C05

Chapter 5: A Class-Approved Couple

The next morning.

The moment I stepped into the classroom, I could tell the atmosphere was entirely different from yesterday.

As the door swung open, multiple gazes snapped toward me simultaneously.

A boy talking in front of the chalkboard cut himself off mid-sentence, and a group of girls clustered around a desk leaned in close to whisper to each other.

Those gazes immediately darted away.

Even so, it didn't mean they never happened.

Until yesterday, I was basically part of the classroom background.

Now, just walking in made me stand out strangely.

(Did yesterday's stunt spread it completely?)

I expected as much.

In fact, it would be a problem if it hadn't spread.

I hung my bag beside my desk and sat in my chair as usual.

A short distance away, a few boys were exchanging glances.

They seemed to be debating who should speak up.

Only their eyes kept drifting back to my direction.

Eventually, the boy closest to me let out a small breath and stood up.

"...Tachibana."

"Hm?"

I looked toward the voice.

The boy scratched the back of his head with a troubled look on his face.

There were things he wanted to ask.

But ask the wrong way, and it just sounds like teasing.

That hesitation was written all over his face.

"I heard you're going out with Suzumura... is that true?"

The moment he asked, the murmur in the classroom quieted down just a fraction.

The people chatting elsewhere didn't look over blatantly.

They just turned their ears toward us.

I averted my gaze slightly.

"... Yeah."

I gave a small nod.

The moment they heard that answer, the tense air shattered all at once.

"Are you serious..."

A boy nearby let out an involuntary groan.

A boy leaning against his desk near the window gave a wry, disbelieving smile.

"No... seriously, that's insane. It's Suzumura, you know?"

His tone couldn't hide his shock.

Another boy furrowed his brows in disbelief.

"Why Tachibana..."

A quiet mutter.

The boy next to him gave a dry chuckle.

"Well, I thought the same thing."

He was laughing.

Yet, rather than mocking, his expression looked like he still couldn't accept reality.

"I mean, until recently, I'd never even seen Tachibana talking to Suzumura."

At those words, the surrounding boys gave small nods of agreement.

Kokona Suzumura.

A beautiful girl, popular, drawing the attention of both guys and girls alike.

And she's dating someone like me, who had been completely unremarkable until yesterday.

That fact still hadn't fully sunk in.

What filled the classroom was shock. Confusion.

And a hint of jealousy.

No one was going to complain to me directly.

It was just that—

“Why Tachibana?”

That single sentiment was woven into the air of the classroom.

◇

A group of students watched this scene from a short distance away.

At the front of the classroom, by the hallway-side desk.

Kujo and his friends, gathered in a small circle, observed the classroom's reaction.

Renya Kujo directed his gaze toward Tachibana at the very back seat by the window.

Until recently, a presence no one paid attention to.

Now, just by dating Kokona Suzumura, he was drawing the eyes of the entire class.

Kujo let out a short, nasal scoff.

"...Full of himself."

His voice was dripping with dismissal.

Next to him, Tatsuya Sugisawa watched the classroom unfold.

A boy in the same soccer club as Kujo.

Short, neatly trimmed hair. Not the type to stand out particularly.

Just a guy whose name people naturally remembered because he hung around Kujo.

That kind of position.

"Looks like people care way more than we thought," Sugisawa muttered, surveying the room.

They were surprised. But they didn't have a strong enough will to try and change the current themselves.

They were simply accepting the atmosphere of the room.

Right then.

Suzumura stood up from her seat.

Kujo's gaze naturally gravitated toward her.

The surrounding boys also noticed where Suzumura was heading and tracked her with their eyes.

She walked straight to Tachibana's desk.

"Morning, Tachibana-kun."

Suzumura stopped beside the desk and smiled brightly.

"...Morning."

Tachibana looked up and replied.

A brief, simple exchange.

Yet, the reaction of the onlookers was entirely different.

Kokona Suzumura walks over to Tachibana's desk of her own accord.

Speaks to him naturally.

As if it were the most ordinary thing in the world.

What was just a rumor until yesterday was gradually taking on a stark reality.

They're actually dating...

That kind of atmosphere permeated the entire room.

Rinko Takamiya watched the scene with an amused smile.

"Honestly, isn't that wild?"

Leaning against her desk, she looked at the two of them.

"Kokona is talking to Tachibana-kun just like that? Even watching since yesterday, they totally look like a real couple!"

She had no malicious intent.

She looked genuinely entertained, like watching a cool youth drama unfold.

At those words, Kujo's expression stiffened slightly.

Beyond his line of sight, Suzumura was smiling at Tachibana.

For some reason, that sight rubbed him the wrong way.

Kujo exhaled softly, turning his gaze away.

It's not like it's anything to care about.

It'll all end in a few days anyway. Just a prank.

And yet.

The smile Suzumura was flashing at Tachibana kept lingering in his mind, irritatingly so.

"..."

Without even understanding why himself, Kujo furrowed his brow slightly.

Unaware of his mood, Takamiya continued happily.

"Man, the class's reaction is crazy, right?"

Takamiya looked around the room and laughed.

"Up until yesterday, literally no one cared, but today everyone's watching Tachibana-kun! Stuff like this feels straight out of a drama, it's so fun!"

There was no malice in her words.

She was simply enjoying the spectacle.

She wasn't thinking about how the other person felt, or what might happen down the line.

Meiko Kano closed her smartphone screen while listening to Takamiya's chatter.

Her heavy makeup-lined eyes narrowed.

She was a girl whose overbearing and slightly mocking attitude stood out.

"Well, obviously it'd turn out like this," Kano said flatly.

"I mean, Kokona went up to him herself and they're hanging out normally. From an outside perspective, why would anyone doubt it?"

Her tone lacked any real interest.

Yet, her words naturally carried an undertone of looking down on Reo Tachibana.

"From Tachibana's POV, he probably thinks he'll never get an opportunity like this again, right? Dating a beauty like Kokona is impossible under normal circumstances. Obviously, he'd be floating on air instead of doubting it."

Kano rested her elbow on her desk, observing the classroom.

"That's probably why everyone else is buying it even more."

Sugisawa gave a wry smile at that.

"Well... yeah, everyone's definitely shocked."

Sugisawa looked at the boys in the class.

Faces that still couldn't accept it, gazes burning with envy.

Even so, nobody was going to say anything to their faces.

"Suzumura-san really is super popular, huh," Sugisawa murmured.

Listening to the three of them chat, Takamiya turned her eyes back toward the couple.

"Still," she giggled, "since it's blowing up this much, instead of ending on a lame note, it's way more fun if we hype it up all the way!"

Kujo didn't reply to that.

Ahead of his gaze.

Tachibana and Suzumura.

The two of them in the center of the classroom.

A sight he never would have imagined possible until yesterday.

Watching it left a lingering prickle of irritation deep in his chest.

(...What is this?)

Kujo spat the thought out internally.

It doesn't matter what happens to Tachibana.

This is just a game.

Just revealing the truth at the end.

Even though he knew that logically—

The sight of Suzumura standing right beside Tachibana wouldn't leave his head.

"Kujo?"

Sugisawa's voice snapped Kujo back to reality.

"It's nothing," he spat out short.

And then, he glanced once more at the window seat.

Reo Tachibana.

A guy no one cared about until yesterday.

Now sitting right next to Kokona Suzumura.

For some reason, that single fact lodged itself deep in his chest.

◇

First period recess.

The atmosphere in the classroom had shifted even further since morning.

At first, it was just a rumor.

But once I acknowledged we were dating, the perception around me slowly solidified.

Mid-recess.

Suzumura stood up from her seat.

The moment she did, the voices of the boys chatting nearby dropped a notch.

No one looked overtly.

But you could tell everyone was wondering where she was heading.

Suzumura walked straight to my desk without a moment's hesitation.

"Tachibana-kun."

Hearing my name called, I looked up. Suzumura smiled faintly.

"Can we walk home together today too?"

Just those words drew all eyes in our direction.

Until yesterday, even a simple conversation between Suzumura and me would have been a rare spectacle.

Now, not a soul questioned it.

It was accepted entirely as a conversation between lovers.

"Yeah, sure."

When I answered, Suzumura smiled in relief.

"I'm glad."

A few girls watching that natural exchange exchanged small, knowing glances.

From the boys, a sigh-like groan leaked out.

Unconvinced, envious, yet lacking any grounds for denial.

Such complex emotions swept through the room.

(Things are going smoothly.)

I confirmed it in my mind.

With everyone recognizing it this much, the reaction to the reveal in a few days will flow naturally.

This was precisely the situation I wanted.

◇

After school.

The two of us left the classroom side by side.

The classmates left behind naturally tracked our figures with their eyes.

Nobody doubted it anymore.

Reo Tachibana and Kokona Suzumura are dating.

That was rapidly becoming the common consensus of the class.

Watching us go, Kujo crossed his arms.

"...Not much longer now."

A confident smirk lingered on his lips.

"When we pull the rug out and reveal it, seeing the look on his face is gonna be worth watching."

Takamiya laughed delightedly.

"I'm genuinely curious about that! Everyone actually believes it this far, you know. Seeing it through to the climax is gonna make the payoff epic!"

Her tone remained as light as if she were watching a youth movie.

Kano stared at her phone with a chilled, detached smile.

"Well, wouldn't you expect that since they've bought into it this deeply?"

Her gaze drifted toward the hallway.

"Right from the start, factoring in Tachibana genuinely freaking out over his own joy, to everyone else it looks like a legitimate romance."

Sugisawa nodded with a wry expression.

"Man, I didn't think it'd turn into this big of a deal though."

He wasn't going to say anything himself.

He was just watching the play unfold.

Four voices mingled in light laughter.

A little ways away from that circle, only Kaho Kitayama kept quiet.

The backs of the two figures vanishing down the hallway.

She stared at them.

It's going to end in something unfixable.

Yet, she lacked the courage to voice that warning.

She wasn't strong enough now to speak up against the current of this room.