Chapter 52: Kashii-san is in a Bad Mood
It seems Kashii-san is so angry that her comments are starting to sound like Freeza-sama.
Regarding the seating change, we had agreed to 'form a group if we were both left out.'
Apparently, she's upset that I happily joined a group when Ise-san and Kan-kun invited me.
Kashii-san is usually friendly and rarely gets angry, so this is the first time I've seen her get mad at someone like this.
'The boys who teamed up with me were led by Kan-kun, who reached out. If I didn't join them, I'd have been forced into some other group of five, so joining them was the best option.'
'...I get that, but!'
'Joining an already complete group by myself is really tough. It's not harassment, but you genuinely get forgotten, you know?'
'...Seriously...?'
'It's true.'
I said this with sad eyes.
I've been forgotten on a field trip before, you know? Seriously, by the time I noticed, everyone had already started descending the mountain without me.
'But we promised to wait and see! And you made a snap decision!'
'I was waiting and watching, but Kashii-san, weren't you getting tons of aggressive invitations from the boys' group in Class 3 too?'
'Tachibana-kun could've made a strong approach too, couldn't he?!'
'I can't form a group by myself, can I?!'
I couldn't help but retort in a Nobu-like style.
It's really rare to see Kashii-san interact in this way; I've never seen it before.
For a while, Kashii-san kept grumbling and complaining.
(Is she busy, or does she have a lot of troublesome stuff on her plate again?)
After a brief pause, Kashii-san asked me.
'I couldn't ask the other day, but why did you keep ignoring me after saying you wanted to keep some distance? You said that last September, and until around June this year, when you finally shared your worries, I was left wondering the whole time. Even when I tried talking to you, you'd just say "yeah" or something... I thought maybe you were avoiding me.'
'But Kashii-san, you seemed so busy, and even when I tried to talk, someone always interrupted...'
Kashii-san, puffing up with anger,
'Even with consultations! Ise-san passed on your issue to me, which is why you talked to me, but if she hadn't, you wouldn't have consulted me, right? We've been in the same class a lot, and even if it was brief, we served as class presidents together. We've been through quite a bit...'
(Does she think I don't trust her because of the order in which I consulted people? Especially after what Kousuke put her through recently.)
'I was actually planning to consult either Kousuke or Kashii-san first. But then Ise-san became my desk neighbor, we got more chances to talk, and I felt sure I could trust her. Plus, I wanted to talk to someone who hadn't been close to me before. Sorry. Kashii-san, our seats and distance were far apart too...'
This comment seemed to add fuel to the fire.
Kashii-san, with slightly teary eyes,
'Ise-san, Ise-san, you're so close with her, huh! The distance was there because you said you wanted space, right?! I even invited you to join my group for the seating change! But you just followed Ise-san without a second thought! Are we going to drift apart just because our seats are far, like back in elementary school? Do you hate me?'
(Even though she's asking if I hate her, the way she keeps glancing at me seems to say, "You don't hate me, do you?" It's like she's oddly confident about it.)
'I don't hate you! ...Not at all, though I might feel a bit nervous around you.'
(I get that she's super angry, but what should I do about it?)
But her angry expression is so cute that, even though I'm being scolded, I can't help but smile.
I continued speaking.
'Kashii-san, you're always working so hard, aren't you? If it's okay with me, I'll listen to whatever you have to say.'
Kashii-san told me about how her workload as class president has increased, how the other class president from another town barely does any actual work, so her tasks keep piling up, and how she's anxious about the second semester being busy with lots of events.
Maybe talking to someone helped her feel better, because she returned to her usual smile—though she quickly seemed to remember something.
'You're trying to smooth things over like that, aren't you?! I'm still angry, you know! Fine! I have my own plans too! ...Tomorrow, Wednesday, after school when there's no club activity, come here again! It's a promise!'
Will Judge Kashii deliver another guilty verdict?
———————
On the way home, I ran into someone from another town at the shoe lockers.
This person's locker is right above mine, so when our timing overlaps, we get in each other's way.
Then they said to me,
'Tachibana, I heard you were a loner and got picked up by Ise-san? Lucky you, huh?'
Since they said it in a mocking way, I shot back.
'Yeah, I got picked up by a beautiful, busty gal (lol).'
'...'
'...'
I went home thinking it'd be nice if we didn't talk to each other since it just leaves us both in a bad mood.
———————
Meanwhile, in Class 2-3, Aoi was considering a character change and was taking steps to reinvent their image.
Aoi '...'
Kousuke '...'
Obata 'Aoi-kun! You don't need two silent characters in one class! It's such a hassle to communicate!'
Kousuke (So that's how they see me...)
Aoi's wandering journey seems like it will continue for a while longer.