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“It’s okay, I understand how you feel. Go ahead and read it. I’ll order in the meantime.”
“No, that’s really not necessary…I’m the one who made the appointment today.”
When I sat down opposite her, she closed the book she was reading with a thud.
I really don’t mind, but it seems that Akane-san has her own principles.
It seems that my attempt to be considerate had the opposite effect. Feeling like I had done something wrong, I decided to order a coffee and reached for the call button.
“Akane-san, do you want to order anything else? I’m late, so I’ll pay.”
“No, thank you for your concern. I’ll pay for my own. The coffee I ordered is still here, and as you can see, I was reading a book, so I didn’t even notice the time passing.”
When she said that, I looked at Akane-san’s cup and saw that it was still about half full.
If she said she didn’t need anything, it would be strange to press the issue.
For the time being, I pressed the buzzer to order my own and ordered from the clerk who came over.
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Feeling a little better after the friendly service, I turned to face her again.
“Well then, let’s start over. It’s nice to see you today, Akane-san.”
“Yes, likewise.”
Akane-san smiled back at me as I bowed my head slightly.
It was the second time I had seen her in plain clothes since our encounter in junior high school, but somehow, there wasn’t much to say.
The current Akane-san was dressed simply as a high school girl in a black shirt with frills, a navy stole draped over her knees, and a white skirt, the complete opposite of flashy.
It wasn’t too different from the image I had of Akane-san, and I had a sense of satisfaction that it was what I had expected her to wear.
The red headband she was wearing was an accent, but even so, it didn’t go beyond being a subdued fashion.
It didn’t look like she was wearing any makeup, but Akane-san’s skin was fairer than most people’s to begin with. I think it’s a much more appealing outfit than if she were to dress up in a strange way.
Before she changed, that’s what Mio also… preferred to wear.
Therefore, even though it was like a date, a meeting alone with a girl on a holiday, I didn’t feel nervous.
Rather, I felt a sense of nostalgia. However, I was still tense, so it was only after the situation had calmed down that I was finally able to observe her calmly like this.
However, I felt sorry for her that I had overlapped her with Mio for a moment.
Akanishi-san is different from Mio. I understood that in my head, but sometimes I couldn’t understand myself for behaving like this.
“Well then, let’s get right to the point… But before that, are you feeling okay? You ended up leaving early yesterday…”
As if to dispel those thoughts, I asked her a question.
I had taken her to the nurse’s office and watched her go to the bed, but in the end, Akanishi-san didn’t attend her afternoon classes and left school early yesterday.
In addition to feeling unwell, she might not be very physically strong.
I was worried because it was so soon after yesterday, and I didn’t want to push her too hard, but she had sent me a message in the morning saying that she was okay, so I came here, but I couldn’t help worrying.
I couldn’t help but look at Akanishi-san’s face with concern, but she smiled wryly and said,
“As you can see, I don’t know if you’ll believe me, but for the time being, I’m okay. I’m sorry for worrying you.”
Saying that, she slowly picked up the cup and took a sip of the coffee inside.
“If that’s the case, then that’s good… Are you really okay? Don’t push yourself.”
“Whew… Yeah. You’re a worrier, Tsujimura-san. But I’m really okay. I left early yesterday because I wanted to organize my thoughts. Thanks to that, I was able to put things together.”
Akanishi-san placed the cup on the coaster.
A slight sound, like “kachari,” echoed in my ears.
Her calm voice spread waves of relief through my heart.
“Then that’s good… I guess.”
“Yes. However, since it was the first time in a while that I left early, I worried my grandmother when I got home. That’s the only thing I regret a little.”
Akanishi-san showed an indescribable expression, but I was more concerned about the new information that had come out of her mouth.
“Akanishi-san, do you live with your grandmother?”
“Yes. To be exact, I’m in the care of my grandparents. My parents are still working in Tokyo, so I don’t see them much anymore. I’m planning to go back there once during Golden Week to see them .”
I didn’t know that.
I had thought that she had moved here because of her parents’ jobs, so this was unexpected information.
However, at the same time, I also thought that I might have asked something bad.
The fact that she had left her daughter with her grandparents and was working in another city meant that there were obviously some circumstances at home.
Even I’m not stupid enough not to realize that much. It would not be good to pry any further. I should end this conversation here.
“I guess I shouldn’t ask the reason…”
“No. It’s okay. My relationship with my parents isn’t bad. The problem was somewhere else.”
Akanishi-san shook her head.
Apparently, my thoughts were transparent to her.
She had answered me preemptively, but that raised another question.
“Is it okay for me to ask what that is?”
“Yes. Rather, that’s the main topic… That person is also related to Misaka-san.”
My heart skipped a beat when she said Mio’s name.
I had just experienced this feeling yesterday, but I couldn’t seem to get used to it.
“Akanishi-san, you said you met Mio, right? Did Mio do something to Akanishi-san?”
“That’s not it. She didn’t do anything. Rather, we never even talked. However, I remembered her voice, appearance, and aura… I wonder why. She was so much more beautiful, glamorous, and seemed like she was from a different world than me… but somehow, I felt like she was similar to me. She probably didn’t think anything like that at all, though.”
In fact, it seems she didn’t notice me, she said, laughing wryly to herself.
“Well, leaving aside my presumptuousness, I do know about that person. I remember it because it was a major turning point for me as well.”
“A turning point…?”
“Yes. When I was in middle school, I appeared on a TV program once. It was a quiz show program that gathered middle school students from all over the country.”
Hearing that, my heart pounded loudly.
“Quiz, competition…?”
“Yes. I made it to the finals on that show, and I won. My opponent in the final match was her… Misaka Mio-san.”
Thump, thump.
My pulse quickened.
It was beating much faster than when I heard Mio’s name from her mouth earlier.
“Everyone at the venue was focused on Misaka-san. Of course, they were. I couldn’t look at the camera properly and kept my head down, while she was beautiful and looked straight ahead. I was clearly just a foil for Misaka -san.”
Akanishi. That’s right, Akanishi Yuka.
Why had I forgotten? I told Mio her name over the phone that time.
That’s right, she was on the screen with Mio at that time.
I must have seen that she was also on that show.
“However, I couldn’t read the atmosphere. I was nervous, so I focused on the questions and answered reflexively. I was desperate for it to end quickly… I realized that I should have lost sooner after I went to school. “
“School…?”
A torrent of memories came flooding back.
Overwhelmed by the amount of information, I repeated her words like a parrot, as if my mind wasn’t working.
“Yes. I didn’t apply for that show. Would it make sense if I said that a classmate applied in my name and forced me to go?”
“Huh…?”
It was a story I had heard somewhere before.
No, it was exactly the same as Mio’s――――
“That person was the center of the class. I couldn’t defy them, so I went on the show as I was told, and I won.”
As I thought that, the next words that reached my ears were shocking.
“And then, I started getting bullied. They intended to humiliate me, but they were upset that I got results. They said that if I was a good student, I should have lost right away.”
I gasped at her words.
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It was the complete opposite of Mio, who became popular after appearing on the quiz show and became the idol of the school.