9
All for nothing. Or rather, it was too little, too late.
By the time lunch break came around, everything was already out of hand.
The classroom was even more crowded than it had been in the morning, with people packed in like sardines.
From all corners of the room, I could hear people—both boys and girls—heaping praise on Mio. It was like some kind of chaotic nightmare.
There was no way even Saito could control it now.
Amidst the chaos, surrounded by a crowd of people just like in the morning, stood Kijima, a broad smile on his face.
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“Okay, okay, everyone, calm down. If you have any questions for Mio, you can ask me.”
He stood beside her like an idol’s manager, fielding the rapid-fire questions directed at Mio. He must have been reveling in the attention, his ego clearly inflated.
**Chapter 2**
I can hear a delighted voice coming from the depths of my heart.
“…”
Shido watched her with a bored expression.
Basically, she got the better of us.
Me, Mio, and even Shido.
The fact is, in this case, Kishima’s cunningness surpassed Shido’s influence.
During the fourth period’s physical education class. I think that was probably Kishima’s real goal from the beginning.
The time and place to change into our gym uniforms are separate for boys and girls.
Shido, as a boy, couldn’t possibly interfere in the girls’ locker room, where only girls are allowed.
Furthermore, Kishima is the top of the female social hierarchy in our class.
There’s no student who would dare to defy her.
It must have been so easy for Kishima to transform Mio into the way she was yesterday.
She had us cornered from the very beginning.
I’m grateful for Shido’s warning, but at that point, Mio had already finished changing, and it was too late for anything.
I thought for a moment about how convenient it would have been if Shido had asked the other girls to keep an eye on Kishima beforehand, but I quickly dismissed that idea.
Shido had no obligation to do something like that in the first place. It was something I should have realized myself.
…But what could I have done, even if I had realized it?
Could I have protected her?
I think Mio probably realized it.
That Kishima was forcefully messing with her.
Being turned into an unwilling Cinderella by a selfish magician—she, with her sharp intuition, had figured it out.
That’s why she sent me an SOS at that time.
Mio was asking me, her boyfriend, for help.
But I ignored it.
I looked away. I pretended not to notice.
I arbitrarily convinced myself that time would solve everything.
I just assumed that Mio felt the same way I did…and I failed to save her.
“Dammit…!”
And now, I’m still trying to run away.
I didn’t want to see Mio surrounded by people, looking so beautiful, so I hurt out of the classroom.
By myself. Leaving her behind.
I didn’t have the courage to charge into that circle, take Mio’s hand, and run away with her.
…That’s right. I’ve known it all along.
I don’t want to get involved in anything troublesome.
I don’t want to stand out.
I’m afraid of other people.
That’s the essence of who I am.
I hate interacting with people, I hate getting hurt.
I’m a pathetic coward who always runs away from anything difficult. I know that all too well.
That’s why I just wanted to live my life peacefully.
That’s why I wanted to be around someone who could calm me down.
That’s why I looked for someone I wouldn’t hurt and who wouldn’t hurt me.
That’s why I chose Misori.
Misori also responded to me like this…
With Misori.
Surely I could live peacefully without showing my ugly self.
I should have believed that.
“Kou, -kun…”
Just before I left the classroom, I thought I heard Misori’s voice.
But I shook it off as my imagination and opened the door.
I didn’t think about looking back.
Me running away and Misori not being able to.
This difference in our actions was probably a sign of the future we would walk from now on.
At that moment, the gears that were supposed to mesh between us began to slip.