Shimizu-san and Misunderstanding 1
“…Doesn’t look like the others are coming.”
“Yeah.”
One afternoon, as the day for stargazing was fast approaching, I was in the Astronomy Club room with Seto.
“Hondō said he couldn’t make it today due to so errands. Have you heard anything from Ai and Yousuke?”
“Ai Senpai said she’d be late because of student council duties. I think it’s probably the sa for Sakata Senpai.”
“I see.”
The conversation feels awkward.
Maybe it’s because I haven’t spent much ti talking with Seto one-on-one.
“Am I bothering you?”
Seto tilts her head.
“No, you’re not.”
“That’s good to hear.”
Seto looks away from . It seems like the conversation has reached a temporary end, and silence fills the club room.
But I wanted to clarify sothing while I had the chance.
“Hey, Seto.”
“What?”
“Can I talk to you for a mont?”
“Sure, what’s up?”
“There’s sothing I want to tell you.”
“…What a coincidence. I also have sothing I want to say to Shimizu-san.”
“Really?”
This is unexpected.
I never thought Seto would have sothing she wanted to say to as well.
“Then, who’s going to go first?”
“Before that, I want to ask sothing. What do you want to talk about?”
“…it’s about Hondō-kun.”
“I see. I think what you want to say and what I want to say might be the sa.”
I’m not certain, but I have a feeling that was the case.
“Is that so?”
“Yes.”
“Should we say it at the sa ti?”
“Let’s do that. When I say ‘ready, set,’ we’ll do it together.”
“Got it.”
Both of us take a deep breath simultaneously.
“Ready, set!”
“You like Hondō, don’t you!?”
“Shimizu-san, I know you have feelings for Hondō-kun.”
“What!?”
“Huh?”
The part about liking Hondō was correct, but the rest of the conversation was drastically different from what I thought.
“Why… why do you think I like… I an, have feelings for Hondō…?”
“Before that, answer my question. Why did you think I had feelings for Hondō-kun?”
“Well…”
To explain that, I would have to admit that I was pretending to be asleep when Hondō and Seto were talking about love.
“Ah, I know you were feigning sleep when Hondō-kun and I were talking about love. So you don’t have to worry about that getting out.”
“What?”
I inadvertently let out a flustered voice.
She knew I was pretending to be asleep? Then why…?
There’s a lot I want to say, but first, I have to answer Seto’s question.
“In that case, let’s make this quick. You and him… you often chatted about love with Hondō! And you always asked Hondō for his opinion! You’re doing that because you secretly like Hondō and you’re trying to gather references for later, right!?”
I pointed at Seto with vigor. But Seto said nothing.
“Hmph, hit the nail on the head, didn’t I? I’m so spot-on that you can’t even speak. I knew it, I’m not wrong…”
“Sigh…”
Just when I thought he’d speak, Seto let out a big sigh.
“Why are you sighing? Are you mocking ?”
Even Ai never sighed at like that.
That prolonged sigh hurt more than I expected.
“Sorry, I didn’t an to. The reason I didn’t respond earlier is not because you were right but because I was dumbfounded. None of Shimizu’s guesses about are correct.”
“What do you an?”
“First off, I’m not romantically interested in Hondō-kun. The reason I talk about love with him is to confirm whether my feelings for the person I’m truly curious about are actually romantic.”
“…Are you sure you don’t like Hondō?”
“That’s how it is.”
There’s no change in Seto’s expression, but she doesn’t seem to be lying.
“I see…”
I felt a weight lifted off my heart. So that was it.
I had thought Seto liked Hondō, but it seems I was mistaken.
“…you can relax.”
Seto whispered as if reading my mind.
“W-What’s that supposed to an? Whether or not you like Hondō doesn’t matter to !”
I blurted out sothing I didn’t an to say.
I felt a little disgusted with myself.
“That’s a lie. Because you like Hondō-kun, you must be extrely curious about what I think of him.”
“You said that earlier, but why do you think I like… um, have feelings for Hondō?”
“There are many pieces of evidence.”
“…tell .”
I don’t recall leaving any evidence.
Seto must be making things up.
“First, the hairstyle.”
For a mont, my heart skipped a beat, because it was sothing that struck .
“The day after Hondō-kun ntioned his favorite hairstyle being a half-up, you ca with that exact hairstyle. If you didn’t think anything of Hondō-kun, you wouldn’t have done that.”
“Ugh…”
It’s not strange for Seto to know I changed my hairstyle since we are in the sa class and club.
But deducting the reason…she’s quite observant.
“That… that was a coincidence.”
“There are various ways to arrange a half-up hairstyle. Was the fact that it was identical to the magazine also a coincidence?”
“…It was also a coincidence.”
“Didn’t you reference the fashion magazine where I had placed sticky notes?”
“I said it’s a coincidence!”
“It’s too much for that to be a coincidence… Well, fine. There’s more evidence.”
“There’s more?”
“Of course. The second is the timing of when you watched ’21 Gram of Difference.’ “
“Ugh…”
It’s too close to ho. Seto continued without minding my reaction.
“On the day Hondō-kun ntioned it would be fun to watch the sa ani with soone he’s interested in and share opinions, you imdiately watched ’21 Gram of Difference,’ which Hondō-kun had ntioned. It’s clear you were being conscious of him.”
“That’s… that’s because Ai later said ‘Twenty-One Gram Difference’ was interesting, so I got curious.”
“…You still won’t admit it?”
Seto stared intently at .
It was as if she was saying I should just admit it and find relief.
“Give up. There’s no more evidence left, right?”
“…Fine. I didn’t want to bring this up, but…”
Other than the previous two incidents, I never acted after listening to Seto and Hondō’s love stories.
So, Seto shouldn’t have any more evidence to present, but…
“Just because Hondō-kun said he wanted to try a homade bento, you specifically made one for him. It can only be thought of as you liking Hondō-kun.”
“How do you even know about that…”
I regretted saying that as soon as the words left my mouth.
“I knew it.”
“You set a trap for !”
“I saw Shimizu-san give the bento to Hondō-kun. And Hondō-kun had ntioned a while ago that he’d be happy if soone made a bento for him. Considering these two pieces of information, it’s not hard to think taht Shimizu-san made the bento for Hondō-kun. But I had no proof.”
“So you were checking my reaction…”
“Yes.”
It seems Seto was a step ahead of . But sothing still bothered .
“Why were you watching give Hondō the bento? Neither he nor I were mbers of the Astronomy Club at the ti. Isn’t it strange for you to be watching us?”
“Ah…”
Seto suddenly averted her eyes.
Suspicious. She’s hiding sothing.
“Don’t tell you actually like Hondō…”
“…sigh.”
Seto sighed again, this ti seemingly half out of disappointnt and half relief.
“You! You sighed again! Seriously, stop it!”
“Sorry. I just thought Shimizu-san was only looking at Hondō-kun.”
“You’re not listening at all. You can say whatever you want…anyway, why were you watching us?”
“…Can I remain silent?”
“No way. Just spill it and be done with it.”
I felt like a detective trying to get a confession from a suspect.
“…I want you to promise one thing.”
“Getting all serious now? Go on.”
“If you’re going to be angry, don’t just be angry with , be angry with Ai Senpai to.”
“Ai is involved in this too?”
I have a bad feeling about this.
When it cos to Ai, these hunches usually turn out to be right.
“Okay, so why were you watching Hondō and ?”
“…I was asked to keep an eye on Shimizu-san.”
At that mont, a certain phrase crossed my mind.
『I have an accomplice in Kei’s class. That’s all there is to it.』
I think Ai said sothing like that the night I gave the homade bento to Hondō.
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