Chapter 20

"Ah, it's Yuki-kun."

The moment Eri's voice was heard, Yuki was suddenly released from the two people.

Keitaro, who had been standing next to him, suddenly put his phone to his ear, turned on his heel, and disappeared, while Sonoda quickly turned his back, took off his glasses, and began wiping the lenses with a cloth.

"Shh, shh!"

As Eri approached, she threw a fake jab in the air as they passed by. A girl walking next to her turned to Eri with a puzzled look.

"What are you doing, Eri?"

"It's a rival thing."

"What's that? Haha, that's funny."

The three girls laughed and walked past. They kept glancing back at Yuki and the others.

"Who's that?"

"Isn't she in our class?"

"Oh... I think so?"

Yuki didn't pay much attention to their conversation. Sonoda, who had been ignored, was standing with his hand raised at a forty-five-degree angle, saying "Hey" with a serious face. Feeling a bit sorry for him, Yuki glanced at Sonoda, who then asked, "What's up?" as if nothing had happened.

"Nothing, really..."

It was hard to ask if he was okay about being ignored. But perhaps sensing Yuki's concern, Sonoda frowned slightly and scratched his head.

"It seems that girl... is Nago-kun. She seems to be focused solely on winning you over. The seatmate killer never misses her target. Her success rate, as far as I know, is one hundred percent."

"Well, if I already knew that, I wouldn't be in danger of being won over, right?"

"That's a naive way of thinking. To be honest, as the top student in the grade, I had my suspicions from the start. Maybe she was just teasing me? But her relentless pursuit and the wave of 'Maybe this could work' eventually led to my defeat."

"Relentless pursuit? It's not that serious, is it?"

"Hmm... Well, you should be prepared, anyway."

With that, Sonoda raised his index and middle fingers and waved his arm. Finding it creepy, Yuki turned and walked back to the classroom without reacting.

---

After the last class of the day, it was after school. Yuki stretched at his desk and then tried to put his stationery back into his pencil case. As he reached for an eraser, he accidentally flicked it off the desk.

"Ah."

The eraser bounced on the floor and rolled right to Eri's feet. Noticing it immediately, Eri bent down to pick it up while still seated. Seeing this, Yuki remembered what Keitaro had said at lunch.

(Does she do that 'ah' thing?)

The secret technique that had driven Keitaro to confess. Watching Eri's actions, she said:

"Here you go."

She tried to put the eraser in her own pencil case.

"Hey!"

"What?"

When Yuki called her out, Eri blinked exaggeratedly and put on an innocent face. Yuki stared at her hand, and Eri showed him the eraser rolling in her palm.

"Is this the round-cornered eraser you dropped? Or...?"

"Cut the act and give it back, please."

Interrupting her before she could continue, Yuki said. Eri pouted and replied:

"Act? You're no fun, Yuki-kun."

"Thanks for picking it up. Can you give it back, please?"

To prevent her from stealing it, Yuki emphasized that it was his. Eri suddenly smiled and gave him a sidelong glance.

"Hmm... I just wanted something of Yuki-kun's..."

Yuki shuddered at the declaration that she would snatch anything she could get her hands on.

"Who would have thought my seatmate would be a thief..."

"No, no... Why can't you understand that?"

"I need my eraser, though."

"Okay, how about we trade?"

Eri took an eraser from her pencil case and placed it on the desk. She smiled, but when Yuki picked it up, he noticed it was smaller than his.

"This one is more worn out, though?"

"You're being petty. It's a total rip-off."

"Even if I wanted to switch to a bigger one, it's not that simple."

"That's a used eraser from a high school girl. It's valuable, even if it's small."

"I see. Would it sell better with a photo?"

"Stop being so serious. It's a joke, okay?"

"Forget it," Eri snatched her eraser back and slammed Yuki's eraser on the desk. She seemed a bit upset that her plan hadn't worked.

(Hmm, as I thought...)

Considering what Sonoda had said, it wasn't unreasonable to think she had some issues. The top student in the grade wasn't just a title. If there was a deeper reason for her behavior, it would be cruel to be too harsh on her. Yuki, who had experience dealing with such situations, decided to be gentle.

"If you have any problems or concerns, I'm here to listen. Just let me know."

Eri looked at Yuki curiously for a moment, then raised her hand enthusiastically.

"Okay, okay."

"Sure, go ahead."

"When the person next to you says weird things from a high-and-mighty position..."

"Hmm... What should I say, then?"

"What should you say? It's... um..."

Eri looked up, deep in thought. For a moment, her face relaxed, but she quickly regained her composure.

"Think of something yourself!"

"Think of something...?"

Now it was Yuki's turn to look up at the ceiling. He felt a gaze from the side but tried to recall how he had handled similar situations with his sister, Mizuna.

"Sure, there are a lot of things... but don't worry."

"About what?"

"Don't worry. Everything will be fine."

"But what are you talking about? You've been doing this all along..."

Eri frowned, full of suspicion. While he was concerned about her, he didn't want her to cause more trouble for others. Thinking about this, he looked straight at Eri and smiled.

Eri's eyes darted around, and she turned her face away, but then she regained her composure and stared back. However, she quickly stood up.

"I'm... going home!"

"Are you okay? Can you go home alone?"

"I can go home! Do I look like a kid?"

"Be careful. Don't stay out too late."

"Mind your own business! Are you my mom? No, my grandma!"

Eri's cheeks flushed as she said this excitedly, grabbed her bag, and hurriedly left her seat.

(There's definitely something different...)

Of course, it was different from the situation with Mizuna. This time, the person was more complicated. Yuki, left at his desk, tilted his head in thought.