Betrayal

10

Nishikata opened his eyes. He looked around, confused, before he checked his watch, and realized what the time was. He had missed the first two lessons of the day. His stress levels increased rapidly until he couldn't think clearly. He realized that he was panicking, so he started to take deep breaths, calming himself. He knew that he had to get back to his class, but he had to make sure that nobody saw him on the way back. He stood up and walked over to the door of the main school building and pulled it open, walking inside.

Akari-San was annoyed. She hadn't seen Nishikata since Homeroom started, and it was getting in the way of her plans. Her plan had already worked for the most part, as she had already gotten rid of most of Takagi-san's friends. After making Takagi-San become unpopular with most of the class, she had felt bad. However, she knew that it was already too late to turn back and change things back to how they were before. She looked to her left, where Nishikata usually sat, and felt sad, knowing that she would have to lie to the person who had been the kindest to her since she had joined the school. She also felt bad about ruining Takagi-san's reputation, because it was originally her fault for making the comments on the forum. Akari-San realized that it was herself, in her anger, that had decided to make this plan and realizing this only made her sadder. She decided to stop thinking about it.

Takagi-San looked to her right, where Nishikata usually sat and felt a sudden pang of worry spread throughout her body. What she could see out of the corner of her eye was Akari-San, also looking at Nishikatas chair, except she had an angry look on her face. For some reason, this made Takagi-San feel extremely uneasy. She didn't know why, but the way that Akari-San looked at Nishikatas chair suggested that she felt more than just worried, rather looking more annoyed at Nishikata. Takagi-San wondered why she looked like this and felt concerned that Akari-San may be trying to hurt Nishikata in some way. She couldn't allow that.

Lessons ended, and the class headed out for a break. As she was walking out, Akari-San felt something tugging on her sleeve. Looking over, she felt relieved to see Nishikata leaning on the wall. Smiling at him, she asked him where he had been. He explained what had happened that had caused him to have missed both of the lessons that he had. After hearing his explanation, Akari-San felt her anger decreasing. In the corner of the hallway, peeking out from behind a pillar, was Takagi-San, waiting for her moment to spring out and talk to Nishikata. The pair started to walk in her direction, and she felt like it was the right time to take the action she had been wanting to do for the past. She walked out from behind the pillar and acted surprised to see the two of them there.

She saw Akari-San's face turn sour, and it made her simmer. She tried, and succeeded, at ignoring her, and looked at Nishikata, asking if she could speak with him in private. Internally, Nishikata grimaced, but on the outside, he simply smiled and let her take him to somewhere they could speak. He looked at her and asked her what she wanted to talk to him about.

Takagi-San smiled at him sadly and asked him if Akari-San had told him anything about her.