Takamine Nagi Wanted Ice Cream (1)

“Hello, Mochizuki.”

“A-Arai? Why all of a sudden…?”

After spending so long worrying about Nagi, darkness had settled over Kaede’s heart. Then a sun rose in her mind.

Just as Kaede was leaving the classroom for lunch, the person she longed to see, Arai Shota, spoke to her first.

“Mochizuki, do you have a moment? I wanted to talk to you about Takamine.”

“Y-yeah?”

Perhaps she’d built up some resistance by now, because Kaede didn’t freeze up like before. Her voice came out properly, too.

Kaede felt relieved by that.

Then she realized something, and behind the excitement bubbling up inside her, she sensed an unfamiliar emotion—one she’d never experienced before and could hardly put into words.

Hmm――...