The sports festival cheer battle had concluded, and the boys of Class 2-C were back in their classroom, changing out of their costumes. Mitsuki Ayano unbuttoned his gakuran jacket, turning to the friend changing beside him.

"Say, what do you think about Nukumizu lately?"

"What do you mean?" Hiroto Sakurai tilted his head at the abrupt question. He dusted the dirt off his discarded gakuran, shooting Ayano a quizzical look.

"He's been hanging out with Basori-san a lot recently, right? If you ask me, I'd say those two have a pretty good thing going."

"I wonder about that," Sakurai replied, a bit taken aback by the sudden romance talk. "Basori-chan has definitely let her guard down around him, but… why bring this up all of a sudden?"

"Well, Nukumizu helped me out a ton with the whole thing with Chihaya. I figured I'd return the favor by giving him a hand with love life."

Wouldn't it be better to wait until he actually asks for advice? Sakurai thought. However, he kept that sensible observation to himself. Hiroto Sakurai was a mature guy, after all.

"Well, first we'd have to figure out how Nukumizu-kun actually feels. Didn't you say just the other day that you thought something suspicious was going on between him and Yakishio-san?"

"I thought so too until recently, but... it seems like he's just not committing. I'm starting to think Nukumizu might just not actually see her that way."

"Well... Nukumizu-kun isn't exactly the type to aggressively pursue girls, is he?"

As Sakurai pulled his gym shirt over his head, Ayano's glasses glinted sharply in the classroom light.

"But we're talking about Lemon here. Any normal guy would obviously fall for her. The fact he hasn't even tried to confess can only mean one thing: Nukumizu must already have his eye on someone else."

Staring at the brimming confidence on Ayano's face, Hiroto Sakurai weighed his words carefully. Depending on how he answered this, he could easily spiral things into a massive headache.

"Well... I don't know Yakishio-san all that well, but... when you're dealing with someone that amazing, I'm sure there are all sorts of complicated feelings involved. Admiration, respect, things like that."

Ayano immediately latched onto Sakurai's safe, evasive generalization.

"I see. So that's how it is. It's true that even I—" Right as Ayano started to speak, the screen of his smartphone resting on the desk suddenly lit up. "...Oh, it's Chihaya?"

"Did she call you out somewhere?"

"Nah, sometimes she just randomly sends me blank messages." Ayano said, his face melting into a dopey, infatuated grin. "She says it happens when she's reading my old texts and accidentally hits reply. Man, isn't she adorable?"

"Thanks… for sharing," Sakurai replied dryly.

...I absolutely cannot dig any deeper into this. Guided by sheer survival instinct, Sakurai swiftly changed the subject.

"Speaking of which, you went to the same middle school as Nukumizu-kun, right? What was he like back then?"

"We went to the same school, but we weren't in the same class. Lemon told me there was a guy in her class who did nothing but read books just like me, so I started talking to him at cram school. Back then, Lemon was always—"

Once again, Ayano's smartphone screen lit up.

...This topic isn't safe either. Sakurai couldn't quite explain why, but his instincts were screaming at him to abort. Shifting his gaze to Ayano's discarded gakuran, he desperately pivoted the conversation once more.

"Still, Ayano-kun, I'm surprised you can still fit into your middle school uniform."

Ayano proudly held up the gakuran with a proud grin. "Chihaya lengthened the sleeves for me. She did a great job, right?"

"Wow, that's impressive. I can't even tell where she altered it."

As Sakurai-kun examined the handiwork with genuine admiration, his gaze stopped at one particular detail.

"Something wrong?" Ayano asked.

"The second button is brand new. Did you give the original away to someone at your graduation^[1]?"

"Nothing like that ever happened, but… hey, you're right. It is a new button." It seemed he hadn't noticed the swapped button up until now. After a moment of puzzled silence, realization dawned on Ayano's face, and he broke into a bashful smile.

"That Chihaya... she must've wanted my second button. She could've just asked."

Sakurai instinctively opened his mouth to point out the far more terrifying implications of a secretly stolen second button, but the sheer, blissful ignorance radiating from Ayano's smile made him swallow his words.

"...Yeah. I'm sure that's it."

Sakurai had already heard plenty of stories about Ayano's girlfriend, Chihaya Asagumo, from Houkobaru. He had his own reservations about the whole situation, but prying any further would do him absolutely no good.

Indeed, sometimes, being completely dense... was an absolute necessity.

Translator Notes

1. In Japanese school tradition, giving away the second button of the gakuran was considered a romantic confession, as it is the closest button to the heart. ↑