"Ehehe~"
"Operation plan is a massive success!"
Pushing Kitahara along into the rain, Anon turned around stealthily, raising a thumbs-up toward the school building.
"Kita-chan, thanks a bunch~"
The rainy mist was cool and damp.
Most students had already left, and with an umbrella held overhead, the pairing of Kitahara and Anon did not draw much attention.
"Mmh, my arm is so sore~"
The girl's distressed voice drifted over.
Glancing sideways, Kitahara saw Anon biting her lower lip, looking as if she were straining, and quietly extended his right hand:
"Let me hold the umbrella."
"Then I'll leave it to you, Kitahara-san," Anon handed the umbrella over swiftly. "Kitahara-san really is so gentle."
Calling someone gentle just for holding an umbrella—isn't that standard of judgment way too cheap!
"Does Kitahara-san not participate in any clubs?"
Anon clasped her hands behind her back, her voice crisp and brisk.
"...No."
"Ah, what a coincidence, I don't participate in any clubs either," Anon walked with light footsteps, lifting her eyes toward Kitahara as she strolled, dazzling radiance gleaming in her eyes. "I only just transferred back from England not long ago and haven't had time to join a club yet."
"Back when I graduated from middle school, I went abroad to study, but found myself in an unfamiliar land with no acquaintances; alone in a foreign country, I frequently suffered from insomnia, and during classes the locals often laughed at me, until finally I could only scurry back home with my tail between my legs..."
By now, Anon had long stopped treating her 'loser life' in England as a taboo topic, able to talk about it openly and generously.
If anything, Anon was rather grateful for that overseas experience; otherwise, she never would have met Kitahara.
"Hey, hey... Does Kitahara-san also think I'm a huge failure?"
Anon pretended to look over with pitiful puppy-dog eyes.
Kitahara shook his head: "Not at all."
"Really not?" Anon wore a thoroughly pitiable expression, her tone mournful. "Fleeing back home in disgrace like a deserter, I feel like I'm completely useless right now."
"Calling yourself completely useless is an exaggeration," Kitahara said softly. "Chihaya-san is actually very remarkable."
"Kitahara-san, don't tell lies just to comfort me..."
"I'm not lying."
"Then tell me, Kitahara-san, where exactly am I remarkable?"
Kitahara: "..."
It feels like I've been set up.
Still, words once spoken could hardly be taken back, so Kitahara spoke gently:
"Chihaya-san has a very cute appearance, excellent grades, great athletic ability, and is very popular at school; you could be considered a normie at the very top of the social food chain, so there is absolutely no need to sell yourself short."
"Ehehe~"
A soft giggle rang out.
Praise me, praise me! Keep praising me!
Showing weakness truly is a girl's exclusive weapon!
Kitahara looked over in confusion: "What is Chihaya-san laughing at?"
"Nothing, I just choked for a second," Anon patted her chest, hurriedly composing her smug little expression. "Don't call me Chihaya-san, just call me Anon; my friends all call me that."
"..."
Kitahara's expression grew hesitant, remaining silent.
A pretty girl with whom he normally shared zero interaction offering to share an umbrella and telling him to use her given name made Kitahara recall the bizarre incidents of the past two days, subconsciously putting his guard up.
"A-As expected..." Anon stared down at the tips of her shoes, sniffling. "Kitahara-san says with his mouth that I'm remarkable, but deep down you still look down on me, don't you?"
"I don't."
"Even though we're already friends, Kitahara-kun won't even call me by my name."
Kitahara: "..."
Wait, since when did we become friends?
Please have stricter criteria for choosing friends, or else you're definitely going to get scammed!
Seeing Anon keeping her head down, already raising her hand to wipe the corners of her eyes, Kitahara gave in helplessly:
"...Anon-san."
"Ehehe~"
Anon looked up swiftly without a single trace of moisture at the corners of her eyes, her smile bright and radiant:
"From now on, always call me Anon; you aren't allowed to go back on what you promised, okay?"
What happened to wiping away aggrieved tears?
Your eyes aren't even damp at all!
"I'm currently planning to start my own club; will Kitahara-san join my club?"
Anon extended the invitation expectantly.
"Sorry, I'm not interested."
"Kitahara-san hasn't even asked about the club's activities yet."
"I have to work a part-time job after school."
"..."
Even when Kitahara deliberately replied in a cold tone, Anon appeared completely unfazed, chatting with Kitahara in high spirits all the same.
Talking along the way, the two soon walked out of the school gates.
"Phew..."
Kitahara breathed a quiet sigh of relief.
Good.
He didn't run into any acquaintances.
The transfer student Mutsumi suddenly sitting next to him this morning had already brought him endless trouble, with all sorts of rumors flying around—some said he was Mutsumi's childhood friend, others said he was the heir to a wealthy family hiding his identity; in short, it was an enormous headache.
If someone saw him sharing an umbrella with another girl on top of that, gossip would inevitably start swirling again.
"Hopefully we can just walk quietly to the station, and then part ways with Anon-san..."
Kitahara only wanted to attend school peacefully, without getting bogged down in rumors.
Yet in the next second.
A sharp gasp rang out abruptly.
"Ah..."
The two were on a long downward flight of steps when Anon's foot slipped violently, her body stumbling downward.
With quick eyes and nimble hands, Kitahara pulled the falling girl back in one swift motion.
"O-Ouch..."
Sniffling, Anon leaned entirely against Kitahara's chest, her eyes clouded with mist:
"I twisted my right ankle..."
"...Isn't that a little too coincidental?"
Kitahara suspected internally.
Looking closely at Anon's delicate face, however, the haze in the girl's eyes was genuine; she had truly cried.
"I must be overthinking things."
Rainy days were slippery, so twisting an ankle was normal and unlikely to be a ruse; after all, tears couldn't be faked.
"My foot hurts so much, I don't think I can walk..." Looking over with tearful eyes, Anon asked, "Can I hold onto Kitahara-san's arm?"
Kitahara's lips twitched slightly as he tactfully declined:
"What about Anon-san's friends? Messaging a female friend to come help would be more appropriate."
"B-But I just transferred here and barely have any friends, plus I don't want to trouble other people," Anon sniffled, on the verge of tears. "Please, don't leave me alone on the street."
Kitahara reminded her gently:
"If people see us, it might cause trouble for Anon-san, right?"
"Desperate times call for desperate measures! A twisted ankle is a special circumstance; compared to worrying about the stares of outsiders, my own safety is definitely more important," Anon said in a crisp voice. "It's like if Kitahara-san fell into the water—once I rescued you, I wouldn't care about anyone else's eyes and would immediately give you CPR!"
Naturally, Anon left the latter half of the thought unsaid:
CPR is strictly reserved for boyfriend-kun; I wouldn't spare anyone else a second glance.
"..."
Kitahara hesitated for two seconds, ultimately extending his right arm in silence.
There was no helping it.
Repaying kindness was one of Kitahara's personal principles; since Anon had lent him an umbrella, he couldn't bring himself to abandon her and leave alone.
"Thank you, Kitahara-san!"
Anon's eyes brightened instantly as she opened both arms, happily hugging Kitahara's arm.
So soft...
Kitahara's body stiffened slightly, his immediate impression being an overwhelming softness.
An indescribable softness pressed flush against his arm; even through their clothes, he could distinctly feel that heart-fluttering softness and warmth.
His second impression was how fragrant she smelled.
Being in such close physical contact with a girl for the first time, he could distinctly catch the crisp scent on Anon—a blend of shampoo, laundry detergent, and finally an indefinable, quiet fragrance that seemed to be a girl's natural bodily scent...
"Eh?"
Noticing Kitahara's sudden stiff reaction, Anon's eyes curved into crescent moons.
(I remember now—current boyfriend-kun is still a total amateur who has never touched a girl, getting nervous just from a girl holding his arm.)
(It's decided!)
(This time, I'm not letting anyone else beat me to it! Boyfriend's first blood must be mine!)
"...Chihaya-san, you're holding on too tightly."
Kitahara couldn't resist speaking up to remind her.
Anon puffed her cheeks:
"Call me by my name."
"Anon-san," Kitahara looked at her helplessly. "You can loosen your grip a bit; I promise I won't let you fall."
"S-Sorry..." Anon apologized with tear-filled eyes, showing off acting talent so convincing that no flaw could be spotted. "My foot hurts so much; if I don't hold on tight, I feel like I'll collapse."
As a cool breeze blew past, Kitahara sniffled suddenly, glancing at the girl beside him in bewilderment:
"Why do I smell wasabi?"
"Ah... our class had P.E. today." Anon's eyes shifted, quickly covering her lips with a hand. "After P.E., I was starving, so I ate a little snack that happened to contain wasabi; please don't mind it, Kitahara-san."
This was a lie.
The true reason was that Anon had secretly used wasabi to make her eyes tear up; otherwise, crying on cue would have been impossible—especially while feeling completely elated inside.
Though Kitahara harbored some suspicion, he didn't press the matter, simply inhaling deeply and doing his best to ignore the softness pressed against his arm:
"Do you need to go to a clinic to have it checked?"
"No clinic, I'm terrified of clinics," Anon shook her head hurriedly. "Resting at home should be enough."
"Alright then, to the train station."
"..."
They walked in silence the rest of the way.
The train station that usually took a few minutes to reach felt unusually distant today.
The softness on his arm and the subtle fragrance from the girl made Kitahara restless, making time itself seem to slow to a crawl.
Arriving at the train station, Anon had already formulated a scheme to trick Kitahara back to her place, when a soft voice suddenly called out from a neighboring shop:
"Anon... and Makoto-kun?"
"Huh?"
Tracing the voice, Kitahara saw a cute, grey-haired girl step out of the shop, her eyes exceptionally clear and bright, currently staring straight at him without blinking—a gaze filled with unsaid words that made it hard to meet directly.
"Classmate, do you know me?"
Kitahara asked solemnly with a serious expression.
Over the past few days, she seemed to have passed by the window of his classroom frequently; he had caught glimpses of her quite a few times by chance.
"Kitahara-san misunderstood," Anon coughed twice hurriedly, picking up the panda charm dangling from her schoolbag. "That's Tomori-chan, a new friend I made at school; 'Makoto-kun' refers to the panda charm on my schoolbag! It just happens to share a name with Kitahara-san, that's all!"
Before Kitahara could speak, Anon waved rapidly:
"Tomori-chan, come over quickly; I just twisted my ankle and can't walk right now."
"Eh?" Tomori walked up to the two, promptly retrieving a box of adhesive bandages from her bag. "Do you need a bandage?"
"It's a sprain, not a scrape; no bandages needed," Anon waved her hand. "Please help support me on the way back, Tomori-chan, so we don't trouble Kitahara-san further."
"Okay."
Stepping under the umbrella, Tomori reached out to hold Anon's arm.
"Kitahara-san, thank you so much for today," Anon waved goodbye. "I'll buy you a drink tomorrow."
Kitahara shook his head: "I'm the one who should say thank you."
"Not at all," Anon's tone brook no argument. "If Kitahara-san hadn't grabbed me, I definitely would have tumbled all the way down—maybe broken my neck and ended up paralyzed."
Hey, hey, breaking your neck is way too exaggerated! Are you a disaster magnet!
"My mom taught me from childhood that a drop of water received in need should be repaid with a gushing spring," Anon clenched her fist, speaking with firm resolve. "So tomorrow I must treat Kitahara-san to a drink, and you're not allowed to refuse!"
Kitahara: "..."
Waving his hand, Kitahara turned into a convenience store to buy an umbrella, then said his goodbyes and left.
Tomori bit her lower lip gently, watching Kitahara's departing figure until he vanished from sight before reluctantly looking away.
Tomori had a timid, somewhat self-deprecating, and quiet personality that never fought for anything; even if she wanted to take the initiative to pursue Kitahara, she had no idea where to begin, so she could only pass by the hallway outside Kitahara's classroom deliberately every day just to steal an extra glance at him.
"Tomori-chan, want to go get milk tea?"
Anon clapped her hands and stood up straight.
"Eh?" Tomori looked down. "Anon didn't sprain her ankle?"
"Of course I didn't get hurt," Anon lifted her chin smugly, hands on her hips. "That was just an excuse to capture boyfriend-kun, that's all."
Tomori: "...Anon is lying."
"Mmh, you should call it a white lie," Anon wagged a finger lightly. "I was hugging boyfriend-kun's arm all the way here just now; if Tomori-chan hadn't suddenly appeared, I was even planning to trick boyfriend-kun into coming to my home."
Tomori's delicate frame trembled faintly, growing tense:
"T-That fast?!"
I haven't even made my entrance yet, and Kitahara-kun was almost tricked into going home with someone else?
No!
Definitely not that!
"Even though boyfriend-kun doesn't remember us, his innate sense of responsibility hasn't changed at all," Anon shared her insight. "You just need to trigger his sense of responsibility, and you can definitely trick him home."
Tomori bit her lower lip gently:
"Why not tell Makoto-kun the truth?"
"We can't," Anon shook her head. "Until Makoto-kun recovers his memories, we can't say anything; otherwise, boyfriend-kun might feel like he's just a stand-in, and he'd definitely harbor misgivings, right?"
"Besides, if we do that, there'd be no way to grant boyfriend-kun's wish to be pursued by everyone."
"Still..." Tomori's voice trailed off dejectedly, "I haven't even spoken to Makoto-kun once yet."
"Don't worry, Tomori-chan," Anon promised breezily. "I'll carry you; Tomori-chan just needs to lie back and let me do the work."