To Not Speak

Hajime felt a sharp pang on his neck, causing him to turn around to see if there was someone glaring at him. To his bewilderment, there was no one there— but that was only because Megumi ducked out of the way in time. She was able to react reflexively to Hajime's movement since she was used to it already.

Seeing no one, Hajime continued to direct his attention at Natsumi who seemed to want to tell him something. He glanced at the bento box that Natsumi handed him, then glanced back at Natsumi, fidgeting as she fixedly stared at her bento box. A forced smile appeared on her face.

"How are you doing? You've been missing classes more than usual, right? That's why you were called to the homeroom teacher's office?" Natsumi asked as an icebreaker. Even though she had simulated talking to Hajime quite a few times now, she still didn't have enough courage to get straight to the point.