Chapter 42 – Things Are Proceeding Normally?

I spent the rest of the weekend feeling restless and before I knew it, a new week started.

I decided to leave the house earlier than usual and headed for school.

I had completed the sketch during the weekend. All I had left to do was make enough copies for the rest of the class, then we could start work on the mosaic art.

I borrowed the school's copy machine and copied enough sketches for the whole class and immediately went to the classroom.

I expected that Asanagi would be absent today because of what happened last Friday, but contrary to my expectation, she was there, sitting on her seat.

Of course, Amami-san was by her side.

"Oh, it's Maki-kun! Good morning!"

"Good morning, Amami-san… And you too, Asanagi-san."

"Mm. Morning."

I was slightly nervous to talk with her after what happened last Friday, but she responded to me like normal.

I guess I was worried for nothing.

"Here's the finished sketch. I've sent you the number of cans we'll need for each color, so check it out later. If I made an error somewhere or you want to add something to it, make sure to let me know first."

"Woah, amazing! This really looks like real art! I wonder how it will look when it's finished? What do you think, Umi?"

"Well, the original picture is good enough, it won't turn out bad at least unless we purposely mess it up. Ah, yeah, I'll hand out the copies to everyone, you can leave them to me."

"…Alright, I'm counting on you."

"Roger."

She smiled as she received the copies from me. It was her usual smile.

She was acting like the mess on Friday had never happened. She acted normally even with Amami-san.

I wanted to ask whether they resolved everything properly or not, but there was no way I could ask something like that out in the open like this.

I thought of asking her over text, but just as I was about to do that, my phone vibrated.

I picked it up, expecting that Asanagi sent me something, but when I looked at the screen, that proved to be wrong.

I saw a cute rabbit profile picture and the name 'Amami'.

I almost yelled in surprise, but I managed to hold the urge back and looked up to see Amami-san looking at me.

Right. It wasn't Asanagi who sent me a text, it was Amami-san.

As for Asanagi, she was busy preparing for the morning class, she wasn't even looking at her phone.

[Amami: Sorry, Maki-kun, texting you so suddenly like this.]

[Maehara: Don't look at me, Amami-san. Everyone will notice us if you do that.]

[Amami: Ah, sorry.]

[Amami: Okay, all is good.]

[Maehara: So, what's up?]

[Amami: Ah, Uhm… It's about Umi… Maki-kun, have you talked to her yet?]

[Maehara: No, I haven't… What about you, Amami-san?]

[Amami: Me too. I couldn't bring myself to talk to her over the weekend.]

[Amami: But, she texted me and said that everything is fine now.]

[Amami: I thought you said something to her.]

[Maehara: What did she say?]

[Amami: 'I'm sorry about last time. Let's just forget about it and move on.' That's it.]

[Maehara: I see…]

In other words, everything was just a farce. They haven't properly made up yet.

There was a saying; 'a word once spoken, cannot be recalled.'

Even if you told someone to forget about the things you've said, and that someone tried their hardest to forget about it, the smallest trigger would bring it back up again. You could never completely forget about it. 

And we were in that exact situation.

I guess I need to have a proper conversation with Asanagi. Even if the damage couldn't be undone, we could still try to come up with a solution where everyone could be happy.

I'd hate it if her relationship were to be ruined because of my selfish request.

[Maehara: Amami-san, for the time being, can you leave this matter to me?]

[Amami: Yeah, everything might turn for the worse if I were to talk to her, so please, Maki-kun. I'm counting on you.]

[Maehara: All right. I'll report to you after school.]

I stopped texting with Amami-san and immediately sent Asanagi a text.

[Maehara: Hey, Asanagi.]

[Maehara: Hey, earth to Asanagi?]

[Maehara: Why are you ignoring me?]

She should've noticed my text by now, but no matter how long I waited, she never texted me back.

At first glance, Asanagi seemed to be behaving normally, but for me and Amami-san, who knew what was going on, her behavior made us feel restless.

She never texted me back, even after Homeroom was done and the morning classes started.

"Umi, the first period–"

"It's chemistry. We have practicals today, so we have to go to the lab quickly. Hurry up, let's go."

"Aye ~ Wait, stop hitting me!"

She still responded normally to Amami-san and Nitta-san. She even made jokes while talking about trivial things with them, but she gave me the cold shoulder.

Wasn't this whole mess about Asanagi and Amami-san? So why was I the one receiving most of the damage?

Did I do something to her?

[Amami: Maki-kun, is Umi ignoring you?]

[Maehara: …Apparently, yeah…]

[Amami: Oh my…]

[Amami: As expected, I should be the one to talk to her…]

[Maehara: Nah, it's okay, I'll try a little harder.]

[Amami: You sure? If she still ignores you, let me know, okay?]

[Maehara: Okay.]

Since she kept ignoring me, I'll just have to confront her directly.

Fortunately, we were both class representatives for the committee. It wouldn't draw too much attention even if I were to drag her out of the class.

I hope it won't come to that though… But, if there's no other choice…

I made up my mind and went up to Asanagi, who was currently sitting in the middle of Amami-san's group.

"Uhm, sorry, Asanagi-san, I need to talk to you about our exhibit."

"…Ah, sorry, I need to do something in the staff room. Everyone should go on ahead, don't wait for me, okay?"

"Asanagi-san, wait–"

"See you later, Maehara-kun. Talk to me about it later after school, okay?"

For the first time I gathered the courage to confront Amami-san's group, but as soon as I called out to her, she immediately walked out of the classroom. Clearly she was avoiding me.

"My, my, Mr. representative. It seems like you've been dumped."

"Are you trying to hit on her? Give it up. She may look friendly, but she is a tough nut to crack."

Nitta-san and Seki-kun clasped my shoulders while giving me a look of pity.

I wasn't trying to hit on her. Seriously, these guys pissed me off.

"Jeez, that Umi! Even though Maki-kun did all this for her!"

"Hm? Where are you going, Yuuchin?"

"To the chemistry class… That Umi, she didn't bring her chemistry textbook with her! That was her math textbook!"

"…"

…Dumbass.

It was obvious that you were trying to avoid me. You even got yourself into this mess while doing so. Seriously, you idiot…

"Ah, jeez… That dumbass, seriously…"

"Huh? Maki-kun?"

"Amami-san, give that book to me, I have something to do outside, I'll give it to her along the way."

Who cares about the dumb secret anymore. That idiot made this mess, I'll make her regret it.

Whether she'll receive this textbook or not, I'll make sure she can't run away from this conversation.