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Two stations later, the train came to a stop and the doors opened. Mika and I linked hands again, passed the ticket gate, and then left the station. As expected, tons of gazes fixated on us. Many were students from our school… Mika and I were rather famous, so we often got attention.

Well, we had experienced being the center of attention since forever, so I didn’t think much about it, as long as it didn’t go too far. Not paying whoever was observing us any mind, we walked towards the school.

“Hey, Ayumu. We’ve… always walked together to school, right?”
“Yep, that’s true.”
“Eh-heh-heh… It should be the same as always, but today feels completely different,” she said seriously. “My heart used to beat faster whenever I got close to you while we were walking together, Ayumu… no, it does even now.”
“Ha-ha… So, it’s the same for you. I also enjoy walking together with you… because I care for you!”

That’s some incredibly good atmosphere we got going.

We were just walking together, but it felt like my heart was dancing. Every time we were together, from preschool up to high school, it did. That’s what made it such a weird coincidence that a video game caused me to forget to wait for her.

I coincidentally didn’t walk together with her, then a flowerpot coincidentally dropped on my head and coincidentally hit me in a spot where it caused my death. Then, I coincidentally got sent to another world, where I coincidentally reunited with her.

…Kinda insane, isn’t it?

Mika was staring at me. Similarly, I gazed back at her. She looked as cute as always. It made me want to hug her. But I couldn’t do that right now.
The moment that thought crossed my mind…

“Oh…!” Mika muttered, swiftly hugged my arm, and then started to walk with quick steps.

Before my thoughts had caught up, she took my hand again and walked at a normal pace once more.

“Is something wrong?”
“Ah… well, the place we were at just now… it’s where you…”

Oh, I see, that was the place where I died.
For Mika, it was a traumatic location.

“It’s fine. I’m right here, Mika, I won’t disappear.”
“Yeah!”

She was smiling. She looked like an angel and-

“Excuse me, could I get past?”

As I was losing myself in those emotions, a girl who seemed to be from our school called out and deliberately pushed past Mika and me on the path, which was on the wider side. She then turned her head and looked at us with what seemed to be malice in her eyes.

“Huh… whaaaaaa-!?” she shouted in surprise.

Yep, I know that face… that’s Sanada¹ from our class.

“Morning, Sana!” Mika greeted her, a tinge of nostalgia in her voice.

She referred to Sanada with that nickname. Well, all the girls in our class did.

“M-Morning, Mika… Huh? Is that your wife next to you?”
“Grr. I’d prefer it if you at least said ‘husband’,” I cut in.
“Huh, husband? And here I thought it was a couple of normies making out close to our school²… So, that’s how the two of you are. No kidding, you always felt like more than friends, but less than a couple to me, you know?”
“I guess we were, until now… Right, Mika?”
“Exactly.”

Mika and I replied in unison. Sanada’s expression changed, as if she couldn’t believe what she was seeing.

“Hang on, are you guys seriously dating?”
“”Yes.””
“Huh~…”

What, is there something wrong about us being in a relationship…?

“This feels more like yuri.”
“It’s not.”
“Definitely not.”
“But you look like two girls… at any rate… this is big news. Say, you stayed at home yesterday, didn’t you? All three of you. Did something happen?”

It looked like Sanada didn’t remember Mika and me dying. If even she, whom we knew since middle school, had forgotten, then likely only the people closest to us recalled those events.

“Well… stuff happened, lots of stuff,” Mika said cryptically. “Uhm… in any case, I always hoped we’d start dating one day.”
“Yes… It was frustrating to watch…” Sanada grumbled. “But with this, the top idols of our school… no, of the whole region, are finally a couple.”

Hang on, what’s that about top idols? Mika is one thing, but why am I included there?

“Anyway… anyway! See you! Everyone needs to know about this, so I gotta let them know!” Sanada’s eyes snapped open as if she had a sudden realization, and she dashed away towards the school while repeating herself for whatever reason.

“She said it was frustrating to watch,” Mika pondered.
“Ah-ha-ha, she’s probably right.”

I could understand her. It must’ve been vexing.

“Will everyone react like this today?”
“Who knows.”

Under the gazes of many eyes, we harmoniously walked the remaining few minutes until we reached the school.

1. The original is 佐奈田. Another name that thankfully only has one reading.
2. Seriously, what’s with that hate for couples? I’ve seen this in other novels. Is this a Japanese thing or just from pop culture?

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