Meanwhile, Naritu was walking down the street. He accidentally bumped a passer-by with his shoulder and immediately apologised.
Rui, who turned out to be the passer-by, turned around, looked at Naritu and grinned. "No. I should be the one apologising."
Then Ranzuki ran up to them and exclaimed joyfully, "Naritu! I'm so happy to run into you. Let's go to class together." She came closer and added, "The mock exams are today. We need to give it our all."
Naritu rubbed his neck awkwardly and muttered, "Yeah. I know." Is she overly motivated, or something?
Then Rui chuckled and asked, "Hey, Ranzuki. You shouldn't leave him out if he's an acquaintance of yours. Why not introduce us?"
Ranzuki immediately became embarrassed and started making excuses. "Sorry. I got a little carried away. This is my friend from cram school. His name is Naritu."
Rui smiled broadly. "So you're Naritu. Nice to meet you."
Naritu adjusted his glasses and replied quietly, "You too."
"Naritu, huh?" Rui added. "Nice name. It sounds nice."
Naritu looked at him in surprise and bowed his head slightly, thanking him for the words.
Rui hesitated for a moment, then spoke again. "By the way, Naritu."
"Yeah?"
"When I saw you, I didn't even think you had such a strong physique. I recently started boxing."
Naritu looked up sharply, his chest skipping a beat. Was that a killing urge?
Rui suddenly swung his arm wide, mimicking a punch, and shouted cheerfully, "You look very talented at this."
The fist froze right next to Naritu's face.
Rui chuckled. "So that's how it is. You're holding up well. Well, did it go all right, Naritu?"
Naritu adjusted his glasses awkwardly and muttered that he did not know. He had only ever read about fights and things like that.
Rui raised an eyebrow. "About fights?" He thought for a second, then clarified, "I was actually talking about boxing."
Naritu became even more embarrassed and adjusted his glasses again.
Then Rui turned his gaze to Ranzuki and spread his hands. "Apparently nothing can be done. From the outside, it probably really did look strange."
"Honestly, I was so scared," Ranzuki said. "Don't do that again."
Naritu laughed awkwardly. The thought flashed through his mind: damn, I've been spending too much time with hooligans lately.
Rui put a hand on his shoulder and said, "It was nice meeting you, Naritu. We'll see each other again. See you soon."
With those words he turned and continued down the street.
Naritu watched him go and thought, see you later? He was acting strangely.
Some time later, the schedule for the national mock exam was posted in the preparatory school auditorium.
Ranzuki glanced at Naritu and asked, "By the way, do you know anyone named Futano?"
At those words Naritu flinched and dropped his documents. "What?"
Ranzuki became worried. "Are you okay?"
Naritu hastily picked up the papers, adjusted his glasses awkwardly and apologised. He just hadn't expected it. "What were you talking about? Futano?"
"Yes," she answered. "You go to the same school. He really stands out, so I thought maybe you knew him."
Naritu tensed visibly, but tried to speak calmly. "No, I don't know him. After all, I'm studying the whole time I'm at school."
Ranzuki lowered her head onto her hands and said, "Pity."
Maybe I was too wary, Naritu thought. What was she thinking? And an alarming thought immediately flashed through his mind. Has she suspected something?
But Ranzuki only shrugged. "Nothing. I was just curious about what he was like. That's all."
At that moment the teacher came into the room and commanded loudly, "Let's begin."
Naritu flinched slightly. "Huh? What does she mean?"
"The exam is starting," Ranzuki replied. "We'll talk later."
Naritu clenched his teeth. I need to calm down. She hasn't noticed anything for now.
After that the teacher commanded, "Start."
Naritu clenched his teeth and thought, right now I have to concentrate on the test.
After a while the teacher announced, "Time's up."
Ranzuki stretched her whole body as if releasing the tension and said, "Finally finished." She began to gather her things, and glancing sideways at Naritu she asked, "Well, Naritu, how was it? Did you write well?"
He was putting his notebooks in his bag too, and he replied, "So-so, I guess."
"It's already completely dark," she said. "We should hurry home."
They went outside. Ranzuki looked at Naritu and said, "That long text in the middle ate up all my time."
Naritu agreed. It had eaten up his time as well. The questions were a little different from the previous exams.
"These new types of question are so difficult," she added.
He agreed with her. He had already started to strategise. At this rate I won't be able to answer everything. I need to learn to choose questions by their point value. Maybe I should have simply skipped that part. What does she think?
He wanted to ask Ranzuki, but he did not have time.
A guy suddenly jumped out from behind the wall beside them, grabbed Ranzuki and covered her mouth.
Naritu spun around, and for a moment he did not see her at all. Then he shouted in surprise, "Ranzuki!"
At the same moment he noticed her bag thrown down on the ground, and his chest went cold. "What?"
He had a bad feeling about this. He took off, running forward, mentally cursing himself. Damn it. Why didn't I notice sooner? "Why her, of all people?" he shouted.