When I reunited with my arrogant childhood friend, she had become a talented and beautiful girl – Even though she has probably forgotten about me and I don’t want to be toyed with, for some reason she keeps getting involved with me!?

“You’re so sudden—wanting to watch a DVD together.”

“Ah—sorry, was it inconvenient?”

“No, I wanted to watch that movie too.”

“That’s good to hear.”

To confirm what she thinks about Nakano’s drop-out, I’ve come to the super-high-rise luxury apartment where Nakano lives.

When I explained that I wanted to watch the DVD that Nakano had been wanting to see as a pretext, she was happy to let me in.

As usual, the security is tight with guards around, and the entrance is as luxurious as a high-class hotel.

Nakano is dressed very casually, in a hoodie, shorts, and Crocs.

“Excuse me for intruding.”

“Make yourself at home.”

Nakano walks with familiar steps through her messy room, where things are scattered about.

She seems to be bad at tidying up, and her room is littered with so much junk that there’s hardly any place to step.

Not that I can talk, considering I had left my moving boxes untouched.

In the room, there’s a huge monitor, a gaming chair, a gaming desk with a keyboard that lights up in seven colors—like a professional gamer’s setup.

“Just relax on that bed over there.”

A fluffy large bed with a bedside lamp illuminating the area, speakers, USB charging ports, a side table with a cabinet, a bookshelf and other various things, and a huge TV right in front of the bed.

I call this bed the “bed that ruins people”.

“Just wait a sec, I think I have an unopened cola in the fridge… Gwah!”

Nakano stumbles over some clothes she had left on the floor and takes a magnificent fall.

“……….”

“……….”

Nakano looks a bit, no, quite embarrassed and turns her face away.

“…If you’re going to clean up now, do you want some help?”

It would be nice to watch a movie in a clean room.

“…Okay.”

And so, we decided to clean up before watching the movie.

“Hee—Sato, you’re quite efficient. It feels like you’re used to this.”

“Huh, well…”

I never thought the experience I had unpacking with Fumiko would come in handy here.

Hm? There seems to be something under the discarded clothes.

“Huh? Wait, wait, wait, wait! Those are my panties!! My bra!!”

“Eh? Oh… I see. It’s okay! I’m not bothered!”

“But I am!? Why aren’t you bothered, Sato!? Shouldn’t you be a bit flustered!? This is extremely annoying!?”

Eh? But… underwear not being worn is just underwear, right? Is there something to be flustered about?

“Enough!! I’ll take care of the laundry, you take care of the garbage!”

Saying that, Nakano snatched the underwear I was holding.

After that, we put away the piled-up manga and games on the shelf, collected the empty snack bags and plastic bottles into a trash bag, wiped the dirt, and vacuumed. The room looked considerably cleaner in about an hour.

The two of us were lounging on the bed in a river-shaped formation, watching a movie while munching on cola and potato chips.

“Sato, are you enjoying school?”

In the middle of the movie, Nakano started the conversation without any particular prompting.

“Well, it’s enjoyable.”

“I see, I see.”

“But that’s sudden… why do you ask?”

“No reason~”

…There’s definitely something more to this.

Could it possibly be related to her dropping out of school?

If she’s starting the conversation, it means she wants to ask something.

Alright, let’s say something clever to make it easier for Nakano to consult.

It’s okay, I have the magic words for such occasions.

“What’s wrong? Do you want to talk about it?”

“Could you stop with that transparent attempt to get me to open up? It sounds like you’re pretending to listen to me while hoping for a chance.”

“Come on, I don’t have ulterior motives! I think of you like a little sister! I would never make a move. Really. Oh, do you want a whiskey bonbon?”

“No way, you’re clearly trying to get me drunk!”

“Ahaha. Sorry, sorry. That was a joke.”

“It’s not ‘ahahaha’!”

While sighing, she flopped down on the bed and hit me with a pillow.

“I feel deflated…”

Her previously tense, fearful, and anxious expression had softened.

The atmosphere in which it’s easy to open up about problems varies from person to person. Sometimes it’s better to lighten the mood with some joking.

It’s one way to get someone to open up—let them relax first.

“I might quit school.”

At those words, I instinctively looked at Nakano.

Akane was right.

“Apparently, my attendance is so bad that they might expel me.”

Despite the quite serious situation, she herself didn’t seem alarmed.

“I don’t really care if I get expelled.”

“……….”

“I can learn everything from the textbooks, and I’m treated like a fragile object… I don’t see the point in going to school.”

This is an extreme view, but because Nakano’s family has more than enough wealth to live a life of leisure without doing anything, she could live comfortably without going to high school.

She herself is also excellent, which probably makes her think this way even more.

“I see what you mean. When you ask, ‘What’s the point of going to school?’ it’s a tough question.”

“Haha, right?”

“But don’t you think it’s too early to come to that conclusion?”

“…Eh?”

“What matters is not going to school, but what you did at school. Right? Sports festivals, school festivals, school trips, committee work, club activities, student council… There are so many things you can only do as a student, and memories you can only make now.”

“…That… might be true, but…”

“The meaning of going to school is up to Nakano.”

“……….”

“Akane invited you to join the student council, didn’t she?”

“!! Well, that’s…”

“I heard you declined. Would it be… bad to be in the student council with Akane?”

“It’s not like… that. I want to support Akane too. But…”

“…You believe your presence would undoubtedly hold Akane back?”

Hearing my words, she nods.

“That’s true, right? During the election too, didn’t you have to go through a lot because you were involved with someone like me?”

Indeed, one of the reasons we couldn’t decide on a supporter for the campaign speech was Nakano’s presence. That’s a fact.

“Also, Akane inviting me to the student council is definitely an attempt to raise my reputation within the school.”

“It’s frustrating, isn’t it? She’s really an amazing girl, but she’s misunderstood.”

I remember what Akane had said before.

“That… might be true. But that’s not the only reason.”

“…What else is there other than wanting to help me?”

“She’s asking for your help because she needs it.”

“…Eh?”

She looks completely surprised, as if she hadn’t even considered this possibility.

“She’s inviting you to the student council because she needs your help. I mean, isn’t that what you’d normally think?”

“Ah, well… that’s… but… really… someone like me…”

“If you say ‘someone like me,’ isn’t that disrespectful to Akane? And more importantly, to yourself.”

“Umm…”

Akane needs Nakano’s help. The fact that she didn’t come to this conclusion is because of her incredibly low self-esteem. Probably because she has been shunned by the majority of the students due to past incidents.

“…Well, shouldn’t you take some more time to think about it? Both about dropping out and about the student council.”

“…You’re right. I’ll think about it a bit more.”

Did she become a little more positive?

“Please do. It doesn’t matter whether you join the student council or not, but please don’t drop out? It’ll be boring without you.”

“!! Sa-, Sato! You always say things like that!!”

“Ouch, ouch, stop it, please!”

For some reason, Nakano, her face red, started hitting me wildly with a pillow.