"Huh? Where did Yukinoshita go?"
When Yui returned to the classroom after the lunch break that day, she noticed Yukinoshita's seat was empty.
That was a rare occurrence these days Yukinoshita hadn't missed a single class in nearly two months.
Was she suddenly sick?
Yukinoshita did look rather slender, and it was true that she'd always seemed a bit frail.
"You didn't know, Yui?" Zeka asked as she tore open a bag of cookies and looked up. "Yukinoshita got a request from Ms. Hiratsuka. She and Yumiko went to deal with something in the first-year wing."
Zeka's cheeks puffed adorably like a hamster as she munched on her snack, passing the cookies to Yui with both hands. "I'm not too sure what it's about. Yumiko seemed in a real hurry when she left, so she didn't really explain."
Yui's expression froze for a moment. Then she smiled and ruffled Zeka's hair with both hands before accepting the cookies.
Yeah, she really hadn't known.
Zeka didn't mind. She dove into Yui's arms, letting out playful whimpers like a pampered cat.
Zeka's petite frame and twin pigtails made her look even more childish and endearing. Though she was the same year as the rest of them, everyone in class treated her like a beloved little sister.
Especially Junko.
But even Junko, who was as close to Zeka as anyone could be, didn't go so far as Yui who wanted to know everything about her, who wanted to occupy all of her time.
Junko watched them from behind with a teasing smile and pretended to sulk. "Wow, someone's totally heartless. You're giving cookies only to Yui and not the rest of us?"
Zeka wrinkled her nose, unimpressed.
She immediately covered the bag of cookies with both hands like a guard on duty. "You're the one who gave them to me, Junko! And now you want them back? That's so sneaky!"
As she chewed with her mouth full, Zeka chatted with Junko about some light gossip, her cherubic face tinged with a trace of naïve worry.
"Yumiko's been acting a little off toward Yukinoshita these past few days… Now Ms. Hiratsuka went and shoved the two of them together. You think they'll end up fighting?"
Junko rolled her eyes. "You think Ms. Hiratsuka or Zeka for that matter is that clueless?"
"Hey!!"
"On the contrary. Yumiko's the last person who'd fight with Yukinoshita."
"Then why's she been acting so weird lately?"
Junko thought for a moment, then chuckled softly and leaned in to whisper near Zeka's ear, "Probably because even someone as dense as Yumiko is finally starting to wake up."
"Huh?"
Even when they tried to keep it subtle, their closeness was obvious.
Junko and Zeka had been childhood friends and next-door neighbors for years. They could drop by each other's homes whenever they wanted. Sure, they bickered from time to time, but they'd always be back to their clingy selves within minutes.
Without a doubt, they were the most important people in each other's worlds.
Even Yumiko might take a step back in the face of that kind of friendship.
The idea of being someone's most important, their one and only, was so alluring especially at an age when everyone still believed in such innocent dreams.
The one and only Yukinoshita.
This Friday was the make-up exam.
Last night, Yui had wrestled with her thoughts for a while before nervously sending Yukinoshita a message on Line:
Ugh, I'm super stressed. If I fail my math make-up exam again, I might have to repeat the year… QAQ
As expected, Yui hadn't passed the mock exam. She'd failed math and now had to take the make-up.
If she failed again, she really might be held back.
Although Yumiko had helped her review the key points and crammed a lot of material into her head, math wasn't the kind of subject you could conquer just by memorizing formulas.
Yukinoshita replied slowly she didn't seem like the type who checked her phone often but her response had a strangely calming effect.
[Which questions don't you understand? Send them over.]
Yui ended up talking about math with Yukinoshita the whole night. She had never realized those confusing, headache-inducing problems could become so simple and clear.
It was like they had always been hidden behind some dark curtain in the sky, and Yukinoshita just reached up and plucked the stars from it.
Yukinoshita could be sharp-tongued sometimes so blunt it left Yui speechless and she never held back with her barbs.
[If even Yui can be taught, I imagine it'd be quite a fulfilling accomplishment.]
But coming from Yukinoshita, even a line like that sounded oddly comforting.
Yui could even picture her expression when she typed it probably that usual cool face, tinged with helpless indulgence.
Yukinoshita must've been busy that night. Sometimes it took her a while to respond to a question but that was unusual for her, since she normally solved problems in seconds.
[This question type is a favorite of our school's math teachers. Look at it more. Practice more.]
[I'm giving Yui double the number of practice questions compared to the others. If you still say you don't get it, I'll triple them (smile.jpg)]
As they got deeper into the problems, the two even ended up on a voice call.
Yui could faintly hear background noise on Yukinoshita's side probably some video tutorial playing in the background. But Yukinoshita's explanations still came through loud and clear despite the chaos.
Yui wasn't even sure when she fell asleep.
When she woke up, she saw Yukinoshita's final message in the Line chat, sent after the call ended. The timestamp said 3 a.m.
[When Junko, Uezawa, and Ono aren't around, Yui's like a poor little piglet waiting to be slaughtered.]
[Everyone has their weak points. I'm not trying to force you to change.]
[But Yui is such a lovely girl if she smiles at people, I think even if she turns them down, no one would ever dislike her.]
That was the first compliment Yui had heard from Yukinoshita that night.
Below the message were several images step-by-step solutions to questions of the same type, laid out so clearly it felt like a one-on-one tutoring session.
Zeka and Junko were still chatting and laughing in the background.
Yui leaned against her arm and tilted her head as she doodled "Yukinoshita" on her scratch paper. After a moment's thought, she began to cross the characters out, stroke by stroke.
Yukinoshita had been so gentle, so patient with her and yet just because she didn't know where Yukinoshita had gone today, she'd let herself feel downhearted.
That was truly terrible.
And still, she couldn't help thinking it.
I want Yukinoshita...
I want Yukinoshita to be my friend and only mine.
I want Yukinoshita to look at no one else but me.
She buried her head in her arms, quietly asking herself:
Had she always felt this awful kind of possessiveness toward Yukinoshita?
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