Chapter 73: Second Semester

JULY 10, 2021 6 COMMENTS

　The summer vacation is quickly coming to an end and the second semester has started today.

　I took a deep breath as I checked my hair in front of the mirror at the entrance, feeling somewhat uncomfortable in my uniform that I hadn’t worn in a while.

　Thinking about it, I realized that a lot of things had changed between before and after the summer vacation.

　The biggest difference was that Shi-chan and I had started dating.

　However, this was to be kept a secret at school for the time being.

　Considering the effect it would have on Shi-chan, who is a famous person, I decided that it would be risky to be too open about it.

　Well, we can’t make out openly, but we’re still together, and as Shi-chan said, she didn’t mind the secret love feeling of growing up in love in secret.

　I’ve also changed my hairstyle, but I’ll leave that as a trivial matter.

　So I woke up early because it was the first day of the second semester, and I decided to leave the house earlier than usual.

When I walked into the classroom, I saw that it was still the first day of the second semester and some of my classmates had already arrived at school.

　I exchanged casual greetings with my classmates as I walked to my seat, and also greeted my neighbor who was already there.

“Good morning, Shi-chan.”

“G-g-g-g-g-g-oood morning, Takkun.”

　I casually greeted her, pretending to be the same as before, but for some reason, Shi-chan awkwardly greeted me back.

　What is it? When I smiled bitterly, Shi-chan hurriedly took out her phone from her bag and typed out some words.

　Then, with a buzz, my phone vibrates.

　I check the notifications on my phone as I sit down in my seat.

　As expected, it was the Lime that Shi-chan had just sent me.

　I thought it was Lime, even though she was right next to me, and checked it out.

“Good morning, Takkun! It’s hard to keep a secret!”

　That was the cry of Shi-chan’s heart.

　At the bottom of the message, there was a stamp of Shiori-chan shedding tears like a waterfall.

　I couldn’t help but blurt out, and turned my attention to Shi-chan again.

　When Shi-chan noticed my gaze, she seemed to be nervous, and hurriedly turned around to look at me.

　The other classmates in the classroom were already staring at her, wondering what was wrong with her.

　I hadn’t expected Shi-chan to show her usual suspicious behavior here, so I found her a bit amusing and started laughing.

　Objectively speaking, the fact that I, a commoner, was acting so dignified and Shiori, a super idol, was acting so uptight, if someone who knew our situation would have seen it, they would have said, “No, no, no, it’s should be the other way around. ……”

“No, no, no, it’s should be the other way around. ……”

　For some reason, I could hear clearly the words that I had just thought in my mind.

　I was a little surprised and looked up to see Takayuki smiling at me.

“Good morning! Takuya! And you too, Saegusa-san!”

　And Takayuki is wearing a fresh, handsome smile from this morning.

　Even after the start of the second semester, he was still a nice guy.

“Good morning, Ichijo-kun. Shion-chan.”

　And the one who peeked out from behind Takayuki was Shimizu-san.

　She’s Takayuki’s girlfriend and one of the two most beautiful girls in the school.

“Good morning Takayuki, Shimizu-san.”

“Good morning, Yamamoto-kun, Saku-chan!”

　Perhaps the appearance of the two of them had released her tension, but Shi-chan had returned to her normal mood.

　Anyway, the second semester starts today.

　While hiding my relationship with Shi-chan, I vaguely hoped that I could enjoy school life as much as I did in the first semester, and waited for the school bell to ring while talking with Takayuki and the others about our summer vacation.

　I could feel the eyes of the girls in my class, who had never shown any interest in me before, but I decided not to worry about it, thinking that it was just my imagination or that they were looking at the handsome Takayuki sitting in front of me.

　For some reason, I felt a slightly disgruntled look coming from next to me, but I pretended not to care.

“Alright, the second semester has started, but is everyone here?”

　The homeroom teacher came into the classroom almost at the same time as the school bell.

“I don’t think you’re out of the summer vacation mood yet, but you’ll have to switch it up by mid-morning.”

　As usual, our homeroom teacher was loose in a good way.

　Such a loose homeroom teacher early in the second semester drew a small laugh from the classroom.

　But that was the end of the time when everyone was able to smile and laugh with classmates they hadn’t seen in a while.

All right, now that it’s the second semester, let’s change seats…”

　With that one word from the homeroom teacher, the whole classroom went into a frenzy.

　Then, all the classmates, male and female, focused their gaze on one point.

　The girl they were all looking at was one of the two most beautiful girls of the year, and the former center of a national idol group.

　She’s so famous that it’s a wonder why she’s in such an ordinary high school in the first place. These people were all directed towards Shion Saegusa, aka Shiorin, the idol.

　The word “seat change” caught everyone off guard, and I was a little surprised as well, so I couldn’t help but look at Shi-chan.

　And as for Shi-chan, who became the center of attention of the whole class—

　She froze with a look of despair on her face, as if it was the end of the world.