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Chapter 159 The Little Bell - Part 2 [Hasegawa Mio]

Friendship.

I wonder—would I ever be able to experience something like that.

...

I made my way back toward the girls\' dormitory even though I had just come from that direction. The reason—I suppose I just wanted to see somebody. It wasn\'t like I felt loney, but a part of me urged myself to see them again.

It was a short walk back to the dorms. The flavour of the candy still spread through my mouth.

? ───────────────── ?

Taking the elevator up a few levels below my own, I made my way toward room 74.

There was a brief moment of silence as I knocked on the door.

"...who\'s there?"

There was a gentle voice from behind the door.

It slid open.

"Hey, Kanako."

"Hi, Hasegawa~! What are you doing here?"

"I\'ve come to repay you for your help during the chess special exam."

"Really? I don\'t need any repayment for that! We were teammates, after all."

Aha, she was adorable.

"Ah, alright, well, take this as an invitation to hang out with me then."

"Oh? Sure! I wasn\'t sure what I was going to do here anyway."

With that, she quickly rushed back into her room.

"Just a moment!"

She grabbed a little purse along with some cosmetics.

"Alright, where did you want to go?"

"I wouldn\'t mind going to the arcade."

I wasn\'t surprised that she wanted to go to the arcade. A happy-go-lucky girl like her seemed like someone who\'d enjoy places like that.

I guess I\'ll ask her what was on my mind.

"Are you going to bring Fukuda along?"

"Hm?"

"You and him always hang together, after all."

"Erm... well, I don\'t think he\'d really like something... like this?"

I laughed a little.

It was just a little joke. I knew what Fukuda-kun was to her, so she obviously wouldn\'t want him to come along. It was a curious situation though, I wonder why Fukuda-kun was so happy to play along with all of this. Maybe he was just paid off.

Although it seemed a bit weird, considering his personality.

Oh well.

"I\'m just kidding. He certainly doesn\'t look like someone who\'d enjoy playing around."

"Yeah... Tachibana..."

"What\'s the matter."

"Why do you keep bringing up Fukuda?"

"It\'s just some small talk."

She didn\'t seem convinced.

I guess I\'ll console her a little.

"Honestly, I\'m not trying anything. I\'m just a bit curious."

"Ah... if you say so."

The atmosphere was still a little awkward.

"I\'ll stop prodding if you want me to."

"No... it\'s fine. I don\'t really mind that much."

...

After a little while, we were on the path, making our way back toward the commercial area.

As the gentle wind brushed through my hair, I looked around the other students who were also hanging around the place. People had certainly adapted to this lifestyle.

—Akachi Hime

She\'s scary.

I suppose now that I\'m finally at risk, there is a little bit of concern in my mind. As much as I like to think, I\'m not as similar to Mizuhara Ayato as I\'d like to say.

There was a reason he was the project\'s real prodigy, not me.

We are very similar in many ways; we\'re both extremely rational, cold and cunning. However, there\'s something about him that puts him a step above me.

He is probably more similar to Akachi Hime than to me.

It was honestly somewhat disheartening to think about. What really is Mizuhara Ayato to me? I wonder how I\'d feel if he never acknowledged me. It\'s interesting to think about. Neither of us have really shown any emotion, but I\'m much weaker than him.

"Hasegawa, where do you want to go."

Ah. It seemed that I was in a bit of a daze.

"Oh, let\'s head toward the cafe. I\'m feeling a little hungry."

In truth, I wasn\'t really hungry, but I did want to sit down and have a think.

"Haa, are you just going to order cauliflower again?"

"Well, it is one of my favourite foods."

She laughed a little.

"You\'re a bit weird, Hasegawa."

"Oh? Is that an insult~?"

"No~ I didn\'t mean it in a bad way."

"Aha, I know. I suppose I am different to most people."

...

We made our way into the cafe and took a seat by the window.

"So, do you have someone you like?"

It was a pretty surprising question from Kanako.

She was tentatively staring at me.

Ah, what am I supposed to say?

I suppose this is what people our age talk about.

"I guess I do, in a way."

She raised an eyebrow.

"Ooh! Explain!"

Haa.

"Well, it\'s someone I\'ve known for a long time."

"Are they from this school?"

"Yep, they do go to this school."

She seemed taken aback.

There was a brief moment of hesitation.

"So... who is it?"

"I can\'t tell you that, can I, Kanako."

She looked into my eyes.

Haa, the way I feel about Mizuhara Ayato-kun—it\'s not really \'liking\' in the traditional way. If I had to explain it, I guess it\'d be like a younger sibling wanting the attention of the older one. It\'s funny to think about since this is all just conceptualised in my mind—it\'s not like I\'ve ever experienced any relationships like this before.

Well, I wonder if that\'ll change in the future.

Kanako pouted.

I looked down at her.

"Well, do you have someone you like?"

She looked away.

"I do."

Ah, well, I already had a decent idea of who it was. She made it pretty obvious during the Chess Tournament Special Exam, after all. People like her are so easy to read.

How cute.

After a few moments, our food arrived. I ordered the same thing as always.

"Hasegawa, how come you\'re so smart?"

"Hm?"

"You\'re so talented. I just want to know how you managed to become like this."

"Ah. Well, just a lot of hard work, I suppose."

I mean, it was one way of explaining it.

"Like, you\'re really good at chess. Did you play a lot when you were younger?"

"A little bit. I guess it was one of the things that I did."

"Just that? You play like a prodigy."

"Haa, I\'m not really a prodigy. I\'m just good at memorising and calculating things."

"Whaa? But that\'s really impressive, especially if you didn\'t train vigorously as a child."

"I guess it\'s just one of my skills."

I slowly finished the meal.