Chapter 4

Lunch break.

As Yuki sat alone at his desk, munching on the onigiri he had brought from home, Keitaro came over, making a pattering sound with his slippers.

While sipping on a juice box with a straw, Keitaro kept asking, "How is it? How is this seat?"

Incidentally, at the moment, Yui was absent from her seat, eating lunch with a group of girls elsewhere.

"Want to sit down instead of standing there?"

Pointing to Yui's empty seat, Yuki suggested to Keitaro, who was leaning against the wall.

But Keitaro shook his head from side to side and said,

"Hey, hey, whose seat do you think this is? If I sit there, I'll get death vibes."

"From where?"

"Obviously from all those guys. They pretend to be gentlemen on the surface, but they're all just waiting for a chance to sniff and lick that chair."

"They're all perverts, huh."

I don't think licking it would taste like anything but wood, but whatever.

After making a gesture as if praying towards Yui's seat, Keitaro leaned in and whispered to Yuki,

"By the way, how is it? What's your neighbor like?"

"I think she's a really nice person."

Keitaro immediately responded with a knowing smile,

"Hmm, so you're already KO'd after half a day, huh? Well, they say that just a smile and a greeting from Naruto is enough to make someone fall for her."

"She even shows me her homework."

"…That's just being nice. I mean, why are you so well taken care of? You should try harder, show her your good side."

Why did it end up like this, he pressed, leaning in closer, but Yuki found it too troublesome to explain in detail.

He silently stuffed the rest of his onigiri into his mouth, and Keitaro looked down at him with a smug expression.

"Let me give you a heads up. Even if you think it might be going well… unfortunately, she talks happily with everyone. It's better not to get too carried away."

"I'm not thinking that."

"Meaning it's just the effect of sitting next to her. Don't get the wrong idea."

"I've never heard of such an effect. You're making it sound like the suspension bridge effect."

Just as they were having this conversation, Yui hurried back to her seat.

She rummaged through her desk, took something out, glanced at Yuki and Keitar once, and then returned to her group.

"Why are you backing away?"

Thinking that the noisy Keitaro would surely say something, Yuki was surprised to see him avoiding Yui and acting stealthy.

"N-no, you see, we were in the same class in middle school, so… you know, various things…"

"Does that matter? Well, it doesn't really matter anyway."

"Show a little more interest in me. If you were a detective, you'd be a failure. You'll miss important clues."

As soon as they were alone, Keitaro started complaining, so Yuki ignored him. Then, Yui came back to her seat again.

This time, Keitaro suddenly started looking out the window, so Yuki joined him, wondering if something was up. Suddenly, he felt a tap on his shoulder.

Turning around, he saw Yui crouching down and leaning in, speaking in a slightly lowered tone,

"Hey, Naruto-kun, do you remember our earlier conversation…?"

"Huh? Oh… I haven't forgotten, but…"

"You definitely forgot, didn't you, from that reaction."

Yuki, who had been shown Yui's preview and homework, had promised to treat her to a drink during lunch break as a thank you. He had completely forgotten about it, spanning two classes.

"I'll go right now. What drink do you want?"

"Um, what do they have…? How about we go together?"

"Uh, sure, but…"

Caught off guard by the sudden invitation, Yuki was a bit flustered, but he had no reason to refuse.

Thinking that Keitaro would surely butt in, Yuki was surprised to see him disappear as if fleeing.

Well, if he was gone, it was quieter. Yuki stood up from his chair and left the classroom with Yui.

After a while, they arrived at a corner near the school store where vending machines lined up.

This area could get quite crowded at certain times, but now, due to the odd timing, there were only a few people around.

Standing behind a student who was selecting a drink from the vending machine, Yui, who had stopped next to Yuki, spoke up.

"…Hey, Naruto-kun, are you a really quiet type?"

"No, not really. I'm normal."

"Being completely silent like this isn't normal, is it?"

"That goes for you too, right?"

They had walked down the hallway together, but had maintained a mysterious silence all the way.

"I was just watching to see when you would speak. And then we arrived!"

"Same here, I was waiting for you to say something."

"…Really?"

It wasn't a lie. He had expected her to start a conversation.

Perhaps Yui had been engaged in some advanced psychological warfare, but Yuki was simply not very good at initiating topics.

Yui looked unconvinced but suddenly looked up at him with a serious expression.

"Ah, maybe… were you nervous…?"

"Nervous? Why…"

"Ah, never mind. Never mind."

Yui shook her head and turned forward, signaling the end of the conversation.

In front of them, a couple was playfully nudging each other in front of the vending machine.

"Hey, Taku, what do you want…?"

"Hmm, what should I do? What do you want, Miki…?"

"Um… I can't decide… You choose."

"Let's press the button for what we both like. Let's try it."

"Same as Taku."

They were giggling and making a fuss in front of the vending machine.

Whether they were oblivious to their surroundings or doing it on purpose, they took their time, finally bought their drinks, and left, linking arms.

Watching them with a straight face, Yui, as they walked away, said,

"…Tsk."

"Did you just click your tongue?"

"No, no, I didn't. …What do you think when you see something like that?"

"Not much… It's just annoying."

"Hmm… Maybe this is the first time we've had an opinion in common."

"You did click your tongue, didn't you?"

"No, I didn't. That's not good, it shows a dirty mind."

Yui said, pointing her index finger at Yuki's nose, and then looked at the vending machine.

"What do you recommend?"

"Um, how about Doc Pepper?"

"Something else."

When Yuki said he didn't have any other recommendations, Yui chose straight black tea.

He bought it for her, along with his own drink.

As he opened the cap of the brightly colored liquid in the PET bottle and started drinking,

"…Is it good?"

"It's good. Want to try it?"

He offered the PET bottle to Yui.

Yui looked back and forth between Yuki's face and the bottle, then pointed to the mouth of the bottle,

"But… that…"

"I drank from this side, so the other side is fine."

"…Why do you have to push me to the limit like that?"

"Because you said so… I don't really mind such things."

"Hmm…? Well, I did say it, but it's not worth making a fuss over…"

"Here you go."

He smoothly handed the bottle to her.

But Yui, who had taken it, looked unsure and didn't drink.

Finally, she looked at him as if pleading for something,

"…What?"

"Well… it's hard to drink when someone is staring at me! Turn around for a bit."

Without understanding why, Yuki turned around.

It's not like she was changing clothes or anything, so why did she need him to turn around?

While he was thinking about it, he heard, "Okay, you can turn around now," and when he did, Yui quickly returned the bottle, which didn't seem to have lost much of its contents.

"Huh? Did you drink it?"

"I did."

"It doesn't look like it's decreased."

"I did!"

She said, her face red and half-angry, which he thought was unnecessary.

It seemed she didn't like the taste very much.