13 Sorting out your feelings in O(n^2)
--- Komi Shouko's room ---
"Shoji…", sighed Komi Shouko.
How many times has Komi Shouko sighed today?
*Should I message him?*, Shouko thought.
*I wonder if he already found a part-time job*
Lately, her mind has been full of Akiyama, dominating her life.
In class, on the toilet, when eating, when going to sleep.
All the can think about is her oldest friend.
Love, love, is what it is. Komi knows. But being the scaredy-cat she is, she is scared at breaking the status-quo.
What if he rejects her, what if he leaves her? Would she be able to keep on living?
She knows he wouldn't, her understanding of Akiyama is better than anyone else in the world.
However, the if, what if he won't talk to her any more?
It won't leave the mind of pubescent Komi Shouko.
"What should I do with these feelings? They won't stop…"
Break out. Confess. Proclaim your feelings. Is what she should do.
"I love you, Shoji", whispered Komi Shouko into her pillowcase.
Shortly after, Komi fell asleep, yet another night of Akiyama reigning her dreams.
--- The next morning ---
"Ara, Shouko, you're up early today.", Komi's mother, Komi Shuuko, gasped as her daughter entered the kitchen before the sun had even risen.
"…", Komi, not registering the words of her mother, sat down on the nearest chair with a half-dead expression.
"What, couldn't sleep?", Shuuko inquired.
"…un…", Shouko yawned.
Shuuko, Komi's mother, face distorted into a grin.
"Don't tell me. You had a restless night because of A~ki~ya~ma?", Shuuko teased.
"......", Shouko cheeped, her mother hit the nail on the head.
He just won't leave her head. Day and night, restlessly occupying her thoughts.
The contents of the dream Shouko kept having shall, for the good of humanity, be kept classified.
--- Itan Private High School, Class 1---
Even though it is already the second period, Komi can still be seen occasionally dozing off at her table, making up the hours she lost earlier.
This didn't go unnoticed by anyone, but no one, not even the teacher, were brave enough to knock the school Madonna out of her sleep.
--- Lunch time ---
Akiyama went up to Komi's table, carrying a lunch box in his left hand, and a chair in his right hand.
Fully intending on eating lunch with Komi, and, most likely, all the others.
Arriving at her table, and Komi still dozing off, Akiyama decided to play a prank on her.
Gesturing the other students to be silent, he sat down facing the dozing Komi.
"Shouko~, it's time to wake up~", Akiyama gently called out to her.
The classmates baffled by the bold Akiyama, *How dare he call Komi-sama by her given name.*, they thought.
With that, Komi woke up and slowly raised her head facing Akiyama.
"... Shoji? ...", Shouko, drowsy, and her consciousness still divided between the dream-world and the real-world, called out in a small, but audible voice.
The expression she wore was weirdly sultry. This sight made the class go wide-eyed.
Understandably, except her small friend circle has heard a sliver of her voice to this date.
The shock of hearing the voice of the school Madonna was so high, they didn't even notice how Komi addressed Akiyama by his first name.
"… Cute …", the class exclaimed in unison.
Classmate A, proclaimed the unspoken thoughts of all male classmates, "… Isn't she kinda lewd?".
Komi, woken by the surrounding commotion, hid herself behind a notebook, redness tinting her barely visible ears.
Akiyama himself was enchanted by the sultry Komi, wide-eyed, he broke out of his daze, and implicitly beckoned the surrounding students to go back to their things.
"G-good morning, Komi… shall we eat?", Akiyama announced.
With that, the classmates, blinded by the awkward atmosphere prevailing, dispersed back to their groups, but not without occasionally glancing over to Komi and Akiyama.
Following this event, Najimi and Agari came up to Komi and Akiyama, getting a nearby table, they made place for one other person.
"Neee~ Tadano, what are you waiting for?", Najimi shouted towards the frozen Tadano.
Tadano, was still sitting in his seat, was frozen in place by Akiyama and Komi's previous interaction.
*There is no way I can win, can I?*, Tadano thought.
His hopes dashed, he felt truly defeated, there is no way that Komi would ever show such an expression to him.
Such an expression, filled with infatuation, *Why can't it be me?*, Tadano thought.
Najimi's beckon, brought him back to the real world.
*It doesn't matter, I won't give up!*, Tadano thought.
He might only know Komi for a few months, while Akiyama knows her for years, but still, in terms of appearance he doesn't feel like he's far behind Akiyama. Besides, Akiyama and Komi only were acquainted through letter, right?
With that in mind, he went up to their group and sat down on the chair Najimi prepared for him.
"By the way, Akiyama, how was your job-hunt yesterday?", Najimi initiated the conversation.
"Ahhhh, yes, albeit not in a convenience store.", Akiyama plainly stated.
"Heee, that was fast? Where do you work now, not at some shady place, do you?", Najimi asked, concerned.
Komi's ears perked up, frightened.
Finding a part-time job in their neighbourhood in just one day has to be some unprecedented world-record or something.
Part-time jobs are hard to come by in this city, Najimi knew from own experience.
"No, it's a pastry shop not far from here.", Akiyama responded, touched by Najimi's concern.
To his response, Komi breathed a sigh of relief.
"I-I-Is it '☆ STAR-PASTRY'??", Agari, carefully interjected there aren't many pastry shops near the school, and besides, Agari recently published a blog-post and some photos from that shop on her Instagram.
"Yes that's it…?", Akiyama, bewildered, confirmed, not quite sure how Agari figured that out.
"That super famous one??", Najimi asked.
Najimi himself went to the shop a few times in the past, mainly due to the reputation the shop holds, the source of that reputation being Agari's blog-post.
"Let's go there after-school!!", Najimi excitedly exclaimed.
Throughout the lunch-break, Tadano didn't mutter a single word.
