Chapter 25: CH 25

She was angry, after all.

Translated by Dawn

Edited by Dawn

She was angry, after all.

“Mizutani-san, Aizawa-kun. Take care of these printouts.”

Kano-chan, in front of me, said it with pride.

She must have regretted that she forgot to hand out the handouts she was supposed to hand out in the previous long homeroom and had us hand them out later. This time, she decided to have us hand them out beforehand during the lunch break before the long homeroom.

Unlike at that time, Kano-chan seemed to be full of confidence, perhaps because she didn’t feel guilty about it. I think it was good…to be confident about something like that, but it was Kano-chan. I mustn’t think too much about it.

I received the printouts as a representative and split them with Mizutani.

Mizutani said a short “thanks” and accepted them, bowed to Kano-chan, then turned and walked ahead of me. I followed her out of the staff room.

As I walked behind Mizutani, I could feel more than usual the brusque stares from the others.

They were probably from people who had already heard the rumors.

Even though I was prepared for it, it was still hard on me.

After all, I hadn’t had a chance to talk to Mizutani since then.

Rather, I felt as if she was avoiding me.

We didn’t have lunch together today.

—Then it’s now or never, right?

“Mizutani, are you angry?”

When I boldly asked, Mizutani stopped.

She immediately resumed walking and answered smoothly.

“As I said, I’m not angry.”

“…If it’s about the rumors with Satomi—”

“I’m sorry, Aizawa. I’m not sure I’m ready to hear that story right now.”

Stopping and looking back at me, Mizutani said firmly.

What I saw on her face was the pasted-on smile I had seen in the classroom earlier.

She was angry, after all.

—Thinking about it, I wonder why Mizutani is angry with me.

No way, she shouldn’t feel jealous.

Then, was it because I, her boyfriend, didn’t tell and speak with her about it?

…Yeah, that was the most likely explanation.

No matter how much we pretended to be together, it was not right that I met another girl on a holiday without any notice. Moreover, Mizutani heard about it not from my mouth the next day, but as a rumor at school. It is not surprising that she felt disrespected.

I should have at least contacted her or told her properly.

I put my guilt first and forgot to do something important as a human being.

“I’m sorry, Mizutani. I didn’t realize I was disrespecting you.”

At my words, Mizutani finally turned around with her body.

She stared at me meaningfully, then exhaled and smiled.

“…No, I’m sorry too. I’m the one who’s asking for this.”

“You don’t have to apologize to me.”

“I do. I’m angry at you even though that’s not right, Aizawa.”

“…Really?”

“Because if I’m angry, it’s…”

Mizutani finally did not say the rest.

Her small lips pursed, she looked forward and moved her feet faster than before.

I felt like we were having a fatal misunderstanding.

But I still didn’t know what was the cause of it.

For some reason, I felt as if our hearts were further apart than before I spoke to her.

*****

After school, I was on my way to the student conference room by myself.

It was for the class council meeting.

The hallway was not very popular, probably because it had been a little while since the end of the school day.

I could hear the sound of rain hitting the asphalt through the window.

On my way to the meeting room, I passed by the shoe box.

A familiar blonde girl caught my eye.

Mizutani was alone, leaning against the wall, carrying a bag in each hand.

“…What are you doing here?”

I couldn’t help but talk to her, knowing it would be awkward.

Mizutani looked at me and then looked away.

“Nothing.”

“What happened to piano practice? You have one after this, don’t you?”

“…It’s canceled. So it’s fine.”

With her eyes averted, Mizutani said.

No, no, no, no way. I could tell it was a lie.

If her piano practice was canceled, she would at least attend the class council meeting.

…Maybe.

“Did you forget your umbrella?”

“…yeah, actually.”

After a few seconds of silence, Mizutani admitted resignedly.

With a faraway look in her eyes, she gazed out the entrance outside, which was in a state of heavy rain.

“The rental umbrellas were run out today, so I gave up and waited for it to stop. It doesn’t look like it’s going to stop.”

“Hee…huh, you’re right.”

I muttered to myself as I checked the empty wooden box in the corner of the shoe box.

The “umbrella rental system” was a system unique to our school whereby unused umbrellas that someone had left in the umbrella stand for a while were collected and lent out to those who had forgotten their umbrellas. The name was written on the list on the desk next to it, and a circle was placed next to the name on the list by the person who returned it.

But this list…was terrible.

There were some joke names like “Ve*eta” and “Ja*an” mixed in with the usual names like “Kazuki Sato”. Shouldn’t we first discuss the proper use of this list at today’s meeting?

I turned my attention back from the list to Mizutani and asked, half teasing, half caring.

“You’re surprisingly clumsy, huh, Mizutani.”

“Don’t call me clumsy.”

“But it’s true, though?”

“…..”

Mizutani stared at me silently.

Speaking of which, what happened to Yamamoto?

It was supposed to be his time to come in at a time like this, but that guy wasn’t there.

Well, when I imagined Mizutani and Yamamoto sharing an umbrella…I couldn’t help but have mixed feelings.

I took out a folding umbrella from my bag and threw it to Mizutani, saying, “Here”.

Mizutani caught the umbrella with a curious look on her face and looked up as if she had been hit.

“I appreciate you lending it to me, but… what about you, Aizawa?”

“I’ll be fine. You see, I have my own umbrella stand right there.”

Pointing to a black umbrella on the umbrella stand, Mizutani muttered, “This is Aizawa’s.”

Then she said, “Well, but…” as if she suddenly remembered.

“Aizawa, did you have something like this, this morning?”

“That’s the one I’ve had for a while. I didn’t bring it this morning.”

“Then why did you have a folding umbrella?”

“…you see, I forgot that I had left it there.”

“Hmmm,” Mizutani said.

Apparently convinced, she bowed her head and said, “I’ll be sure to return it tomorrow. Thanks.”

“I get it. Just get going. You’re in a hurry, right?”

“…Even when I’m in a hurry, I at least want to say thank you politely.”

Mizutani raised her head, and after saying this, she walked out of the entrance in a short run.

After watching her walk through the rain with an umbrella in her hand, I started walking to the student conference room.

When the meeting was over, I headed to the shoebox.

The rain hadn’t stopped yet.

Checking the weather forecast on my phone, it looked like it wouldn’t even stop for the rest of the day.

No choice, I’d to show my secret technique.

I put my bag on my head and ran out of the entrance.