After that, the four of us started spending more time together. During lunch break and after school, the four of us are almost always together.
When she is with us, Sana is noisy and high-tension, which overturned her previous image of herself as the flower of the high mountains, a young lady, a saint, for better or worse. The innocent, high-tension blonde beauty …is the image of Sana now. Those who had fantasies of her as a saint were disillusioned with her, but she didn’t mind at all.
Since she was with us, some of the outsiders showed interest in Sana and tried to talk to her, but she didn’t take any notice. There she was again playing the role of the “cliffhanger flower” and keeping people at bay. Many of the outsiders were depressed by her precipitousness, but in a way, this was her kindness. The four of us, so to speak, are ready to counter whatever the escalator group has in store for us. If you are not prepared to do so, stay away from me… Sana implied this.
What’s a little troublesome is that this is the reason why Sana is being called bad things like “surrounded by men” and “Sana is keeping a man who is an outsider”. Some of them are even calling Sana a b***h. It seemed that these were probably fans of Kazuharu, or rather girls who had been rejected by Kazuharu, and were attacking her out of jealousy.
I thought about protesting, but Sana said, “It’s good because people won’t come near us?” She was rather matter-of-fact about it. She was much stronger than I had thought.
It had been a couple of weeks since we started hanging out, but nothing much had changed, except for Sana’s reputation changing and people saying bad things about her. The escalator group didn’t try anything, they didn’t harass us, and we just spent our time together as we pleased.
And it’s the same today.
“Hey, Kaoru-kun. Do something about that sniper.”
“No, no, if I leave now, I’ll get shot.”
“That’s useless. Then go, Sakuma-kun!”
“Don’t push it! I’m dying. I don’t have any meds.”
“Ehh? That’s why I can’t move.”
“I’ll be right behind you. Wait a little longer.”
“Ara, You’re the man, Sakuma-kun. I’ll leave that one to you. I’m going to kill the ducks that come this way.”
During lunch break, we occupied an empty classroom to play PIBG, a smartphone FPS game, in team mode. Most of the time, what the four of us do is either play games or baseball. While I’d like to do something else soon, I also think it’s fun to play with the four of us like this.
With no particular purpose in mind, the four of us pass the time every day during the lazy lunch break and after school, even though we think it’s lazy. It seemed to me that this was something that made me very happy.
“Yes! Instant kill!”
“Wow, another headshot. You’re really amazing, Itsuki-san.”
“Hahahahaha!”
Sana had easily headshot the enemy who was acting alone with her M24.
Asuka and Kazuharu seemed to have gotten used to her high level of tension by now and didn’t seem to think anything of it. In fact, they said that it was easier for them not to have to worry about her than being a young lady.
“Oh, Sana. If you step forward like that again—”
Pasun.
Just as I was about to warn her, Sana was shot in the head and died instantly. It was a sniper shot. She was probably being marked by another sniper who was aiming at Asuka.
“Oh my God!? Y did u go there?!”
“Don’t wear that costume, it’ll make you stand out…”
“No! You died to get this!?”
Sana is often targeted because she wears a billing costume and her appearance stands out even if she doesn’t want to. I warned her many times, but she said, “Even warlords wear fancy armor and helmets, don’t they? It’s a sign of strength! This is the sign of a strong man!” She said something incomprehensible. I’m not sure what the point is if you get killed by it.
“Well, I’ll leave the rest to you three. I’m going to get a drink, do you want anything?”
Sana let out a sigh and stood up.
“I’m okay.”
“I’m okay too.”
Aota and Kazuharu responded respectively.
“What about you, Kaoru?”
“I’ll have a black.”
“The usual. I get it.”
After saying that, Sana took her purse out of her bag and stood up from her chair.
The three of us are running around the battlefield on our phones in silence. Since Kazuharu was about to die, Asuka and I were searching for recovery medicine and searching for the enemy.
“Speaking of which, Kaoru-kun, do you always eat bread for lunch?”
Sana glanced at the bag of bread I had just finished eating and asked me.
“‘Hmm? Yeah, I guess so. My parents are too tired in the morning, and I can’t make lunch.”
“Hmmm. …I see.”
Sana said, and walked out of the classroom.
After she went out to buy a drink, we were still playing PIBG almost in silence. It’s a characteristic of us that when Sana is gone, we become quiet at once. She’s become like a mood maker without even knowing it.
“I don’t know, Itsuki-san, she seems to be fitting in pretty well.”
Kazuharu said as he used the restorative he had finally gotten.
“It’s a good thing, isn’t it? You’re comfortable with her in the classroom, and I think she’s actually a nice person.”
“You’re right. I’m glad I asked her out.”
Yes, nothing is wrong. I think it’s a very good thing to have a peaceful everyday life with no problems.
It’s just that lately I’ve been missing out on time with Sana, and I’m sad about that.