Stop It Shinnosuke!

Chapter 31

Kazama was feeling anxious, tossing and turning in his bed unable to fall asleep. It wasn't new, but he couldn't find a solution to help him feel less uncomfortable and more relaxed. He didn't know why he was suddenly feeling a drop in his stomach, owing to the long day he had been through. Much to his surprise, his anxiety didn't come from consuming the ramen at all, unlike Shinnosuke who almost had puked it all out. It made him feel somehow lucky in a sense but he still felt bad for his friend.

He stared at the ceiling and wondered what Shinnosuke was up to.

"Should I text him?", he mumbled to himself but then decided otherwise, "It'll probably only bother him. And he looked fine too. He just needs to rest." He nodded at his statement in uncertainty, hoping it was a right thing to do.

After all, he wasn't his girlfriend or anything, right? Texting him late at night to ask if he was okay or not. Kazama scoffed slightly at his weird chain of thoughts, he had been having some really weird ones lately.

In that moment, his phone buzzed and lit up, indicating a that he had received a new message.

No way, Kazama thought, surprised at the coincident. What was the possibility of this happening now.

Well, if only it was Shinnosuke.

He hastily got up to check his inbox.

It wasn't him,

which slightly disappointed Kazama.

It was Nene who had sent him a message.

"Why's she texting this late?", he opened the message to see what had made her text him nearly at midnight.

[Hey! U mind if I add another member to our group?]

Kazama blinked at the bright screen, "What group?"

[What group?]

[The school trip group!! it was the 5 of us and we still had a place for a 6th one, remember??]

Oh, He remembered. The school trip was the day after the next and they still had a place for another student in their group of odd members. But it was surely left for Ai, by Masao since he had persuaded them to leave a space in first place. Nene couldn't be that  excited to add Ai to their group. And honestly, it was half day trip. Group formation wasn't mandatory at all. So who did she intend to invite?

"Who. Is. It. Question mark.", Kazama mumbled and typed at the same time. He waited as he saw Nene typing but didn't have to wait long as he almost immediately received the new message.

[Hikari.( ͡°³ ͡°)]

"Of course, it's him.", Kazama couldn't hold back his words and muttered in a very exhausted voice. He should've known when Shinnosuke told him about how excited Nene was to get acquainted with this new, cool guy.

[we've been talking.hes new and doesnt have friends so maybe we could let him tag along? Ik you guys didn't meet that well but I'll tell you he's a real nice guy! pretty please??╥﹏╥]

He should've seen it coming. Reading the first text again at a glance made his stomach drop again, this time making his anxiety worse. The plans that Nene had were undoubtedly without any prior intention. Kazama knew and understood that and yet he couldn't help but feel annoyed and betrayed at the same time.

[U there??? ]

Another message brought back his attention to his phone screen.

Should I just say "no"?

That wouldn't have worked. He didn't have a solid enough of a reason to give. And even if he did want to have one, he would have had to explain his background with Hikari to everyone else too.