After school, the three of us changed our shoes at the shoebox into outside shoes and went out through the main gate.
Normally, I would have used teleportation here, but I really wanted to check something with Miine.
“Okay, I’ll leave the teleportation to you.”
“Hey, Miine.”
“Hmm? What’s up, Honey?”
After holding my hand, Miine tilted her head.
I asked in as flat a voice as I could manage.
‘Why did Miine protect me during lunch break?’
“…………Hmm.”
After a few moments of silence and distress, Miine gave me a gentle look.
“Let’s walk a little.”
Without waiting for my reply, Miine started walking and pulled her hand away.
Kiriha followed without saying a word.
She did not have her usual innocent look on her face, nor was she as ruthless as she sometimes was.
It was a blank expression, like when you take a photo for an ID card, and she was silent as if she was watching to see how it would turn out.
After walking for a while, the stream of students leaving school was sucked into the entrance of the station.
And so, as we passed by the train station, the number of students dropped off dramatically.
In a residential area with few people, Miine looked at me.
“Now, if you have any problems, talk to Miine-san.”
Miine, though the same age as me, took on a receptive tone as if she were an older sister, and Miine went into a listening posture.
Her slightly casual attitude made my mouth lighten up.
“As I told Kiriha before, I was what you call a “loner”. I didn’t fit in with everyone at elementary and junior high school. That’s why I was never covered like I was during lunch break, so I wondered why.”
“That’s because, Honey, I want to be friends with you.”
“Why? I don’t deserve that. I’m not good-looking, I’m not a great talker, and I’m not fun to be around.”
“Honey is a very [good person]. Honey is humble and serious. I think that’s attractive.”
After listing words that had never been saying before, Miine continued.
“You held my hand so easily, trusting Maiko, a psychometrician. It’s amazing how people who can’t be nice to others can trust strangers.”
–Did Miine know I was a loner? No. If you look at Bando and me, you can probably guess what my middle school days were like.
“And even Kiriha-san. Honey, she wouldn’t like you if you weren’t attractive.”
I opened my mouth heavily, aware of Kiriha walking on the opposite side of the street from Miine.
“But I’ve never been liked.”
“I’m sure that’s because everyone wanted to date someone who was convenient, not someone who was [nice].”
While I was thinking that she was unexpectedly harsh in her words, Miine continued to speak fluently, as if she were gently instructing me.
“I understand how Maiko-san, Kiriha-san, Shisae-san, Maria-san, and Maya-chan feel. I do, too. Yesterday, Honey, you said that you were just a cab. Usually, I couldn’t have said that I was just a cab.”
And her voice contained a somewhat forlorn note.
“Usually people take credit for other people’s work, pretend it was joint with their own, or are stingy with other people’s work. But Honey, you don’t even take credit for your own work. That’s the kind of Honey you are, and I like that about you.”
–Ah, I see.
I understand what she just said. She must have been through a lot in her past.
She always seemed so calm, and I bet she must have kept looking at those vicious people with those eyes.
When I thought of that, I suddenly felt a sense of familiarity with her, and I said something that was out of tune.
“I think Miine is a good person, too. Everyone says I’m mean and plain, on the other hand, everyone calls you humble and earnest. I think you are such a good person.”
“Have you fallen in love with me?”
My heart almost froze as I became aware of Kiriha right beside me.
“Hey, that’s a joke, right?”
“Haha, I’m just kidding. You have to think about Kiriha-san, Honey. So, let’s teleport, shall we?”
“Y-yes.”
Miine held my right hand, and from the opposite side, Kiriha immediately held my left hand.
As it was, our shoulders touched, and Kiriha’s honey-colored eyes looked into my face as she shook her flaxen hair.
“I love you, Honey.”
I teleported to MIC, thinking about the meaning of the words as if I was thankful for something.