Chapter 13
It was June, and the air was hot and dry. A gentle breeze rustled the leaves.
The morning classes were Social Studies, Chinese Language, Math, and English. The male teacher in Social Studies was lecturing on world history, but perhaps because his tone was flat and his delivery was not engaging, some students were already dozing off.
Yuko looked at her textbook, her pen twirling gently in her hand. Due to lack of sleep, she was also having some difficulty concentrating.
Suddenly she felt something touching her feet. She looked down and saw that an eraser, whose belongings she didn't know, had rolled to her feet.
Yuko bent down to pick up the eraser and looked around. Across the aisle, two girls at diagonally behind her were offering her grateful clasped hands. Yuko knew the girl's name was Tachibana Hinata because her surname was a relatively uncommon single-character surname.
Yuko smiled back and asked the person at the table behind her to pass her the eraser.
During the break, Hinata Tachibana got down from her desk to find her and thank her.
"It's just a small matter," Yuko said politely.
After Hinata Tachibana returned to her seat, Yuko's classmate in front of her turned around and said to her with a gossipy look, "I heard that Hinata is dating a delinquent."
Yuko was slightly surprised, but only slightly. Then, she looked confused and asked, tilting her head, "The school rules don't seem to prohibit early romantic relationships?"
The student in front of him was taken aback and awkwardly replied, "...No, not at all." Perhaps because he couldn't get anywhere with Yuko, the student in front of him got bored and turned away, not continuing the conversation.
Yuko didn't know what she had said wrong, but she didn't pay much attention to it and started preparing materials for the next class.
The break ended quickly, and the second Chinese class began, but less than ten minutes later, a commotion broke out outside the classroom.
"A big shot from Dongwan has come to our school," someone running past the classroom said.
The teacher told everyone not to be disturbed by the noise outside, but the people in the classroom were whispering among themselves, so the teacher decided to stop the lecture and go out to see what was going on.
With no teacher supervising them, the students in the classroom became bolder, speaking louder, and some even suggested going outside to see what was going on. Surprisingly, Hinata Tachibana was the first to lead the way out of the classroom, and after her, a small group of people followed suit to see what was happening.
Yuko was a little bothered by the phrase "a big shot from Dongwan" that she heard, and after hesitating for a while, she also left the classroom.
She walked towards the direction of the crowd, quietly saying "Excuse me" as she went. Just as she emerged from the crowd, she heard a loud slap.
Yuko stared in disbelief at the scene.
The person who took the slap was Sano Manjiro, and the one who hit him was Tachibana Hinata.
Because of their positions, Yuko and Mikey, who had just been beaten, were facing each other.
"Tachibana is dating a delinquent."
For some reason, this sentence suddenly popped into Yuko's mind, and then her mind couldn't stop imagining: a couple arguing? Being caught cheating?
For a moment, she didn't dare to look him in the eye, and the awkward silence filled the room.
So he has a girlfriend.
What does that have to do with me...?
Despite these thoughts, Yuko felt a strange sense of loss. Not wanting to stay even a second longer, she turned and slipped into the crowd of onlookers, disappearing from the scene…
Mikey: ? ? ?
Yuko hadn't gone far when she bumped into Ichigo, who had come running after hearing the commotion. Ichigo stopped her: "Yuko? Aren't you in class at this hour?"
"I'm going back to the classroom now," Yuko hurriedly explained, seemingly trying to cover something up. Then, her expression became hesitant, and she took two steps forward before turning back. Finally, she made up her mind, thinking it would be better to give a heads-up, and said, "It seems like Sano-kun is arguing with his girlfriend, and he even got slapped. I think it's best if Kazutaka-kun doesn't go over there right now."
There are so many things to complain about that Ichigo doesn't even know where to begin, and he even thinks Yuko is talking nonsense.
"Mikey got slapped? You must be mistaken! Mikey can fight a hundred people one-on-one and not get hurt." As a Mikey fan, Ichigo's words were probably an exaggeration. But it was indeed hard to believe that Mikey, who could easily dodge punches, couldn't dodge a woman's slap.
This time, it was Yuko's turn to think that Ichigo was talking nonsense. Who could take on a hundred people single-handedly without getting hurt? She guessed, "Maybe it's because the other person is his girlfriend."
no.
When did Mikey get a girlfriend? How come I didn't know?
After thinking for a moment, Yi Hu felt that there might be some misunderstanding.
But it seems like it would be quite interesting to let Yuko keep misunderstanding this~
So he didn't explain, but instead vaguely echoed Yuko's words, saying, "That makes sense, that makes sense, but I still need to go and take a look. Yuko, go back to the classroom."
Yuko, feeling relieved, nodded and returned to the classroom. The Japanese language teacher for that class didn't return until the bell rang, but Tachibana Hinata returned to the classroom as soon as the bell rang. Yuko instinctively went to look at her. She had a smile on her face, her steps were light, and she looked very relaxed.
Judging from Tachibana's expression, they must have made up, right?
Yuko suddenly realized that she was once again focusing on things that had nothing to do with her. When faced with the unknown and things that are difficult to control, people always subconsciously try to avoid them. To rationalize this, Yuko racked her brains and finally managed to come up with a reason.
I must not have slept well last night.
Yuko told herself this.
Yuko was somewhat distracted throughout the rest of the day's classes.
Finally, school was over. Before leaving, the class monitor found Yuko and told her that the craft teacher had notified everyone that they would be teaching them how to make handmade stamps the day after tomorrow, but they didn't have enough materials and needed to buy them. He hoped that Yuko could help him buy them.
"We'll cover the cost from the class fund. The stones and tools are quite heavy. Doesn't Takiya-kun have a car? For the sake of the class, we'll have to ask Takiya-kun to help," the class monitor said with a smile, as if she was confident that Yuko would agree.
It's not her fault. Yuko is usually easy to talk to in class. Even in last month's sports festival, when no one else participated in the 1000-meter race, Yuko stepped in, using the same excuse that it was for the honor of the class.
Unfortunately, Yuko was no longer the same person who tolerated everything without limits. In addition, she wasn't in a good mood today. With a polite smile on her face, Yuko said, "I'm sorry, I may not have time."
The class monitor probably didn't expect that Yuko, whom he thought was easy to talk to, would actually refuse. After being rebuffed, he started to back down: "Oh, never mind then."
After the class monitor left, Yuko breathed a sigh of relief—but before she could fully relax, she saw the class monitor go to Tachibana Hinata, presumably to ask her for the same favor. Then she saw Tachibana Hinata smile genuinely and nod in agreement.
In an instant, Yuko felt a mix of emotions, and was so ashamed that she wanted to disappear.
The thing that I had refused because I thought it was a hassle, Tachibana agreed to. I was completely defeated by her in terms of magnanimity.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
