Chapter 87: Communication

“Good morning! Hanasou-san~”

“Morning, Yotsuya-san~”

After greeting the classmate beside her, Hanasou Kotone carefully supported her fractured arm and sat down at her desk.

Her arm was recovering quite well after going to the hospital yesterday.

Although she was concerned about Yukina’s strangely immense strength, Hanasou Kotone didn’t blame her friend for injuring her.

At this time, there were still not many students in the classroom, and only a few were in the hallway.

Because her arm was injured, Hanasou Kotone was worried about being delayed by certain inconveniences, so she had arrived at the classroom much earlier than usual today.

She shifted her gaze; the seat beside her was still empty.

That was her friend Shiomi Yukina’s desk.

In Hanasou Kotone’s memory, Shiomi Yukina always came to school very early, but for some reason, she was a bit late today.

When she received the call, Shiomi Yukina had just left home.

Top students are still ordinary people, and sometimes they get delayed by various things.

Hanasou Kotone didn’t pay it too much mind.

“First period is Japanese literature… I really don’t like it…”

“If only Asai-sensei were a bit gentler, maybe she could find a boyfriend soon!”

“Eh? How come I heard that the person Asai-sensei likes is a third-year senpai?”

“For real!? How do you know that, can you tell us…”

The teacher hadn’t arrived yet, and a few classmates in the class were gathered together, gossiping about their Japanese literature teacher.

For students, the teachers’ gossip sometimes held a special kind of attraction.

Hanasou Kotone didn’t join them.

She slowly picked up a piece of bread with her non-fractured hand, opened her small mouth, and popped it in.

This was her breakfast.

After her mother passed away, her father fell into a deep depression, so she certainly couldn’t expect him to take care of her.

Hanasou Kotone received some living expenses from her father every month.

He only provided a place called “home” for her to eat and sleep; he never asked about anything else.

In this environment, Hanasou Kotone learned to take care of herself.

In the past, she would prepare her own breakfast, but now with her injured arm, she could only compromise and buy a piece of bread from a nearby bakery to make do.

There were reasons to be resentful, but no energy to complain.

This was Hanasou Kotone’s morning.

‘I wonder… what is Miss Yanase’s morning like?’

Hanasou Kotone gently took a bite, chewing slowly, letting the aroma of the bread moisturize her tongue.

Yanase Naoko… that was the name of that gentle senior, her friend’s important older sister.

There was nothing strange about that; many people have older brothers or sisters.

In fact, only children like Hanasou Kotone were relatively rare in this era.

But even though they had only spent a brief hour together, Hanasou Kotone just couldn’t forget Miss Yanase.

After bidding farewell to Shiomi Yukina yesterday, Hanasou Kotone returned home, and her eyes and mind were filled with Miss Yanase’s image.

‘I… I’m probably missing my mother again, aren’t I?’

Hanasou Kotone sighed.

“Hey, hey, this… isn’t this clearly Shiomi-san?”

“It really is…”

While swiping her phone screen with her elbow, Hanasou Kotone lowered her head to sip from the straw of her thermos, but the conversation from her classmates caught her attention.

“Shiomi-san?”

Hanasou Kotone looked suspiciously at her classmates not far away.

They were excitedly holding their phones, huddled together looking at something.

Suddenly, a gasp erupted from among them.

“Oh!! They’re really kissing!! So intense!”

“So Shiomi-san, she…”

“My ship… I’m dying…”

Two girls covered their mouths, blushing, while another excitedly held up her phone.

Hanasou Kotone watched, completely bewildered.

Beep beep—

Just then, a new message popped up on her phone.

It was from a friend she usually hung out with, one of the few among Hanasou Kotone’s friends who could talk to Shiomi Yukina.

The three of them would occasionally go to the cafeteria to eat together.

[“Hurry and watch this!”]

The other person sent such a cryptic message, followed by an unnamed video file.

The background of the video was faintly visible as the Yuzumi Girls’ Academy school gate.

‘What happened?’

It wasn’t convenient for Hanasou Kotone to type and ask, but she couldn’t help but feel a little curious.

She stuffed the last piece of bread into her mouth, wiped her mouth with a napkin, and then clicked on the video.

In the video, the camera was a bit shaky, and the surrounding was filled with the clamor of people.

Then the camera was raised and turned to a private car that looked quite expensive.

Hanasou Kotone was stunned.

‘Isn’t that Shiomi Yukina’s older sister, Miss Yanase’s car?’

Even the color and license plate number were the same, and it just so happened to appear at the school gate.

It couldn’t be a coincidence.

Then, the camera zoomed in, and the somewhat shaky lens focused on the inside of the car through the window.

And then, Hanasou Kotone saw a scene that left her dumbfounded.

Someone was kissing inside the car.

Although the view was not very clear due to the obstruction of the car window, and the picture was a bit dim, it was difficult to see who the two people were.

But through the image, one could still vaguely notice the fact that both protagonists were female.

From the angle of the picture, one could see the Yuzumi Girls’ Academy school uniform of one of the protagonists, the beautiful side profiles of the two people kissing, and their affectionate gazes during their deep, moist kiss.

‘Could this be…’

A guess formed in her heart, and a strange feeling of emptiness washed over her.

Hanasou Kotone’s gaze was fixed, and she held her breath deeply.

Just then, the scene changed.

The car door was pushed open, and a girl with a commuter bag, blushing, lowered her head and jumped out of the car.

She walked quickly towards the school gate and soon disappeared from the frame.

With that, the video ended.

Hanasou Kotone’s eyes were wide open.

She was sure she hadn’t seen wrong; that was definitely her friend, Shiomi Yukina.

And the person in that car…

‘Could it be Miss Yanase?’

‘Shiomi Yukina and Miss Yanase Naoko, aren’t they supposed to be sisters? Why are they…’

Hanasou Kotone was suddenly a bit dazed.

Just then, the sound of a desk and chair being moved came from beside her.

Hanasou Kotone looked up, and like the other classmates in the class, she cast her gaze towards the person beside her.

“Shiomi-san…”

“Good morning, Hanasou-san.”

“Morning…”

Hanasou Kotone replied numbly.

Shiomi Yukina was radiating a scenery Hanasou Kotone had never seen before.

She took her books out of her commuter bag and placed them on the desk.

Hanasou Kotone stared at her intently, trying hard to find something on her, but to no avail.

At this time, people started to pour into the classroom one after another.

Outside in the hallway, students from other classes were also gathered, looking in this direction, whispering, and sometimes letting out soft laughter.

For Hanasou Kotone, who was used to the scenery of the academy, the scene before her was very obvious.

She used to be one of them, but today, she couldn’t blend in.

“Um, Shiomi-san… you and Miss Yanase… no, actually I wanted to ask…”

As soon as the words were out, Hanasou Kotone suddenly realized it was a bit rude, but her friend in front of her nodded frankly and smiled.

“Looks like you know too… I’m dating my sister…”

…