Like

Having missed his lunch and with nothing left to grab, Lucas's mood was terrible.

— What do you want? — he asked, not hiding his displeasure.

— Why are you so angry? Come on, I'll buy you something at the cafeteria. — the girl said, trying to cheer up Lucas.

— Just what do you want now!? I feel like my day gets worse every time I run into you.

— That's...

After hearing Lucas's words, Verônica didn't know what to say, as he wasn't lying.

As someone who hates lies, she couldn't ignore his feelings that genuinely disliked her presence there.

— Alright, I'll be quick here... Lucas, I heard that you like-

— Verô, let's go!

Before she could finish speaking, someone called her from behind.

Seeing the person who had appeared, Lucas turned around and quickly walked in another direction without saying anything.

— ...He really likes her. — Verônica thought, seeing her best friend whom, even she, was a bit envious of her beauty. — ...Just as we thought.

Earlier in the day, Enzo had asked if they had boyfriends, explaining how Lucas had approached him and said all those words.

Realizing that there was no sign of a lie, Verônica began to suspect that Lucas might like one of them, but when she heard that he had run away before, she was almost certain which girl the young man was interested in.

— Lucas ran away again...

— He must really like you. — Verônica said, hearing her friend sigh.

— Isn't that strange? Liking someone you've never talked to before?

— Well... — in silence, Veronica looked at her friend. — With looks like hers, I think it's a possibility. — she thought.

— ...Let's have lunch soon, or we won't finish in time. — the girl said, a little flushed from hearing the thought.

— Where are the others?

— In the hallway near the library, where it's cool.

— Okay.

Chatting in this way, the two headed towards the library while being observed by Lucas from a distance.

— ...It seems like some misunderstanding is happening, but I want to know who they think I like.

Since he couldn't hear the last part, Lucas didn't know who Verônica might be talking about, but that didn't bother him so much either.

— So this must be the reason they avoided me before... It's very hard to predict other people's thoughts.

With these thoughts, Lucas went to the cafeteria to buy something since he missed his lunch.

— My money is running out...

Disheartened, Lucas finished his lunch, and instead of just resting and waiting for the classes to return, he went in search of the protagonist.

Finding him wasn't easy, as he isolated himself, but there weren't many places to eat alone in school.

After searching for a while, Lucas saw Enzo eating his lunch alone in a corner near the stationery.

— Enzo, you're here! — called Lucas, waving.

— Lucas!? What are you doing here?

— I came to look for you to ask you a favor.

With a somewhat strange face, Enzo asked while remembering the favor he had to do that morning.

— Wh-What kind of favor?

— It's nothing complicated... Just be my partner in a basketball game.

— ... Huh!?

[To be continued...]

S — If the heroine thinks Lucas likes her, then that kind of doesn't hinder the progress of the anime?

??? — Yes, especially because the anime hasn't even managed to start the characters' stories.

S — Seriously, the more Lucas tries to help, the worse it gets.

??? — Yes... But even when he tried to avoid it, the story didn't progress.

S — But the protagonist and the heroine were getting closer... He should have noticed that.

??? — He would hardly notice, since he's not very good with personal relationships.

S — Hm...