The morning sunlight was perfect for a walk. On the way to school, Saiki and Kubo Nagisa were walking together (as if). Fortunately, there was also a Shiraishi tagging along beside them.
As soon as Saiki and Kubo Nagisa stepped into the classroom, Shikimori and Izumi came over. "Good morning, Saiki. Did you come to school with Kubo-san today?"
The former's tone carried a hint of disappointment, while the latter sounded cheerful.
Saiki patted Shiraishi Junta on the shoulder.
[Look, there's also Shiraishi-kun.]
Shikimori and Izumi jumped in surprise. "Whoa, no way! I didn't even notice. So Shiraishi-kun, you were here too."
"Good morning!" Shiraishi said before returning to his seat. He was already used to this.
(Yare yare, even when walking with someone as popular as Kubo-san, no one notices?)
Saiki had originally thought that if someone with such low presence stood next to a highly popular person, their presence would naturally increase. Apparently not.
After the first period ended and just as the second period was about to begin, Shiraishi went up to the teacher's podium, said a few words, and returned to his seat.
"Shiraishi-kun always goes to ask the teacher questions after class, huh."
Kubo Nagisa said while looking at Shiraishi.
Shiraishi turned around, saw Kubo poking Saiki's arm, and replied, "I just go to remind the teacher that I didn't skip class."
"Huh? But you're always right here."
Shiraishi turned his head back. "Even though I'm here, to make the teacher actually see me, I have to speak really loudly. That might make people think I'm weird."
Saiki and Kubo thought at the same time [Poor guy.]
"So Shiraishi-kun has never been called on by a teacher before?"
"Nope."
Kubo said somewhat enviously, "That's nice. Then, Shiraishi-kun, would you ever want to speak up in front of the whole class just once?"
Shiraishi Junta: "No way. That sounds like a hassle, and I'd be really nervous."
"Oh, really?"
Kubo then turned to Saiki and said, "Hey～ Saiki-kun, don't you want to see…"
[I don't. I won't let you disrupt Shiraishi-kun's normal life.]
Saiki rejected her firmly and decisively. He could guess with his toes what this girl was planning.
"Hey! This way Shiraishi-kun's presence might actually go up. Aren't you curious, Saiki-kun? You don't want Shiraishi-kun's presence to stay this low forever, do you?"
Saiki paused for a moment, seemingly thinking it over, then glanced at Kubo Nagisa.
The latter smiled. "Hehe."
Shiraishi shivered. Hearing the conversation behind him, he had a really bad feeling.
[Don't tell me…]
The teacher on the podium was explaining a problem and turned to face the class. "So, who can answer this question?"
Kubo Nagisa bounced up, raised her hand, and shouted, "Me, teacher!"
The teacher smiled approvingly. "Good job, Kubo-san."
Then, in the next second, Kubo Nagisa clenched her small, soft pink fist with her left hand, tapped her own head, stuck out her tongue, and said, "I don't know❛‿˂̵✧."
"But I think Shiraishi-kun knows the answer!"
(I knew it.)
Shiraishi jolted. [No way.]
The teacher on the podium noticed Shiraishi. "Oh, so Shiraishi is here after all. Then you answer this one."
Shiraishi slowly stood up and looked back at Saiki and Kubo. Kubo gave him a thumbs-up, while Saiki looked at him with encouraging eyes ꒰^ↀωↀ^꒱❤❤
[No, Saiki-kun, Kubo-san, this isn't something worth giving a thumbs-up for! I didn't ask you to do this! You really did a number on me (இωஇ ).]
(Just so we're clear, this has nothing to do with me. I didn't do this.)
Then Shiraishi looked at Kubo. "I don't know how to do this question at all."
The latter held up two fingers in a peace sign. "It's fine, no problem at all."
[I've got a huge problem here.]
He then turned to Saiki with pitiful eyes (*꒦ິ⌓꒦ີ)
[South and North Australopithecus.]
"South and North Australopithecus."
"Correct. You may sit down."
Shiraishi let out a sigh of relief and sat back down.
[Seriously, you knew the answer to that one, didn't you?] Saiki looked at Kubo.
"Hehe, you saw right through me."
Saiki looked at Kubo speechlessly. [You're third in our grade. It'd be weirder if you didn't know this question.]
"That's not entirely true. For example, I don't know question number 5 at all. If the teacher calls on me for that one, I'm done for. So if that happens, Saiki-kun, you have to help me out, okay?"
"Then next, Kubo will explain question number 5."
…
"Ahhh?" ʕ(ⓛ–ⓛ)ʔ
(Being called on by the teacher twice in a row is actually pretty impressive.)
Kubo looked at Saiki with a soft, weak voice. "Saiki-kun, help me."
[Yare yare.]
Kubo Nagisa: "Ya, yare yare."
(((o(ﾟ▽ﾟ)o)))
Saiki: "Are you a genius or what?"
…
After school
Kubo weakly slumped over her desk. "Wuuu, Saiki-kun."
[This has nothing to do with me. Didn't I give you the answer later?]
Kubo puffed out her cheeks. "That's not the point! The whole class laughed at me. Won't you comfort me even a little?"
[I refuse.]
"Saiki-kun is so——heart——less——!"
[Thanks for the compliment.]
Then Saiki stood up, picked up his bag, and prepared to leave. But Kubo grabbed his arm, pressing it right into that valley. "Wait, don't leave so fast. I'm not done yet."
Saiki tugged his arm a few times without success and gave up. [What is it?]
Kubo picked up her phone with her left hand and pointed at an app on the screen. "Saiki-kun, do you use this app to chat?"
Saiki glanced at it. [Yeah, I do.]
Saiki had already noticed that a strange atmosphere was building up in the classroom.
"Didn't expect that. Saiki's really hiding his depths."
"Wuuu, he's already so close with Shikimori-san, and now he's not even letting my Kubo-san go."
The boys in the class were distorted with jealousy.
Even Shiina Mahiru turned around and looked a few times before lowering her head, seemingly thinking about something.
There was no helping it. Kubo-san was one of the top beauties in the class, with a slender waist, graceful curves, and those slightly clenched little hands—all attributes that added points. She was on the same level as Shikimori and Shiina Mahiru.
Kitagawa Marin: "Hey～ hey, Shikimori, look how close those two are. Aren't you going to go stop them?"
Right now, black aura was practically rising off Shikimori. A girl consumed by resentment could be pretty terrifying, and even the usually bold Kitagawa Marin didn't dare get too close.
What made it even more infuriating was that Shikimori had never even gotten the chance to exchange contact info with Saiki Kusuo. Seeing this scene made her heart ache, giving her that classic "But I was here first" feeling.
[I was the first one to meet Saiki. I used to sit right next to him too. So why do I feel like the third wheel in a romance manga? It's so frustrating.]
At this moment, Shikimori was radiating full "white studies" energy, glaring at Kubo as if she were looking at a blonde homewrecker.
Kubo Nagisa seemed completely unaware of the situation in the classroom. "So then…"
"Ahem."