TDAV 08

Chapter 08

Betty’s completed problem came into view, just as the teacher had said.

It had been solved neatly, all the way to the correct answer.

What…?

Betty stared blankly at the inexplicable situation before realizing that the handwriting used to write the answer was familiar.

She shifted her gaze slightly to the side.

Just as she expected, the exact same handwriting appeared on Daniel’s problem.

In other words, Daniel had solved Betty’s problem for her.

At the exact moment when everyone’s attention had been focused on James.

Daniel… did this…?

Someone as timid and slow in everything he does as Daniel…?

Unable to believe it, Betty whipped her head toward Daniel.

Daniel simply had his head lowered, fiddling with the cap of his marker.

Then, as if he had sensed her gaze, Daniel slightly raised his head.

“Be… Betty… I-I… s-solved… y-your… pr-problem… too. B-Because of my… c-compulsion… I-I’m… sorry…”

Daniel approached her and spoke quietly.

“Ah… your compulsion…”

Only then did Betty’s doubts disappear.

Daniel hadn’t deliberately solved the problem for her behind everyone else’s backs.

He had simply felt compelled to fill the empty space and solved it without thinking.

Betty quietly whispered to Daniel, who was fidgeting with his fingers.

“It’s okay.”

At that moment, Matthew approached the board.

Betty flinched, worried that he might realize Daniel had solved both problems.

But—

“If you’re finished, hurry back to your seats. Why are you two still standing around? Go!”

Matthew merely shouted irritably at them.

Then, as though he disliked the fact that the problems had been solved perfectly, he vigorously erased both problems from the board.

None of the other students said that Daniel had solved them, either.

Fortunately, no one had noticed.

They had all been too distracted by James.

Relieved that nothing had happened, Betty turned around to return to her seat.

And then she stopped.

Her eyes met another pair of eyes directly.

They were clear, unwavering eyes, as though they knew exactly what had happened.

Betty’s shoulders involuntarily flinched beneath that straightforward gaze.

It felt as though she had been caught doing something wrong.

Surely James isn’t going to tell everyone that he saw Daniel solving the problem…?

She couldn’t imagine him tattling.

But even as she thought that, an inexplicable anxiety kept Betty rooted to the spot.

While Betty remained frozen beneath James’s gaze, a shadow suddenly fell across her.

A dark-blue knit sweater blocked James from her view.

Betty slowly raised her gaze from the chest in front of her.

Platinum-blond hair covering his eyes swayed gently with his movements.

“Be… Betty… l-let’s go… b-back to our seats…”

Daniel whispered to Betty, who was still standing there.

His hand moved toward Betty as though trying to snap her out of her daze, but stopped just short of touching her shoulder.

His movements were awkward and hesitant, but for some reason, Betty felt relieved.

“Yeah. Let’s go.”

Betty returned to her seat with Daniel.

And until the end of class, she never once looked in James’s direction.

The bell announcing lunchtime rang.

Betty let out a tired sigh as she stood from her seat.

All the while, she deliberately ignored James’s gaze against her back.

We had to overlap throughout the entire morning.

Surely we don’t have the same classes in the afternoon too, right?

She was wrong.

By some unbelievable coincidence, James followed Betty into every classroom she went to.

And he persistently watched her.

Of course, he couldn’t actually approach Betty.

Every time there was a break, students immediately gathered around James as though they had been waiting for the opportunity.

Even now, a crowd had gathered around him, desperately trying to have lunch with him.

Betty decided that this was her chance to quietly slip away.

If only James hadn’t openly called her name.

“Betty.”

The moment James called her name, the noisy surroundings fell silent as if by magic.

Countless eyes turned toward her.

This time, Betty couldn’t bring herself to ignore James.

She slowly turned around.

James walked toward her, passing through the students who had frozen in place as though they had been prepared for this moment.

He stopped directly in front of her.

As though he had read her desire to escape, he blocked her path.

For a moment, Betty felt like a rabbit caught in front of a predator.

She was completely trapped in his grasp.

Betty slowly looked up at James, who was easily twenty centimeters taller than her.

James smoothly smiled.

“It’s nice to see you again, Betty. Let me properly introduce myself. I’m James McMillan.”

James extended his hand toward her.

But Betty couldn’t bring herself to take it.

It wasn’t because she disliked James.

James was an Esper…

And she was a Guide.

The possibility was extremely small, but if there was even a one-percent chance of danger, she needed to avoid physical contact.

Betty pretended not to notice his outstretched hand and answered instead.

“I’m Betty Brown.”

What? Did she just ignore James?

Whispers came from behind her.

Fortunately, James didn’t seem bothered.

He simply withdrew his hand and smiled gently.

“…Betty Brown.”

James quietly rolled her name around his mouth before making her an offer.

“Betty, if you don’t have any plans, would you like to have lunch with me?”

“…Huh?”

Have lunch with me?

Betty’s face filled with confusion.

But James smiled even more brightly.

“Let’s have lunch together, Betty.”

He invited her once more.

The whispers around them grew louder.

The students looked at Betty as though they couldn’t understand why James would ask that bullied East Asian girl to have lunch with him.

Betty couldn’t understand it either.

And she didn’t want to have lunch with him.

She would inevitably become the center of everyone’s attention.

She already was.

But Betty couldn’t ignore him this time, either.

The way James’s fans were looking at her made it seem as though they would tear her apart if she rejected him.

How dare you.

That was exactly what their eyes seemed to say.

Just as Betty was reluctantly preparing to answer, a sharp voice calling her name rang out.

“Betty!”

“…Linda?”

Linda approached her, apparently having come to the classroom at some point.

She acted as though she were approaching a close friend.

What’s gotten into her all of a sudden?

Betty was confused, but Linda calmly linked her arm through Betty’s.

Then she gave Betty a sweet, smiling look.

“Betty, did you forget that you promised to have lunch with me?”

“…I did?”

Betty asked blankly.

At that moment, a painful pressure squeezed the arm Linda had linked with hers.

Linda continued smiling as she looked at Betty.

“Yes. I told you this morning. Did you get up so late that you didn’t hear me?”

Betty had definitely gotten up before Linda that morning.

The boiler had shut off while Betty was taking a shower.

What is she planning?

Betty quietly looked at Linda.

Then Linda glanced toward James.

As though she was deliberately making sure he was watching.

That’s when Betty understood.

Linda was suddenly acting strangely because of James.

And instinctively, Betty knew that pretending not to know Linda right now would make things extremely troublesome.

Betty looked at Linda’s deep smile before slowly nodding.

“I forgot. That’s right, you did say that…”

After all, having Linda join her seemed better than having lunch alone with James.

Linda appeared satisfied with Betty’s answer and loosened her grip on Betty’s arm, giving her a gentle smile.

“It’s okay. These things happen. More importantly, it looks like a new friend is joining us for lunch today?”

Linda smiled sweetly and looked toward James.

As though responding to her gesture, James smiled and extended his hand toward Linda.

“I’m James McMillan. Nice to meet you.”

“I’m Linda Steffan. Nice to meet you too.”

After briefly shaking hands, they each looked in different directions.

James looked toward Betty.

Linda looked toward where her group was waiting.

“Betty, since you brought a new friend to lunch, would it be okay if I invited my friends too?”

Betty looked toward the three followers waiting for Linda outside the classroom.

They were staring at her expectantly, as though silently begging Linda to invite them.

If Linda is going to be there anyway, having those three around won’t make much difference.

Betty figured it would actually be better to have more people around and told Linda to go ahead.

“Sure, Linda.”

“Thanks, Betty. Then let’s go together, James.”

Linda tightly linked her arm with Betty’s as they left the classroom.

Rachel immediately wrapped herself around Betty’s other empty arm, as though she had been waiting for this opportunity.

To an outsider, they might have looked like a group of affectionate friends.

But to Betty, it felt as though both her arms had been wrapped in the coils of two pythons weighing more than a hundred kilograms each.

I wish they’d let go.

But perhaps the two girls thought Betty might run away if they released her.

They refused to let go.

As a result, James, who had been trying to approach Betty, naturally couldn’t walk beside her.

James hesitated, unsure where to stand.

Then the twins stepped beside Rachel, naturally positioning themselves beside Linda as they walked.

And so Betty, Linda’s group, and James walked down the hallway toward the cafeteria, receiving the full attention of the other students.

Linda wore a confident smile, as though she were the heroine of a movie.

Meanwhile, exhaustion was steadily building on Betty’s face.

Then Rachel suddenly exclaimed in a bright voice.

“Oh my, Betty! Look, there’s your best friend! Daniel!”