Souji was quiet but he was a really good friend. An excellent leader, too. Even if he didn't speak that much, he knew exactly what to say or do in the exact moment so everyone felt comfortable and at ease. He always had the best scores on every test, he was good at fighting, he was good at listening, he was good at cooking, he was one hell of a strategist, he never lost it and on top of all that, he was popular.

Hell, was he popular.

All those rumors about Souji having several girlfriends and visiting a different girl's room everyday had started spreading not long after he started coming to school. Still, no one thought of Souji as a player or hated him for it. On the contrary: it seemed like everyone just loved and respected him even more. It was kind of… frustrating sometimes.

Frustrating…

"O~i! You listening, Hanamura?"

"Eh?"

Chie was standing in front of his desk, next to Souji's empty one, since he was, oddly enough, absent that day. It was really rare for Souji to catch a cold even though he was always doing irrational things like eating weird stuff he found on the fridge, or going fishing on rainy nights. But in the end, he was human, so he catching a cold shouldn't really be all that surprising. His absence made things really difficult for Yousuke though, since he had no one to ask for the correct answer whenever the teacher caught him not paying attention and-

"ARE YOU LISTENING OR WHAT?"

He widened his eyes like he'd just woken up.

"Satonaka?... What's wrong? You shouldn't yell at people like that, you'll never get a boyfriend," he said with that carefree smile of his.

"Shut up, you've been spacing out all day, what's wrong with you?"

"…Huh? Me, spacing out? That's not-"

"Oh, really? Tell me what time is it, then."

"The time? How am I supposed to know that? What are you even asking fo-"

He looked around. Souji's desk was empty, he was able to tell that from the beginning, but now that he took a look at the classroom: everyone's desks were. There was no one there.

"What…?"

"You've been really weird today. When we asked you to come visit Souji with us after school, you just ignored us."

Really? Did that happen? But I wasn't really spacing out, I was just thinking about…

He shook his head.

"W-What are you doing here, then?"

Chie sighed before answering.

"Yukiko received a call from the inn and had to rush there to help with some stuff. I came back for a book I forgot, and noticed you were still here…," she leaned closer, supporting herself on Yousuke's desk, "Have you been here all this time?"

He put on a forced smile, scratched the back of his head and said,

"Oh, c'mon, it's not that late anyways, is it?"

She frowned.

"Don't you have things, like work, to be doing? At Junes, for example?"

He did. He promised those annoying girls he'd be doing those shifts for them. Not that he wanted to, but he had to, otherwise they would never shut up about it. He slowly started putting his things into his backpack. He was definitely going to get lectured once he got there, so why rush?

"I do," he said in what was almost a whisper.

Chie was taken aback by such a quiet reaction: that wasn't like Yousuke at all.

"…Want me to help you?"

"Hm?"

He looked at her with a blank expression.

"You know, at work. I have time and…"

He could see Chie was worried about him. She was trying so hard not to make him feel uncomfortable, she looked almost desperate. There she was: trying to put on a smile to make him feel better. She was saying something, but Yousuke wasn't really interested. He focused on her hair, her eyelashes, her chin, her lips… Chie wasn't unattractive. Sure, her personality sucked and she wasn't feminine at all, but apart from that, she was pretty cute. Though Souji probably knows that already, he must have seen that same face a buncha times before, after all.

For some reason, that thought annoyed him.

He closed his eyes and tried to pay attention to whatever Chie was saying.

"…headphones not even once!..."

Souji probably knows that already.

"... thought 'maybe the battery's dead?'…"

Souji probably knows all of her faces already.

"…listening to me, Hanamura?..."

Souji probably knows her room already.

"…suke…!…"

Souji's probably sleep-

"Yousuke!"

"I'M FINE!JUST GO HOME ALREADY!"

Chie had widened her eyes in surprise. So did Yousuke.

He didn't mean to do that! He didn't mean to say that! His body moved on its own, he didn't-

…Why did he yell at her?

"What the hell is your problem! I'm just worried about you and you go and snap at me?"

Why did he yell at her…?

"…"

"Oh, and you're not gonna say anything now. You're gonna space out again?"

Why did he yell at her?

"..."

"FINE! I'll make sure not to bother worrying about an idiot like you! HAVE FUN WORKING YOUR ASS OFF, JUNES KID!"

Chie stomped her way out of the classroom and made sure to slam the door on her way out. She must have been really pissed off, because the echo was still there even after a couple of seconds had passed.

Why the hell did I yell at her?

He frowned.

"Tsk."

Yousuke hurriedly grabbed his backpack and walked out of the room.

"It's all Souji's fault."

He didn't slam the door on his way out, but he sure did kick it.