Chapter 60: Exception

She attended class as her thoughts wandered, and the morning quickly passed.

At lunchtime, Kita watched Ishikawa Hayato leave the classroom with his bento.

Where he was going and who he was meeting was very obvious.

'Seriously...'

'One girl in the morning, and another girl at noon.'

'What a shameless guy.'

But after she finished her bento with her friends, she also arranged to meet Hitori, as usual, in the storage room.

She knocked on the storage room door, and in response to Hitori's voice, she walked in.

Everything was the same as yesterday. Hitori was sitting on a chair, waiting for her.

After greeting Hitori, she took out her guitar and sat on the chair opposite to Hitori.

With her guitar on her back, she opened her phone to select a song, and with anticipation for Hitori's guidance, she looked up at Hitori.

But what she saw was Hitori staring blankly, with an uncontrollable smile on her face, as if she was already immersed in happiness.

'He's too good at charming girls, isn't he?'

Seeing Hitori like this, she felt a little worried.

Although she felt Ishikawa-kun was a very good person, if this continued, she felt Hitori would become someone who would do whatever Ishikawa Hayato told her to do.

'What if Ishikawa-kun was actually terrible in some ways?'

Kita's mind quickly conjured Ishikawa Hayato's frivolous demeanor from the morning, as well as his overly intimate actions with the seniors.

And... judging by Ishikawa-kun's tone this morning, he must have known, right?

He knew she had a crush on him.

Knowing that, yet still being so nice to her without explaining, that's too much, isn't it?

She suddenly became a little worried and asked Hitori.

"Gotou-san, are you really not dating Ishikawa-kun?"

Hitori quickly snapped out of it when she heard the voice, returning to her timid self.

However, facing this question, she seemed much more nervous, her eyes blinking as she constantly watched Kita's expression.

But in the end, she said nothing, obediently answering Kita's question.

"Ah... yes."

Noticing Hitori's wariness, Kita hesitated for a moment before warning her.

"Be careful, Ishikawa-kun seems like someone who might be two-timing."

Hitori nodded.

Feeling that the other person's reaction was too subdued, Kita felt that she wasn't listening seriously.

"Gotou-san?..."

Facing Kita's somewhat anxious inquiry, Hitori was not nervous. She lowered her head, touched the black finish of her guitar, hesitated, and then said firmly.

"I trust Hayato. If Hayato finds a girlfriend, he will definitely tell me. I don't think he would be unfaithful by deceiving me."

'Are you trusting him or not!?'

After complaining in her heart, Kita also realized that Hitori was not as blindly obedient to others as she had thought.

Although she liked Ishikawa Hayato, she hadn't lost her own ability to think.

She was a little surprised.

It seems she was meddling in things that weren’t her business.

In fact, she reflected for a moment, 'Was I really seeing Gotou-san as well as she saw herself?'

Hitori believed he would tell the truth, even though she wasn't sure if Ishikawa-kun would be unfaithful.

And her?

She suddenly began to wonder to what extent Ishikawa-kun would speak the truth this morning.

Would he answer everything honestly?

Or, in fact, she herself knew that Ishikawa Hayato had a terrifying pride in himself deep down.

A serious inquiry would definitely receive an honest answer from him.

And precisely because of this, his serious answers were terrifying. They left no room for misunderstandings.

That's why she avoided him this morning.

But now, she shouldn't be curious anymore.

Moreover, she also knew that her liking him was only because she had received his help, and was attracted by this boy's unique personality, as well as a slight attraction to his handsome appearance.

It was a infatuation born by all sorts of superficial reasons..

...

After school, Ishikawa Hayato checked his phone.

At noon, Nijika had sent a message.

[ Hayato-kun, please come to the store with Kita-chan and Bocchi-chan tonight. ]

[ Do you not want me there? (cries) ]

[ No way! I'm just a little worried. ]

[ For me? ]

[ ...I suddenly don't know who I should be worried about. ]

[ Then I'll take it as Nijika worrying for me, *ding ding,* Hayato's affection for Nijika is up! ]

He turned off his phone and put it in his pocket, then strolled around the school, from the new school building to the old school building, and then to the building used for club activities.

He watched the students running on the track and field, and the distant swimming pool with fallen leaves that hadn't been cleaned up yet. Ishikawa Hayato leisurely walked back.

...

"Kita-chan... did you also practice when you came home yesterday?"

“Ehe, you caught me.”

"Hmm... this part yesterday... you couldn't play it smoothly, but today you play it very well."

"Because I don't want to keep dragging the band down like this."

Kita!!

A dazzling light burst from the crack in the storage room door.

Ishikawa Hayato paused at the door, a trace of cold sweat on his face.

With a sense of unease, wondering if Hitori had been purified, he opened the door.

"Gotou-san!?"

Inside the storage room, Kita was supporting a pale-faced Hitori, preventing her from falling.

However, she quickly noticed Ishikawa Hayato's arrival and asked him in a flustered tone.

"Wh-what should I do? Gotou-san suddenly became like this."

Her expression was very natural, as if everything from the morning had never happened.

Ishikawa Hayato looked at Hitori. She seemed to be petrified, staring blankly, unmoving.

He thought, even Nijika could be hurt by the power of a normie, Hitori was lucky to be alive.

"Kita, it's best to tone down that sunny demeanor in front of Bocchi."

Ishikawa Hayato said as he walked over, squatted down, cupped Hitori's face, and gently called out to her.

"Bocchi, Bocchi."

Hitori heard the voice that reassured her and opened her eyes blankly. She saw Ishikawa Hayato in front of her, his profile illuminated by a faint glow from the orange-yellow setting sun.

"An... angel?"

Ishikawa Hayato stood up, ruffled her hair, then smoothed it out, and said.

"A male angel would be too unappealing."

Then, with a proud expression, he pointed to himself with his thumb and said.

"It's me, the Pervert!"

Hitori's face instantly turned red from bottom to top as she realized what she had just said.

Kita smiled as she watched the two of them.

And Ishikawa Hayato, seeing Hitori had crashed again, said to Kita.

"How about going to STARRY now?"

Kita checked the time on her phone, then said.

"Let's go then."

...

The three walked along the increasingly familiar road, heading towards Shimokitazawa.

Along the way, Hitori noticed that the two people next to her hadn't spoken for a long time.

Realizing something was off, she secretly observed them.

Kita was holding her phone, pressing the screen with a faint smile, while Hayato had his hands in his pockets, observing the street with a very smug expression.

Seeing how natural they looked, Hitori suppressed her doubts.

However, Kita noticed Hitori's gaze and leaned forward to look over.

"Gotou-san, let's take a picture together."

"No, no, no, I can't."

Hitori quickly shook her head in panic.

The horror of almost being scorched by Kita's radiance at noon was still vivid in her memory. How could she dare to get close to Kita?

Kita's gaze shifted to Ishikawa Hayato.

Hitori, noticing Kita's gaze, realized what might happen next, and a hint of unease suddenly arose within her.

If only they took a picture together, would she be left out?

"Don't make it difficult for Bocchi. Even if I join, Bocchi won't agree."

Ishikawa Hayato said to Kita with a helpless expression.

Kita's expression was peculiar. She said with a touch of coquettishness.

"Eh~ Ishikawa-kun always says 'Pervert' and such, but he doesn't do anything perverted at all."

Ishikawa Hayato looked up at the sky.

“The clouds were really white.”

After he finished speaking, he took a deep breath, as if trying to inhale the moisture from the clouds.

Kita's eyes widened in disbelief as she looked at Ishikawa Hayato, her face quickly turning crimson. She clamped her legs together, her steps becoming stiff, and she fled to the front as if escaping.

Hitori, who didn't understand the meaning behind Ishikawa Hayato's words, was full of question marks.

But Hitori suddenly realized that Hayato seemed to tease others without reservation, yet he was always restrained with her.

...