As expected, I was getting tired of being surrounded by people since morning
(Iâm feeling that this classroom has become a festival-like place since morning)
ă»ă»ă»
One of my classmates invited me to join him for lunch, but I said no and slipped out of the classroom to go for a walk and buy something on the store
[Ugh...]
I arrived at the store a little later than than the others, but the crowd was at its peak, and I flinched at the incomparable hustle and bustle of my classroom
(From now on, Iâd better bring my own lunch)
I let out a sigh as I looked at the margarine cobbler I managed to get my hands on
It looks bland and tasteless, but fortunately, for a growing kid like me, the portion is large
I wanted to eat lunch in a place where no one is around, so I wandered around school looking for a place where I could be alone
However, such place is really hard to find
I even went to the back of the school building, but there was a female student there that I didnât know
[Hmm, Is that?]
I was about to leave, but then, I spotted something familiar. Something you wonât see in the city, thatâs why it caught my interest
A petite schoolgirl with frizzy hair who was crouching in front of me was also looking at the thing
Therefore, I decided to approach that girl
[Ugh, the fruit doesnât grow well⊠I wonder if the fertilizer is bad? or-]
[Is that a zucchini?]
[Oh my God!]
[Oh, sorry to scare you. But those yellow flowers are zucchini, arenât they? The purple one next to it is eggplant, and the white one is shishito⊠Thereâs also corn, right?]
[Eh? Yes! Yep, thatâs right!]
The place was a flower bed
It is surrounded by a long and narrow brick wall, but somehow the soil has been heaped up toward the center to create ridges, where vegetables are planted
Usually, Iâm not the type of person who actively speaks to girls at their first meeting
In fact, I didnât know what to talk about, and if I hadnât had the need to talk to someone like Nikaido-san, I wouldâve passed by
But this time, I couldnât help but call out to her
[Are you pollinating? Zucchini wonât grow if you donât pollinate the female flowers, you know]
[Eh?]
[Eggplants will produce more if you cut off the excess flower and shishito peppers if you remove some of the branches]
[Ohh...]
When I pointed out the problem, the female student hurriedly took out her notebook from her skirt pocket and flipped through it.
Her eyes flick back and forth between the flowers bed and the notebook, and her face turns red
Incidentally, my knowledge is of the level that even a child who helps out in the fields in the countryside would know. So itâs nothing worth to brag about
[You know a lot, donât you?]
[I used to work in the fields in the countryside. Is this a gardening club or something?]
[Ah, yes. This is the gardening club]
[You grow vegetables⊠for a gardening club?]
[That⊠as expected, this is weird, isnât it?]
[Nope, itâs perfectly fine, Tomatoes are used to be ornamental, and I like vegetables flower, too]
[Eh?]
In fact, I was more familiar with vegetable flowers rather than the flowers in the flower shop
(Also, I used to get some money if I helped out in the fields)
When I smiled and replied with such thought, the girlâs eyes fluttered in panic, as if my reply was unexpected
Her appearance was somewhat like a small animal.
[.... What are you doing?]
A voice that sounded like a bell was heard from my back
But⊠the tone of the voice had a hint of dismay in it
[Ah, Nikaido-san]
[Mitake-san, the fertilizer you applied for has arrived at the club building]
[Eh? Ah, thanks for the info, Nikaido-san. Iâm on my way then]
The owner of the previous voice was Nikaido-san, the girl who was sitting next to me
After hearing Nikaido-sanâs story, she ran out to the club building as fast as she could
After Mitake-san left the gardening area, Nikaido-san puts her hands on her hips, stares at me with her eyes, and bring her face closer to me
[HmmmâŠ. Picking up girls on your first day at your new school? I wonder if thatâs your type of girl, Kirishima-kun!]
[No no, thatâs not it]
When I see her very pretty face close to mine, I feel a sense of dread. Not only that, she also had a strange aura that made me back away
Her familiar words and attitude, it was as if she had thrown away a face that sheâs been keeping for years
[I didnât mean to pick on you but, we looked similar]
[Similar? With who?]
[My grandpa and his sheep]
[Ahhh, Those sheep that we started to raise them to eat weeds, but they were always interested in the vegetable plants and start eating them]
[Yep yep, when I saw them with their curly hair while wandering around the vegetables are---]
[Pfft, Hahahahaha!]
She burst into laughter after she heard my answer
After that, she slaps me on my back
[Honestly, what a horrible person you arenât you, Hayato? Asking me out because I looked like one of your sheep]
[Oi! Take it easy on me, wonât you, Haru⊠ki?]
I donât know why those words came out of my mouth. The last word was a completely questionable
I donât know why I said such thing
I stare at her intensely
[Ah, Nikaido-san, here I am. Do you have a minute?]
[Yes, what is it?]
[Wa-! OI!]
Someone from my school called her out
But right after she got called out, she returned to her usual expression and speaking tone
[Shhh...!]
She turned to me as she left, putting her index finger on her lips and smiled wickedly
[What the hell was that?]
Various of questions ran through my mind at once, and after that, my chest feels heavy