In a Love Letter

Aishi's Revenge

Lunch time. We were dismissed early since nothing much happens on the first day. I sat on the rooftop to enjoy my lunch, making sure I'm on the opposite side of where Taro Yamada eats.

In my last life, I always wondered if the Aishi members ever actually ate a meal. I've never seen Aishi eat in the game so I have a kind of creepy obsession of wanting to watch Aishi eat.

As I opened my bento, I started wondering where on Earth I can find that girl. Does Aishi actually eat or does she live off of her hope of finding her senpai? Either way, if I want to start searching then I have to be quick and finish eating.

I was brought out of my thoughts when a student walked out of the door. It's Najimi, holding two bento boxes. I'm guessing one's for Yamada. She placed the bentos on a bench and just stood there, waiting. After a while, she seemed to feel uneasy. She started pacing around, walking back and then walking forth. She kept checking her phone, probably looking at the time.

Yamada, you're running late. Better hurry up or your girl's gonna leave.

Though, it seems Yamada heard me since right after saying that, he walked through the doorway and into Najimi's view. Yamada waved meekly, probably a little embarrassed that he was late. As expected, Najimi was shouting at him, almost loud enough that I can hear a few words from where I am. But the smile on her face is enough for anyone to be able to tell that she's not actually angry.... That is, if Yamada actually looked at her and didn't keep his eyes glued to the floor.

Poor Najimi, destined(doomed) to love a boy that doesn't really see how much she does for him.

Oh well, that's none of my business. I swiftly finished the last of my bento and went back to the classroom to put it away. Sorry, no magically disappearing bento boxes here.

I started walking through the corridors, specifically, walking through the isolated corridors. Since it's the first day, people will probably be looking for clubs to join, so these corridors will be at the places away from there. It's just an assumption but Aishi strikes me as a person that doesn't like crowds so I figured that I'll see her here at some point but—

"Where the hell is she?"
I murmured to myself.

I already checked the back of the school, where I saw a little kitten which I played with. I checked the fountain where Yamada reads his book. I checked the other fountain where matchmaking eliminations take place. I checked the ponds. I even checked the cherry blossom tree where confessions take place and accidentally saw a couple kissing under it. The thought of checking the maze crossed my mind but I quickly dismissed it. Does Aishi even like mazes?

C'mon, think of an isolated place...... No no, that's too ridiculous.... But maybe...?

"Is somebody there?"

I opened the door and locked eyes with an occult club member. I calmly closed the door with composure and walked away with calm steps.

'Nope, no one in the Janitor's Closet.'

The only place I haven't checked yet is the rooftop but I was already there before. Also, if Aishi ate at the rooftop, wouldn't she have seen Yamada sooner? But other than the rooftop, the only place I haven't been to is the maze. Putting it like that, it's more likely that she's on the rooftop. I'm also kind of tired from walking all around the massive place so even if Aishi isn't there, I might as well take a rest on the rooftop.

(That's a lot of rooftop in one paragraph)

As I was making my way up the stairs, however, I accidentally bumped into someone. Lo and behold, it was Aishi. She has, well, had a bento in her hands that she dropped when I bumped into her. I crouched down to pick it up and handed it back to her.

"Sorry, I didn't see you there."
I said.

"It's alright."
She replied while taking the bento from my hands.

She has her head down so I can't really see what face she's making right now.
I moved out of her way and she resumed walking down the stairs.

After a few steps, I followed after her. I mean, what was the point of me looking for her for such a long time just to get a short glimpse.

I was just kind of staying silent while walking beside her. I know she knows I'm here since she glanced at me earlier but it seems she doesn't want to acknowledge my presence.

Left alone in my own thoughts, of course my eyes would drift to strange places. Such as what? Such as Aishi's bust. Realizing that I can get in trouble for it though, I looked at Aishi's profile instead, or what I can see from her profile anyway.

Aishi always has her head down and I'm a bit taller than her so it's very hard for me to actually see her face.

She has her head down...as if she's shy, but she was never like that in the game, right? Well, unless senpai was close but he's not here as far as I can see.... Unless, anime gasp, am I her new senpai?!?! Yea, no way that's happening.

I chuckled to myself at the thought.

Seriously, though, how does she even walk like that? Hmm.... Heh.

"Y'know you're about to bump into someone, right?"

Aishi stopped where she stood and looked ahead. Seeing the empty corridor though, she realized that she was prank'd and slowly turned her head towards me like a robot with an even more deadpan face than usual.

At the side, I was desperately holding back a laugh. How-hahahah! how can her face even get more deadpan than her normal face?!

Perhaps, seeing that stiff face become even more expressionless was funny to me, because I honestly laughed more than I should have, to the point that my stomach started hurting.

Aishi started walking again when I was in the middle of a struggle between life and death, but I quickly followed while clearing my throat. Sometimes though, I would giggle when I remember Aishi's face while slowly turning her head towards me. It's too funny a sight for me to forget so quickly.

Seeing that Aishi didn't seem to have any intentions to talk, I swiftly decided to strike up a conversation.

"So, where are you going?"
I asked her, looking forwards still.

"To class. It's about to start."
She replied.

"Really? What time is it?"
I asked with a little bit of surprise in my voice. I wasn't running around looking for her for THAT long, right?

"2 minutes before class starts."
She says calmly.

What? 2 minutes?! Why is she acting as if we'll get all the way to the classroom from here in just 2 minutes?!

"What are you still doing then? Let's go!"
I grabbed her wrist and dragged her along while I speedwalked down the hall.

"Slow down."
She said in a quiet voice. It's fortunate that there's nobody here or I wouldn't have been able to hear her since earlier.

"What do you mean 'slow down'? We're gonna be late!"

"There's still 7 minutes left before class starts."

Well, that certainly made me stop. I turned back to her.

"What?"
I asked, baffled.

She just looked at me, but behind that straight face, I can see the smugness in her eyes. She... Is this revenge?! I didn't know Aishi was a vengeful person!

Aishi started walking forward again, and of course, I started following her again.

We were both silent this time, though. Aishi was just being Aishi, while I was contemplating my initial image of her based on the game.

Isn't this Aishi a lot different? Or maybe it's because she's a real person now that she has a bit more personality? I mean, she has trouble feeling emotions but I guess it doesn't necessarily mean that she doesn't have a personality because of that.

The rest of the way was peaceful and we got to class without anything else happening.

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Today is one of those days when I don't feel like I would spontaneously combust so here's a chapter.