A Pretty Girl Has Her First Kiss Stolen By an Equally Handsome Classmate - Episode 1.2

November 12 (Friday)

I walked up the stairs from the central exit of my home station and stepped onto the street, continuing along my usual route to school. I entered the convenience store across from the drugstore and grabbed a bottle of drinking yogurt—the same one Shizuku Mizuhara gave me last week—before lining up at the register.

Just like last time, I pressed the intercom button for Room 605. I was prepared in case the same thing happened as before, but this time, a response came quickly.

“Hello?”

“You really came.”

“Why wouldn’t I? I said I would.”

“I’ll come down, so just wait there.”

The connection cut off abruptly.

As I pulled the printouts from my backpack to get them ready, my classmate had already arrived downstairs.

Shizuku Mizuhara stepped into the entrance hall. She wore a thick navy-blue sweater and loose gray pants, her hair tied back in a simple ponytail. Back when she was coming to school, she often wore her hair the same way. But seeing her like this, in casual clothes instead of her uniform, gave off a completely different impression. It made her look… vulnerable somehow.

“Here’s the printouts, and also, a little something in return for last time.”

Along with the papers, I handed her a bottle of drinking yogurt.

“You didn’t have to,” she said with a small laugh, taking it anyway.

That smile still felt like it was just for show.

“See you.”

She turned to leave, and unlike last week, I didn’t try to stop her. I just said, “See you next week,” before walking off in the opposite direction, exiting through the front doors.

The dry air brushed against my cheeks—I could feel the season changing.

November 19 (Friday)

I pressed the intercom button.

Mizuhara came down right away and took the printouts as usual.

Maybe she had already gone out earlier—this time, she wasn’t in her loungewear. She was wearing a light brown blouse paired with wide-legged pants.

“Did you go somewhere?”

“Shopping.”

“Want to go somewhere together next time? We could invite Komazawa and Yamaguchi too.”

“Ugh, that sounds like a hassle.”

With a polite but dismissive smile, Mizuhara immediately turned me down, and just like that, the conversation ended.

She wasn’t interested.

“If you’re feeling fine, why don’t you come to school?”

I asked her the simple question that had been on my mind.

The idea of “not going to school” didn’t match with the person standing in front of me.

Mizuhara had told me she wasn’t sick. She dressed well and had no problem going out on her own.

At my question, she made a face—one that clearly said she found it annoying.

“Do I have to go to school just because I feel fine?”

“You always seem to be in a good mood, Wakamatsu. I guess someone like you wouldn’t understand.”

“You’re not feeling fine?”

“Who knows.”

Her reply was vague, like always.

“Even if someone looks fine, they could still be struggling inside,” she said.

“Really?”

“Yeah. So what you just said? It could make a lot of people upset.”

Her words hit me harder than I expected.

“…I see. Sorry for assuming you were okay.”

Looking back at my own words, I realized they were thoughtless. I apologized honestly.

“That’s probably why people like you so much, Wakamatsu.”

Mizuhara smiled slightly as she inserted her key into the intercom panel.

The door to the lobby unlocked with a click.

“See you,” she said before disappearing inside.