I got through first period normally enough, but the second the break started, Reona came over to talk to me. Same thing during the second break.
”…The atmosphere in this class is unbearable.”
By the break before fourth period, the classroom had become too oppressive, so I’d escaped to the area by the vending machines. The cause was simple — the volume and intensity of the stares from my classmates.
“Honestly, I had a feeling this would happen with how much we’ve stuck out since yesterday, but actually being inside it sucks more than expected.”
A previously invisible Mob Character B suddenly interacting with class-idol Reona, in front of all the actual popular kids, was never going to not stand out.
The reason I’d ended up entangled with Reona and Riona was the random stabbing, but almost no one at school knew that. From the outside, it just looked like I’d materialized into their inner circle out of nowhere.
“And now I’m hearing my classmates literally trash-talking me. Could that please stop.”
The bulk of the trash-talkers — and I mean no offense — were the not-particularly-popular boys. Probably they couldn’t stand the idea that someone they’d written off as below them was now buddy-buddy with the class idol.
The genuinely popular guys, by comparison, were almost gentle about it. Or possibly I was simply not on their radar at all.
Thinking those depressing thoughts, I waited until the absolute last second before fourth period, then went back to my classroom. The moment I crossed the threshold, someone tossed out a don’t bother Tsurugi-san, leech.
Ah. So that’s how the rest of them are reading this. Fourth period ended, lunch started, and that line was still gnawing at me.
“Hey, am I… am I actually a bother to you two?”
Reona and Riona had again invaded my “best place,” and I asked the question over my shoulder. Both of their faces shifted — surprise.
“Where did that come from?”
“Ryouya, did something happen?”
“No, I just thought maybe that’s how you guys see me.”
When they pressed, I gave the answer. The line from before fourth period was still stuck like a splinter. And then — every expression on their faces snapped away clean.
“Are Riona and I bothered? That’s literally impossible, there is no version of this universe where we’d be bothered, because you are the savior who risked your life to save us. Riona and I want to be with you, Ryouya-kun, which is exactly why we keep showing up the way we do, so there isn’t a single particle of bothered-ness anywhere in this picture. If anything we’re the ones worried we’re being a bother to you. And — Ryouya-kun, you’re more attractive than you think you are, so please give yourself more credit. If you did, you wouldn’t be entertaining thoughts like ‘maybe I’m a bother to them,’ you know…”
“There is no possible reading where you are a bother. Riona and I trust Ryouya from the bottom of our hearts. The idea of being bothered by the boy who saved our lives is fundamentally backwards. You may not be aware of it but Ryouya, what you did was that significant. If you hadn’t been there that day, Riona and I would probably already be dead, and frankly, no amount of thanks would ever be enough. So Riona and I are going to spend our entire lives paying back what you did. Brace yourself…”
The two of them rattled all that off at a slightly inhuman speed. It was — let’s say — a little scary, more than a little actually. But at the same time, it landed: they really did trust me that completely. Strangely, that made me feel relieved.
”…Okay. I got it. Loud and clear. Sorry — I was reading the room wrong.”
There was zero chance what they’d just said wasn’t their genuine feelings. If it wasn’t, then Reona and Riona had a future as world-class con artists.
“Glad that’s settled. Let’s eat.”
“Nee-chan and I worked hard on it again this morning.”
“Thanks. Looks great today too.”
Reona-and-Riona-handmade lunches were already, after one outing, an event I looked forward to. I was probably about ninety percent of the way to being captured by stomach.
Today’s lunch was sausage, hard-boiled egg, ginger pork, mini tomatoes, and white rice. The ketchup on the sausage had that same faintly metallic, iron-y taste, but everything else was so good my chopsticks didn’t slow down. Needless to say.
Afternoon classes started, and nothing notable happened. There were still classmates muttering, but I was ignoring all of it.
I’d been a little nervous in the morning thinking I might be a bother to Reona and Riona, but having heard their actual feelings about it, the damage was effectively zero.