Chapter 235: Openly Slacking Off
Naturally, Eriri couldn't attend gym class today. Since gym class was the first period in the afternoon, she took leave before the class even started and went straight to the infirmary to lie down, treating it like a nap.
It was simply openly slacking off, and no one could fault her for it.
Halfway through gym class, Eriri, who was lying on the small bed in the infirmary playing with her phone, heard the infirmary door open and immediately put her phone away.
Then, the curtain used for separation was pulled back, and Kaede, wearing his gym clothes, walked in.
Seeing Eriri's current side-lying posture, Kaede knew the girl was pretending to sleep; she definitely didn't sleep in this position normally.
The female school nurse wasn't around at the moment, so Kaede walked over, sat down on the chair in front of the small bed, and said with a smile, "Alright, there's no one else here. Stop pretending to sleep."
Hearing Kaede's voice, Eriri finally smiled, opened her eyes, and said, "Hehe, Kaede-kun, why are you here?"
"I came to check on you. I figured you wouldn't be sleeping honestly when I arrived."
Sitting up on the bed, Eriri took out her phone and said, "I was watching anime just now. Kaede-kun, do you want to watch it with me?"
Shaking his head, Kaede said, "I shouldn't. I can't be gone too long since I didn't take leave. How are you feeling now? Does it still hurt?"
"It's much better than when I woke up this morning."
Saying this, Eriri picked up the thermos she had brought from home that morning, opened it, and took a sip of the brown sugar water she had brewed fresh at noon.
"I've been exercising lately, so my physical condition is better than before. That's why it's not so serious!"
"That's good."
Kaede nodded, stayed there chatting with Eriri for a while, and then told her to lie down and rest properly before leaving the infirmary just before the school nurse returned.
On the sports field, Usami, who had just finished playing badminton, saw Kaede return and asked, "Asakura-kun, how is Eriri feeling now?"
"She's much better. When I went over, she was pretending to sleep, but she was actually just playing on her phone."
Hearing Kaede say this, Usami also breathed a sigh of relief and said with a smile, "I knew it. Eriri didn't seem to be reacting too badly this morning. She definitely just wanted to slack off. She didn't want to go to class, and she didn't even want to change into her gym clothes just to be counted present."
If it were Usami herself, she wouldn't dare to do what Eriri did; she was too timid.
On the other side, seeing that Kaede had finally returned, Kitamura Yusaku ran over, grabbed his arm, and dragged him toward the basketball court: "Hurry, hurry! Someone ran out of energy. You're up."
"Seriously, man? Class is over in ten minutes!"
"Isn't ten minutes enough time? Hurry up, we're still six points behind!"
"Tch, you guys are terrible. We were ten points ahead when I subbed out. And you're the president of the Softball Club now."
"You just said it yourself—Softball Club! Basketball isn't what I'm best at!!!"
Following Kaede and the others, Usami also arrived at the basketball court, sat down on the girls' side, and watched the game with her hands supporting her chin.
From nearby, the conversations of the girls from Class C drifted into her ears.
"I think Asakura-kun is cooler. Although Kitamura looks great and is the president of the Softball Club."
"I think so too! He looks like a handsome prince normally, but he's also really strong on the sports field!"
"Hehe, you two shouldn't bother. He's already taken."
"Aw... How did Sawamura-san from Class C get him first?"
"Yeah, yeah... someone from another class got him!"
"It's your own fault for being slow. Plus, I heard from Class A that Asakura-kun pursued Sawamura. They've been dating for half a year now, and their relationship is still great. They come to school together every day and leave together after school. You should stop fantasizing."
"Sigh... that's why my attention is now focused on Kitamura."
"Hmm~~ I think Takasu is pretty good too."
Suddenly, Takasu Ryuji, who was dribbling the ball, felt a chill down his spine and almost had the ball stolen. He quickly passed it away.
Scratching his head, he muttered to himself, "Am I being watched? I felt this way before when Taiga was rushing me to cook..."
"Smack!"
Kaede, who had just successfully scored a point, walked over and patted Takasu Ryuji's shoulder: "What are you spacing out for? I think I heard you call Oosaka's name?"
"Ah, nothing." Takasu Ryuji shook his head and said, "I just felt like someone was talking about me, a chill down my spine."
"Hmm?"
Kaede froze for a moment and looked towards the sidelines. Today, only Class C and Class A had P.E. class; Oosaka Taiga's class wasn't there.
Could it be that some other girl had set her sights on Takasu Ryuji? Was this guy about to have a lucky streak in romance?
Kaede couldn't help but glance at Takasu Ryuji again.
"Uh… what kind of look is that?"
Shaking his head, Kaede started to run towards the other side, muttering to himself: "Something's not right, something's not right."
"Hey! What's not right?"
Today's P.E. class, the basketball game between the boys of the two classes, ended in a tie… In the afternoon, after school.
Kaede and Eriri didn't go to the Art Club. After tidying up their things, they left school directly.
Because Eriri said she wanted to eat sweet and sour pork ribs, the two came to a large supermarket and bought a very good piece of ribs in the meat section, along with some other ingredients.
Passing by the snack section, Eriri, who was pushing the shopping cart with him, directly pulled the cart and didn't want to move anymore.
"…Let's not look today, okay?"
Then Eriri stared with wide eyes and said, "Just a little bit! I want to eat chocolate!"
What else could he do? Buy it, of course.
After buying some chocolate and a box of chocolate pies, Eriri was finally pulled away from the snack section by Kaede.
While pulling Eriri, Kaede said, "You don't usually crave chocolate so much. This situation looks so much like a pregnant woman's symptoms to me."
"What? Don't talk nonsense!"
Eriri said with a red face, "Doesn't Kaede-kun know that sweets can make people happy? It's precisely because I'm in pain that I want to eat something sweet!"
"…If you say so, then it is."
"It is, it is!!!"
The two bickered their way to the checkout, where they once again saw the Takanashi sisters whom they had met that morning.
"Ah! Nameless Strong One!" Upon seeing Eriri, Takanashi Rikka, wearing an eye patch, immediately said, "Indeed, everything is the guidance of fate! We meet again! Ugh!"
Then she was tapped on her little head by her sister and quieted down.
The way these sisters interact is truly unique.