedy scene.

Akaishi continued,

“You seemed like you didn’t want me involved, so I stayed away. Hurry up and go somewhere else.”

He said it coldly. But from his pride, that was the only way he could say it. He also had no desire to needlessly worsen his relationship with Hachiya.

The real shallow reason he stayed behind at school today to study was the faint hope that Hachiya might find him and try to reconcile.

“I’m sorry about that…… I just got worked up and said those things. Forgive me! You can at least understand how I felt a little, right?”

“…Yeah. I also got worked up. Sorry.”

Akaishi felt satisfied that Hachiya was trying to make peace. His pride would never allow him to be the one to apologize first. If Hachiya had let go here, he would never have tried to reconcile in the future.

“Well…… that’s all. Keep watching over my love life properly from now on, okay!”

“…Got it.”

Akaishi answered immediately.

“Well…… I’ll really head home now…”

Just as Hachiya was about to leave,

“Ah! It’s Kyoko-chan and Akaishi-kun!”

Mizushiro appeared from down the hallway.

Chapter 22_ Do You Like Suda Toki