This silence is nerve-wracking!

I carried the basket of basketballs to the center of the court. 

“Pass me one.” 

I jumped when she spoke to me. 

“Do you want a ball?”

“Come on, give it to me, the teacher isn’t here.”

Oh, right, I almost forgot to mention it: Mr. Kenji had disappeared somewhere, who knows where.

I passed her the ball, and against all expectations, she started playing, trying to shoot a basket.

“Listen, Sora…”

Here we go.

“How well do you know Akari?” 

“What?”

I thought we were going to argue, but that didn’t happen. 

“Why are you asking that?”

She kept shooting at the basket. 

“She seemed happy to introduce you to me today; I want to know how well you know her.”

As strange as the question seemed to me, I understood why she’d asked it. 

“I’d say very little…”

I grabbed a ball too. 

“I just know she’s very popular, that she has lots of friends, and that she’s a kind person.”

I shot and missed. 

“Do you really think… that all those people around her are her friends?”

She stopped. 

“Do you doubt it?”

I asked her. 

“Do you think there aren’t any benefits to being around her?”

I didn’t know how to respond to that objection.

“She’s a model; all her ‘friends’…”

She emphasized the word “friends.”

“They’re around her purely for their own gain—to impress a guy, to be popular.” 

Her gaze seemed regretful to me.

“I snapped at you today because I found out 

what you’d done with the magazine.”

“But… she didn’t seem angry or anything.”

A breeze coming from the front door ruffled her hair. 

“So, tell me, what are your intentions?”

“I—”

“All right, guys! How’s it going!?” 

Mr. Kenji reappeared at the worst possible moment.

“Professor, well, we…”

He’d caught us with balls in our hands; he could only think one thing.

“I’m glad to see you’re having fun.”

He smiled at us—but not in a friendly way. 

“We can explain…”

I glanced at Shiori. 

What is she doing!?

In less than a second, she’d started tidying up the gym again. 

I can’t believe it! She ditched me!

“You know how it works…”

He placed his hand on my head.

“Time for push-ups.”

I wanted to cry, and on top of that, the whole situation felt like déjà vu.

After I finished, I crawled across the floor. 

“Very good, Sora. Keep it up, and you’ll get strong.”

“I think it’s more likely I’ll turn into a spineless wimp.”

He laughed at my joke. 

“Now get back up—I’ll give you a hand, too.”

In the minutes that followed, we got back to work, Shiori’s words echoing in my head. 

I’m not a famous person; I get along with just about everyone, and besides, I have Haru with me...

How must Akari be feeling? And then... does she know about her friends?

We kept setting up until lunchtime. 

DRINNN.

The sound of the bell marked the end of our hard labor.

“Go ahead and take a break; I’ll call in other students to finish up.”

The best news of the morning.

I didn’t need to be told twice—in the blink of an eye, I was already outside.

I took the opportunity to talk to Shiori a little longer. 

“Shiori… Wait.”

She was already walking away. 

“I just want to get to know her better…”

I searched for the right words. 

"I'm not looking for any personal gain."

She kept staring at me, as if she were weighing what I’d said.

“Then keep doing what you’re doing…”

She glared at me. 

“But if you hurt her in any way, you’ll have me to deal with.”

“Don’t worry, I don’t plan on doing anything…”

She started walking away; it wasn’t until a moment later that I noticed she wasn’t heading toward Akari. 

Come to think of it, have I ever even seen her in Akari’s group?

I racked my brain; a couple of girls looked at me strangely—I wonder what kind of face I was making. 

“Did Mr. Kenji let you go?”

I spun around. 

“Akari!”

“What’s up? Are you surprised to see me?”

She tried to tease me. 

“You were making a really funny face.”

She stifled a laugh. 

“You know, I know a secret about you—don’t tease me.”

I told her.

“You’re too nice to make threats.”

She smiled. 

“Anyway, have you seen Shiori?”

“I think she went back to class, but I’m not sure.”

“Oh… Okay…”

She seemed a little disappointed by my answer.

“All right, thanks anyway.” 

Could I… ask her to join Haru and me for lunch?...

I thought it wasn’t a bad idea, but…

What’s gotten into me? I feel stuck.

I realized it shortly after—I didn’t know if we were already at that point.

Maybe it’s too soon to ask her—damn, why is this so hard?

“Akari! Let’s go?!”

Someone called out to her; I hadn’t noticed that her usual group was nearby.

“Coming!” 

she replied.

She turned back to me. 

“Sora, I’m leaving now. See you later in class.”

She said goodbye, disappearing as quickly as she’d appeared. 

Ah… Never mind, I’d better go see Haru.

I brushed it off.

I sent Haruto a message to let him know I was on my way. 

I walked past the tool shed. 

“Who do you think you are!” 

I heard someone arguing heatedly. 

“What you’re doing is wrong—stop it, and fast!”

I immediately recognized that authoritative, intimidating tone. 

“Shiori?”