It was midday when I sent a ssage to Yuri.
I wanted to ask about the ga she was working on. But after waiting, her reply never ca.
"She's not turning into Yona number two, is she?"
For a mont, I beca worried. But it had only been a few minutes, so maybe I should be a little patient. Besides, it was lunch break. She was probably eating and couldn't check her phone.
Still, since I was also bored, I decided to go to her classroom.
But when I arrived, instead of being greeted by that shy girl, I was welcod by the gal who used to be Yuri's friend.
Raising an eyebrow, she flashed a smile that gave a bad feeling.
"Isn't this our handso upperclassman Ren? What brings you all the way here? Looking for Yuri?"
Keeping a two-ter distance, I nodded.
"... Yeah. Where is she?"
"Where could she be? I don't know, maybe she's having lunch sowhere? Probably alone, since she doesn't have any friends anymore LOL."
My brow furrowed, suspicious.
"You're not bullying her again, are you?"
"Bullying? Did I hear that right? You're such a joker. Since when did I ever bully her?"
"Every day."
"You know you could be sued for defamation, right?"
"I don't care about your nonsense. Where is she?"
She chuckled.
"Didn't I just say I don't know? But if you're that desperate to find her, maybe check the trash can. That's her natural habitat LOL."
"You..."
Honestly, I wanted to punch her in the face. But knowing it would be useless, I held back. Besides, experience had already taught not to overthink. It was better to look for Yuri directly than listen to her.
So I left. Though, since I didn’t know where Yuri usually went, all I could do was search the whole school.
Fortunately, it didn’t take long before I found her—in a place I never expected her to be.
"... You're seriously having lunch here, Yuri?"
"R-Ren!?"
The girl with long bangs jumped when she saw . She was sitting next to the school’s incinerator, holding a piece of bread with both hands.
"I was just wandering around, but I didn’t think you’d really be here..."
"U-Um, it’s just that there was no space left in the cafeteria! S-So I ate here..."
"Why not eat in your classroom?"
"My desk got taken over by so guys hanging out..."
Why not just tell him to move? That’s what I thought. But in this world, maybe it’s like having a popular girl loot your seat. You’re too embarrassed to say anything or even speak up.
I scratched my head.
"I'm sorry. Because of , you don't even have anyone to have lunch with. It must be hard to make new friends when you're working on a ga..."
For so reason, Yuri clutched her chest with a pained expression after hearing what I said. Her smile looked stiff.
"I-It’s fine! I-It’s really not anyone’s fault! I don’t regret them leaving at all. Because at least... I still have Ren."
"Yuri..."
My heart felt warm. I didn’t expect Yuri to think of as soone so important. It made a little embarrassed.
"By the way, why didn’t you reply to my ssage earlier? I sent a bunch of stickers."
Yuri was just eating bread, she should’ve been able to reply if her phone had a notification.
"About that..."
She reached into her pocket and pulled out sothing that looked like her phone. The reason I wasn’t sure it was her phone was because of how terrible its condition was.
The screen was shattered, the back cover was off, the battery was missing. There was no way to save a phone in that condition.
She continued.
"My phone fell from the third floor... when I was trying to take a picture of a bird."
"Rest in peace, Yuri’s phone. May your soul find peace in the afterlife."
Putting my hands together, I offered a heartfelt prayer. Her phone was from a well-known brand. Her luck must be really bad for it to end up this broken.
"But what were you even doing on the third floor? Hardly anyone goes there. Just thinking about how serious the senior-year students are is kind of scary."
"T-There was an art class earlier."
That explained everything.
After finishing the last bite of her cafeteria bread, Yuri spoke again.
"Um... I’m sorry I can’t share a gaplay video of my ga today."
"That’s unfortunate, but there’s no other choice. Maybe next ti. Or... how about sending the video from your computer?"
Yuri shook her head, making her shoulder-length hair sway with her movent.
"I-I want to hear Ren’s reaction to the ga directly."
"Then the only choice left is to wait until you get a new phone."
I shrugged. I didn’t have any other ideas. This was all due to bad luck. Nothing I could do about it.
But Yuri didn’t seem ready to give up. She touched the tip of her chin, looking like she was thinking. After a few seconds, she looked at again through her long bangs.
Maybe because of today’s heat, her cheeks looked slightly red.
"... If you don’t mind, Ren, would you... like to co over to my house instead? I-I an, to see the ga directly! That way... you won’t just watch the video, y-you can actually play it too!"
"Let’s go now."
"H-Huh?"
I grabbed her shoulder and leaned my face closer.
Seeing the ga Yuri made and even becoming its beta tester? Isn’t that a huge honor!? I didn’t even know what kind of ga she made, but just thinking about it made my heart race.
"Ah, but I still have a part-ti job after school... since I already took a day off on Monday, it feels bad to ask again... Should I just bite the bullet?"
"Tomorrow! L-Let’s do it tomorrow instead! You’re off on Friday, right? I-I’m not in that much of a rush right now."
You might not be, but I am, Yuri.
Resigned, I let go of Yuri and leaned against the wall. Looks like I’ll just have to be patient for one more day. It’d be bad if I kept skipping work. My pay might get docked.
"But... don’t expect too much from what I made."
"Can’t help it. My expectations are already sky-high now for your ga."
"Eh..."
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