For two or three whole days, I barely talked to anyone and just minded my own business. Of course, every now and then, Armin would come over and talk some absolute crap about his complexes and the girls in class.

  ?I was lost in these thoughts when I realized class was over. I let out a sigh and got up. I looked at Yuki, who was busy chatting with her friends. A few seconds later, she said goodbye to them and went over to Ogiso, who was still packing her stuff. With a smile, she said:

  "Ogiso, ready to go?"

  -"Um... yeah, I'm ready."

  She tucked her last book into her bag, and they started moving.

  ?I headed for the exit too, when suddenly Yuki jumped in front of me with all that energy of hers and said:

  "Yoichi, you coming too?"

  She remembered my name well. I took a quick glance at Ogiso; she seemed a bit upset, but she stayed quiet and just looked down.

  This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

  "Huh? But why me?"

  She shot back quickly:

  "Why? Well... because you seem lonely, just like Ogiso. I thought this would be a great chance to introduce you guys!"

  She said that last part with this weird excitement that I couldn't really wrap my head around. I pretended to think about it and said after a pause:

  "You sure it's okay for someone like me to tag along?"

  -"It's fine! Besides, I'm sure Ogiso would be happy."

  She gave Ogiso a little nudge with her arm and added:

  "Right, Ogiso?"

  Not expecting to be pulled into the conversation, she looked up hurriedly and shyly, saying very softly:

  "I... yeah, I guess I'd be happy..."

  Yuki smiled and said:

  "See? Told ya. Now come on, let's go."

  ?Yuki walked ahead of us. We picked up our pace to catch up with her.

  The school hallway was crowded as usual... the sound of shoes, the girls' shrieks of laughter... I find it hard to understand them.

  We walked out of the school. Along the way, Yuki kept sharing memories with Ogiso, and they were laughing together.

  On one hand, I felt nothing, but on the other, I was somewhat satisfied with how things were going. Everything has gone well so far.

  ?For three days, I played the role of the loner... and it worked. Yuki instinctively lumped me in with Ogiso and was drawn to me. Maybe that's how they became friends too.

  A cold wind started to blow. I shoved my hands into my pockets.

  While staring at Yuki, I whispered very quietly to myself: "Yuki, you're a good bridge to get to Ogiso. But if everything goes according to plan, I'm gonna have to cut you out..."