Even if they didn’t understand, it was because they weren’t handicapped in anyway, so without really saying anything more than that, he brought his chopsticks to his mouth. When he did, the three of them suddenly became quiet. Figuring they just weren’t going to talk during their meal, he wasn’t especially concerned, but then Ichikawa and Yamanoi seemed to speak with their heads lowered.
“Sorry, for everything.”
Since their voices were lowered, he a.s.sumed their heads were hanging low, which shocked Tatsumi. Unsure what their sudden apology was about, he became nervous.
“W-What’s this about all of a sudden?”
“I told you they were representatives. Well, I volunteered them, but they came as everyone’s representative.”
“Representative&h.e.l.lip;&h.e.l.lip;?”
Unable to grasp the conversation, Ichikawa explained the situation to Tatsumi.
“Since we always pretended not to see it up until now&h.e.l.lip;&h.e.l.lip;we wanted to apologize.”
“Pretend not to see it?”
“That princess—Yamauchi’s hara.s.sment, we pretended not to see it.”
Tatsumi was also surprised by the new, somewhat bitter, information that Yamauchi was called a princess. In the past, it seemed as though Yamauchi took the initiative to become Tatsumi’s messenger. Since sometimes she would yell loudly at someone who happened to be free, “I told you I would do it!”, Tatsumi thought it was natural she would be the only one to speak to him.