Well, that didn't turn out so well… At least, the rest of the day seemed to be settling back into its daily routine. Clad in sweaters, scarves, and jackets, the students of Feita High headed home in ones and twos, breathing out little clouds of vapor in the crisp November air. To the side of the traffic pouring through the wide, tile-paved pavilion directly in front of the school, Add stood in front of a vending machine. Inserting a handful of change, he then punched a couple of buttons, and a moment later a bottle of iced tea announced its arrival at the bottom of the machine with a dull thump.

Anyway, as usual, I'll head over to Ara's house later. Leaning over the railing, Add, warm in his black, faux-leather jacket, took a deep breath of the refreshingly cold air that stung the inside of his nose. The temperature made the atmosphere leave a damp, almost metallic aftertaste on the roof of his mouth, mingling with the scent of his tea. Patches of conversation drifted from parting friends while he absentmindedly observed the leaves tumbling in the current that violently rippled folded over itself in the wide but shallow river beside the school. Students hurried across the small wooden bridge onto cars and buses idling on the side of the road running parallel to the river. For most of the year, the trees that lined either bank would keep the sun out, but for this season, the setting winter sun stretched through the leafless branches and sharpened the entire scene with an orange hue. Ara, crossing the river with a group of her friends, waved at Add, but he pretended not to notice.

Once, Ara had asked Add, why he couldn't just walk home with her if he was going to visit anyways?

"I always thought, maybe Add's staying behind and watching everyone leave because he's making observations for one of those… those things scientists do when they write a paper with shocking new information after doing lots and lots of observation. But then, wouldn't he be taking notes too, with three or more colored pens or markers?"

He had offhandedly thrown an answer over his shoulder while picking up his pace.

"You mean a scientific study? Heh, of course not... I have no interest in people, and that wouldn't help at all with my grades or getting me into the best technical college, so it would just be a waste of time. Anyway, you should work on improving your grades too, you know. They're not going to get you anywhere in life!"

"There's more to life than grades, and don't try to avoid my question!" Chasing after him, Ara had tried to catch his gaze, but he uncomfortably looked in the other direction.

"What do you mean? I already gave you an answer. I'm the one who doesn't understand though, how can you be so nice to so many annoying people?"

For some reason, Ara had gotten upset. With a rare hint of anger in her eyes, she had planted herself defiantly in his path.

"Add, why can't you just answer me?"

W-wow, so even cute, innocent Ara has a scary side, huh? Add had been taken aback by the sudden explosion, and after frantically searching for an escape, had finally given in.

"F-fine! The reason I don't want to walk home with you is just because, I don't want anyone to think the two of us are a couple! It's not like I have feelings for you or anything, so everyone would be under a misconception, and they wouldn't believe me even if I denied it! Also, both of us live alone, so a lot of weird rumors would start circulating, you know! That would be really bad for both of us!"

That's right, there's no way I could have fallen for someone so annoying, even if she's cute… Ahh, this is bad, even I know denials are cliché! No, no, there's no way…

Add didn't know how Ara would take this answer, and cautiously looked at her. Surprisingly, she seemed more than a little flushed with embarrassment, at his answer and possibly at her own outburst earlier as well.

"W-Weird rumors, huh…?" she mumbled to herself, then added, almost as an afterthought, "So even stuck-up prodigy Add can get embarrassed about something like this, hmm?"

Even now, Add felt a bit flustered just recalling that memory. Tipping his head back, he finished the last of his tea, clearing his head with the last of the chilled drink. By now most of the traffic, both vehicular and pedestrian, had dwindled away, and, finally leaving his post, Add tossed the bottle into a nearby trash can, heading for the bus picking up the last of the stragglers.

Author's Note:

Sorry for the late update! I had planned to post this chapter earlier, but decided to wait until I had finished at least half of chapter three. Unfortunately, a virus took out my word documents, so I had to re-write the entire chapter...

Thankfully, most of my homework documents (over the past two years) were backed up on a flash drive.

If I had lost those...

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this!

- "B-baka! It's not like I like you or anything!" Add confirmed tsundere