Classroom of the Elite (LN)

The promised time was 4 o'clock in the evening, however 10 minutes prior to that Sakura was already waiting with a complicated expression on her face. She's probably thinking a lot of things over in her head, her expression changes with each second. A crestfallen face, a nervous face, a worried face. I wonder what she's thinking of deep in her heart.

"Did I keep you waiting?".

"Ahh".

As I called out to her, Sakura slowly raised her head and hesitantly approached me.

It would be best if, by calling out to her, I could reduce Sakura's burden even a little.

"Thank you, Ayanokouji-kun...for coming here".

"It's nothing for you to thank me over. So, what's the matter?".

"Yeah.....that's, about the letter you handed over to me yesterday.....".

"Did something happen?".

To have called me, who's met with Yamauchi, out means there's something she's thought about. But perhaps there's still some resistance left in her towards talking about it since the words don't seem to be coming out of her smoothly.

"Don't be reserved---".

I tried to cut in by saying that but just as I did, I could see the figures of several students coming towards the hallway. Judging from their jersey-wearing appearances, it must be related to club activities.

"Sorry but shall we walk around a bit?".

"Ehh? Ahh, ok".

It wouldn't be any good right now to be seen by someone. We walked towards the back of the school building where trees grew to avoid the eyes of people. A place like that where normally people don't visit would carry very little risk of being seen by the eyes of people but this place seems to be carefully maintained.

It would be troublesome if we ran into Yamauchi if he mistakenly happened to arrive at the meeting spot early, I'd better finish it up quickly. As I thought that, Sakura mysteriously enough bent her neck, spreading out her right hand as she looked towards the sky.

"What's wrong---?".

Almost as soon as I asked that question, I realized the reason behind Sakura's mysterious actions.

"Rain, it's raining".

I had thought the skies were clear, but all of a sudden, rain began to pour down heavily.

It was, of course, a temporary thing but the downpour was far more intense than I had expected and soaked our clothes.

"Damn, let's go back to the hallway for now!".

Grabbing a nodding Sakura, I headed back down the path we came from. The time we were exposed to the rain was less than a minute but since it had rained heavily it seems Sakura's clothes were completely soaked. I could see even her hair was drenched.

"Unlucky...are you ok, Sakura?".

"I-I'm fine, what about Ayanokouji-kun?".

"I'm fine too".

I sighed slightly while watching the rain which only intensified. What terrible timing the rain had.

"Please use this if you'd like".

Hesitantly, Sakura hands over a handkerchief to me. I remembered that handkerchief. It's the same one lent back during the uninhabited island.

"I'm fine, please use it yourself. You'll catch a cold" I told her.

I can't wipe myself off first, not when a girl's drenched in front of me. But even so, Sakura stood on her tiptoes and used that handkerchief to wipe raindrops off my soaked hair. Carried by the smell of the rain, I could smell Sakura's scent tickling my nose.

"I'm surprisingly sturdy" she said as she wiped the raindrops off my hair, and then from my neck.

"..........".

I snuck a glance at Sakura, who was standing by my side silently. I could somehow understand what Yamauchi is aiming for now, I felt like. Right now it's in the middle of summer vacation and we were both in our casual clothes, but if this were her school uniform it might have been an excellent situation. The rain falling accident did happen, but that too could be considered an event.

A suddenly falling rain. The two of us panicking and running towards a roof to hide under. And without stopping...we'd talk until slowly but surely we run out of topics. And our line of sight would intertwine, and we could hear each other exhaling. It's a sort of scene men fantasize about.

But for some reason, inside my head, for a moment I could see that. What Yamauchi desired. This may be a feeling analogous to that.

"I wonder if it'll stop soon...?".

"I looked it up on my phone just now but, it seems to be just a passing shower. If we wait a bit it should stop".

"I see..."

"Ahh, sorry. Even though you had something important to do after this I ended up letting you get wet".

"No, it's fine. It's not important at all" Sakura replied.

Sakura said it was not important. In other words that means---

"I...wonder what I should do.....".

"There's nothing to do but answer according to what you feel. Accept, reject. Or start as friends first".

The exact steps depend on the individual. I'm not going to say anything unnecessary.

"Of course you can always hold off on your answer, and if it's too embarrassing, I can give it to Yamauchi instead".

Yamauchi surely won't desire something like that but if Sakura wishes for something like that, I would have no choice but to fulfill her wish.

".....no, I'll tell him myself....I probably have to tell it".

"I suppose you're right. It's also for Yamauchi's sake".

"Yeah. I understand.....I'll reject him".

Before giving Yamauchi his answer, she let me hear her answer first.

"I see".

I did understand that there was nearly a 100% chance it would be like that from the flow of the conversation until now. But it's important that Sakura says that from her own mouth.

"Ahh---, uuu---, umm. I don't think I have the right to deny someone else's feelings. I think that might be too presumptuous of me...but....".

For some reason, towards giving a rejection, Sakura seems to be assaulted by strong feelings of guilt.

"There's nothing for you to be apologetic about. Basically, it's just a one-sided feeling from the side of the confessor. Accepting it is only in the case that you also happen to like them, if not it's not a strange thing to reject them. There's no such thing as not having a right like that" I told her.

Feeling like I didn't want her to misunderstand that alone, I strongly told her that. I think the rain should be stopping soon, but there's no telling when Yamauchi would show up.

"It's better if I went back, right? I'll head back for now".

The rain's still slightly intense, but I made a step to head back.

"N-No! If Ayanokouji-kun's no longer here, I won't be able to speak anymore, that's why...please...".

She grabs me by my sleeve. And gripped it tightly.

"Please...don't leave me alone".

"If that's your wish".

Answering shortly like that, I decided to stay under the roof once more. Sakura's been a help to me in various ways, after all. Then, about 15 minutes later, Yamauchi arrived. But even so, that was rather fast of him. His expression was more rigid that I had ever seen him before.

"W-why are you here, Ayanokouji?".

"Sorry. Sakura said she didn't have the courage to meet with only the two of you so I was asked to be here. Please don't mind me".

Saying that surely won't make him feel comfortable, but Yamauchi has no other choice but to switch over to this.

For a moment I thought something was suspicious, but Yamauchi was desperately attempting to focus on the Sakura in front of his eyes.

"S-sorry for keeping you waiting, you read my letter".

"Yes.....umm......please let me ask just one thing".

"You can ask me anything.....".

Sakura tightens her grip on her skirt and squeezes out a voice from inside her throat.

"W-why do you like...me? There are plenty of people, cuter than me......".

"I prefer Sakura!".

Just like that, he screamed it out. Sakura's shoulders jumped as she flinched.

"S-sorry. I didn't mean to use a loud voice.....s-so what's your answer?".

A clumsy answer to a clumsy confession.

Since I happened to be listening in on someone else's affairs, I ended up thinking they should say this or that to make it better. But for the man himself, he's nervous enough that his heart is about to leap out of his mouth so he's not in much of a position to think properly. No matter what, he is unable to choose the best option.

"I.....I'm sorry!".

Standing in front of Yamauchi with slightly reddish eyes, Sakura bowed deeply while saying that.

At that moment, the light of the last hope smoldering within Yamauchi crumbled and scattered away.

"I-I, towards your feelings, umm, can't answer them".

How much courage must Sakura have summoned up to be able to twist that word. For the first time, I saw in front of my, witnessed strangely close up, a form of 'romance'. Surely Yamauchi, too, did not wish to be dumped in a place with a third-party present. Even though it could not be helped, there's no mistaking that I made him feel complicated emotions.

"I see.....".

Having understood, Yamauchi seems to be desperately attempting to swallow the situation. Just like Sakura, his voice seemed to be trembling slightly, but I could not bring myself to laugh at that figure.

"Thank you, Sakura. For deliberately, coming all the way out here".

"G-Goodbye......!".

No longer able to withstand the heavy atmosphere of this place, Sakura deeply bowed her head before Yamauchi and scurried away.

"Ahh.......".

The arm Yamauchi powerlessly extended did not reach Sakura. I could not do anything but stand by silently as the first romance I had seen concluded. Yamauchi tried to resist his disappointment for a while but eventually he raised his head and looked at me.

I wonder if he will direct jeers towards me who had been intruding on the place of his confession like a disturbing insect.

Or perhaps he'll let out a burst of anger? In any case, he seems to be preparing to let out his discontent and unhappiness. But---

"Hah, this is embarrassing. To be dumped in front of a friend. My face's just about to burst into flames".

And without blaming me at all, he said that. On his face, the shock from having been dumped was oozing out, but that wasn't all.

"Yeah, how do I put it, umm.....I feel relieved, I suppose".

Yamauchi, whose disposition now seemed sunny somehow, said that while looking straight at me.

"How do I put it, I was an idiot. I was just troubling Sakura, I just finally realized that. To not hurt me, who she didn't even like, she tried to choose her words. I'm full of guilt. I'm free to like her but I've learned that conveying your feelings also carries a responsibility to it" Yamauchi said.

As I glanced at Yamauchi's shoulder, I saw that his clothes were also wet. In other words, he's been standing outside way before the promised time even came. Perhaps he had been nearby worrying the whole time while thinking about the confession.

"You're not as depressed as I expected" I said.

"I, a shock is a shock, but it's not that bad. Sakura is cute and I do want her as my girlfriend. I did think that but I also thought differently. Just looking at her face or her body, those were just shallow actions I took. How do I put it, I didn't really like her from the bottom of my heart. Probably, if I had really liked her, if I were rejected at that moment I would feel more shock, more suffering, more sadness and more frustration I think" he said.

I dared say nothing in response. I silently listened to all the words that Yamauchi had to spit out.

"That's why---today I'm graduating from this random love of mine. I'll find a girl I can really come to like, I'll start with that" Yamauchi said.

It seems from this rejection, Yamauchi has become a better man.

"I'm grateful to you, Ayanokouji. I apologize for getting you involved in something strange like this".

"Don't worry about it. Because we're.....friends".

"Here, I'll lend this to you. You did say you wanted to borrow a phone, right?".

"Are you sure? Didn't you say it was conditional on the success of the confession?" I asked.

"This is special. But you better give it back right away".

Saying that, Yamauchi strided forward in the same direction Sakura ran off in. And when I realized it, a ray of sunlight had begun to pierce through the openings in the rainclouds.