After school.
Yuzuru was on his way to return a book to the school library when—
“Eh!? Why not!?”
He heard a frivolous-sounding voice.
The tone carried a joking air, but there was a trace of irritation mixed in.
“Come on, just a little… think of it as a trial run. One month… no, one week—no, three days! Let’s just start off as friends…”
It sounded like some kind of romantic argument.
Yuzuru had no interest in sticking his nose into other people’s love lives, so he intended to ignore it and walk past—
“Because I do not like you.”
At the sound of a familiar voice, he stopped.
A dignified, beautiful voice—yet somehow mechanical and chillingly cold.
A girl’s voice Yuzuru knew well.
Since it involved someone he knew, he couldn’t simply leave it alone.
Yuzuru headed towards the voices.
They were standing beneath a tree in a quiet corner of the grounds.
Quietly, he peeked to see what was happening.
As expected, the familiar voice belonged to Yuzuru’s “fiancée,” Yukishiro Arisa.
And the one persistently clinging to that “fiancée” was—
An upperclassman, one year above them.
If Yuzuru’s memory served him right… he was the ace of the football team.
Yuzuru remembered seeing him receive an award during a morning assembly.
Recently, he was also someone whose name had come up in conversations between Soichiro and Hijiri.
His name was Umihara-senpai.
“Ehh!? What part? I’m not that bad…”
“Everything. All of it.”
Arisa shot him down with no hesitation.
She looked slightly irritated.
And Umihara… seemed irritated as well.
“Come on, don’t be so stiff about it… I’m sure I could be useful to you.”
“I have no need of your assistance.”
“Your father’s company is struggling right now, isn’t it?”
Arisa’s expression froze.
Her already expressionless face became even more mask-like.
“My dad’s a city councillor, you know. I could pull some strings—”
“That may be true, but no. I don’t see that as necessary.”
Arisa spat the words out and turned on her heel to leave.
But the upperclassman suddenly grabbed her arm.
“Let go. …I’ll report you to a teacher.”
“Wait, wait. Just talk a little longer—”
Yuzuru couldn’t leave it alone any longer.
“She doesn’t like it.”
Stepping out, Yuzuru spoke sharply to Umihara.
He approached while staring straight into Umihara’s eyes.
“Huh? Who the hell are you? …Stay out of this. This is none of your business!”
Umihara’s expression twisted awkwardly.
At least he seemed aware that he was forcing the issue.
“As her classmate, I can’t just ignore it. …Now let go of her hand.”
As Yuzuru pressed him—
Umihara’s gaze shifted away slightly.
People like him were often surprisingly timid.
“Now, now… Don’t get cocky just because you’re a first-year.”
As he said that, Umihara reached out as if to shove Yuzuru.
He didn’t seem to have the balls to throw a punch.
But having someone step towards him was enough to make him flinch.
That was probably the psychology behind his action.
Yuzuru caught the outstretched hand.
Then lightly twisted it upwards.
“—Ow…”
Umihara frowned in pain.
In that moment, he released the hand that had been grabbing Arisa.
Arisa stepped behind Yuzuru, hiding behind his back.
Yuzuru let go of Umihara’s hand.
“You… what’s your name?”
Irritated, Umihara demanded.
Yuzuru had no reason to be intimidated, afraid, or hide it, so he answered plainly.
“Takasegawa Yuzuru.”
“…Takasegawa, huh. I’ll remember that name real well.”
He spat those words out and left as if fleeing.
Yuzuru shrugged.
“…Um, Takasegawa-san.”
Arisa spoke hesitantly, looking timid.
Then she gave a small bow.
“…I’m sorry for causing you trouble.”
“No, don’t worry about it. More importantly… did I overstep?”
Arisa seemed like the type who disliked others interfering in her personal matters.
So Yuzuru would have preferred to just observe.
Of course, he couldn’t simply watch that situation.
“No… I was truly troubled, so you helped me.”
“I see. Well… I can’t say it’s great, but… that was some bad luck.”
“…I’m fine. But, um… are you going to be alright, Takasegawa-san?”
Arisa looked at him with concern.
Yuzuru tilted his head, wondering what she meant—
But he quickly understood.
She was worried about him being targeted by Umihara.
“Ah, it’s fine, it’s fine. He can’t really do much. He seems like the coward type… at most he’ll complain to his parents, or maybe come bother me with a group.”
“…Wouldn’t that still be problematic? His father is… someone influential in that field, right? And if I remember correctly… he’s the ace of the football team?”
“Well… he is famous.”
However—
“His reputation was bad to begin with.”
“…Really?”
“Apparently the football club members don’t like him much either.”
Yuzuru had once overheard classmates badmouthing him.
Yuzuru didn’t particularly enjoy hearing people talk behind others’ backs…
But it seemed true that he wasn’t very well respected.
“And he’s also famous as a serial confessor.”
“Serial confessor?”
“Recently he approached one of my friends. She was pretty annoyed about it too.”
The female friends he meant were Tachibana Ayaka and Uenishi Chiharu.
Perhaps he had hoped to improve his own status by dating a cute first-year girl—especially one from a respectable family.
“But apparently he was pretty pushy.”
“…Were they alright?”
“Yeah. A friend stepped in. There was a bit of a dispute then too—but nothing like this, though. He was probably already irritated because of that.”
The friend in question was Satake Soichiro.
At the time, Yuzuru had thought it took quite some nerve to aggressively pressure the daughters of the Tachibana and Uenishi families—and even pick a fight with Satake.
But apparently—
He was simply an ignorant rich kid who didn’t know the world.
If he was going to talk about family status, he should at least learn not only his own family’s standing but also those of others.
“Are you really going to be alright?”
“It’ll be fine if we just ignore him. …But if he tries anything, tell me.”
“…Alright.”
Arisa nodded, though she still looked somewhat uneasy.
Three days later.
Lunch break.
“Hey, Takasegawa… Umihara-senpai’s here looking for you. And Yukishiro too.”
A classmate from the football club called out to him.
Yuzuru tilted his head, wondering what the reason was.
Though it was obviously related to the incident the other day.
“You gonna be alright, Takasegawa? …That guy looked well pissed.”
His classmate asked worriedly.
Yuzuru waved his hand and replied cheerfully.
“I’m probably the one who pissed him off. …My bad for causing trouble.”
“Nah, it’s fine, Don’t worry about it,” Yuzuru told him.
Then he looked towards Arisa.
She had apparently been contacted as well.
Her usual expressionless face remained, but her eyes seemed to tremble slightly with anxiety.
Then Yuzuru turned his gaze towards the classroom door.
Standing there with legs apart, arms crossed, and an irritated expression—
was Umihara.
Yuzuru decided to settle things as peacefully as possible, and in a way that wouldn’t cause trouble for Arisa.
