"Since that time—"
The special survival and elimination test ended, and it was the first day off. Without anyone calling out to me, I found myself at the gym. I continued training alone for a while, and after sweating it out, I went to the break room. As I cooled down, I sat in a chair and remembered something, so I took out my phone. I searched for a certain word. "Hmm... I see." I looked at the article that came up and had no choice but to agree. After that, while admiring the photos in the article aloneー
"Good morning, Ayanokoji-kun."
"Good morning."
Both Ichinose and Amikura appeared in the break room, It seems they came to the gym.
"Oh, cute photo. It's a red panda, right?" Amikura squinted as if he could see the screen of my phone and asked.
"Yeah. I was doing a little research."
As if evading the question, I answered and closed the screen. However, it seemed that Ichinose had some suspicions.
"Could it be related to the exam questions? Ayanokoji-kun, you made a mistake right?"
It was just from the special exam a few days ago. Even if it was with another class, it was a memorable event, there's no way they could have forgotten.
"By the way, this reminds me, you also got the tapioca (boba tea) question wrong. are you surprisingly not well-informed about the world?"
Hearing Ichinose's words, Amikura also expressed understanding and said so.
"I can't deny it. Probably because I hardly watch TV," I offered the most popular excuse, but both of them just smiled wryly.
"Honestly, I didn't think not liking TV would backfire in such a way."
"Was that the issue here? It caused quite a stir on the internet too, didn't it? it seemed that not watching TV was lacking in persuasiveness, and Amikura expressed that doubt.
"That's an unexpected weakness of yours" Ichinose chuckled at my puzzled attitude.
Immediately after, the gym staff Akiyama appeared, and Ichinose called out to him. Apparently, there was some mistake in the documents she filled out, and he asked her to redo it. They both headed towards the counter together.
She'll probably be back soon, but at the moment, it's just me and Amikura.
It felt strange to leave now, so I decided to either leave voluntarily or wait until Ichinose returned. Considering they came to the gym together, she probably intends to wait for Ichinose to get back
She sat down one chair away from where I was sitting.
" Honami-chans changed quite a bit. It's like I can't even imagine her from a few months ago...".
"Is that so?"
It's true that recently Ichinose has been showing a side of herself we've never seen before. But to say it as a few months is exaggerating. But, understandably, the change Amikura is referring to about Ichinose isn't related to the current situation.
"After the 2nd year's uninhabited island exam, right at the beginning of the second semester it was, I think"
Amikura starts as if reminiscing and chuckling somewhat strangely.
"Back then, Honami-chan seemed unstable or rather absent-minded a lot."
"The survival island test"
Hearing that, I caught up with Amikura's story. That was the time when I received an unexpected confession from Ichinose and told her about Kei
Considering Ichinose's feelings, it's not surprising that the surroundings felt unstable.
"Right at that time, a little incident happened within the class... ah, Ayanokoji-kun, this is a secret from Honamii-chan, okay?" I dont intend to gossip, but it seemed like it might lead to a slightly responsible conversation.
"I don't think there was any malice behind it, but there was this rumour going around the class between the guys that Honami-chan might like Ayanokoji-kun, and unfortunately, it happened to reach her ears. Well, the whole thing started because Honami-chan accidentally sent a message to the wrong person..."
Apps are convenient to use, but because of that, it's easy to send a message to the wrong person with one button. Therefore, cases where a message is sent to the wrong person due to a misclick (mistap) are not uncommon. Even if there is a delete (unsend) function, it's not uncommon for the message to be seen due to a time delay.
After the uninhabited island exam, Ichinose had been going through a mentally unstable period for a while. So, it wouldn't be surprising even if she made a slight mistake like that.
"I didn't see the message directly, but it seemed like something along the lines of wanting to calm down and talk, like 'Can we meet in person to discuss this?' It becomes quite suggestive when you take it out of context, doesn't it?"
"Well, yeah. So, the person Ichinose accidentally sent the message to was a guy from another class?"
"Yeah, exactly. But the problem was that she sent the message to Ishizaki-kun by mistake. And during break time, between classes, Ishizaki-kun casually came to our class and asked, 'What does this message mean?' while showing the screen confidently."
It seems that caused quite a stir. The fact that Ishizaki was the one who received the mistakenly sent message probably saved it from being interpreted too deeply, but there were two parts to it— the relief that it wasn't taken too seriously because of the mistaken recipient being Ishizaki, and the trouble that arose from Ishizaki confidently confirming the message with Ichinose, not thinking much about it.
However, it's really Ichinose-like to have such a casual relationship with Ishizaki, being able to send messages freely.
"Honami-chan was flustered but she quickly corrected it, saying it was a mistake and didn't mean to send it to him. Ishizaki-kun quickly understood and returned to his class, but the problem was what happened afterwards. The fact that it was a mistake in sending meant she had planned to send a meaningful message to someone else.`
So that's how rumours started spreading among the boys in the class.
"But why did it lead to me?"
"You should be able to figure it out, right?"
For some reason, I was given a slightly intimidating smile.
"That's assuming you're someone with sharp intuition... But, I think the boys started making a fuss for a different reason. Probably, it's because of the 'a' in Ayanokoji-kun and the 'i' in Ishizaki-kun. Since contact information is arranged in alphabetical order, based on the vowels 'a, i, u, e, o,' so I think that might be the reason. There are other people with similar names, but Ayanokoji-kun and Honami-chan were together at the time."
From the accumulation of past events up until now and the mistaken message sent to Ishizaki, such speculations arose.
"It's like, Honami-chan is always cheerful and composed, but when it comes to her own matters, she can be quite flustered and uneasy. It seems like she couldn't come up with a good excuse at that time, and her face turned pale as she looked down."
<Illustration>
It seemed like a distressing turn of events. But somehow, I can picture the scene from that time. You can't tell the truth. However, having claimed it was a mistake in sending, you can't blame it onto someone else as well. And you can't act like nothing happened. Even though she had stumbled into it herself, it felt like a dead end.
"From the perspective of those who were watching, Seeing Honami-chan acting like that was really unusual."
In general, Ichinose is a capable person. She usually manages to handle things and has the ability to bring a situation under control. However, during the period of uneasiness described by Amikura: "We were keeping an eye on her for a while, but she gradually seemed to be burdened. It got to the point where even guys who didn't think it was Ayanokoji-kun started wondering if she actually intended to confess to someone. It seemed like she was beginning to think that way."
It seemed that the situation worsened as it dragged on without her being unable to resolve the situation on her own, it seems things worsened through silence.
"How did she manage to overcome such a difficult situation?"
It's not easy to imagine Ichinose pulling off a comeback from this situation.
"Not just me, but since we girls knew who Honami-chan was planning to send her feelings to, we secretly discussed how to help. We quietly consulted on how to assist her and got involved in providing support."
It seems they managed to navigate through it smoothly by working together.
There was a girl who sought romantic advice from Ichinose, and they made it so Ichinose's response was meant to be directed towards that girl.
It was a mistake in the exchange that occurred during that interaction.
The reason for the silence was a consideration for the potential connection to that girl. It was a result of trying to protect privacy.
With testimony from multiple people, many guys immediately corrected their misunderstanding, realizing that was the case.
"There's no choice but to accept it, right?"
"Yeah."
Unless she was putting on a clumsy act that made it obvious the girls were covering for her, judging from her words, she probably handled it well.
"Ayanokoji-kun, did you bring Honami-chan back to her usual self?"
"I didn't really do anything special. It's just that Ichinose managed to pull through on her own."
"I see... But still, thank you."
"You're thanking someone who didn't do anything?"
"Maybe you're just being modest, that's what I thought on my own. So, I'm that's why I'm grateful."
Whether I acknowledge it or not, whether it's true or not, seems irrelevant to Amikura.
"But why are you telling me this? Did you think I was the one who helped her?"
"Nah, that's a different story."
Although Amikura remained calm throughout, her expression tightened slightly.
"If you were paying attention, you'd notice that Honami-chan still sees you as someone very special. I believe you're the only person in this school who can strongly influence Honami-chan."
It's not for nothing that Ichinose is by her side as a friend. Amikura understands Honami well.
"I'm sharing this because... I don't want you to make Honami-chan sad or hurt her intentionally."
With a hint of difficulty in expressing it, but with clear words, Amikura said
"I don't mean to intentionally hurt her, but it's quite a difficult request."
"That's true,"
Amikura agreed without denying.
"Of course, I understand your position. It's not about dating or not dating, you know. I just don't want her to be unnecessarily hurt."
After answering like that, Amikura muttered with a wry smile,
"It's tough for Honami-chan too. Falling for a guy whos already taken"
"You're pretty straightforward about it."
"I kind of understand you now as well Ayanokoji-Kun. You wouldn't be shaken by something like this now, would you?"
"Maybe not"
Even if it wasn't today, Amikura probably planned to talk to me about this soon. If we were gym buddies, there was bound to be a time when we'd be alone together sooner or later.
"I get what you're saying. I'll handle it."
Since nothing is certain, let's leave it at that.
"Sorry, it's not really my place as a third party to say something like this."
Amikura understands this too, so she doesn't insist too strongly.
"You probably can't just abandon her as a friend. That's not a bad thing."
After showing understanding, Ichinose returned.
"Sorry for the wait, both of you."
"No problem at all."
Due to the sensitive nature of the conversation, Amikura was momentarily flustered. Although Ichinose returned without changing her expression, it wouldn't be surprising if those large eyes had sensed something.
However, she didn't ask what we were talking about. This is just a speculation, but Ichinose probably didn't want to force Amikura into telling a clumsy lie.
"Well then, I'll be heading home soon. See you both later" I said to Ichinose and Amikura and left the gym.
Despite unexpectedly hearing about an event in Ichinose class, as soon as I stepped outside, I received a message. "
Was that another private conversation with Amikura-chan? About me?"
Maybe she wanted to confirm it only with me to avoid influencing Amikura negatively.
Moreover, it seems like she even guessed what we were talking about. While she may be curious about the details of the conversation, I can't disclose it, especially considering the promise I made with Amikura.
"You've got a good best friend" I decided to respond with that.
There is absolutely no information given away, and it won't negatively impact Amikura's reputation.
A stamp with an illustration that said "Super Happy! (The happiest)" was sent.
"Since the uninhabited island exam, you've certainly changed a lot"
She is not just recovering but growing. And those perceptive individuals like Amikura have noticed this transformation.
"Ichinose Honami, huh" A valuable presence that brings new discoveries to what was thought to be a concluded analysis.