"Amane, are you asleep yet?"
Amane, who was in the middle of chatting with Karuizawa, glanced at the message on her phone.
She'd initially planned to reply with "not yet," but she paused to think. Then she pouted and decided to pretend she hadn't seen it.
Hmph.
So now she remembers me?
"Are you asleep?"
She probably just wants to use me as a body pillow.
I see right through you~
A smug smile spread across Amane's face.
She even started humming a little tune.
She went back to asking Karuizawa what kinds of small gifts girls usually like.
Originally, Amane had considered asking boys like Hirata—the type who were obviously popular with girls.
But after thinking it over, if there was anyone in Class D who could be called both trendy and knowledgeable about girls' preferences…
The only candidate, really…was probably Karuizawa alone.
Even though there'd been some awkwardness between them before, Karuizawa was now quite enthusiastically recommending some cute little accessories to Amane.
Just then, her phone buzzed with another message.
"Read."
Oh no.
Amane covered her face with her hands. She'd forgotten the most annoying feature of this messaging app:
Sometimes, even if you wanted to pretend you hadn't seen a message, the moment you looked, it would mark it as "Read."
How was she supposed to play asleep now?
"I was just in the shower, so I'm still awake. Did you need something, Horikita-san?"
Amane quickly sent a reply.
The reason she replied was…when she'd checked the message earlier, the second line had also been marked "Read."
If she kept pretending to be asleep now, Horikita might actually come pounding on her door.
Her own message was quickly marked as read, but surprisingly, Horikita didn't reply right away.
Maybe she was busy with something.
Amane went back to her conversation with Karuizawa. About ten minutes later, Karuizawa said she was heading to bed.
They bid each other goodnight, but when Amane checked, Horikita still hadn't replied.
She immediately thought about sending another message, but just then, her ahoge suddenly perked up.
Wait.
Something felt off!
Logically, someone as socially unaware as Amane should seem pretty naive in most situations, but when it came to matters of love, it was like she had a natural intuition.
"If I reply to Suzune now, it'll look like I'm too eager… That means… I'll lose the upper hand. Hmph~ Let's see who can hold out longer."
Amane set her phone aside, buried her head under the covers, but kept her ears perked, listening intently for any notification from Horikita.
Just as Amane had guessed, when Horikita saw that Amane seemed reluctant to reply,
She felt a little disheartened.
And then there was that glaring "Horikita-san."
If she could turn back time, she'd slap her past self. Why did she have to make her change how she addressed her?
Horikita wanted to apologize, but her pride just wouldn't let her. Especially since she had no idea if Amane even still cared about her.
Horikita assessed her own state of mind.
If she were to ask Amane:
"Can we still be friends?"
And if Amane said no…
Horikita felt like she might not be able to control her emotions.
There was a time when she didn't care what others said or thought about her.
She didn't care whether she had friends or not. Whenever she read those classic literary scenes where characters sacrificed everything for friendship, Horikita would only respond with a cold sneer.
Because friendship was the last thing she needed.
She could live perfectly fine on her…
Live, my foot!!!
Pushing away her best friend, only to watch her get close to someone else…left standing on the sidelines, watching with envy.
What kind of logic was that?
Horikita Suzune, were you out of your damn mind?
If you wanted to protect her from the rumors, couldn't you have discussed it with her first?
Did you have to go and play the self-sacrificing martyr?
So caught up in your own noble suffering.
And now she's gone. Happy?
She won't even call you "Suzune" anymore.
Now you're just left waiting anxiously for her reply.
Since when…have you become this pathetic?
Is it really so hard to lower your head and say, "I'm sorry, I was wrong?"
Maybe…if it were anyone else, she could even get on her knees and beg for forgiveness.
But the person on the other side was Amane.
She didn't want…to ruin the image Amane had of her.
Maybe the reason Amane was drawn to her in the first place was because of her aloof, detached demeanor…
"Horikita Suzune, you're getting really good at making excuses for yourself, aren't you?"
Horikita Suzune stared at her own reflection in the dark phone screen and let out a self-mocking laugh.
What should she do now?
If she replied directly, would it seem like she was too eager to talk?
Maybe she should wait for Amane to message her first?
That way, she could keep some semblance of control.
But Horikita waited… and waited…
Until 1 a.m., and there was still no message from Amane.
Did she fall asleep?
Or did she just not have any interest in talking to her anymore?
Anxiety gnawed at Horikita, making her pace around her room.
If she kept avoiding things like this, their relationship would never move forward. She had to take the initiative!
Unable to hold back any longer, Horikita finally sent a message.
"I accidentally fell asleep earlier. Are you still awake?"
Mmm.
The conversations between girls were full of little lies.
But this time, the message wasn't marked as "Read."
That was because…
Amane was…
Actually fast asleep.
Having buried herself under the blankets, Amane was now sleeping soundly, completely missing the notification sound.
And so, Horikita waited almost the entire night.
Luckily, the next day was the weekend. Otherwise, in her current state, Horikita would be in no condition to attend class.
Early in the morning, Horikita could hear strange, excited noises coming from Amane's room, but she could no longer fight off her heavy drowsiness and collapsed onto her bed, falling asleep.
At some point, the message on her phone had been marked as "Read."
Amane had made a point of waking up early today.
After grabbing breakfast at the bakery, she headed toward the shopping mall. She planned to buy some small gifts that girls would like.
Preferably the kind that, regardless of how close you were, the other person would still accept.
Amane browsed for a long time.
Finally, she settled on a necklace that cost 20,000 points.
It had a little heart-shaped pendant in the center. Of course, that wasn't what caught Amane's attention.
It was the price.
This necklace actually cost 20,000 points!
Might as well just rob me!
A pork cutlet only costs 170 points.
A pound of pork is only 450 points.
This necklace costs the equivalent of 44 pounds of pork!
No one knows how Amane manages to compare a necklace to pork, but she was utterly shocked.
You don't realize how expensive daily life is until you're managing your own points.
This whole social gift-giving thing… maybe she should do less of it in the future.
After buying the necklace, Amane carefully picked out a gift box and planned to give it to someone as a present.
As she passed by Horikita's door, she ran into Horikita, who was on her way downstairs to take out the trash.
"Amane… good morning."
"Good morning, Horikita-san."
Horikita noticed the gift in Amane's hand.
"Did someone give that to you, Amane?"
It wouldn't be unusual for someone to give Amane a small gift every now and then.
But this one was wrapped so exquisitely.
It made her curious.
"No, I'm planning to give this to someone…"
Give it to someone?
It couldn't be…Horikita's eyes lit up with hope.
--+--
T/N: While I am an inexperienced Translator, I have a Patreon! While it may seem empty as of now, webnovel will get 3 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
[email protected]/AspenTL
If you guys wanna check it out.