(Aika’s POV — Thursday)
Something feels… off today.
Not bad. Just… quiet.
Like the class is missing its background noise.
And that background noise has a name: Kazuma.
No dumb questions. No whispered complaints about math being illegal. No doodles of angry vegetables in the corner of his notebook.
It’s suspiciously peaceful.
I don’t like it.
“Where’s Kazama?” someone asks before homeroom.
“Maybe he finally got arrested,” someone else jokes.
I glance at his empty seat beside mine.
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He’s never been absent before.
Not that I was counting.
Okay, maybe I was counting a little.
First period crawls by. Second period is worse.
By third, I’m actually missing him saying something dumb so I can roll my eyes.
Instead, I end up paying attention in math.
Gross.
I send a quick message during break:
“Did math finally finish you off?”
It takes a minute before I get a reply.
Kazama:
“Close. My sister’s sick. I stayed home to take care of her. Math is next on the hit list though.”
My eyes widen.
He stayed home… to take care of his sister?
Okay. I didn’t see that one coming.
I text back:
“That’s kind of sweet. Unexpected. I thought you’d pretend to be sick just to escape Hanada-sensei.”
Kazama:
“That was Plan B.”
I smile, before I can stop myself.
Maybe I should send him the notes.
He’ll definitely fail the next quiz if I don’t.
Me:
“Want me to send you the notes?”
Kazama:
“Would you? That’d be lifesaving.”
I feel weirdly… happy he said that.
Me:
“Only if you promise not to draw soup all over them.”
Kazama:
“No promises.”
Lunch break hits. I find myself eating slower than usual. Glancing at the empty chair again.
It’s just one day.
It’s not like I miss him or anything.
…But maybe I kind of do.
To be continued…