I finally had time to talk with Reina. It was lunchtime as usual and I slowly approached her as she was searching for something in her bag.

"Yo." I waved at her.

​​

"Oh… Hey." Listening to my voice, she turned her head towards me and our eyes met.

"Let's go for a walk… it's been a while." I breathed.

"Y...yeah sure." She stood up from her chair and walked outside the class with me.

Though I could tell she tensed up around me, specifically because I did something assertive to stir up her emotions. The entire purpose of this 'walk' was to check how she got affected by them.

And I certainly had a plan in my mind, which was basically a double kill. That way, I can check the effect of the seeds I planted that day, and at the same time, I'll cloud her emotions even more for my next steps.

We were walking through the corridor of the ground floor. I came across Chiaki who seemed to be standing in front of her class while looking around. It looked like she was bored, so she was just looking at others to pass her time.

She didn't notice me approaching her as I greeted her, "Hey."

"Hey… Sen...pai?" She stared at me for a few moments before greeting me back.

"Yeah… I was just passing by your class so I thought why not have a small talk with you." I said casually. Reina was standing beside me, looking at both of us, but Chiaki didn't notice her either.

"Oh… is that so…" She said in a nervous voice. Of course she will be nervous talking with me. But my motive to approach the girl that I rejected last month was something different.

"How have you been?" Looking at me, she continued the conversation.

"Pretty good, and what about you?" I replied.

"Yeah… I have been a bit tense… you know about my exams," She said with a forced awkward laugh.

"Ah… you didn't do well?" I tilted my head.

"I did… but… you know unless I'm getting the results… there's always this tension hanging on your head." She replied hesitantly. I guess she was average at studies too.

"What about you? You seem like your exams went well?" Looking at my calm composure, she asked me.

"Yeah sort of…" I replied vaguely because they did go according to my expectations.

"Are you good at studying?" She asked.

"Not really… I'm completely average to be honest." I won't call myself good at studies because I don't enjoy studying in the first place.

"No! … He is actually really good at studies." I heard Reina's voice interrupt our conversation.

Chiaki looked at her with narrowed eyes and realised that she was indeed talking to us. Her gazes shifted towards me as she asked, "Who's that?"

"Ah… Chiaki-san… that's my friend Yasurouka Reina-san." I sighed and introduced them.

"Hello Chiaki-san." She waved at her with her right arm.

"You seem to know me…. have I met you before Senpai?" Looking at the confidence with which she greeted her, Chiaki asked her.

Indeed if someone approached me with this much energy, I'll stop for a moment to contemplate whether or not I know them.

"Oh… No No, I just heard about you from him." Reina replied while pointing at me with a frown.

"Ah…" Chiaki nodded slowly.

"Tell me one thing…" Reina narrowed her eyes on her.

"Yeah…?" I could tell that Chiaki was getting uncomfortable during this entire ordeal. Being approached by a senior that rejected her love and then being interrogated by his friend. She was sure having a blast of a day.

"Why did you like this weirdo?" She asked, glancing at me for a moment and again shifting her gaze at her.

"Eh!?" Chiaki was completely dumbfounded and her face became tinted in crimson as she quickly averted her eyes from me.

"Oi… Oi… I'm not a weirdo." I sighed, but I was successfully able to do what I had in mind. And the fact is that neither of them will remember this exchange between each other.

"I… uh… Senpai…" She looked at me nervously for help.

"Oi Reina!" Forming my left hand into a firm chop, I smacked her on the head.

"Ack!" She squeaked, holding her head and looking at me with a frown on her face.

"Why are you bullying her?" I scolded her.

"I was just curious… Come on!" She retorted back.

"No, shut up." I said.

"Don't mind her, Chiaki… I'll see you later." Now that the deed was done, it was time for me to roll out of this situation.

"Bye… Senpai." She awkwardly waved us off.

We were walking and I glanced at her. She had a pout on her face and she was clearly not happy with that smack.

"Why the heck would you ask her that?" I asked her.

"I told you I was curious." She glanced at me, a bit embarrassed.

"No… you shouldn't ask that… especially after she got rejected." I shook my head and sighed.

"My bad… I should've asked you." She said in a low voice while looking away from me.

"No shit."

"And you call me a weirdo… now Chiaki-san thinks I'm friends with some weirdo girl." He said in a sarcastic tone.

"Hey! Shut up!" She glared at me.

We walked past the entrance of the annex on the other side, something caught my eye. I could see Uyeno and Isobe talking with a boy who was wearing casual clothes, he seemed our age.

But I couldn't recognise his face. He wasn't someone from our school year. Maybe he was from a different school. Looking at his attire, he looked like a delinquent. His dark hair was highlighted in blonde.

"You can go back to class, I have something to do." I said as I walked towards them while waving at her.

"What?" She asked me.

"Nothing interesting…" I said as I kept walking without turning back at her.