After Hayato left.
"Whoosh,"
A sound.
A spark flashed at the entrance of the training room.
More precisely, the person running was too fast, almost running past the classroom door. With a sudden brake, the sole of her shoe created an astonishing friction with the ground.
Then, she stopped.
She gripped the doorframe.
"What happened, Sakura?"
"Vice Minister, hello!"
"Vice Minister!"
"Huh, Vice Minister, weren't you going to a mixer?"
The newcomer was a beauty no less stunning than Miyajima Sakura, but compared to the latter's dignified presence, she was more languid. Her cascading black hair was completely untied, falling to her waist. Even after a long sprint, with sweat making her bangs stick to her forehead, her slender eyes still showed little spirit.
"Ayaka," Miyajima Sakura was equally surprised, "Why are you back? Weren't you…?"
A while ago, this best friend complained to her, "Ah, it seems your spring has arrived, Sakura. I wonder when my peach blossoms will bloom… I need to meet more boys quickly, or I'll be left behind by you." So, she, with great initiative, announced today, just a few days later, that she was going to a mixer, boasting, "No matter what, I'll reel in a few rich guys." But…
She, who should have been at karaoke, returned to the practice room as if she had just finished a track and field competition.
…Although Miyajima Sakura also didn't know what her best friend meant by "your spring" (Kase Masafumi).
"Nonsense." The Vice Minister flung her phone, showing the screen: "How could I possibly be in the mood for a mixer after receiving a message like this?!"
"What message?"
"It said you brought a pretty boy back to the club."
An inconspicuous girl among the club members shrank her neck.
It was she who shared the gossip with Ayaka.
"Oh, you mean Hayato…?" Miyajima Sakura suddenly clapped her hands in surprise, "Hayato… Kobayashi Ayaka, Ayaka, Hayato has the same surname as you!"
"R-really!"
"I never thought of that before!"
"So Senior Ayaka's surname is also 'Kobayashi'?"
Kobayashi Ayaka, unlike Miyajima Sakura, was more lively and had a closer relationship with the club members. So, whether they were junior new members or seasoned veterans, they would generally affectionately call her by her given name, causing some to forget to pay attention to her surname.
"…Huh?" Kobayashi Ayaka turned to look at the club members: "Then, where is that 'Hayato'?"
"Hayato has already left," Kato Takeshi pointed to the door.
"Leaving early on his first day!?" Kobayashi Ayaka exclaimed, "Hey Sakura, what kind of 'treasure' did you bring back?"
"W-well, he's not really a 'treasure,' hehe." Miyajima Sakura scratched her face a bit like a clumsy older sister, slightly embarrassed.
"…No, I wasn't praising him," Kobayashi Ayaka said. No way, she hadn't been gone long, and Sakura was already so infatuated with that 'Hayato' that she was even ignoring the Kendo Club's rules?
One of the Kendo Club's rules was, "No tardiness or early departures."
"Kato! Sakura doing this is one thing, but why didn't you stop him!?" Kobayashi Ayaka demanded, "…Kato?"
Kato Takeshi was seen staring blankly at the high ceiling. 'I, I also need to be able to stop him…'
"Tsk, Junior Kase Masafumi." Kobayashi Ayaka turned to ask, "What kind of person is that Hayato, exactly?"
Kase Masafumi was a junior she thought highly of; the rumor of him being a 'high-class flower' was spread by Kobayashi Ayaka, who had always been trying to set up this older woman-younger man romance. And in Kase Masafumi's previous conversations with her, Kobayashi Ayaka was sure that he held a very pure admiration for Miyajima Sakura. Now that a rival had appeared, Kase Masafumi should observe things more meticulously than usual.
But,
"Heh, hehehe…" Kase Masafumi smiled even more shyly than Miyajima Sakura.
Kobayashi Ayaka: !?
"Senior Kobayashi… is a very amazing senior…" Kase Masafumi lowered his head and scratched his head: "I also want to become someone like him…"
Kobayashi Ayaka was stunned.
Hey, you two are the ones I'm rooting for! Not only did you fall apart so quickly, but why do you both look like you've been captivated by that 'Hayato'?
Snap out of it, you two!!
Kobayashi Ayaka took a deep breath, her ample chest rising and falling with it. She pulled out her phone with a 'snap.' "Sakura, give me that guy's contact information," she said. "As the Vice Minister, I need to see what kind of personality he has; people with poor conduct are not allowed to join the Kendo Club!"
What she was actually thinking was, 'I want to see what kind of divine being he is! If he's really a terrible guy, then Kobayashi Ayaka will tell him what it means to say, "There can only be one Hayato in the entire Kendo Club!"'
Before today, Miyajima Sakura had never mentioned the name 'Hayato' to Ayaka, which meant they must have met only in the last two days.
Presumably, it was that Hayato who approached Sakura.
And the first step in approaching someone is to get their contact information…
"I asked him for it, but he said he doesn't use a cell phone," Miyajima Sakura said regretfully.
"…Eh!!" Kobayashi Ayaka was dumbfounded. 'You're telling me YOU approached HIM!?'
Wait, wait… Indeed, given Miyajima Sakura's personality, even if someone approached her, she wouldn't easily agree, let alone something as unprecedented as letting him join the Kendo Club… But,
Ayaka looked at Sakura with a complex, unreadable expression.
She draped her arm around Sakura's seemingly boneless, soft shoulder, then turned them both to face away from all the club members.
Ayaka quietly asked:
"Sakura, does anyone in our class not use a cell phone?"
Miyajima Sakura thought carefully, "It seems not…"
"Are there any high school students who don't use cell phones these days?" Ayaka asked again.
Miyajima Sakura thought carefully again.
"…."
'This child,' Ayaka sighed inwardly. Although she performed exceptionally well in Kendo and academics, and appeared like an all-around goddess in everyone's eyes, her common sense was sometimes severely lacking.
But after Ayaka's reminder, Miyajima Sakura finally realized.
"Do you mean… Hayato didn't want to give it to me, rather than not having one?"
"I once heard a joke about a girl who approached a handsome guy and asked, 'Do you have Line?' The handsome guy said, 'I don't have a Line account.' The girl asked, 'Then what's your phone number?' The handsome guy said, 'I don't use a phone.' The girl then asked, 'Then what's your name?' The handsome guy said, 'I don't have a name,'" Kobayashi Ayaka said. She never imagined such a thing would happen to her goddess-like best friend.
Miyajima Sakura's delicate pink lips trembled slightly:
"Am I… disliked?"
She didn't want to admit it, but Kobayashi Ayaka still nodded.
At the same time, she grew even more curious about who that Hayato really was.
… …
Hayato continued to gaze at the ceiling while lying on his bed, a half-read book spread open beside him.
So boring.
In modern society, not using a cell phone is like defying a god… …
…
…