"Yumiko, don't you think things between us have gotten a little weird lately~?"
Hayama-kun said this with his usual gentle smile.
"Huh?" Miura frowned, clearly confused.
Dragging her chair over to sit beside Hayama's desk, Miura crossed her long legs, resting her chin lightly on her hand, looking for a moment as though she were deep in thought.
She had been listening to Hayama talk about Yukinoshita's childhood.
"There've been a lot of rumors going around the class lately. Haven't you heard them, Yumiko?"
"…What kind of rumors?"
"That you and Yukinoshita are… fighting over me. Pretty fiercely, apparently."
Miura was speechless. "...Where the hell are people getting that nonsense?"
Then she shrugged it off. "Not like it's the first time people have spread rumors about me. Who cares? Let them talk."
Hayama smiled. "And Yukinoshita? She's okay hearing that kind of gossip?"
Miura was about to say, What does that have to do with Yukinoshita? But then she suddenly remembered what Yukinoshita had said to her last weekend:
"Most of the girls who like Hayama-kun don't like me. I just… I don't want you to hate me too, Miura."
Her expression turned serious.
In one quick motion, she stood up and dragged her chair back to her seat. "Hayama-kun, I think, well… since we're a guy and a girl, maybe we should keep a little more distance at school."
Hayama: "..."
Miura Yumiko did a quick mental calculation.
It had been almost a month since Yukinoshita transferred to Class 2-F. A month that felt both absurdly short and endlessly long short because time seemed to fly by whenever she watched her happily; long because somehow, during that time, the distance between them had grown surprisingly close.
Next period was cooking class. As she packed up and made her way toward the kitchen classroom, she sighed to her two best friends.
"I'm kinda worried about Yukinoshita and Yui for the mock exams…"
"I've been cramming with Yui all week gave her all the key points and the stuff most likely to earn high marks. She should be fine. But Yukinoshita…"
Miura had seen Yukinoshita's hard work this past month with her own eyes, but she still couldn't help worrying. She was afraid that if Yukinoshita made even one misstep on this exam, it would shake her confidence to the core.
She had considered tutoring Yukinoshita herself, but the girl had mentioned she already had a tutor.
Yeah right. What kind of unreliable tutor did she find?
When it came to understanding the curriculum and predicting what their teachers would ask on exams, who could possibly be more qualified than herself?
Still grumbling in her head, she glanced over and saw Zeka jokingly flopped over Kamisawa's back.
Miura couldn't help laughing. "Hey hey hey! You two, quit fooling around in the hallway. I am the discipline officer, you know."
The three of them had been close since childhood. Ono and Kamisawa were particularly used to joking around with each other like first-string besties.
As for herself… well, thanks to her queen-bee persona and public image, even with lifelong friends, she'd never been the type to act completely uninhibited.
Then she remembered the pink hair ribbon Yukinoshita had given her. She'd tucked it away safely in her bag.
Something that didn't match her image, something others wouldn't expect from her but something she genuinely liked.
Miura thought, Maybe one day, I'll try wearing it.
Even if it's just when I'm with Yukinoshita.
When she entered the kitchen classroom, she immediately noticed something was off. Stepping forward without hesitation, she called out, "Quiet down what's going on?"
"Yukinoshita and Yuigahama went to grab the cooking supplies… but they haven't come back yet."
Miura paused. Then she said, "Everyone take your seats. Hayama-kun, could you help the class rep hand out the tools we have here? I'll go check the supply room."
Hayama had just been about to head that way himself. He hesitated, then gave her a soft smile and nodded.
Miura added with a casual grin, "They're probably just held up. Maybe a teacher asked them to help carry some paperwork or something. It happens."
After Miura left, Hayama helped the class rep distribute utensils and check everyone's ingredients. He overheard some of the students whispering behind him:
"Yuigahama and Yukinoshita, huh… Aren't they, like, rivals in love?"
"If they went to the supply room together, what if they're fighting in there right now? Heehee…"
"Didn't Yuigahama say that whole 'love rival' thing was just a rumor?"
"Tch, you actually bought that? Yuigahama's way too much of a goody-goody."
Hayama cleared his throat. "Everyone, double-check your tools. Otherwise, your dishes might end up being total disasters."
It had always been like this. Even now, it hadn't changed.
People only see what they want to see. And they assume what they want to believe is the truth.
The world isn't kind or fair. That's why it's so often disappointing.
Yukinoshita…
――――――――――――――――――――
When Miura first left the classroom, she was walking briskly. But after a few steps, she just threw caution to the wind and broke into a full run.
She ran past Hiratsuka-sensei in the hallway. The teacher rolled her eyes and lifted her lesson plan as if she were about to whack someone with it.
"No running in the halls!"
Miura ducked and held her head protectively. "Sorry, Hiratsuka-sensei! It's an emergency! Just this once!"
Hiratsuka Shizuka stood with one hand in her pocket as she watched the girl disappear down the corridor, letting out a wry laugh.
"Ah, youth…"
So full of life and energy.
Damn it. I'm jealous as hell.
She strolled into her office and collapsed lazily into her chair, opened her email, and scanned a few messages before typing out a reply with one hand and rubbing her temple with the other.
[Sorry, Mom. I don't want to go to that arranged date this afternoon.]
[It's not that I'm busy. I just… don't want to go.]
Running through the hallway, then sprinting past the school building, Miura felt like she was back at the aquarium.
In that moment, the world transformed into an underwater realm. And she she became a lone fish, swimming from the dark seabed toward the light-dappled surface.
Swimming toward another fish.
Of course, she didn't believe for a second that Yuigahama and Yukinoshita were fighting.
Both Yuigahama and Yukinoshita were the type to stay silent in the face of pain. No matter how bad things got, they'd swallow their feelings and say nothing.
But silence solved nothing.
As a friend, Miura believed she had to help them untangle the knots in their hearts.
She pushed open the closed supply room door.
In that moment, she felt like a heroic fish bursting through the surface, sending up a glorious spray of water.
Beaming brightly, she called out, "Yukinoshita!"
The smile froze on her face.
Inside the supply room, a trembling Yukinoshita was clutching Yuigahama tightly. Yuigahama turned her head to look back.
Miura: "..."
Heroic fish… flopped with a splat onto the dry land.
She stood there blankly for a second.
Then tears welled up in her eyes and began to fall.
NEXT CHAPTER :Eriri Will Never Compromise
(Tensions flare as Eriri confronts Kasumigaoka on the school rooftop, demanding answers about her suspicious closeness with a certain "snake of a woman." What begins as a fiery interrogation soon unravels into something far more vulnerable—a clash of pride, jealousy, and fear of being left behind. As old rivalries and shifting friendships collide, Eriri declares war on compromise... even if it means standing alone.
Next chapter: What happens when the one left behind refuses to move forward?)
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