A Pretty Girl Has Her First Kiss Stolen By an Equally Handsome Classmate - Episode 2.18

Tuesday, June 21

The first seat change of the new school year took place.

Wakamatsu’s new seat was in the second row from the hallway, all the way at the back.

Shizuku Mizuhara was now seated in the row closest to the hallway, second from the back.

Without meaning to, the distance between them had shortened.

Sitting in front of Wakamatsu was Chisato Wakumura, who turned around and smiled brightly, looking genuinely happy.

On the other hand, Mizuhara remained calm, simply watching the boys messing around at the teacher’s desk without even glancing in Wakamatsu’s direction.

When Wakamatsu tried to start a conversation, “Mizuhara, what are you having for lunch today?” Wakumura interrupted.

“Want to go to the cafeteria together?”

“Ah—uh, hey, Mizuhara, why don’t you come too?”

“Huh?” Mizuhara furrowed her brows and finally turned to look at him.

“I’m fine. You two should just go together.”

“No, come on! We made plans today, remember?”

That earned him a second “Huh?”

Of course, that reaction made sense—there had been no such promise at all.

Since Wakumura was there, Mizuhara couldn’t react too harshly. Taking advantage of that, Wakamatsu pressed on.

“Right, we did,” Mizuhara said reluctantly, agreeing.

And so, the three of them ended up going to the cafeteria for lunch.

After the first period, as Wakamatsu was heading to the restroom, Shizuku Mizuhara suddenly pulled him aside.

She led him to a secluded stairwell landing and cornered him.

“What are you thinking?” she demanded.

“I mean, I really was planning to invite you,” Wakamatsu replied.

“I’m sure Wakumura wouldn’t like that either. You need to think about people’s feelings more.”

“She actually said she wanted to talk to you before.”

Mizuhara let out an exaggerated sigh.

“At least take off that matching ring,” she instructed.

Wakamatsu reluctantly agreed.

The cafeteria was crowded.

They lined up near the entrance to buy meal tickets and passed the time while waiting.

Wakamatsu ordered the daily special, while both Mizuhara and Wakumura chose Set A.

They handed their meal tickets to the cafeteria lady and waited for their food with trays in hand.

While waiting slightly apart from the other two, Wakamatsu heard someone call out from behind.

“Excuse me, are you Wakamatsu-senpai?”

When he turned around, he saw three unfamiliar girls.

“Uh, yeah, that’s me,” he replied.

“Oh, sorry! We thought it might be you.”

It seemed they had never met before. Since they called him “senpai,” they were probably first-years.

“Can we ask you something?” one of them asked.

“How can we work with you?”

“W-Work with me?”

“Like helping organize school events. Is there anything we can do?”

While his meal was placed on his tray, Wakamatsu thought it over.

Ah, so they’re interested in event planning. The student council allows members to join other clubs too, so it’d be great if they joined.

Though, that’s probably not what they’re looking for.

“We’ll be recruiting helpers and referees for the class match event.”

“Will we get to see you there, Wakamatsu-senpai?”

“I’ll be going around checking different areas, so yeah, probably.”

After giving them the details about the recruitment, Wakamatsu looked around for Mizuhara and Wakumura.

The two were already seated, chatting and eating together.

Carrying his tray over, he apologized and sat across from them.

“You should’ve eaten with those girls instead, Wakamatsu,” Mizuhara said.

“Haha, yeah, you should’ve gone, Kaede-chan,” Wakumura added playfully.

“When you sit nearby, I feel eyes on us from all directions,” Mizuhara continued.

Surprisingly, Wakumura agreed with Mizuhara’s teasing.

“That’s so mean,” Wakamatsu laughed, brushing it off as he bit into his croquette.

The hot potato filling crumbled in his mouth, burning him—he had a sensitive tongue.

Seeing his reaction, the two girls burst out laughing.

“You two seem to be getting along well.”

“We bond over talking about how troublesome you are, Wakamatsu.”

“Troublesome?”

The two girls exchanged glances and laughed again.

“Kaede-chan, don’t give people the wrong idea,” Mizuhara warned.

“Those girls don’t actually care about the event. They just want an excuse to talk to you.”

“Huh? But they said they wanted to help…”

“Ahh, chasing after clueless guys must be exhausting,” Wakumura sighed.

Mizuhara calmly sipped her miso soup, then let out a small breath.

As if synchronized, Wakumura finished her soup at the same time.

She glanced around, scanning the crowded cafeteria. Was she looking for someone?

Curious, Wakamatsu observed her while eating his rice.

“I really feel like people are staring at us,” Wakumura muttered.

“Yeah, maybe we shouldn’t come here with Wakamatsu anymore. It’s too distracting,” Mizuhara agreed.

Wakamatsu didn’t really notice anything unusual.

As he poked at his salad with his chopsticks, someone called out, “Ah! It’s Wakamatsu-senpai!”

Looking up, he saw the first-years from earlier—now a group of seven—staring at him.

Since they called out to him, he gave a small wave.

The group squealed in excitement before hurrying out of the cafeteria.

Across from him, Mizuhara and Wakumura frowned in exasperation.

“You shouldn’t have waved. Are you trying to act like an idol?”

“That’s a bit harsh, Mizuhara.”

Maybe it was because of Wakumura’s influence, but Mizuhara’s usual reserved attitude was slipping.

“Still,” Wakumura said thoughtfully.

“Being someone special to a person like that… that would be happiness, wouldn’t it?”

She said it with a dreamy expression.

Wakamatsu thought that sounded just like a princess—romantic and girlish.

He turned to look at Mizuhara.

Then, he froze.

Mizuhara Shizuku had an entirely different expression.

Her face had gone pale, as if she were terrified of something.

“Mizuhara?” Wakamatsu called out.

She suddenly stood up. “Sorry, I’m going back first,” she said quickly and left.

Even Wakumura looked surprised, but after a pause, she smiled as usual.

“Kaede-chan, want to trade some of your croquette for my hamburger?”

“Ah, sure, but sorry, I already took a bite.”

She skillfully split her hamburger with her chopsticks and placed half on Wakamatsu’s plate.

Wakamatsu tried to do the same, but his croquette crumbled apart.

Apologizing, he placed the messy piece on her plate.

Wakumura smiled brightly, taking a bite.

“It’s delicious,” she said, her whole body expressing joy.

“Even if you’re popular at school,” she said softly, looking down,
“I still want to chase after you.”

“Mizuhara didn’t like it, but I do.”

“Huh?”

“A person who’s kind to everyone, someone who seems unreachable.”

Her gaze locked onto Wakamatsu’s, unwavering.

He met her eyes, sensing her determination.

“So, just wait for me.”

There was intensity in her words—an unmistakable passion.

Wakamatsu could feel that she had deep feelings for someone.

A love too strong to ignore.

Back in the classroom, he spotted Mizuhara chatting with Itohara, her usual color back in her face.

Feeling relieved, Wakamatsu let out a breath.