The School’s Top Idol Is Acting Like She’s My Childhood Friend for Some Reason and Just Keeps Closing the Distance on Her Own…?! ~Stop Getting All Gloomy on Me Just Because I Turned You Down!~
Five days left until the cultural festival.
In the classroom after school, the final decorations were being put up.
I was standing on a stepladder, attaching paper decorations near the ceiling. Below me, Rino was holding the ladder steady while looking up at me with concern.
“Seita, be careful.”
“I’ll be fine.”
“If you fall, I’ll catch you.”
“Then we’ll both fall.”
“Then we’ll fall together.”
“Don’t say such unlucky things.”
Just as I reached for the last decoration with a wry smile, the stepladder wobbled slightly.
“Seita!”
At the same moment I heard Rino’s voice, my body began to tilt.
I managed to land on the floor, but the momentum carried me into an embrace with Rino.
I wrapped my arms around her back to support her.
Our faces were close.
At a distance where our noses were almost touching, we both froze.
“…Are you okay?”
When I asked, Rino nodded, her cheeks flushing.
“Yeah. Because you held me, Seita.”
“It was an accident.”
“Is not letting go an accident too?”
Her words made me realize something.
Even though I’d already made sure it was safe, I was still holding Rino.
“…What’s this?”
“If you don’t like it, I’ll let go.”
Rino’s voice sounded a little anxious.
After hesitating, I didn’t loosen my arms.
“Just a little longer.”
“You said it first, Seita.”
“Shut up.”
Rino happily pressed her cheek against my chest.
Just then, the classroom door opened.
“I forgot something—”
Hara, who had just walked in, froze.
Shinozaki, peeking in from behind her, widened her sleepy eyes just a little.
“……Take your time.”
“Wait, that’s not it!”
Hara closed the door.
Their laughter faded away down the hallway.
I tried to pull away from Rino, but she wrapped her arms around my back.
“Rino.”
“I said just a little longer.”
“They just saw us, didn’t they?”
“If they saw us, there’s no point in rushing to pull away.”
“There is.”
“I don’t think so.”
Rino looked up at me and smiled gently.
“On the day of the cultural festival, if Seita looks like he’s going to fall, I’ll catch him.”
“It’s the other way around. I’ll catch you.”
I answered reflexively.
Rino’s eyes flickered.
“Forever?”
“……As long as I can.”
“Then I’ll support Seita forever, too.”
We hugged briefly, then parted ways for good this time.
But before we went back to work, Rino held out her little finger.
I intertwined my little finger with hers.
Five days left until the cultural festival.
The classroom was almost finished.
And only the distance between us remained just as it was right before it was complete, continuing to touch each other.
Maigetsu