Let Go—Someone Might See

“Well… I usually have cram school to attend, so I probably don’t have much time to participate in club activities…”

He declined politely.

However, Tsukinoki Koto seemed to have already expected this response.

She quickly walked over to Shioyaki Lemon, wearing a bright smile, and casually extended the invitation to her as well.

“Why don’t you, the cute girlfriend here, join too?

That way, you can take part in club activities together.”

Being suddenly mentioned by Tsukinoki Koto, Shioyaki Lemon couldn’t help but feel shy, her replies becoming halting.

“Eh?! Girlfriend… you mean me?!

Ahh… this is kind of a headache…”

“So, what do you think?

Do you want to join?”

Seeing Shioyaki Lemon looking tempted, Tsukinoki Koto asked again.

“Ah, um… actually, I’ve already joined the track team, so it might be a bit difficult…”

“If you join a club and don’t feel like doing track practice, you can just use the literature club as an excuse to skip it.

What do you think?”

Faced with Tsukinoki-senpai’s overwhelming enthusiasm, Shioyaki Lemon glanced at Mitsuki beside her, as if seeking his opinion.

Sitting off to the side, Yanami Anna took everything in.

She looked at Shioyaki Lemon’s conflicted expression—wanting to deny it but unable to let go—then at Tsukinoki Koto, who seemed convinced she’d found the key point.

Ah…

Senpai really seems like she’s doing this on purpose…

Yanami Anna quietly leaned closer to Imaizumi Keita beside her and muttered in a low voice,

“Hey, Keita.”

“Hm?”

Imaizumi Keita kept his eyes on the notebook in front of him, answering without looking up.

“Tsukinoki-senpai totally stepped on Lemon’s landmine.”

Yanami Anna’s gaze darted between Shioyaki Lemon’s bright red ears and Mitsuki’s slightly troubled expression, her voice full of spectator-like amusement.

“I mean, you—why don’t you have any reaction at all?

You’re just watching and not stopping it.

Don’t tell me… you actually really like watching these ‘losing heroine’ scenes?”

The moment her words fell, she felt her left hand under the desk being firmly wrapped by a warm, dry palm, without any room for refusal.

Imaizumi Keita still didn’t lift his head.

He simply gave her hand a light squeeze, neither too hard nor too soft.

This intimate, almost punishing gesture made Yanami Anna’s breath catch.

A familiar warmth—mixed with nervousness and fluttering excitement—spread instantly from their joined hands through her entire body.

“Whether I like watching losing heroines or not,”

Imaizumi Keita’s voice was pressed very low, like a lover’s whisper,

“isn’t that something you’d know best, Annanana?”

“Don’t say nonsense like that again, got it?”

Annanana…

That nickname that made her want to run away in shame, paired with his tone—equal parts indulgent and domineering—made Yanami Anna feel like she was about to faint.

Tsukinoki-senpai and the others were right there nearby, and yet he dared to do something this bold in a place like this.

This feeling…

It was like being on a secret date that absolutely couldn’t be discovered.

It was—way too stimulating.

“I-I get it…”

Yanami Anna felt her cheeks burning.

She tried to pull her hand back, but he only held on tighter.

All she could do was plead softly in a nearly begging, coquettish voice.

“K-Keita… let go already…

Someone might see…”

Only after she used his exclusive way of addressing him to beg did Imaizumi Keita finally release her hand, a trace of regret still on his face.

Meanwhile, on the other side, after finishing her introduction to Shioyaki Lemon, Tsukinoki Koto once again turned to explain the benefits of joining the club to Mitsuki.

“So, what do you think, Ayano-kun?

You’d probably be happy to have more time to spend with your girlfriend, right?”

“Huh?

What do you think, Mitsuki?”

Shioyaki Lemon had already given up on correcting Tsukinoki Koto’s misunderstanding and simply followed along, asking Mitsuki instead.

“Haha, senpai, saying it like that puts Lemon in a tough spot.

We’re not dating.”

Mitsuki’s voice echoed clearly through the quiet clubroom as he calmly placed the book into his bag.

On Shioyaki Lemon’s face, the excited, shy expression she’d been wearing slowly faded—out of Mitsuki’s sight.

“Eh?

You’re not?”

Tsukinoki Koto’s surprise didn’t seem fake.

“I thought you two were so close…”

“Lemon has always been really popular with guys.

Someone like me isn’t worthy of her, so please don’t joke like that, senpai.”

He paused, seeming to feel the need to make things completely clear to avoid further misunderstandings.

“Besides—”

Mitsuki’s gaze passed over Tsukinoki’s shoulder toward the doorway, a gentle smile appearing on his face.

“I already have a girlfriend.”

The air in the clubroom froze at that moment.

The last bit of color drained completely from Shioyaki Lemon’s face.

A girlfriend…

Mitsuki… has a girlfriend?

A familiar figure surfaced uncontrollably in her mind.

Her…?

It has to be her.

The one who always goes to and from school with Mitsuki, attends cram school with him, and discusses topics she can’t understand at all—

Asagumo Chihaya.

Shioyaki Lemon opened her mouth, wanting to ask something, but found she couldn’t say a single word.

She was afraid to ask.

Just as she stood there at a loss, she noticed Imaizumi Keita sitting not far away, looking at her with a complicated expression.

Seeing Shioyaki Lemon on the verge of breaking apart, Imaizumi Keita sighed helplessly in his heart.

Another childhood friend.

Another one cut off by a sudden arrival.

He didn’t want to meddle, but with the atmosphere this frozen, if no one broke the silence, it would only make things more painful for those involved.

So he spoke up, asking the question on Shioyaki Lemon’s behalf.

“Ayano-kun, congratulations.”

Imaizumi Keita’s tone was calm.

“Forgive the intrusion, but may I ask—your girlfriend is Asagumo from Class D, right?

How long have you been together?”

The moment he finished speaking, he felt a sharp pain at his waist.

Yanami Anna lightly twisted the soft flesh at his side with her fingers, her eyes full of resentment that said why are you helping another girl again.

Imaizumi Keita pretended nothing was wrong, calmly enduring the punishment from his “official girlfriend.”

“Hm?

You know too, Imaizumi-kun?”

Mitsuki didn’t seem surprised at all.

He nodded openly, his face showing the bashfulness of a boy in love.

“Yes, it’s Chihaya.

We’ve been together for about… half a month now.”

He glanced at the completely petrified Shioyaki Lemon beside him, a belated look of apology appearing on his face.

“Sorry, Lemon.

I never really found a good chance to tell you.

Next time—when there’s a chance—I’ll introduce Chihaya to you.”

That belated addition marked the end of Shioyaki Lemon’s one-sided love.

Mitsuki seemed unaware of just how devastating his words were.

He checked his watch and urged Shioyaki Lemon,

“Alright, it’s getting late.

Didn’t you say you wanted me to go buy some things with you?

There’s still some time before cram school.

Lemon, let’s go.”

Go?

Go where?

To watch him leave together with Asagumo Chihaya?

Shioyaki Lemon’s body trembled.

Slowly, stiffly, she turned her head and refused Mitsuki’s invitation.

“Um… I just remembered I have something else to do.

And I think joining the literature club sounds pretty good too.

You go on ahead, Mitsuki.”

“I see.

Then I’ll head out first.”

Mitsuki nodded, bade farewell to everyone in the clubroom, and left—

leaving behind a completely lost Shioyaki Lemon.