After school, Kazuki had a long-standing habit—going to karaoke with his best friends, Suguru Rintaro and Kagami Yabai. The three of them had been close since junior high. You could call them inseparable.
As they arrived at the karaoke place, Kazuki suddenly turned his face away after spotting someone he knew.
"Why is she here too...?" he muttered internally.
It was Aira.
Before he could sneak inside, her voice called out behind him.
"Hey, Kazuki! You're here too? Wanna sing together?"
Just then, Suguru—who had just bought juice—slipped on a cat poop on the floor. The juice flew through the air like a scene in a slow-mo movie...
SPLASH!
It landed all over Kazuki and Aira.
Kazuki instinctively grabbed Aira to protect her, but the juice still got them. Both fell to the ground, soaked and stunned... eyes locked on each other.
With their clothes drenched and hearts pounding, Kazuki muttered:
"Aira, are you okay?"
Aira, blushing, replied:
"Y-Yeah... I'm fine..."
Their eyes met for a moment longer than necessary. Aira was flustered. Kazuki tried to act cool—but let's not forget, he screamed like a girl just yesterday because of a cockroach.
The karaoke plan was officially canceled. Everyone went home.
On the way back, Suguru apologized profusely.
"I'm really sorry! I slipped on poop… seriously."
Kazuki sighed.
"Don't worry about it."
But the chaos didn't stop there.
As Kazuki walked home, a septic tank truck passed by. The tank? Leaking.
WHOOOSH—!!
Splatters of sewage hit Kazuki.
"WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?! IT STINKS!!"
Truly… the worst day of his life.
Finally, at 6 PM, Kazuki returned to his dorm near school. Just as he was about to go inside, a voice greeted him cheerfully:
"Yo, Kazuki~!"
He turned around.
It was Aira.
And apparently... she lived next door.
She smiled like sunshine—way too bright for someone who just got drenched in juice.