My alarm clock beeped loudly at 7:00 AM. When I woke up, I saw that the girl was still asleep. I thought she might need more rest, so I left her undisturbed. I went to freshen up and take a bath. By the time I returned to the room, she was still sleeping soundly. It was already 9:00 AM, and I had to hurry to school. I left a note for her on the table, explaining everything so she could better understand how she had ended up here.
I reached school and found Todo waiting for me. I could tell he had a lot of questions on his mind. "Hi," Todo said. "Hello," I replied. He wasted no time and asked, "About yesterday... you were at Sakura's house. What's going on?" I tried to brush it off, saying, "Nothing—nothing is going on." But Todo didn't buy it. "Are you trying to fool me?" he asked. "We're talking about Sakura, the most popular girl in school!"
"Ah-ahh!" I gasped in surprise. Suddenly, Sakura appeared, shouting my name, "Estival!... Estival!! Stop." I turned around to see her rushing toward me; I stopped and waited for her to catch up.
"Hi!" Sakura said, breathless. "Hello. Are you feeling better now?" I asked. She replied, "Yes, I'm fine now. Let's walk to school together". Sakura then noticed Todo and seemed to be trying to remember who he was. I quickly introduced him, "Oh, I forgot... this is Todo, my friend".
Sakura turned to Todo and said, "Hi, I'm Sakura Hoshino from First Year, Section B. Estival is my childhood friend". Todo replied, "Nice to meet you. I'm from Section A, along with Estival". We reached the school building and separated to head to our respective classrooms. "Bye, see you at lunch!" Sakura called out as she walked away.
"So, you two have been friends since childhood?" Todo asked. I replied, "Yeah, we aren't just friends; we've been best friends since we were kids." Todo nodded, "Okay then, let's get to class". When we reached the classroom, I noticed Elisa sitting there, deeply engrossed in a book. I walked up to her.
"Hi Elisa. Thanks again for your help the day before yesterday," I said. Elisa looked up and replied, "Oh, don't worry about it". I continued, "I want to treat you to something as a thank you. Let's go somewhere after school." Elisa thought for a moment and suggested, "If you want to treat me, then let's go for ice cream." "Okay," I agreed. Suddenly, Todo interjected dramatically, "You betrayed me! You betrayed your own friend!" I was taken aback. "What? What do you mean?" Todo grinned, "I want to eat ice cream too!" I laughed and replied, "Fine, let's all go after school".
We took our seats, but my mind was occupied by only one thing: What was that girl doing? Had she woken up yet? I wondered if she had read the note in which I had explained her entire situation. While I was lost in these thoughts, the class teacher entered. During attendance, he ordered me to stand up.
"Why were you absent yesterday?" the teacher asked. Panic seized me. What could I possibly say? If I told him I was at Sakura's house, what would everyone think? They would wonder what on earth I was doing there. My mind quickly fabricated an excuse. "I was sick yesterday, sir," I replied. "Are you fine now?" he asked. "Yes, I am," I said. The teacher then instructed me to submit a formal application to the Principal's office. "Okay, sir. I will submit it during lunch," I promised.
"You may sit down now," the teacher said. "Thank you, sir," I replied as I took my seat. The lesson began, but I couldn't focus at all. My mind was still consumed by thoughts of that mysterious girl back at my place. Even after the morning classes ended, I remained lost in contemplation.
At lunch, Sakura walked into my classroom. She asked one of my classmates, "Where is Estival?" "He's sitting back there on the last bench," my classmate answered, pointing toward me. Sakura approached me, and I looked up at her in surprise. "What are you doing here?" I asked. "I wanted to have lunch together," she replied simply.
I began to feel incredibly uncomfortable. Everyone in the room was staring at us, whispering and gossiping about what a popular girl like Sakura was doing in our class and why she was with me. "Let's get out of here," I urged her. "Let's go eat in the cafeteria instead".
"Okay, let's go," Sakura said, then turned to Todo. "Todo, do you want to join us?" "I'm right behind you," Todo replied. We ate our lunch together. As we sat there, I decided that I needed to tell Sakura the truth.
"Sa... Sakura. I want to tell you something. Please, don't overreact," I began nervously. "Okay, but what is it about?" she asked. "It's about a girl..." I whispered. Both Sakura and Todo exclaimed in unison, "You have a girlfriend?!"
"NO, NO! It's not like that at all!" I shouted, trying to calm them down. "Then what is it?" they demanded. I confessed everything: "I found a girl lying unconscious on the street while I was coming home from your house last night. And... she is still in my room". Todo began to stammer in shock, "Y-you spent the night with a girl? That means..." I interrupted him immediately, "NO! I didn't do anything with her. "...I placed a wet cloth on her forehead and slept on the floor all night." Sakura exhaled a breath of air. "Well, that's a relief!" she exclaimed. I stuttered, "W-what did you mean by that?" "Nothing," she replied quickly.
"Well then, Todo, did you want to come over to my place after school today?" I asked. "Yeah, I want to see that girl too," Todo responded. Sakura interjected immediately, "I want to come over too!" I nodded, "Obviously you were coming with me; after all, we lived in the same place". Sakura smiled, "Well yeah, that made sense!"
Todo looked absolutely stunned. "Are you guys living together?" he asked, his voice rising. I tried to explain frantically, "It wasn't like what you thought. It was just a coincidence that we lived in the same building,
"...but we lived in separate apartments."
"Alright then," Todo replied, seemingly accepting my explanation. I noticed the time and said, "Classes were about to start soon. I'll see you both after school".