She Became Distressed After I Stopped Being Restrained and Started Interacting with Others - Chapter 34

Honoka clung to my sleeve, gently leaning against me.

Under the desk, her fingers slowly stroked my hand.

It wasn’t that I didn’t care about the surrounding gazes, but I couldn’t bring myself to reject Honoka.

Rather, I found myself feeling somewhat comforted by being able to be pampered like this.

(Honoka… she’s really changed, hasn’t she?)

Until now, I had been the one clinging tightly to Honoka.

It felt strange somehow, having Honoka be the one closing the distance between us.

—But more than that, it made me happy.

Because I could genuinely feel that she wanted me.

“…Honoka, lunch break is almost over.”

Even as I said this, Honoka didn’t pull away immediately.

“Just a little longer…”

She murmured in a small voice, then squeezed my hand tightly.

It felt like there was more strength in her grip than usual, so I glanced at her profile.

—That’s when it happened.

“Yuna-chan, got a minute?”

A quiet but clear voice.

I turned toward it.

Before I knew it, Shiori was standing right beside me.

“…Shiori?”

I called her name with some surprise, and she gave me a gentle smile.

But her eyes were watching my and Honoka’s hands with a probing look.

“Lunch break is almost over, and I wanted to talk before we head back… is that okay?”

Her tone was soft, but her words carried an atmosphere that made it hard to refuse.

“…Yeah, sure.”

Just as I was about to respond—

“…Yuna, are you going?”

The voice from Honoka beside me stiffened slightly.

I could feel the fingers gripping my sleeve tighten with a bit more strength.

“Yeah, just for a little while.”

Even as I answered, Honoka lowered her gaze with a dissatisfied look.

Still, she didn’t try to forcibly stop me.

“I’ll be right back.”

I said this and gently loosened Honoka’s grip.

Before turning toward Shiori, I stole a quick glance at her expression.

Honoka was biting her lip slightly, looking like she was holding something back.

────

As we walked down the hallway, the light streaming through the windows softly illuminated the floor.

Shiori walking beside me maintained a gentle smile and had a somewhat carefree stride.

“…So, what did you want to talk about?”

When I asked this, Shiori narrowed her eyes slightly.

“Nah, it’s nothing major. Just I was thinking about how much fun we had during our day off the other day.”

“Huh?”

For a moment, I didn’t understand what she meant and almost stopped walking.

But Shiori continued walking as she spoke casually.

“The aquarium, remember? When we went together?”

“Ah, ahh…”

The memory of going to the aquarium with Shiori came back to me.

Back then, I had just started keeping my distance from Honoka and was feeling lonely, so I went along when she invited me.

“It was fun, wasn’t it?”

Shiori said this with deliberate implication.

“At the aquarium, remember when I fed you? Going ‘ah~hn’?”

“…”

I was momentarily at a loss for words.

I didn’t need to try to remember. The scene from that time immediately came to mind.

But more than that, I felt something like a gaze on me, and my back stiffened slightly.

(…Am I imagining things?)

I casually scanned my surroundings.

But there was no one there.

“And then… we bought matching penguin plushies, right?”

Shiori laughed cheerfully.

“It was cute how Yuna-chan hesitated a bit but ended up buying it anyway.”

The strange presence still hadn’t disappeared.

(…What is it?)

I hadn’t actually seen anything directly.

But I couldn’t dismiss it as just my imagination.

“…If that’s all you wanted to talk about, I’m going back.”

When I forcefully ended the conversation, Shiori laughed lightly and nodded. “Yeah.”

“Thanks. Well, see you later.”

Shiori waved, and I nodded slightly in return before walking away.

But somewhere in my heart, a restless discomfort remained.

(…What was that?)

Without finding an answer, I headed back to the classroom.