COTE : Rebuild The Lost Trust

CHAPTER 5 : Adorable Partner

The bell rings and the clock shows lunch break.  Since I have a meeting plan with Ichinose honami, I will go to the promised place which is the cafeteria. 

I got up from my seat and headed for the exit of the classroom. I felt the gazes of several of the class's students on me including Karuizawa's group, but I'll just ignore it for now because I can't stand being the center of attention from so many people either.

as promised, we will meet directly at the cafeteria without one of us picking up our respective classes.  but......isn't this too crowded?

this cafeteria is not what it used to be, it's busier than usual. how can I talk about this with Ichinose? by the way, where is she? has she arrived?

I looked for ichinose in every corner, but I can't seem to find her. is she still in her class and can't come here? if that's true, then it can't be helped.  maybe her classmate wants to eat with her and she can't refuse? being popular is really something huh.  should i take her some other time?

While thinking about it, I also decided to order my food because the break time wasn't really that long either. If indeed we can't meet now, I'll change my plans for now.

I've got my food and looking for a seat. because I don't like crowds, so I look for the farthest corner from the crowd. As I got closer to the table I was aiming for, I saw a pink haired student sitting quietly on a chair and holding her cell phone as if she was about to call someone. and sure enough it turned out that the person who was aiming was my cell phone.

"Hello"

"Ah, Ayanokouji-kun. I'm already at the cafeteria as promised. Where are you?"

"I'm already in the cafeteria. Wait there"

"I see"

I hung up my phone and walked back to Ichinose's place.  no wonder I couldn't find her. Turns out she chose a place away from the crowd. this was unexpected from her.

"Sorry, did you wait long?"

"Oh, not at all"

"Is that so? I see"

I sat on the chair directly opposite Ichinose. she still had the same pleasant aura as before. but I know that's only on the surface. Ordinary people wouldn't notice it, but I could clearly see that she was quite shaken up by this rumour.

"I've been looking for you for quite a while, I didn't think that you would choose a place like this"

I said it while looking around.

"What do you mean like this?"

"This is a less popular place right? Why did Ichinose choose a place like this?"

"Isn't this what Ayanokouji-kun likes?"

"huh?"

I don't understand what Ichinose means.

"Ah, sorry if I'm being presumptuous. But I heard from people that Ayanokouji-kun doesn't like crowds. So I thought you'd like this place. But I guess I'm being pretentious. Sorry if that offended you."

Ichinose apologizes to me. The radiant expression that she showed earlier turned into an expression that looks like she feels guilty

"Not at all, you're not wrong. I do like places like this. Even though..."

Ichinose carefully waits for me to finish my sentence, but I don't think I need to say it.

"oh it's okay"

"Is that so? I see"

What I thought about was the fact that my gloomy self was already quite well known among the students. if Karuizawa was here, she would definitely mock me and say something like "wow, Kiyotaka is quite famous huh? even if it's because of his gloomy nature. fufufufufu". I can imagine it clearly. Her sarcastic nature is sure to push me into a corner. Well, it can't be helped if people think like that towards me. Until now, the only people I can call friends are Airi, Haruka, Keisei, and Akito. and Karuizawa, I don't know what the name of our relationship is.