âWassup. Good morning, Souta.â
ââ¦â¦Good morning. You look very sleepy.â
Eiji opened his big mouth and yawned.
Makisaka Eiji.
He had a cheerful personality and for some reason he had interest in me. In a word, he is a very good friend.
Iâve known him since high school. â¦â¦Weâre so close that I can say he is my best friend.
I can even say that thanks to him, I can get a girlfriendâ¦..a fianceé.
âWell. Kirika didnât let me sleep.â
ââ¦â¦I see.â
I averted my gaze at the slightly graphic words.
âWell, putting that aside. What were you guys doing over the weekend?â
ââ¦Relaxing at home, I guess.â
âHmmm. I see.â
This guy. He seems to have noticed something. But is it a good thing that I donât deny it?
Now is a period of trial and error. With various things.
As I was making excuses to myself, Eiji said, [Ah] as if he had just remembered something.
âBy the way, didnât you guys tell my sister about this? She was so surprised. You guys went beyond being in a relationship and became engaged.â
âAh, I didnât tell her that.â
âYou should go out with her sometime. Maybe sheâll buy you a drink.â
I laughed at Eijiâs words and agreed with him.
âBut really. Youâre amazing in many ways.â
âWhat do you mean by âmany waysâ?â
âI mean, a lot of things.â
âI donât know what youâre talking about.â
âThink, young man.â
âYouâre the same age.â
While we are having this exchange, the bell rings. Homeroom begins.
[Letâs work hard today, Souta kun.]
There was such a notification on my smartphone.
âYeah, letâs work hard for each other.]
Because of this. I can do my best today.
âââ
[I finished early, so Iâll pick you up.]
I chuckle at those words.
âHm, what? Sheâs coming to pick you up?â
ââ¦..Donât read the expression on my face.â
âHaha, my bad, my bad. But if you make that kind of face, itâs obvious.â
âIs that so?â
Eiji nodded while I was feeling complicated. I replied back to Nagi.
[Iâll be waiting for you.]
âââ
âI also sent Kirika [â¡ I wish youâd pick me up] and she replied, [Iâll go if youâll buy me a parfait].â
ââ¦â¦You. Is that something that you do when you are chatting with Nishizawa?â
âOf course Iâm joking.â
Eiji smiled as he headed for the school gate.
Then exactly. I saw a girl walking down the street.
Her hair is pure white like the color of the snow.
Her eyes are blue like the sea.
Her face was unique with a very beautiful expression.
It would be no exaggeration to say that she captures the eyes of everyone who sees her.
âShinonome Nagi.
My girlfriend and fiancée. And the person to whom I pledged my future.
Looking at her. I thought about myself again.
Compared to Nagi,I have a plain appearance. â¦â¦â¦â¦No. Compared to Nagi, everyone else is the same.
The only thing Iâm proud of is that Iâm taller than her and Iâve gained enough muscle to carry her in my arms.
I, Minori Sota. Must keep trying to become a man worthy of her.
The girl with that has a somewhat mysterious and beautiful atmosphere. The moment she found me, her face broke into tears.
âSouta kun. Iâm sorry to keep you waiting. I see you are here too, Makizaka san.â
âI just came here too.â
âOkay. Itâs Soutaâs pick-up.â
Eiji laughed and Nagi immediately took my hand with a small smile.
âSouta kun is always a big help to me.â
ââ¦It seems like youâre really starting to look like Soutaâs wife. Well, I mean, you seem to take care of Souta everytime.â
âI donât remember being taken care of very much.â
It was when we were talking like this.
I saw a car on the right side of the road from the school gate.
A very expensive looking car. â¦â¦This one. Itâs a famous luxury car. Iâve seen this emblem before.
At the same time, Nagiâs face scrunched up.
Nagiâs eyes were looking at the carâat the man in the passenger seat.
A man got out of the car. He was a man in hisâ¦..early 20âs.
I stepped in front of Nagi. Eiji was standing next to me.
ââ¦Eiji.â
âJust in case.â
We exchanged a few words. I looked at him again.
ââ¦.It seems that I wasnât welcome. Yeah, itâs surprising.â
A very refreshing man. Nice atmosphere and looks.
He was slender and tall, maybe 5â8â³ or so.
I felt a terrible stirring in my chest.
âMinamikawa sama?â
I heard Nagiâs words from behind me. The man called âMinamikawaâ looked at Nagi and smiled.
âNice to meet you, I guess. Iâm Minamikawa Yoto, the man who was rejected.â
At his words. Eiji and I immediately knew what he meant.
âHe was the one who proposed to Nagi.
Eiji made his move before I did.
ââ¦â¦ Donât get violent here. There are a lot of pedestrians on the street. I wonât let you kidnap those two.â
Eiji says this as he steps in front of me. There was a smartphone in his handâ¦..
A call was already made to the police.
âW-wait. Wait. Itâs not like that. Iâm not here out of spite.â
ââ¦Like I trust you.â
ââ¦â¦Wait, Eiji.â
It was a completely one-sided view of him as an enemy.
Originally speaking, he is not so bad. I mean, this is our first meeting, so I donât know his personality.
If anything, it is me who is to blame.
I was the one who broke everything and kidnapped Nagi.
âDonât stop me, Souta. Itâs too late after something happened.â
âItâs really not like that ! Look, then, driver ! Get away from me for a minute ! I donât have anything suspicious on me ! See !?â
As if in a panic, the man âMinamikawa san raised his hand. He looks like a criminal who had been held at gunpoint by the police.
âIâm not here out of spite, really. I just came to tell you that you two are in danger.â
âShould I listen to you?â
âE-erm. From my point of view, you are my fatherâs business enemy, but I was treated so generously. I donât want to treat you with impunity.â
ââ¦â¦.For the time being, why donât we listen to the story?â
I held Nagiâs hand. Just in case.
âSouta. Donât move away from Shinon for the time beingâyou know that, right?â
âI canât let Nagi get into any danger. Thank you, Eiji.â
There is something about my response being lenient.
If you assume the worst, Eijiâs response is the best answer.
However, that worst-case scenario seemed to be a little different.
Calm down once. Minamikawa san let out a breath.
âOnce again, I would like to introduce myselfâ¦â¦but I think it would be better to start with the main topic.â
ââ¦..Go ahead.â
Nagi nodded her head in agreement.
She looked at me and Nagi.
âShinonome Nagi chan. And, Minori Souta kun. You two are being targetedâ¦â¦.by my associates.â
With a bitter face full of regret, he said so.