My Youth Romantic Comedy Is Wrong As Expected

Page 482

"no."

Ye Shan shrugged and sighed.

"Even though the exams were tough... Oh, by the way, could you please tell your sister 'You've worked hard' for me?"

"No way. Why should I relay your message? But I appreciate your kindness. Thanks."

I responded to Hayama's hearty laugh with a deadpan expression, and he blinked in surprise.

"I never expected to receive your thanks for something like this."

Hayama pulled the tab on the coffee can, took a sip, and gave a wry smile. "No, no, no, I do say thank you, okay? It's you who's so particular about etiquette, remembering to greet Komachi even at a time like this that really surprises me..."

However, because Hayama is a person who values ​​etiquette, he also knows to steer the conversation back on track.

"Let's not talk about your sister for now... I'm talking about another family's sister."

Who is the other family's younger sister? Jinghua? Taking care of her must be very hard work, such a promising little girl... Of course I can pretend to be naive, but Hayama Hayato's expression at this moment is quite serious.

If I pretend to be naive now, he'll definitely reply, "Oh, so you're that kind of person," and label me without my consent.

We roughly figured out what the other side was planning.

In fact, Hayama and I both thought we understood each other, then we took it upon ourselves to be disappointed, to give up, and finally to accept each other. All along, we were just imposing our sadness on each other.

The words uttered never address the essence of the problem; they forever circle around it. There's no even certainty of whether the meaning has been conveyed, yet there's an inability to control oneself from speaking.

Knowing full well that we are incompatible, we are unwilling to ignore each other. What exists between us is only social niceties filled with self-talk and sarcasm.

"...The real hardship is yet to come, though I'm not entirely sure myself."

"really."

He gave a bitter smile and tossed away his empty coffee. The can traced a parabolic arc through the air before landing precisely in the trash can. The loud clanging of metal echoed through the quiet first floor of the school building.

As Ye Shan watched the tin can hit its target, his smile faded and he sighed softly. Before I could discern whether his sigh stemmed from satisfaction or loneliness, he turned and walked away.

"...However, it's much better than before. I always thought things would never change."

Hayama said those words without waiting for my response. To be honest, he didn't seem to expect me to respond at all.

Ah, this is exactly our usual conversation pattern. No, it can't even be called a conversation.

One party forces out words they don't really want to say, while the other takes them and assigns them meaning. That's all. Rather than "interpreting," what I do is perhaps closer to "kaishakunin" (intermediate interrogation), always cutting off words that could have formed a dialogue and watching them perish.

Ye Shan had already walked a few steps away. I kept a distance that wasn't too close or too far behind him, while recalling what we had just said.

How did Hayama learn that Yukinoshita was going home? From Yukinoshita's parents, Haruno, or Yukinoshita herself? Or was it mentioned by Yuihama? Never mind, it doesn't matter. The meaning is the same.

Simply put, he sensed that something he thought would never change was gradually being altered by Yukino Yukinoshita's actions.

Fortunately, he saw it as a good thing. Hayama had known the Yukinoshita family for so long, so his words were trustworthy.

Thanks to him, I know that Yukino is doing well in a place I didn't know about, which puts some weight off my heart.

When Hayama mentioned the "burden on my shoulders," I deliberately linked it to Komachi, but perhaps he wasn't wrong. The dull ache in my chest was similar to the feeling I had when Komachi thanked me.

Therefore, this pain proves that I made the right choice.

On the way back to the classroom, the distance between us did not shorten.

As class time approached, students who were about to be late ran down the corridor, waving as they passed Hayama. Hayama gently raised his hand in response.

Before I knew it, my gaze fell on Ye Shan's constantly waving hands.

I suddenly wondered if Hayama felt the same way? Just like I watched Doraemon grow up, did Hayama feel the same way about the girl—or the girls—beside me? In the short time before I reached the classroom, I couldn't help but speculate.

The moment Hayama grasped the classroom doorknob, the distance between us closed a little.

╳ ╳ ╳

As the end of the school day approached, the classrooms, which had been quiet in the morning, became lively, and the entire school building seemed to warm up a bit.

Perhaps because activities were suspended during the previous exams, the sports clubs were particularly energetic, and the shouts of the baseball and football clubs could already be heard on the sports field.

The same was true in the classroom. The sports club members, led by Hayama, were nowhere to be seen, and the other students had left one by one.

Club activities... I wonder if the Service Club has any activities today? Anyway, I'll go check it out... I slowly packed my things, preparing to get up from my seat. Just then, a series of hurried footsteps rapidly approached.

I could roughly guess who it was. When I turned around, the other person was also tilting their head and leaning in, making our faces almost touch.

"Oh my god! You scared me to death..."

"Oh, yes, I'm sorry!"

Her pinkish-brown hair swayed along with the bun on her head, her large, watery eyes, her soft lips as she breathed out, her chest accentuated by her leaning back, and the citrus scent that wafted into my nose when she turned her face away.

All of this happened at extremely close range, causing my heart to almost forget to beat.

I let out a long breath, and Yuihama leaned over again and said:

"That's an exaggeration."

She couldn't help but laugh and kept patting my shoulder. Oh my god, how embarrassing! I wish I could just die... We were making so much noise, other people were looking this way... Anyway, please don't touch my upper arm, okay? It's really effective; it makes me want to act manly and tense my biceps.

"Want to join a club?"

"...Yes, yes, let's go take a look."

I tried to calm myself down, but answered in a somewhat uncertain tone. Yuihama pondered for a moment, then immediately nodded.

"...I see. That makes sense. Wait for me a moment."

She ran back to say a brief goodbye to Miura and the others, grabbed her backpack, picked up a bunch of random things, and ran back to me.

"Let's go."

She pushed my back to urge me on. "Um, I can walk by myself, don't push me..." In this emergency, the most important rules are not to push, not to run around, and not to talk. If you reach my level, you might even stop talking to others altogether because your disaster preparedness awareness is too strong.

For me, this was definitely an emergency. We'd been to the student council office together before, but this seemed to be the first time we'd walked out of the classroom together.

I couldn't help but notice the stares of others and turned around. However, there weren't many people left in the classroom; most were talking to their companions and weren't paying much attention to this area.

I glanced again at the people who had just been chatting with Yuihama; they didn't seem puzzled that we were leaving together. Ebina waved goodbye, while Miura continued to twirl his curly hair.

I secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

Regardless of my own feelings, for others, calling this scene an everyday occurrence might not be wrong.

It was only natural for Yuihama to go to the Service Club after school, and they knew I was a member. So it was perfectly natural for us to go to the club office together.

In the past, I would probably have been looked at differently. Not just me, but Yuihama as well.

When I categorized that group of people as the top of the campus hierarchy, I never imagined this day would come. Since we started interacting privately and gained some understanding of each other, we can now use that as a starting point to deduce many things. I wouldn't call it understanding, but we can at least fabricate reasons to justify each other's actions.

Of course, this can also be applied to Yuihama walking next to me.

Perhaps because it had been a while since school ended, the corridor leading to the special building was quieter than usual, and the air was just as cold and dry.

However, it will definitely not be cold.

Is it because of Yui, walking beside me—with that fluffy blanket in her hand…? I glanced to the side and saw Yui burying her chin in the blanket. Why did she bring a blanket? Nereus? Is she Nereus?

Is it because this is Chiba that they're using the peanut reference...? [Note 37: Peanuts (or Snoopy) is a character in the manga series where he always carries a blanket. Peanuts are a specialty of Chiba.]

"Why did you bring a blanket?"

It was strange that no one had said a word the whole way, so I casually asked and started a conversation. Yuihama tilted her head in confusion.

"Huh? A blanket? Ah—do you mean this blanket?"

"Is there a difference between the two...? Are they not strictly the same? Like pasta and spaghetti? Stop writing everything in English."

"Huh? But it says 'blanket' on it... Wait a minute, aren't 'pasta' and 'spaghetti' both English words..."

Yui pouted and complained, then suddenly realized something was amiss and frowned. Had she been discovered...? However, I ignored her and continued staring at the blanket. Looking past the blanket Yui had folded, it didn't seem very large to begin with, maybe half a tatami mat at most. I immediately remembered its original name.

"Yes, it's a knee blanket."

Yuihama buried her face in the blanket and nodded.

"Ah, yes, yes, that's it."

"Oh...don't you already have one?"

I remember the scene in the clubroom. Yuihama and Yukinoshita sat side by side, covered by the same blanket, like they were snuggled up in a kotatsu (heated bed). Every time I saw that scene, I would think, "It looks so warm. I'm freezing here. I want to go home as soon as possible," so I remember it very clearly.

My seat is super cold... Thinking of this, I looked at the blanket with a slightly envious gaze. Yui blinked after hearing this.

"You noticed that much detail..."

"N-no, it wasn't that I noticed it, it just naturally came into my line of sight..."

"Naturally..."

"Ah—yes, that's right, because I have a very broad perspective..."

Although I was just rambling, maybe my perspective is really broad. Because even though I was too embarrassed to face Yuihama, I could still catch a glimpse of her burying her flushed face in the blanket out of the corner of my eye.

Footsteps echoed in the quiet corridor, with only the sound of cold wind slapping against the windows and the faint breathing beside me.

Oh no, this silence is so awkward! My attempt to start a conversation was a recipe for disaster… If I had remained silent for another five seconds, it would have been a bad communication, and my pay would have decreased! [Note: I don't expect a perfect answer, at least a good—no, a normal communication would be fine. Although even if I got a perfect answer, my affection level wouldn't have increased. [Note 38: From the mobile game *The Idolmaster Million Live! Theater Days*. Idols have a chance to engage in dialogue while working; if no option is chosen within the time limit, it's considered bad communication.]

Therefore, I casually said:

"Since you already have a knee blanket, why buy another one? How many legs do you have? A centipede?"

"No, it was just a free gift with the magazine purchase!"

Yuihama quickly looked up to retort. However, she immediately looked down again, her eyebrows drooping into a V-shape, and muttered:

"...After buying magazines, I suddenly have a lot of blankets. To be honest, I'm also quite troubled about what to do with them."

"Oh, oh... I see..."

We need to get rid of them... Come to think of it, it makes sense. Every winter, we get a ton of these freebies. Come to think of it, we have quite a few, about as many as the plates we get at the Spring Bread Festival. Those plates are so durable they never break, so the number just keeps increasing...

I wholeheartedly agree, and Yuihama smiled and nodded in agreement.

"It's still so cold, so I brought one from home. Besides..."

Her words suddenly stopped, and her gaze shifted forward. I looked in that direction, and there it was—the office of the Service Society was right in front of me.

Yuihama paused for a moment, as if choosing the appropriate words, and took a light breath.

"...I'm thinking, if club activities are going to continue, why not just move them to the club office?"

She added softly, as if talking to herself, then immediately shut her mouth and lowered her head with a slightly embarrassed look. Seeing her expression, all I could do was respond with something like, "Oh, I see."

Perhaps I could have just joked about it as usual, but I simply couldn't think of anything to say.

"If it continues" --

Yuihama's tone suggested that she was certain the end was near.

Before we could come up with the right response, we arrived at the community office. I didn't say anything, but instead gripped the doorknob.

However, the office door only made a "click" sound, and the office remained unmoved.

"...It's locked."

Hearing me say that, Yuihama peeked out from behind me and looked towards the door.

"Yukino hasn't arrived yet..."

She tucked the item under her arm and reached into her coat pocket. I glanced at her, then turned and walked away.

"I'll go get the keys."

“Eh? Ah—”

Yuihama seemed to want to say something, but I waved to indicate "it's okay" and quickened my pace toward the faculty office.

The Service Society's door has only ever been opened by Yukinoshita.

Only now have I realized this.

She always had that key; I never even touched it.

╳ ╳ ╳

Peeking into the faculty office, I saw it was quite busy, probably because the exams had just ended.

The table was piled high with documents, and the air was filled with the sounds of phone calls and discussions. It doesn't seem convenient to ask where the keys are right now…

At times like these, you need to go to Hiratsuka-sensei. Most of the time, she's either eating or watching anime in her office.

I imagined a morning prank show where someone secretly takes a picture of someone sleeping, so I quietly said "Excuse me" as I stepped into the office and walked toward Professor Hiratsuka's seat.