Afterward, Toba was carried to the nurse's office, primarily under Akira's direction, and returned to the classroom near the end of the lunch break.
His face was clearly red from a beating, and there were traces of a nosebleed. His appearance clearly showed that something abnormal had happened, causing a commotion among his classmates.
Furthermore, they had witnessed Toba and Kotori going to return materials together at the start of lunch break. It wasn't hard to imagine that some trouble had occurred then.
However, Toba himself wore a foolish, loose-jawed expression, looking utterly dazed.
When his friends, suspicious, asked what happened, Toba only replied dreamily with, "Akira-senpai, she's amazing..." and "So charming, yet so cool..."
As for Kotori, she looked somewhat melancholic, staring out the window the entire time.
Her usual "don't talk to me" aura, combined with her poised, almost painterly pose, made even the First Army Girls hesitate to speak to her.
The class simply puzzled over the radically different demeanor of the two students compared to the morning.
Takumi, who knew the full story, watched them with a wry, unreadable expression.
Toba, it seemed, had become completely infatuated with Akira, who had gracefully thrown him, despite being a head shorter than him. It was a sensibility Takumi couldn't quite grasp.
After waking up in the nurse's office, Toba had actually harassed Akira, asking her to throw him again and asking how she did it. The nosebleed, by the way, hadn't occurred when he was thrown in the materials room, but from getting too excited while begging Akira to throw him.
Kotori's dazed state was likely because the encounter with Toba had triggered the trauma of the fake confession.
It might be best to leave her alone for a while.
Though, Takumi internally sighed self-deprecatingly, he wouldn't have known how to offer a helpful word even if he wanted to.
He had been slightly worried about how the day duty would proceed in the afternoon, but his worries turned out to be baseless.
Kotori only spoke in simple directives like "this one" or "that side," but Toba replied with "Sure" and "Got it," understanding her intentions and completing the day duty work. Kotori also seemed more relaxed than she had in the morning, and their exchanges looked completely natural.
In the afternoon, Kotori quickly wrote up the day duty log and brought it to Toba for review. Toba briefly checked the contents, said, "I'll return this to the staff room," and left the classroom with his bag. Without intending to, they had cooperated.
The classroom key was supposed to be locked by the last person leaving for club activities or otherwise.
With that, all the day duty work was finished.
Despite the unexpected incident during the day, it was strange how anticlimactic it felt now that it was safely over.
However, Kotori still seemed preoccupied. Her attention was scattered.
Takumi walked home, maintaining a slight distance to ensure she didn't stumble or get into an accident, all while keeping an eye on her.
Along the way, she stumbled over nothing and almost missed her train stop, but they finally made it to the point right near her house. They were approaching the fork in the road that led to Kotori's house.
—Is she okay now?
No, she still seems fragile today. Should I walk her all the way home?
Stopping by Kotori's house wouldn't be much of a detour.
As he was thinking this, Kotori suddenly stopped walking.
What is it?
Takumi stopped too, still considering his options, when Kotori spoke to him over her shoulder.
"Hey, let's have a reflection meeting about today. Come over to my place."
He couldn't read Kotori's emotions from her firm tone.
But a lot had certainly happened regarding day duty today.
Takumi saw no reason to refuse and nodded solemnly.
"Yeah."
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