Chapter 40

"Ah, oh. I messed up~"

During the break between classes.

As Yuki was preparing for the next class, suddenly, Yui started to hold her head in a gesture of distress.

She then said, "Oh, I really messed up~" and slapped her knees.

Glancing at her slightly exaggerated actions, Yuki returned to his preparations.

"Hey, listen? Not just a glance."

Yui leaned in slightly.

When Yuki replied, "What?" Yui tilted her head exaggeratedly again.

"I left my English textbook at home~"

"Oh~"

"Of all subjects, English~"

"Don't worry about it"

The conversation ended quickly, but Yuki still felt Yui's gaze, as if she wanted to say something more.

When Yuki asked, "What?" again,

"Hey, hey, can I see your English textbook in the next class?"

"No, I need to use it too, so that's a bit difficult... Sorry, can't do it."

"I didn't mean to take it, just to share. Stop treating me like a bully?"

"Even sharing is a bit... awkward..."

"Come on, just move your desk closer..."

As she said this, Yui smiled slyly.

"Hmm? Yuki-kun, are you embarrassed? Does the closeness make you nervous?"

"But it's English, right? If you forgot, borrow one from another class."

"Okay, I'll borrow one."

Yui returned to a serious expression and stood up. She left the classroom, apparently displeased.

However, there was a rule that if you forgot your textbook, you should borrow one from another class beforehand.

Yui should have known this.

A few minutes later, Yui returned to her seat with a textbook. It was so quick that Yuki couldn't help but comment.

"You already borrowed one?"

"Yeah, but why are you so surprised?"

"Did you steal it or something?"

"No, I borrowed it."

"Wow."

"...What? Don't be impressed by the wrong things, okay?"

But this speed was not ordinary. It was a testament to her social skills.

Yuki thought she should have borrowed it right away but didn't say it.

"I never forget my textbook."

"Why not?"

"Because no one would lend me theirs, obviously."

"But you don't have to be so harsh..."

"Well, I, Yuki, will never forget it."

"You sound so confident. Are you sure you won't mess up?"

"Of course I'm fine."

"Are you really okay?"

A few days later, during the break before the next English class.

Yuki searched through his desk and checked his bag.

After opening his locker in the hallway, he checked his desk again.

(This is... bad.)

Sure enough, the textbook was missing. He must have left it at home.

It was because he had brought the text home and studied diligently. So, studying diligently was the problem.

He was completely stuck. After giving up on finding it, he sat at his desk, feeling defeated, when a curious face peered over from the side.

"Is something wrong?"

"Looks like I forgot my textbook."

As soon as Yui said this, she burst out laughing.

"Oh, you forgot it? We just talked about this the other day."

"No, I didn't forget it, I left it at home."

"It's the same thing. You said you'd never forget, right?"

"Who said that? Are you kidding me?"

"You're mad at yourself. You said, 'I'll never forget,' right?"

"That was a self-hypnosis thing. By declaring it to others, I was putting pressure on myself."

"Okay, but you failed."

"What a blunder..."

"You're taking it too hard."

"My stomach hurts, maybe I'll go to the infirmary."

"You're trying to run away."

The infirmary was the ultimate way to avoid everything.

But it was too ridiculous to go that far.

"Alright, I'm just joking. It's fine, I'll do it this way."

"W-What? Stop it. You forgot it, but you didn't borrow one, right?"

"It's fine as long as no one finds out."

"That's a flag for getting caught."

"It's fine, I've done it before."

"You've done it before?"

This was before she got this seat. It was a very thrilling battle.

"Ugh, fine. Just wait a moment."

Yui pouted and stood up.

She left the classroom and quickly returned with an English textbook.

As soon as she sat down, she handed him the textbook she had taken from her desk.

"Here, you can use mine."

"Huh?"

"I borrowed one from a friend."

She had gone out of her way to borrow one from a friend.

Yuki took it without thinking but pushed it back.

"No, no, that's a bit too much to ask..."

"It's fine, I already borrowed it. Just take it."

"But if you forget next time, I'll have to lend you mine."

"No, that's not necessary."

"You'll probably forget again soon, saying, 'I messed up~'"

"I didn't expect to be dissed like this."

"Here, take it!" Yui pushed the textbook at him, slightly irritated.

As he took it, he kept his gaze fixed on Yui's face.

"W-What?"

"Thank you, you really helped me."

He looked at her earnestly and thanked her.

Yui looked surprised but soon blushed slightly and looked away.

Then she looked back firmly and smiled slyly,

"Oh, oh? Did you fall for me just now? Did you fall for Yui-chan's kindness~?"

"Ha, you wrote your name in cursive on this textbook. And you had to rewrite it."

"Are you listening to me?"

"Thank you, I'll take good care of it."

"Make sure to return it after class."

Yui pointed at the textbook and added, "Don't draw on it, okay?"

Flipping through it, Yuki found a poorly drawn cat in the margin of a page.

There was a spiky speech bubble that said, "Cat all the way!" The meaning was unclear.

Incidentally, the class was suddenly changed to self-study.

I just wrote a story that I had been putting off.