Time passed like a dying slug.
Though Kentaro usually liked Mr Tachibana's lessons, today it felt like the teacher had sworn some personal oath to drag the lesson out as long as possible. Every couple of words, Kentaro's eyes darted toward the clock, begging for the hands to hurry along toward three o'clock. But the more he checked, the slower the seconds crawled. Each tick mocked him.
"Come move faster..." Kentaro muttered to himself.
Beside him, Aria and Yura had noticed. His leg shook nonstop beneath the desk, a nervous tremor that made their chairs vibrate ever so slightly. They exchanged a glance over his head, the silent kind of look only girls could communicate with: He's worried about Shaula. What do we do?
Neither spoke. Neither wanted to break his focus. But both silently agreed that they needed to cheer him up somehow.
