1 Chapter 4.1: Friend Part 1

After leaving school, I headed straight for the dorms. Kushida, who left earlier with a friend, was waiting for someone while leaning against the wall. Noticing me, she looked at me with a smile on her face.

"That's good. I was waiting for Ayanokouji-kun. I have something to talk about. Do you have time?"

"Yea, I have nothing else to do..."

By any chance, is it a confession... ? No, there's a 1 percent chance of that happening.

"I'll ask you frankly. Ayanokouji-kun, have you ever seen Horikita smile even once?"

"Eh? No... I don't remember."

It seems like Kushida approached me to talk about Horikita. Also, when I think back, I've never seen Horikita smile. Gripping my hand, she closed the gap between us. Is that the smell of flowers? The pleasant smell entered my nose.

"You know... I want to become friends with Horikita-san."

"Your feelings are reaching her. At first a lot of people were trying to talk to her, but now you're the only one left."

"Ayanokouji-kun, you seem to know Horikita-san pretty well."

"Of course you would get to know someone sitting next to you every day."

Girls being girls, they were really eager to make groups from the first day of school. They are even more conscious of factions and groups than men are, and about 4 people held all the "power" among 20 people. The girls say they are just getting to know a lot of people.

However, the only exceptions to this rule is Kushida. All the groups have a lot of people, but only Kushida is starting to get massively popular. Without ever giving up, she kept trying to become friends with Horikita. It's not something any ordinary student can do. That's probably why she's popular.

Also, she's cute.

After all, cuteness correlates to popularity.

"Weren't you rejected by Horikita? I don't think whatever you tell her will make her understand."

I know that she's not the type to mince her words. If you talk to her carelessly, she would probably pour insults onto you. Honestly, I don't want to see Kushida get hurt.

"Won't you... help me?"

"Well..."

I didn't reply immediately. Usually, if I was asked to help by a cute girl, I would agree without hesitation. However, since I like to avoid trouble, I couldn't say yes immediately. That's because I don't want to see Horikita verbally hurt Kushida. I'll refuse her gently.

"I understand your feelings, but..."

"Is it no good... ?"

Cute + request + upturned eyes = fatal.

"... Well, it can't be helped. Only this time, ok?"

"Really!? Ayanokouji-kun, thank you!"

After I agreed to help her, Kushida had a delighted smile on her face.

... Cute. Because I said that I would help, I can't be rash and do something crazy.

"So, what exactly are we doing? Even if you say you want to be friends with her, it's not that simple."

For someone like me who doesn't have any friends, it's a difficult problem I can't answer easily.

"Hmm... First step is to make Horikita smile."

"Make her smile, huh."

Making her smile requires the right mood and atmosphere for us to succeed.

That kind of relationship might be called "friendship".

Luckily, though, Kushida seems to know how to make people smile.

"Do you have any ideas on how to make her smile?"

"Um... I thought that we could think about it together."

With an apologetic "Teehee", she lightly tapped her head.

If it was an ugly woman I would've immediately hit her, but it was fine because it was Kushida.

"Smile..."

Somehow, because Kushida asked me to help, my goal now is to make Horikita smile. Is that goal even possible? Very questionable.

"Anyway, after school, I will try to invite Horikita. When I return to the dorms, I probably won't have any arms or legs left. Is there any place I should invite her to?"

"Hmm, how about Pallet? I go to Pallet often, so she might have overheard us talking about it."

Pallet is probably the 1st or 2nd most popular cafe on campus.

Certainly, I often hear about Pallet whenever Kushida and her friends go after school.

If I hear about it often, Horikita would have also unconsciously learned about it.

"Do you think it would work if you two went into Pallet, ordered, then 'unexpectedly' ran into me?"

"No... I think that's a bit too simple. What if your friends also helped?"

The second Horikita notices Kushida, she would probably go home immediately. If possible, it would be better to create a situation where it's difficult to get up. I told Kushida the idea I just thought of.

"Oh~ That certainly sounds like it would work! Ayanokouji-kun, you're smart!"

Kushida listened to me with sparkling eyes while nodding her head and saying "Un, un".

"I don't think that has anything to do with my intelligence... Anyway, that's the plan."

"Ok, I expect a lot, Ayanokouji-kun!"

No, I'm troubled by your expectations.

"If Kushida invited Horikita, she would probably reject you, so should I invite her?"

"Alright. After all, I think Horikita-san trusts you."

"Why do you think that?"

"Hmm, well, it looks like she does? At the very least, she trusts you more than anyone else in the class."

That doesn't mean that I'm the most appropriate person for the task...

"That's because I met her by coincidence."

I met her on the bus by chance, and I sat next to her by chance.

If either one of those didn't happen, I probably wouldn't talk to Horikita at all.

"Don't you meet every new person by chance? Then they become your friend, your best friend... and sometimes your lover and family."

"... I see."

I guess that's one way to look at it. Talking to Kushida was also a result of a coincidence.

In other words, Kushida and I might be in a relationship before long.