Dreaming Boy Wakes Up

Chapter 13: East & West

"Insecurity is at the heart of every rivalry."

-Beth Moore

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"Aichiii, I brought him with me~"

"What's up."

"Oh, look who decided to eat lunch with us again.."

The following day after I meet Airi-chan, Ashida grabbed me as soon as lunch break arrived, and dragged me to where Aika was eating. Seeing that I totally forgot the promise, I felt exceptionally guilty to see Aika act so flustered. Aika was surrounded by the other girls and Sasaki, who already visited Airi-chan before, as well as a few other boys sitting on the outer ring of the group. I feel like those guys were the most annoyed at my appearance.

I bet they'd much rather be in the middle of the action with the other girls, just like Sasaki.

Why aren't they mad at him then? I don't get it.

Grabbing a nearby chair and sitting down next to Sasaki, Ashida showed a satisfied smile, and sat down across from Aika. It seems she wanted me to be close but not too close to her. Not that I minded I didn't want to be here to begin with though..

"Sajou, aren't you always eating somewhere else? Pretty surprised to see you join us."

"I decided to say 'fuck it' and switch it up today. The same routine everyday gets boring after awhile don't you think?"

"Ahaha, yeah true that."

There's the number one idol of the class, Aika, and of course the guy I just conversed with, Sasaki. With his personality and talent at playing soccer, he's got total protagonist potential. After all, there's always a ring of girls forming around him.

Ever since I stopped clinging to Aika, he's always right next to her... I didn't notice before but when he declared his imaginary war against me it seemed much more clear.

He plans to make Aika his.

"Um...so you're eating with us as well, Sajou-kun."

"Yeah.. Oh do you want to sit next to Sasaki? We can switch if you want."

"N-No that's okay, that's not why I was asking.."

I was asked by the nearby Saitou-san, with a bit of an awkward tone. Well, I guess that makes sense, with me around, it makes it harder for her to approach Sasaki.

Seems she's too shy to admit it. I even offered to switch seats.

I even heard a faint 'Why is that bastard here' in the shadows around me, but I'll just ignore that. Why not just offer again.

"You sure?"

"Y-Yes! I'm totally fine where I'm at! Totally fine.."

When I asked again, she started panicking.

Seriously how obvious can you be?

I'm sure that Saitou-san is part of the group of girls that are interested in Sasaki. Having watched the class ever since April, I can tell as much.

Well, she shouldn't worry about it. I won't tell Sasaki anything unnecessary, nor do I plan on clinging on Aika again like I did before. After today I'm not planning on coming back here anyway.

"H-Hey, Sajou."

"What?"

At the same time that Sasaki called me at me, I saw someone twitching in my field of view. Sitting across from Sasaki was Aika, giving me a stern gaze.