- Rihona -

The day after I played Alter Fortuna with Akaishi, I received a surprise just as I was arriving at the school's gate.
Loud footsteps made their way to the gate, the person they belonged to was...

"I... mad... I... guh!"
"Akaishi-kun? What happened?"

He put his hands on his knees and panted.

"I over... slept."

Don't tell me, did he run all the way here?

"It's ok, we still have enough time to get to the classroom. Take deep breaths," I said.

Akaishi inhaled, held it for a couple of seconds, then exhaled. He repeated this until he managed to recover a bit.

"Feeling better yet?" I asked.
"Yeah. I can't believe I overslept."
"Did you stay up late?"
He scratched his nose. "I had trouble sleeping. I was, uh, thinking about some stuff."
"Let's talk on the way to the classroom. Otherwise, we will end up being late anyway."

We made our way to the school building, changed out of our outdoor shoes, and walked to our classroom. When he saw us coming in, Sugihara waved at us.

"Morning! Huh, what happened to you, Ryu? You look tired."
"More than her?"

Behind Sugihara was Niko Harland, taking a nap.
Akaishi and I sat down at our respective seats.

"Anyway, the reason I'm like this is that I overslept, so I had to run."
"Did you stay up... um..."

Sugihara got up and whispered something to Akaishi.

"N-No! I wouldn't do that on a weekday."

Doing what? Maybe playing video games until late?

I could have read Sugihara's mind to confirm it, but I didn't like using my gift like that, or rather, I tried not to use it at all. After all, there's a reason people don't speak out their true thoughts all the time. The privacy people enjoyed in their minds was something sacred.

"So you are tired because of that? Dude, you are out of shape."

Sugihara looked like the type to do well in sports, so he probably wouldn't bat an eye at running such a distance.

"I know, I should... wait, I'll just ask Nicole what she does to get up in time. After all, she always manages to arrive early at school."
"That's true. But, you still need to improve your physical condition, dude."
"Uh... It should be fine as long as I don't oversleep anymore, right, Aoyagi-san?"

Sorry, Akaishi-kun. I know you looked at me for support, but...

"Actually, I go jogging every morning, so..."
"Is that so..."

I brought my hands together and apologized.

"Don't be sorry, I'm the one in the wrong here. I should take care of my body while I'm still young," Akaishi said. He checked the time on his phone and looked at the girl who slept on the seat behind Sugihara.
"Isn't it about time we woke her up?"
"Oh, right. Miyazawa said that the teacher is gonna be a bit late today."
"Heh... hehehe..."
Akaishi put his face on the desk. "Oh, well. Maybe I'll take a nap, too."

I always brought a boxed lunch to school, and today was no exception. What did change was the way I would spend lunchtime.

Sugihara called out to me, "You brought lunch, Aoyagi-chan? Good, come join us."

He had put his desk together with Harland's, and Akaishi was about to do the same.

"Good thing our seats are close to each other, right?" said the girl with caramel-colored hair, who by this time of the day was a bit more awake.

The four of us joined our tables and sat down to eat.

"So, did you do anything interesting yesterday, Ryu?"
"Ugh, Mom told you, didn't she?" Akaishi replied to his cousin.
"Teehee."
"If you already know, I don't have to answer. What about you, Daisuke? You and Nicole headed home together, right? I seem to recall she mentioned getting ice cream on the way."

What are you implying, Akaishi-kun? Didn't we do that too?

"Y-Yeah, we did. What of it? Just two friends, having a good time together."

When Sugihara said that, Niko's face stiffened for a second, but in the next instant she was back to normal.

"Now tell me what you did yesterday. It's not fair that only Niko-chan gets to know."
"I played some AlFor matches with my friend Aoyagi-san. You know, two friends having a good time."
"You can call me 'Rihona'," I said without thinking.
"You play AlFor, Rihona-chan?" Niko Harland looked at me with excitement, "Let's play sometime!"

Looks like she is fully awake now that she had lunch.

"I would love to, Harland-san."
"Come on, there's no need to be so formal."
"What, do you want her to be all 'yo, I'm diggin' what you layin' down, dawg!' or something? Let her take things at her p-" Akaishi was interrupted by laughter. My laugh, to be precise.
"Pfft, heheheheheh- Ah! I'm sorry Aka- um, Ryu-kun. I interrupted you."
"It's fine."
"Hey, Ryu, you should add Rihona-chan to our group," Niko said.
"Oh, right," Ryu fiddled with his phone, then I got a notification on mine, "there."

They invited me to their group chat.

What is this feeling? Is it the feeling of making friends after years of isolation? No, it was the feeling of... being watched.

I turned around, towards the door. There was no one there. I glanced at the other classmates who were eating lunch here, but they were all focused on their friend groups.

"Something wrong?" Niko asked.
"I could swear someone was watching us."
"You must be imagining things."
"No, I think she is into something," a nearby classmate said. He was playing a video game with another boy. With his eyes still glued to the screen, he continued, "I think someone peered into the classroom, but I can't pause during a multiplayer match, so I couldn't check. Ah, he got me."
He turned to his friend, who was still playing, "Think you can handle this alone?"
"I'll try."

If I recall correctly, the boy who just died in the game was Tanaka, and the other one was Yamada.

Tanaka looked at us, "Maybe that person was looking for someone. Remember, we have lots of new students running around, so they may be searching for their upperclassmen who graduated from middle school and enrolled here a year ago, or something."

The day before, I met Miyazawa and Nakajima near the first-year classrooms. They, too, must have been looking for their acquaintances from middle school.

Yamada, who was still playing, chimed in, "Or maybe they already got a crush on someone from this class. There are many people like that out there."
"You would know, you did exactly that a year ago!" Tanaka said.
"There's another possible explanation," Niko said, raising her index finger.
"A ghost?"
"No, you silly. I'm talking about a prospect for the handicraft club."
"Ah, yes. That's certainly a possibility," Tanaka nodded.
I raised my hand. "I'm afraid I don't understand."
"Right, you just transferred here, didn't you? Then, allow me to expla-"
"Michiru-chan and Hikaru-chan are in the handicraft club," Niko explained.

No, that's wrong. She didn't explain anything at all!

"Um..."
"Rihona-san," Ryu looked directly into my eyes, "are you familiar with the 'yuri' genre?"
"I think I get it now. You are saying that club has, um, the kind of people who enjoy 'seeing lilies bloom?'"
"Ding ding, we have a winner!" Tanaka said.
"After they started dating, the handicraft club evolved into the MiyaNaka fan club," Sugihara said.
"That's why they don't eat lunch here nor in the cafeteria," Tanaka said as he waved his index finger, "although a first-year wouldn't know that yet. They must have heard about a girl-girl couple in class 2-A and ran here, only to find out that they weren't here."
"I see. They are having lunch somewhere in private. Makes sense," I said.
"Actually, I accidentally found out their secret place," Tanaka said, "but I will take that secret to the grave, 'cause I'm a firm believer in giving people their privacy."
"Yeah, when couples show affection to each other in public, you get jealous," Yamada said.
"Oi, you're one to talk!"
"What do you mean? I'll let you know I'm seeing someone since last week."
"Eh?!"

I think I can get used to this lively atmosphere.

After classes, Ryu and I left the classroom and now we were looking at a notice board. On it, many clubs had put up posters in a bid to recruit new members.

"Anything catches your eye?" Ryu asked.
"I'm not sure. Are you in a club, Ryu-kun?"
"No. None of them felt right."
I pointed to one of the posters, "What about this one? 'Trading Card Game Club'."
"That one was the worst, actually. The president was a huge try-hard, and on the rare occasions he lost, he would make a million excuses."
"I see. What other interests do you have?"
"Wait, you are the one looking for a club."

He is right. I need to think.

"There's a 'Videogame Club'. Do you like video games?" I asked.
"Yeah, but that club is too intense for me."
"What do you mean?"
"It would be faster if you checked it out yourself. You'll see what I mean."
"Let's go, then," I said.

I don't know where they meet, after all. There's no ulterior motive here. Nope.

"Fine, I'll take you there."