This position has its subtleties.

Jingle, ling, ling—
After a little while, the end-of-class bell rang.
The bustling noise from the playground did not fade away, but instead gradually drew closer to the direction of the junior high school teaching building.
"The next class is about to start."
Nagumo Yuzuki estimated the time.
Then he suddenly remembered that he hadn't actually attended the previous physical education class either, and thus dropped the thought.
It was just that standing beside Wakaba Mutsu earlier, watching her water the plants for so long, the atmosphere had been so tranquil, feeling almost as if a century had passed, making him subconsciously forget about it.
Just as he was thinking this, Wakaba Mutsu beside him had also just finished sprinkling the very last drop of water from the watering can onto the cucumber patch.
She turned her head to look at Nagumo Yuzuki, and then glanced at Toyokawa Sakiko.
"Class."
"Right."
"Let's go."
The three of them walked together toward the classroom in this manner.
This time, however, Nagumo Yuzuki and Wakaba Mutsu walked along the normal route to class.
Earlier, Nagumo Yuzuki's pace had been slightly too fast, almost making Wakaba Mutsu subconsciously think they were about to retrace the old path of skipping class.
She opened her lips, seeming to want to reach out and pull Nagumo Yuzuki back, but quietly lowered her hand upon realizing they were still heading in the right direction.
"Ha."
Nagumo Yuzuki smiled inwardly.
Toyokawa Sakiko, walking beside them, was unaware of the brief exchange that had occurred between the two a moment ago and merely glanced at them.
The trio's journey continued.
Upon reaching the stairwell, the stairs became much narrower than the corridor.
Coupled with the fact that students from another class who had PE next were coming down from upstairs, the three of them definitely could not walk side by side.
Nagumo Yuzuki stood to the side, subconsciously yielding space to let a female student from the neighboring class walk down from upstairs.
Tap.
Unexpectedly, Wakaba Mutsu, who had been standing in the middle of the three, also subconsciously yielded after Nagumo Yuzuki and they became staggered by a step, ending up standing right beside Nagumo Yuzuki once again.
Right now, on the stairs.
Toyokawa Sakiko was leading the other two by one step, standing at the very top.
Behind her, Nagumo Yuzuki and Wakaba Mutsu stood together, following Toyokawa Sakiko's back.
?
Toyokawa Sakiko noticed that neither of the two beside her had come up abreast with her, so she stopped and waited for them.
When they reached another landing where there were no more students heading down, the three of them resumed their original positions.
Tap, tap, tap.

By now, the students from the neighboring class heading to their PE lesson had mostly all left.
As Nagumo Yuzuki, Wakaba Mutsu, and Toyokawa Sakiko continued on their way upstairs, they no longer bumped into any students needing to go downstairs.
The three of them maintained this formation and continued forward.
Turning another corner brought them right to the classroom of Class 3-C.
Toyokawa Sakiko walked toward the front door of the classroom.
Nagumo Yuzuki's pace naturally slowed down a bit.
After all, the classroom doorway was only so wide, making it impossible for three people to enter simultaneously.
Seeing Nagumo Yuzuki slow his pace, Wakaba Mutsu also subconsciously lagged slightly behind, letting Toyokawa Sakiko step into the classroom first.
Following that, Nagumo Yuzuki and Wakaba Mutsu stood at the doorway at the exact same time.
The two exchanged glances, neither moving first.
"Oh?"
Nagumo Yuzuki was somewhat surprised.
He looked into Wakaba Mutsu's eyes; her gaze was calm, devoid of any particular emotion.
Nagumo Yuzuki didn't decline and walked into the classroom second.
Only after Wakaba Mutsu's figure crossed the threshold did he return to their seats together with her.
Just the positioning along this walk... indeed had some subtleties to it.
Thinking this to himself, Nagumo Yuzuki checked the timetable.
The next class was mathematics.
He casually dragged his math textbook out from his desk drawer.
However, because he pulled the book out too quickly, it landed on the desk with a sharp thud.
Wakaba Mutsu's movements were much quieter.
She gently flipped through her textbook and turned to the page covering the previous lesson's material.
Late spring had not yet fully passed, and sunlight streamed past the windows, casting trails of dancing, fragmented dust motes.
This was the fleeting gap before the next class officially began, yet lacking enough time to leave the classroom.
At that moment, Wakaba Mutsu suddenly recalled what had happened to her right before physical education class.
Ever since she was a child, Wakaba Mutsu had always felt she was somewhat peculiar.
Perhaps it was the times in her early childhood resembling a superficial act of 'daycare-like' pretense, or perhaps it was that basement-like sanctuary of the soul...
Coupled with a gradually clarifying sense of self ever since she picked up the guitar, and 'Metis', who had suddenly told her in her conscious realm not long ago that she had given herself a new name...
Everything was so unusual.
Not to mention her family atmosphere; wrapped from childhood in the fame of her parents and a facade of artificial indifference, Wakaba Mutsu always felt that her own existence was merely an appendage to the Wakaba surname.
Last night, upon being informed by her 'mother' Suminami Mori that there would be another banquet over the weekend—an extraordinary banquet attended by important guests—
That overwhelming sense of invisible pressure had descended upon her once again.

Normally, even when the Wakaba family hosted banquets to invite guests, it was nowhere near as frequent as recently.
Yet for some reason lately, perhaps because her parents' careers were currently at yet another critical juncture, the frequency of banquets had gradually increased.
This pushed Wakaba Mutsu's stress threshold to the verge of overload.
This was also an important reason why she had suffered from mild insomnia last night.
Wakaba Mutsu had arrived at the classroom early today, wishing to shake off that oppressive atmosphere from home,
only to experience a riot of her own conscious realm right there in the classroom this morning.
She could sense that deep within her consciousness, something seemed to be locked away, and this entity was different from those dolls.
Yet unexpectedly, that entity seemed eager to break free from her body...
Wakaba Mutsu looked toward Toyokawa Sakiko's seat.
Sakiko was already seated, looking as though she were contemplating the upcoming math lesson.
After Wakaba Mutsu was awakened by Nagumo Yuzuki, the presence inside her instantly quieted down.
Wakaba Mutsu also felt her conscious realm return to normal, free from that fragmented sensation.
However, that tiny fragment of nightmare that had spilled out from her had dissolved right into Toyokawa Sakiko's seat.
"Saki..."
Wakaba Mutsu felt a wave of anxiety.
She looked at Nagumo Yuzuki beside her and said softly.
She had never experienced such a situation before, and an incident where abnormality was written so unmistakably on her face left her feeling quite nervous.
For some reason, when this inexplicable event occurred, Nagumo Yuzuki was the very first person who came to her mind.
Wakaba Mutsu's heart was tangled like thousands of intertwined threads, complicated and chaotic.
If he finds out about the abnormality within me,
will he think I am... a monster...?
At this thought, Wakaba Mutsu felt a fresh wave of hidden apprehension.
Nagumo Yuzuki had just been looking at his textbook, but hearing her voice, he raised an eyebrow:
"Hm?"
He followed Wakaba Mutsu's gaze and saw that Toyokawa Sakiko was still in her usual state, looking completely normal.
Nagumo Yuzuki turned his head to look at Wakaba Mutsu. Her expression hadn't changed much, allowing him to roughly form a guess in his mind.
Could it be because of the PE class just now?
Nagumo Yuzuki felt something was amiss.
The very next second, his Word Spirit, 'Precept', quietly activated.