The school day quickly came to an end and Kazuo was stepping down the stairs in the school building on his way to the gates where he was supposed to meet up with Mabuchi, Kayano and her friends. He saw Kayano leave the classroom before he did with Haruka in tow but he couldn’t see the two of them as he got to the entrance. Mabuchi had to stop by the school library before he could leave so Kazuo figured he should head toward the gates by himself for now.

*- I wonder what Haruka and Kayano was doing… * The wind blows by as Kazuo walked over the school yard. He had soon reached the gates and, predictably, there was no one there yet.

*- Whatever, I can wait a little… * Kazuo leaned against the wall surrounding the school. After a short while a single pair of footsteps got closer from within the school.

*- Oh? Maybe it’s Mabuchi… * Kazuo peeked around the wall and expected Mabuchi or someone else to be there but to his surprise, it was Haruka, casually jogging toward the gate with her hair waving about as she saw him.

“- Wha! Kazuo! You’re already here? “ Haruka looked only a little surprised, less than Kazuo at least, that was for sure.

“- Um… Well, yeah? What do you mean by already? Were we supposed to meet? “ Kazuo started to glance towards the school building in case there was someone worth worrying about.

“- Ah… I’ll explain… You’re going to hang out with Kayano and her friends plus Mabuchi, right? “ Haruka seemed to get a little strained talking about Kazuo being with Kayano.

“- Yes… Don’t tell me Kayano is dragging you along as well? “ Kazuo felt a little stressed.

“- Unfortunately you’re right… Yoko was supposed to go as well but she was busy so it’s only me, you, Kayano and Mabuchi… “ Haruka also seemed to be a little stressed.

“- Well… Nothing we can do… Let’s do our best at pretending to not know each other, hopefully Mabuchi will back us up since he knows. “ Kazuo sighed.

*- Hopefully… *

“- Ah, I will try… I’ll go stand over here now, Kayano should be here soon. “ Haruka crossed the opening known as the gate and stood against the wall on that side.

*- Alright… This will probably be fine… Just have to remember that we’ve only met once and not say anything unnecessary. * After a deep breath, Kazuo felt positive.

Just a couple of minutes later, Mabuchi and Kayano arrived at the gates and the four of them started to walk towards the station. Mabuchi was smirking as he himself realized what kind of situation Kazuo was in but now he had transitioned to talking with Kayano, after all he was someone who easily could start conversations and keep them going. Kazuo felt a little nervous now that it was only him and Haruka not talking.

*- I should say something… * Kazuo decided.

“- Hey… You’re Hayami Haruka- san, right? We haven’t talked much. “ Kazuo felt really uncomfortable trying to talk to Haruka like she was a stranger.

“- Ah, yeah… Nice to meet you Nagahama-kun, sorry about the stuff on the first day. “ Haruka obviously, to Kazuo at least, felt really weird as well. The two of them exchanged basic conversation starters until they realized that Kayano and Mabuchi had gone quiet and was glancing back at them.

“- What are you looking at Kayano…? “ Haruka had a slight trace of irritation in her voice.

“- Oh? Nothing! You two seem to get along much better now… “ Kayano mellowed out.

*- Ops… Forgot about that… * Kazuo started to sweat a little, thankfully he didn’t have to answer for Haruka.

“- What’s so weird with that? Isn’t it good? You always tell me I’m too short fused with people… “ Haruka managed to sound pretty convincing.

“- That’s true, good job! “ The energetic Kayano took place again as she suddenly turned around and grabbed Kazou’s arm.

“- I want to get along better with Kazuo as well! But we already get along pretty well, don’t we Kazuo? “ Kayano looked him in the eyes and was very obviously suggesting something.

“- Um… Well… Yeah…? “ As Kazuo was getting hit on he caught a glance of Haruka and quickly realized she wasn’t pleased, in fact it was the same glare Kazuo noticed earlier in the classroom.

*- Wha…? Is she jealous? Thanks Kayano! “ Kazuo suddenly felt really happy and his eyes lit up. Suddenly Kayano linked arms with him.

“- Kazuo? Why do you look so happy all of a sudden? Is it because of me? “ Kazuo was surprised by the sudden arm lock and the question.

“- Yes! Wait… No no no! I didn’t mean it like that! “ Kazuo realized what he just said and expected an even worse glare from Haruka which he subsequently got. Haruka’s face wasn’t only angry however since she felt embarrassed being jealous of Kayano locking arms with Kazuo. A misconception was something Kazuo certainly wasn’t hoping for however and now it was too late to clear it up. Kayano kept flirting with him all the way to the station as Haruka’s mood grew worse and worse as she helplessly had to watch Kazuo and Kayano get along. Once in the cafe, Kayano and Kazuo ended up beside each other and Haruka got her seat beside Mabuchi who only smiled as he got to enjoy the situation.

“- looks like those two are getting along, huh? “ Mabuchi leaned in towards Haruka with his best smirk.

“- Shut up. “ Haruka nudged away Mabuchi with her elbow as she felt more annoyed looking at Kayano flirting about with stupid Kazuo. After twenty more minutes Haruka couldn’t take it anymore and suddenly stood up with her bag.

“- I’ll go home now. “ She didn’t bother trying to hide her disgruntled mood. Kayano tried to ask what was wrong but Haruka had already fully committed to leaving. Mabuchi giggled for himself and got a look from Kazuo who was also feeling like leaving. He was still happy with having Haruka be jealous but knew it was a problem as well. Was she going to be angry and constantly sulk and pout until Kazuo would go mad? After some more time and Kayano trying out different sweets Kazuo finally got to leave and make his way home to Haruka. Hopefully he would get to clear up the misunderstanding and she would be fine with it.