Having rushed out of Kotori's room, Takumi headed to school ahead of her.
Though it was earlier than his usual time, about half the seats in the classroom were already filled, and he could see classmates chatting in their respective groups. Since they had trouble finding someone to talk to and had too much free time, Takumi and Kotori usually arrived right at the last minute.
He dropped his bag at his seat and quickly surveyed the room; Toba didn't seem to have arrived yet.
"............yo."
A moment later, Kotori arrived in the classroom, letting out something that sounded like a greeting.
Her usual group of "First Army Girls" hadn't arrived yet, so no one returned her greeting.
While being talked to loudly was troublesome, not having it was probably lonely too. Kotori wore an unreadable expression. She glanced around and realized Toba hadn't come in yet.
Kotori, who had arrived full of spirit on the day of the duty only to be let down, let out a small, disappointed sigh.
Unable to simply stand there, she started walking toward her seat, when a bright, rushed voice echoed from the hallway.
"Damn, I almost slept in!"
The person who rushed into the classroom was Toba himself.
When he spread his arms and made a "safe" gesture, the boys around him gave him playful jabs and retorts like, "What are you doing?" and "Your arrival time is the same as always." Toba scratched his head sheepishly, acting silly.
Noticing Kotori putting her bag down at her seat, Toba grinned and walked over to her.
"Hey, Nabata! Good, looks like you just got here?"
"..."
Kotori tried to reply but couldn't get the words out quickly, so she just nodded.
"In that case, the flower vase water hasn't been changed yet, right? I'll run and go do it!"
"!?"
With that, Toba flashed a wide smile, tossed his bag into his seat, rolled up his sleeves as if to say, "Leave it to me," and headed toward the back of the classroom.
He likely wanted to show off for Kotori.
However, Kotori's goal was to complete the day duty together. Toba's unexpected action made her flustered and confused.
Takumi's eyes widened, and they met Kotori's pleading gaze.
Even as this happened, Toba was already reaching for the flower vase. There was no time to hesitate.
Takumi quickly recovered and typed the instruction for the line she should say on his phone: "Together!"
Kotori, who checked her phone right away, flinched, then looked back at Takumi. Takumi nodded deeply, urging her to act.
After a moment of hesitation, Kotori shouted something uncharacteristically loud at Toba.
"T-Together!"
"Huh?"
Toba stopped in surprise. Kotori, carried by the momentum of her words, rushed over to him and, again uncharacteristically, spoke rapidly.
"Let's go together."
"Ah, sure..."
And then Kotori, internally overwhelmed, quickly left the classroom and headed toward the wash basin.
Toba, who had been caught off guard, rebooted and hurried after Kotori.
Relaxing now that the two of them were out of sight, Takumi let out a massive sigh of relief.
Despite the unexpected accident, the start could be considered a success.
But Takumi wasn't the only one sighing.
From various parts of the classroom, sighs were audible, along with interested whispers like, "That proves it," and "It's confirmed, right?"
(...Huh?)
A blank voice echoed in Takumi's mind.
Eavesdropping, he realized they were gossiping about Kotori and Toba.
Takumi's face crumpled, feeling that yet another unforeseen situation was unfolding.
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