Even though my lover is gone, the scenery on my way to school remains the same.
It wasn't like we went to school together or taught anyone in the class.
Entering the classroom, I find only familiar faces lined up, and the same class that repeats every week begins again today.
"Yoo, Sotomichi. You look dull even though it's just before summer vacation."
The first person to talk to me in the classroom is usually Takanami after morning practice.
This guy's familiar stupid face has become a tranquilizer for me.
Then, Suzuhara came out from behind, his bangs completely up.
"Sotomichi, how long will you be depressed. Speaking of summer, the sea, the sea!"
I'm already in a state of 'Who are you?', but I think it's good. I find it interesting how he had changed so quickly.
It looks like my whole body will be completely black from sunburn by the end of summer.
"It's not like I'm feeling miserable or anything."
My troubles are endless, but I have a fun life.
When I get home, my little sister will be cooking food and waiting for me.
I don't envy your hot and humid youth at all.
"Are you sure you don't have any plans on going out?"
For people like Takanami who are involved in club activities, their summer vacation plans are full.
Many students have competitions not only for their athletic clubs, but also for volunteer choir, band, and dance activities.
They probably don't understand why I don't travel at all if I'm not part of any groups.
They don't know if I'm working part-time or studying, but I'm not doing either of those things.
"I'm thinking about it, but I don't have anything at the moment."
Even though Miyu spends many days cooped up at home, she has decided to go on a trip with Haruka.
It's also going to be a luxurious journey by plane or ship for her.
The level of fulfillment of our holidays is so different.
"In that case, Sotomichi should come to an offline meeting with us or something. It seems like someone I met through an online game is planning an event. You'd probably be playing a PC game and two mobile apps at the same time during your summer vacation anyways."
Offline meeting, huh.
It's smart to play to my strengths without forcing myself to belong to a group of cheerful people.
I don't mind resuming online gaming.
But I just don't think offline meetings are productive.
"I'll think about it, just let me know later."
"Okay. ...you, try getting a girlfriend, even if it's just for one summer."
Suzuhara patted me on the back and returned to his seat.
He went and became a full-fledged senior in life.
Does it really change that much when you get a woman?
Speaking of his ex-girlfriend, she has also completely recovered.
"Hey hey, Kanade, is it true that you know the scope of the homework?"
"Yeah. This time there isn't any printouts. Everything's coming from the workbook, and the teacher's given us the page numbers, so I'll go collect them all later."
"Way to go! As expected from Kanade! I can count on you!"
"Fuhehe. Praise me, praise me."
Recently, Yamamoto-san has become even more cheerful, and her popularity with the whole school has been rekindled.
Apparently, the number of confessions for her has exceeded 30 in the past few days.
Her shoe cabinet is also stuffed with love letters, which must be a real nuisance.
Yamamoto-san talks to anyone well.
It's not hard to mistake that for her having feelings for you.
Even now, you see, my eyes meet hers, even though I'm just watching from a distance.
In order for Yamamoto-san to not have other people have unnecessary bad feelings for her.
In order to secure some alone time for Miyu.
Trying to always pay attention to our surroundings.
That's just the way it is with people who are indecisive.
The day's class ended without a hitch.
As I was getting ready to go home, I thought about Miyu, who left me an interesting line last night.
--I might be in a really bad mood tomorrow.
The circumstances were such that Miyu, who never said such things even on the so-called girls' day, dared to say something like that to me.
Moreover, the fact that she told me in advance means that no matter how hard she tries, she can't control it.
She went to school as usual this morning, so there must be something happening at school.
I don't want to provoke anything strange, so I think I'll contact Sachiko or Yuka and ask them in advance.
"So-tomi-chi-kun."
"Uoah!? Wha-, Yamamoto-san!?"
I was surprised when a voice suddenly called out to me from behind.
"Who are you messaging? Your girlfriend?"
"No, how should I put it."
Yuka is just an acquaintance who sends messages to me occasionally.
And the other is my ex-girlfriend.
It would be more troublesome to explain.
"Is there anything you need?"
"The teacher's calling for you. Please come to the staff room."
Why.
All of a sudden.
There's no reason for me to be summoned to the staff room after I've lived a clean and righteous life.
"When we were on duty, you were asked to prepare for the reading session, right? The reason you was appointed at that time was because I was planning to help make pamphlets and support the reading session but."
In other words, I was just dragged into it on that day too.
Well, it's rare to find a boy who doesn't like working with Yamamoto-san.
"Since there's a bit of cleanup left afterwards, I decided to do it all at once."
And now I'm getting caught up in it too.
It can't be helped.
I'll help you out of goodwill as day duty buddies.
"--Is that guy okay with you?"
That was the first thing my homeroom teacher said when I arrived at the staff room.
Of course, I'm just 'that guy' in the class, a nobody, but since I'm here to help, please give me some respect.
"Yes. We worked day duty together too, after all."
"I see. Isn't this bad for your public image though?"
It's easy for boys who are with Yamamoto-san to become objects of jealousy.
Considering that, I don't understand why she chose me, who is both plain and inconspicuous.
Nn, wait.
I was brought here because of day duty, and it wasn't Yamamoto-san's choice.
What is 'Is that guy okay with you' supposed to imply?
"Then, these are the keys to the reference room and the multipurpose room. Do you know how to use the shredder? Well, if you can't find the lost things after searching for about 10 minutes, then it's fine. It's been a long time since it was cleaned."
Our homeroom teacher instructed us to do three things.
One is to look for a key chain that a child who came to the reading session lost.
Another is to throw away the rest of the pamphlets left in the reference room.
And finally, we need to bring the prints we'll distribute tomorrow to the classroom.
After checking the lost and found box, Yamamoto-san and I asked the class who was responsible for cleaning the multipurpose room if they had seen any key chains.
Both of those efforts were in vain, so we went to the multipurpose room and spent a few minutes looking around for places that seemed unrelated to cleaning.
"Not there, huh."
"That can't be. It was just a few weeks ago."
In fact, I wonder why the search request came at this timing.
Either they didn't realise they had lost it, or they had been looking for it, but hadn't reached the possibility that this school had it.
In any case, it's too late.
"Um, Sotomichi-kun, aren't you worried about something?"
Yamamoto-san, who was in the same resigned mood as me, decided to sit down on a chair.
"What's the matter, all of a sudden? It's not like I'm worried about..."
Anything isn't the case.
I have a serious problem: I can't ejaculate without using my little sister as fap material.
However, there is no way I can openly talk about such serious concerns, and no one will believe me in the first place.
"Didn't you say you had troubles before?"
"There are some worries that I can't talk about. I'm sure it's the same for you, Yamamoto-san."
In the end, Yamamoto-san's troubles, which became the reason for her dating Suzuhara, remained unheard.
In that case, it would be unfair for me to one-sidedly confess my worries.
My troubles are worse than the troubles of other people.
I can't afford to be hated by Yamamoto-san.
"My worries... if you want me to talk about them, I will though... Aside from worries, isn't there anything you want to ask me for?"
"Would it be a problem if I said I didn't?"
"N-no, it's not like that..."
Yamamoto-san blatantly turns her face away.
So there's something troubling going on.
"Then I would like to ask you to tell me about Yamamoto-san's worries."
"Ugh."
It seems like she really doesn't want to talk about it.
I wonder if it would just be better if I asked for something, even if it was a really tiny matter.
I don't know her objective though.
As I was thinking about this, the members of the brass band came into the multipurpose room to practice.
We abandoned the search there, went around asking a few people if they had found any lost items, then reported the results to our homeroom teacher.
Then we went into the library and shredded the unnecessary brochures and the documents that Yamamoto-san used to make them.
"Um, Sotomichi-kun? Is there anything you want me to do other than listen to my troubles?"
Yamamoto-san parts her long hair on her sides, drapes it over her neck and arranges it in a cross-shape in front of her chest.
Why is she so particular about this?
If she gets picky about it, I'll of course want to start getting picky about it too.
"If you can't do what I'm asking for, was there a need to force yourself to ask in the first place?"
"Because... my worry is... um..."
Yamamoto-san takes a deep breath, as if it's difficult for her to do so.
"It's going to be a naughty topic. Besides, it's a trivial problem for everyone else, so I don't think they'll understand if even I talk about it."
A sexual relationship problem, huh.
Moreover, even if she talks about it, others won't understand it.
I see.
"My problems are the same though."
Even if it's something serious to me, to those around me it's probably just 'an idiot exaggerating their sister complex.'
If they don't understand, they won't empathize.
"T-That! Then, in exchange for my troubles! If I tell you mine, I'll fix yours!"
"No, no, no."
Even I have feelings that I shout out loud.
I want to confide in as many people as possible, have them take me seriously even if they don't understand me, and feel better about it.
But this is a problem that is outside the realm of humanity.
In other words, it's like consulting someone and saying, 'I killed someone, but I don't know what to do.'
Humans can sympathize with pain, but they can't accept distorted humanity.
"Anyways, it's not really something I can talk about. If you want me to do you a favour, I'll think about it. That's it for now, okay?"
"Uuu... please do so as soon as possible, okay?"
Yamamoto-san gives a weak wink.
What had brought her to this point?
There's only one thing I understand.
All I knew was that it was no coincidence Yamamoto-san nominated me here today.
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