#259
Yuuto and the male students moved to the next floor, and Nakayama followed after finishing the conversation with Miyashita.
While talking to Miyashita, who was changing places with Shizuku, I looked up at Kirasaka, who was still looking up at the huge water tank at the end.
She raised her white, slender hand toward the water tank and looked up with meaningful eyes.
“What’s wrong…”
I stopped walking and asked her as I turned around.
Kirasaka lowered her hand in response to my voice and smiled while putting her hands behind her back.
“No, I just thought it was similar.”
“Similar, where?”
Is it a riddle or something?
If you say that humans and fish are similar, it’ll endanger my life.
I feel like there is no common ground, but Kirasaka talked as if she was inflicting self-harm.
“I wonder if it’s being kept inside a cage called an aquarium …just like an ornament.”
“…”
Then, what she wants to say is that she is also treated carefully for people to watch like fish in an aquarium.
Inside the cage of the classroom, she was being treated like something that people couldn’t come close to.
“If it’s a self-deprecating joke, keep it moderation…”
“Is that an advice? Or are you worried?”
At that, Kirasaka retorted.
She had her usual evil smile on, but it looked like she was searching for something.
Should I say that she is pretending to be usual?
Kirasaka quietly laughed at me who choked on words.
“I’m just kidding.” With that, she walked up next to me and changed the direction of the conversation.
“To tell you the truth, I don’t like when Shinra-kun thinks about other people while traveling.”
“You really mean it…”
I also smiled wryly at Kirasaka, who said so easily without even trying to sugarcoat it even once.
Certainly, I am aware that I am doing meaningless things on my trip because of my meddling.
So, there is no room to say anything when she says it directly in words.
“Even if it’s a group action at school, how fun would it be to be by your side and talk to the usual relaxed you.”
The eyes that stood next to me and looked up were so clear that they couldn’t be seen as jokes.
I felt that she was just saying what she thought in her heart.
“I’m sure, she thinks the same…”
She spoke as she looked ahead, where Shizuku stood.
Looking at Miyashita’s back, who is talking to someone, a small sense of guilt swirls in my chest.
Feeling guilty is the sign that I also feel inferior to her.
I prioritize the request of a female student who I don’t know over the school trip that she were looking forward to.
From the perspective of someone who has been looking forward to doing things together for a long time, it is inevitable to feel angry.
“But―――”
“Even so… there is a part of me that wants you to finish what you want to do now.”
But, I have something I want to do, something I want to settle.
What Kirasaka spoke overwrote what I was about to speak.
As if she knew what words to answer with.
Unlike the sharp gaze she usually gives male students, her eyes are gentle and warm.
The same eyes as Kaede and Shizuku, who understood me.
However, those eyes soon disappeared as she lowered her eyelids.
The next words that came flying were her usual mischievous voice.
“But be prepared after the school trip is over.”
“…”
Watching her back as she grabs me and pulls me along with an impudent smile, I think she’s still someone who I don’t know what she’s thinking.
While having such a conversation, Miyashita and Shizuku were having a dialogue face to face.
“Kanazaki-san isn’t dating Ogiwara-kun, is she?”
“No, no, it’s a completely unfounded rumour.”
Shizuku waved her hand and asserted that it’s different, causing Miyashita to breathe out.
She seemed relieved, bit she still had doubts.
“Then, is it okay if Ogiwara-kun ends up dating another girl?”
“You don’t need my permission… and sometimes extra consideration only gets in the way.”
With these few words, Shizuku cut off the conversation and smiled broadly.
It was a statement that was so strong that it was hard to imagine coming from her usual gentle and ladylike nature.
It was also a moment when classmates realized that Shizuku Kanazaki, whom she had seen, was really only a very small part of who she was.
BrutalBot Tl 