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Chapter 12

  (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…

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