Chapter 43 – Finally, We’re Alone

[Maehara: Dear Asanagi.]

[Maehara: I have your chemistry textbook.]

[Maehara: I'm waiting for you in the courtyard, if you don't want to be embarrassed in class, come and get it from me, idiot.]

I sent that to her. Of course she still hadn't replied, but I knew she had read it, so I was pretty sure that she would come to me.

So I waited for her in the courtyard.

"…Why isn't she coming yet? Damn it, Asanagi…"

The clock was ticking, the ten minute break passed by quickly.

Five minutes left until the break ended… Three minutes… One…

If she didn't hurry, I would be the one who embarrassed myself instead. This is bad.

But, whatever, she would have it worse than me anyway.

"Huh! She replied!"

She finally sent me a reply.

I immediately opened it and found a message with an attached image on it.

[Asanagi: Idiot.]

[Asanagi: I can always borrow the book from someone, you idiot.]

The image attached to the text was an image of a chemistry textbook. She probably borrowed it from her friend in another class.

Did she just outplay me?

"T-that girl…"

I forgot that this kind of strategy would only ever work on someone like me, a hopeless loner. I could never borrow something from someone else because I didn't have any friends.

Unlike me, Asanagi was a part of Amami-san's group, of course she would have friends from another class.

I've been seeing her sloppy side so often that I forgot she was one of the more popular girls in school.

[Asanagi: Come on ~ You'll be late if you don't move your ass ~]

[Maehara: Bitch, you'll pay for this!]

[Asanagi: I'll pay for nothing, idiot ~]

After sending her my villainous catchphrase, I immediately dashed to the chemistry lab.

Fortunately it was close by, so I barely made it in time. But since I was the last to arrive, everyone in the lab, including the teacher, stared at me.

…Seriously, why did I do something stupid like that? Now I have to bear with this embarrassment.

"Uhm, you're?… Ah, right, Maehara. You're late."

"…I'm sorry."

I hurriedly sat down at an empty desk and turned my gaze towards Asanagi, who was seated far away from me. She was curled up by her seat, and I could see her body trembling while her seatmate, Amami-san, was giving both her and me her worried looks.

Okay, now I'm mad.

I swear I'll catch that dumbass later and pay her back for this.

"Maehara-kun, why do you have two textbooks?"

"Ah, right, I accidentally brought a spare."

I continued to glare at Asanagi as I gave Ooyama-kun a random excuse. I placed Asanagi's textbook on the desk.

The rest of the classes proceeded smoothly, and the end of the school day arrived.

Since the sketch was pretty much done, all we needed to do was to make the art for real this time.

It wasn't difficult to make a mosaic. All you needed to do was to make holes in each can, organize them according to the sketch we previously made, connect them with a string, then hang them up.

Our only problem would be time. If we were to dawdle too much on it, we would have to work overtime.

But the only time when the school allowed us to work at night was the day before the festival. In other words, overtime was not an option.

Then again, that could change depending on the decision made by the committee. Nevertheless, I would still need Asanagi's cooperation to finish this by the deadline. Whether she could even cooperate with me is the real question.

"Heya, Maehara-kun."

"Huh?! …Asanagi-san…"

"Why do you look so surprised? We have a lot of work to do, right? I just want to make sure that you're actually starting to work."

"A-ah… I see."

That caught me off guard. She suddenly called out to me, but her tone was formal, so it seemed that she wasn't planning on letting our little drama hinder our project.

God, I wish I could do the same.

"Let's use however many cans we currently have for the time being. So, where are the cans?"

"There are some in that corner, the rest of them should be in the storage room outside…"

"Ah! Then… We need to carry them here…"

That's it. I could corner her this way since it would only be the two of us who would go. If I were to press the topic, she wouldn't be able to dodge it even if she wanted to.

"Yuu, got a minute?"

"Mm? What is it, Umi?"

"Can you go with Maehara to check on the cans? I have to watch over everyone, so I can't go with him."

…Well, if I could think of a plan like that, she would also be able to, of course. She immediately called Amami-san over to go in her stead.

Still planning to run away, huh…?

"No, no, don't bother Amami-san. She has work to do here. C'mon just let's go already."

"Eh, but we were the ones who made the sketch. At least one of us should stay here to watch over the others."

"It won't take long, it doesn't matter. Right, Amami-san?"

"Mhm. We're just making holes in these empty cans, after all. We don't need supervision for this kind of trivial work, Umi."

Amami-san answered as she secretly winked at me.

Amami-san was on my side. We had been cooperating all day. She had been making sure that Nitta-san, Seki-kun and the others wouldn't interfere with my plan.

"…Anyway, I'm going to get the storage room key from Yagisawa-sensei first. Asanagi-san, wait for me there, okay?"

"Wait, don't decide it by yourself–"

"Well, if you don't want to come, I can do it alone…But… I would be glad if you'd come…."

"Eh…"

"…T-then, I'm going."

I whispered the 'I would be glad if you do' part to her. I walked out of the room and headed toward the staff room where Yagisawa-sensei was.

I couldn't hear any footsteps behind me, so Asanagi shouldn't be chasing me, but I knew that she would come to the storage room since I asked her to help me in front of everyone in class.

She must have had her own reason to avoid me. Nevertheless, I still wanted to know why.

I took the key from Yagisawa-sensei and went to the storage room. It was located near the smoking area for the teachers… Yes, the place where we previously had lunch before. 

Suddenly, the scene from back then came to mind.

Back then, we were really awkward with each other, but we managed to break the ice by exchanging our side dishes. After that, we started talking about cooking and the walls between Amami-san and I started to crumble.

"…Sorry, Asanagi. I was late…"

"Seriously… you idiot…"

It seemed like she had been waiting for me for a while. As soon as she heard my voice, she immediately turned around. The tone of her voice was curt, she was clearly sulking.

I guess this meant that she wasn't planning to run away anymore.