Chapter 20 – W-Wait a Minute!

As I stepped out into the hallway, I saw the back of Ogura running off toward the stairs. I don’t know where she is headed but I can’t just leave her be. Given the situation, anything could happen.

Yeah, for example---something that Kurumi-san did.

I moved faster to catch up with her.

As I rush toward the stairs, I hear footsteps ascending to the upper floor and footsteps coming up from below. The former, moving away from me, was no doubt, Ogura. However, I turned my head to the latter first.

Then, I saw the person I had expected to see, coming up the stairs.

「Hnn? What’s going on?」

It was Monobe-sensei, holding a clear envelope with printouts in one hand and a question mark in the other.

「Kurumi-san is currently working hard so it would be helpful if you could watch the situation first before entering the classroom.」

「Watch first? Eh? What---」

「I’ll take my leave now.」

「Haa!? O-oi!」

Feeling sorry for Monobe-sensei, I turned my back on him and headed to the upper floor. As I climbed the stairs step by step, I remembered something unpleasant. A few weeks ago, I had followed Kurumi-san to the rooftop after seeing her in an abnormal state.

I gritted my teeth.

Why has the situation advanced to the worst? I just want to make Kurumi-san happy….no, everyone should be happy. That dreadful atmosphere must be erased.

I went upstairs, past the 3rd floor, to the 4th floor. There are no classrooms on the 4th floor. There is only a vending machine and a door leading to the rooftop. I grab the doorknob and turn it.

Ogura’s there.

On the safety fence where Kurumi-san was.

She looked so surprised with both of her elbows resting on the safety fence.

As I was about to step on the rooftop, I suddenly heard her murmuring.

「What’s with that…」

By “that”, I assume she was referring to the way Kurumi-san defended her from our classmates. Needless to say, she was so cool that I unexpectedly fell in love with her all over again.

Ogura mumbled. She curled her back and her shoulders shook.

I wish she would stop the movement of “someone being emotional” given the location. I decided to call and convince her to go back and stepped onto the rooftop.

「That’s…….soooo coooollllll……」

Those words and more hit my ears.

….what in the world is she saying? I mean, I could somewhat recognize them but I can’t understand. NO, that’s a lie. I do understand. Wait a minute.

「O-Ogura?」

I wanted to speak to Ogura as resolutely as possible but even that thought was thrown into the water. The words that I threw at her were full of agitation, pitiful, and were more of a trembling sound wave.

However, it seemed that it had arrived to Ogura. She was so surprised that she looked like a cat that had its tail stepped on as she looked back.

That expression is….ah, what is it? Her face is bright red and her eyes are even teary. She opened her mouth, distorting her surprised expression and looked around.

「…..d-did you hear that?」

「If you are talking about your rival declaration to me, I heard it all…however, aren’t you bullying Kurumi-san because you hated her?」

I replied truthfully as there’s no point in misinterpreting what’s going on. Ogura bit down her lower lip and closed her eyes for a few seconds. She took a deep breath in and exhaled loudly.

「I-it can’t be helped! Sh-she’s too guarded by everyone…..!」

When Ogura said that, I felt she had no ill will toward Kurumi-san.

「Then, why did you run out of the classroom?」

I had assumed that she would jump off because she couldn’t stand it any longer.

She had bullied Kurumi-san in the past and as a result, she’s being blamed for it, and is being ostracized by the whole class. Even so, Kurumi-san still stands up for her. From Ogura’s POV, that should be nothing but humiliation.

I thought that was the reason she had run out of the classroom.

However, this girl in front of me now, after hesitating for a moment, clutched her bangs and answered in a mosquito-like voice.

「….I don’t want anyone to see my embarrassed face….」

Is this really Ogura? I felt like she was a different person.

「A-ahhh, I see.」

My brain overheated by the unexpected chain of events.

It was as if I had been lied to after thinking that the atmosphere was going to be quite serious.

But, well, that’s surprising…isn’t it? Thinking about it, that’s a natural reaction. When I was bullied in the past, I was saved by Kurumi-san and since then, I’ve been crazy about her.

I guess it was Ogura’s turn.

「…….I want to apologize to Koga.」

「Yeah, that is a good idea.」

「And, after that….I want to be her friend or something.」

「That is a good idea.」

「…..you’re not angry?」

「Why would I?」

When she heard my reply, she looked down.

「Because….that’s too convenient…….」

「I’m not a fan of the word convenient. I would call it “opportunity”. You’re going to do that because you were given the opportunity to do so and not because it was for convenience\'s sake.」

「….Is that so?」

「Yeah.」

「….so, how about more than friends then?」

Those words stunned me for a moment. I wonder if the “more than friends” she means was being best friends or being my rival. Looking at Ogura’s expression as she speaks in a whisper-like voice as she’s playing with her fingers, it looks like the latter…..

「……….」

「…..ehto」

「That’s is, what do you mean, is that what you mean, that is. How about you think about it after you became friends?」

I was hesitant to say something that I didn’t even know what I was saying.

I was nervous inside. There was a reason for it.

I love Kurumi-san. I love her more than anyone else in the world and of course, I intend to marry her in the future. And she likes me in her own way too. However, that’s not the problem.

I know about “that”. I know it because I love her more than anyone else in the world.

---I know that she has a friendly view of love between LGBT.

To put it simply, she’s a girl who can also like a girl.

Therefore, Ogura is bad news. She’s much better than a poor boy like me. She’s beautiful after all.

I glanced at the blonde in front of me. She smiled though she had a slight shadow on her face.

「….Right.」

「Ah, yeah.」

Seeing Ogura looking convinced, I exhaled a breath of relief and approached her.

「Anyway, let’s go back to class.」

「…..b-but」

「It’s okay. Kurumi-san stood up for you.」

「!.....hmmm, yeah.」

In any case, I guess that settles the matter. Ogura moved away from the fence and came closer to me---and then, she stumbled. Given the surprised look on her face, she must have simply stumbled. Since there wasn’t that much distance between us, I reached out and supported her shoulder.

Ogura stood up at once as if her center of gravity had not shifted that much.

「T-thank you.」

「No, it’s fine.」

As I was about to let Ogura go, I suddenly heard the door open behind me. When Ogura and I looked at it, we saw the person we both love---Kurumi-san.

「Ah, Kurumi-sa---」

Perhaps she came to check on me. I was so happy that I tried to call out her name.

「Y-you cheater!?」

「Eh?」