Time Of Our Lives; Kirisuna

Chapter 63: Leave of Absence

Kirito POV:

The last day of the school tour came around and I still hadn't heard back from Argo. She'd usually keep me updated in the past, but she hasn't given me as much as a status report.

Could something have gone wrong?

Whenever something went wrong she'd keep it from me and deal with it herself. It looked like that's still the same.

As for Ronye, Asuna reprimanded me after I pushed her into the pool yesterday. In the end, I promised to treat her better from now on, but that depended on the results of my test.

Since she was Hirata's cousin I hoped she could be an ally. If we got her on our side we could eliminate Tiese as a suspect as well.

In any case, I was in charge of the last day of the school tour. Sosuke kept up his end of our deal and managed everything yesterday so I had to do the same.

Before our Social Studies period came, I discussed this with Eugeo and Eiji.

"Since I'll manage everything for today, I'll leave Satoru to you." I said.

"You can count on us!"

Satoru's remained his usual self since the tour started. So much so that I thought I wrongfully suspected him. But I kept my emotions in check, at least until Argo gets back to me.

"Also, try and befriend Masayuki. It'd be great to have someone like him on our side."

"Hmm. I've been meaning to get along with the freshmen this year, so it's two birds one stone I guess." Eiji said.

"Are you afraid he'll steal your limelight, Kirito?" Eugeo snickered.

"By all means, let him." I waved a hand.

My popularity was what brought these transfer students here. If someone could share it with me, I was all for it.

The bell rang signaling the end of lunch and the start of our Social Studies period.

"I'll leave them both to you."

They nodded and I entered the hallway as everyone marched out of the classroom to form a line.

We did a head count and waited for Satoru's arrival. However, as time passed, I became concerned. I glanced at my watch and discovered almost 10 minutes had already passed.

How long is he gonna take?

Satoru was somewhat of a slacker but even he wasn't this late. However, after what seemed like a full 15 minutes, footsteps could be heard running down the hallway.

However, instead of Satoru, his best friend showed up.

Minoru panted as he dragged his feet over to us. He looked like he had run a marathon to get here.

"Haa. Sorry...Haa for being late. I forgot I was in charge of your class." He said.

I raised an eyebrow, "What do you mean? What happened to Satoru?"

"Ah, he's called in sick for the day. I went to visit him during lunch and it seems he came down with a fever."

What? How could he have come down with a fever?

"Anyways, I'm sorry I kept you waiting. We should go since you've already waited so long."

"Right..."

I still hadn't processed Satoru's absence as the plan to keep an eye on him for the day shattered into pieces.

I guess our bet is also off.