62
For a few seconds, time seemed to stop for us.
A brief silence where no one spoke.
It felt as if the three of us were the only ones in the world, as if this moment would last forever, but that was just my imagination.
The hands of the real world’s clock hadn’t stopped. A world that revolved around me didn’t exist.
Everyone has their own life. So, there will always be someone who makes a move.
It won’t go the way I want it to. The world is always unreasonable.
“Ah, um…”
Akanishi-san was the first to move.
Her eyes were wide as she looked down at us from the top of the stairs, but maybe she felt she had to say something.
I don’t know why or what for.
But for someone as shy as her, it must have taken courage to speak to someone, and she tried to address us timidly but clearly, when,
“You’re in the way.”
A sharp voice close by cut Akanishi-san off.
As if crushing her courage.
“Huh…?”
“Can’t you tell? We’re having an important conversation. Surely you can understand what it means when a boy and a girl are hugging like this?”
There was clear hostility in her voice.
I didn’t know this side of her, and I was slow to react.
I couldn’t see from where I was, but I think Mio looked straight up at Akanishi-san.
I can only imagine her expression, but it must have been quite stern.
Akanishi-san’s small body trembled, and she cowered as if frightened.
“Um, I didn’t mean to…”
“Spare me the excuses and just go. You’re in the way. Can’t you tell that just talking to me is clueless? We’re still in the middle of a discussion.”
Saying that, Mio tried to wrap her arm around mine.
She was probably trying to show it off to Akanishi-san.
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And I’m sure that was Mio’s aim all along, to get her to leave, but there was no way I was going to play along.
I immediately shook off Mio’s arm and scolded her loudly enough for Akanishi-san to hear.
“Wait a minute, Mio! The discussion is over, isn’t it? I have nothing more to say, so what are you doing all of a sudden!”
It was a bit of a lame excuse, but I wasn’t really thinking about it.
It was an unconscious action, but Mio’s eyes narrowed for a moment at my clear rejection.
“…Kouya-kun. You”
“I’m leaving now! Akanishi-san, let’s go!”
With that, I turned my back on Mio and headed up the stairs towards Akanishi-san.
I couldn’t see Mio’s expression at that moment, but Akanishi-san’s eyes widened even more, and she seemed about to say something, but before she could, I took her small hand.
“Ah…”
“Sorry, come on. It’s nothing with her anymore.”
It was like I was trying to cover up an affair with a girlfriend I was dating.
I never really understood why I was saying such things.
Even so, I didn’t let go of Akanishi-san’s hand; instead, I pulled her away.
“…….Is that so, Kouya-kun? After all I said, you do something like this”
To a girl other than me–other than Mio.
Such a small murmur was drowned out by the sound of the two of us hurriedly walking on the linoleum floor.