Distressed Pudding 8
“—Chika, can I talk to you for a second?”
Despite saying she didn’t need lip balm, Miki still reached for her lip balm. At that moment, Wakui approached casually.
“Yes, what is it?”
She replied, a bit surprised.
In class, Chika was regarded as a beloved mascot.
However, not everyone doted on her to the extent that Miki did. There were differences in how warm people were to her.
Wakui would sometimes give her sweets, but she never fussed over Chika like some others did.
Therefore, they hadn’t really talked much.
“I need to talk to you about something.”
“Sure, I don’t mind…”
While giving her consent, Chika wondered what this could be about.
Since they rarely interacted, she had no idea what Wakui might want to discuss.
“Can we go over by the back gate? I don’t want to be overheard here.”
“Um, okay…”
Chika responded half-heartedly and exchanged a glance with Miki, who also seemed clueless about the situation.
“Sorry, but could you give us a moment alone, Miki?”
Wakui stopped Miki, who was naturally about to accompany them.
“What, you have something to say that I can’t hear? I’m curious now.”
“It’s nothing important. I’ll bring her back soon.”
With a dismissive gesture, Wakui sent Miki away, who frowned in displeasure but said no more, watching the two of them head towards the back gate.
Following Wakui, Chika racked her brain about what the matter could be but couldn’t figure it out.
Since it was break time, there were no students near the back gate.
Once Wakui confirmed they were alone, she turned to face Chika.
“We don’t have much time, so I’ll get straight to the point. I saw you and Ichinose walking arm in arm yesterday. What’s your relationship?”
“Wakui-san, you saw us yesterday?”
Chika’s eyes widened in surprise at the unexpected question.
“I saw you near the station. Are you two dating by any chance?”
“So you saw that…”
Chika began to ponder what to say, not noticing that Wakui’s voice was slightly trembling.
She was surprised and realized that someone had seen her with Sōma.
Previously, a male classmate had spotted her entering a cafe.
At that time, they mistook Chika in her casual clothes for a college student, and the matter was dropped without incident.
Since then, she hadn’t been noticed by anyone, or so she thought and had become complacent.
Yet, she had also considered that eventually, someone might see her wandering around the not-so-large city.
Silently, Chika stole a glance at Wakui, whose face seemed pale and tense.
They had hardly spoken before, so Chika didn’t know much about her.
All she knew was that Wakui had a pudding-like hairstyle, was always eating sweets with her close friends, and had persistently invited Sōma to a Halloween party last month.
“No, I’m not dating Sōma-san.”
“I-Is that so… So that’s how it is.”
When Chika shook her head in denial, Wakui let out a sigh of relief, but her expression quickly returned to one of concern.
“But then, why were you walking arm in arm?”
Chika hesitated, then decided to explain her cooperative relationship with Sōma.
She wasn’t good at lying and couldn’t think of a convincing excuse for walking arm in arm.
It would be better to be honest and ask Wakui to keep it a secret from everyone else.
“I’m not dating him, but I’ve been spending a lot of time with Sōma-san recently.”
Chika explained openly to Wakui.
She talked about how Sōma had asked her to taste-test his sweets, how they visited various sweet shops together, and how she was trying different things to become more independent, with Sōma watching over her.
“What’s that all about…”
As Chika spoke, Wakui’s complexion grew even paler.
“You and Ichinose have been doing all that…?”
She nodded in response to Wakui’s question.
“Sōma-san has been a great help to me. Last month, we managed a children’s Halloween party together. I really couldn’t have done it without him, so I’m very grateful.”
“I see. That’s why he declined the Halloween party… Was he also busy when we went to the dessert buffet recently…?”
Wakui mumbled to herself while biting her thumbnail.
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“I hadn’t considered this… What should I do? What should I do…”
“Wakui-san?”
Chika called out, but there was no response.
What could be causing her such distress?
Chika didn’t understand what had driven Wakui to such a desperate expression and stood there, unsure of what to do.
――The bell signaling the start of class began to ring.
“Wakui-san, class is starting.”
Despite Chika’s call, Wakui didn’t move, seemingly not hearing her at all.
“We’ll be late, so I’m going to head back first.”
Though hesitant, Chika didn’t want to be late for class. Reluctantly, she bowed and left Wakui standing there as she returned to the classroom.
“I wonder what happened to Wakui-san…?”
Eventually, Wakui came back to the classroom twenty minutes late and didn’t look in Chika’s direction even once.