CHAPTER 11

Sigh.

A 70.

Thank God for Yuki-san’s chocolates...

It’s been a few days since Valentines’ Day and I noticed a lot of tension the school was feeling died down. In fact, the school’s vibe changed towards something more light-hearted, where you could hear small teases and occasional bickering from the new couples. I wish that was the case for me and Yuki-san in this world, but my goal was at least one step closer. She and I have been somewhat more comfortable than before. Like last Tuesday, she woke me up when the teacher asked me a question. I knew the answer of course. But other than that small incident, it is kinda awkward between both of us. There’s an indescribable distance between us, even though she did give me chocolate for Valentines. I’m still trying to think of a proper way to thank her, but I have no clue!

Daisuke Akatsuka, my best friend since forever comes up to me at the right moment. He was still wolfing down the chocolates he received from the girls all around school. If anyone had any tips about how to deal with my dilemma right now, it was him.

Play it smooth Kazuki! Don’t make it so obvious what you’re trying to do.

“H-Hey buddy ol’ pal.”

I pat him on the back like he does to me. It makes him cringe.

“Uh…what are you doing?”

C’mon Kazuki you can still save this!

“N-Nothing! Just wondering how my partner in crime is doing these days…haha” I try to laugh it off.

Daisuke wasn’t falling for it though. He saw through my bluff, but he’s been through my charades long enough that he simply sighs and lets it go.

“Well…things could be better, but that’s for another time. I guess if you don’t need my help I’m gonna go back to class…”

“No wait!”

“Hmph! I knew it!”

Daisuke turned around with a smug grin.

He knows me too well…

“Well…here’s my problem Daisuke…”

I explained to him my current dilemma of what to do as a thank you for Yuki-san’s chocolates last Valentines’ Day. I had to make my shot count, since Akane wanted me to “surprise” her other self.

My girlfriend didn’t even give me a hint! How cruel!

“I see…” said Daisuke.

“You see Kazuki…when a man likes a woman, it can make you do very stupid things. Things like you when you confessed to the Ice Witch in front of the whole school…”

“Y-You don’t have to remind me!” I exclaim.

“But…you managed to someone recover from that and are now on good standing with her. If anything…you gotta be smooth…” as he slicked back his bleach blonde-tip hair.

“Smooth…?”

“No no! You gotta be smoooooooooth…”

I don’t get it.

“Ah…smooooooooth…” as I copied his exact motion for slicking back his hair.

“But you get confessed to like on a daily basis Daisuke!”

“W-Well…it’s because I’m not interested in them! There’s someone else…” he steps back.

“Wait! So that means…!”

Who does Daisuke like?!?

“Yeah…I’m just waiting for the right opportunity…”

He cunningly smiles to me and rubs his hands together.

“HEY! What are you two dummies talking about?!?”

Suddenly comes Kaneko-san the school’s roadrunner from Class 2-A. She ran in here like her usual entrance, leaving a dust cloud behind her. It was like she used instant transmission since she suddenly appeared right behind Daisuke.

“N-Nothing Mary!” said Daisuke.

He and I were trying very hard to hide our embarrassment from Kaneko-san catching us off guard while bro-talk.

Now’s not the time…

“U-Uh…I got something to do. Bathroom. I feel an uh…stomach-ache! Bye!”

Daisuke runs off leaving a dust cloud behind him exiting Class 2-B.

“Okay….” said a confused Kaneko-san.

“Anyways…KAZUKI! What was your score on last week’s test…?”

Kaneko-san had a smug look on her face. She was trying very hard not to burst out and straight up say her presumably high score. I suck up my pride and tell her the truth.

“You win this time Kaneko-san, I barely passed…”

I was ready for Kaneko-san to start laughing or teasing me, but this time she didn’t. She took my test and looked at it thoroughly. Instead of a simple beck and call like usual, she had a genuine look of concern. I’m not sure what would be worse.

“Wow…you really messed up Kazuki. Y'know I was sort of joking about you being an idiot…”

Yuki-san overhears our conversation and turns towards me. Since Valentines’, I’ve noticed that she tended to smile more, ever so slightly though. Both Kaneko-san and I are waiting for her to grace us with her wisdom.

“I am sorry Kaneshiro-san, but what happened?”

Well it probably had to do with the chocolate…but I can’t say that!

“I’m not sure Yuki-san, I just didn’t have enough time to study given what’s happened recently…”

Besides Valentines’ Day, none of us spoke about the “rescuing Yuki-san” incident that happened. We were all glad to be alive and mostly come out of it unharmed. Even Daisuke didn’t want to talk much about what happened, even though I was completely fine afterwards except for a knock on the head. Being his best friend, I couldn’t be cruel and make him relive memories of thinking his friend was dead. Kaneko-san, Daisuke, Yuki-san, and I all grew a newfound appreciation for each other, as we were all connected with that experience.

“I hope you do better next time Kaneshiro-san.” said Yuki-san.

With that surged a newfound motivation in me.

I won’t let you down next time Yuki-san!

I’m back in Dr. Mori’s office. Needless to say she wasn’t a big fan of Valentines’ Day. This time she wasn’t drinking coffee at all. Instead she was dumping a whole box of candy into her mouth. I never thought of her having a sweet tooth, but I saw that the clearance sticker on the box was too good to pass up. It was still part of our usual check-ins after my accident. So far, I like to think that I’ve been progressing well with my recovery process. Although I still had some small headaches here and there, it was nothing in comparison to what was happening with my apparent “World-hopping” power. Dr. Mori said the closest explanation was lucid dreaming, but even then that theory still had some holes.

“Kazuki-kun, I’ve heard that you barely passed the latest exam. What’s my favorite idiot-student doing?”

“I’m not sure myself Dr. Mori. I just didn’t have enough time to study given what’s happened recently.”

“I see…”

Dr. Mori ripped open another box of candy and continued stuffing her mouth with chocolates.

“Even Mary’s been doing better than you-” She almost chokes but manages to gulp down the last piece. “-and your job was to teach her!”

“I-I’m sorry Dr. Mori!” as I bow my head in shame.

She gave a long sigh.

“It can’t be helped. Why don’t I find someone to tutor you? How about…I don’t know? Akane Yuki from your class?”

Dr. Mori grinned from ear to ear.

Oh. Oh!!! Thank you Dr. Mori! But I can’t show her I’m okay with that, she’ll make fun of me more!

“Uh…sure. You’re right it can’t be helped. I’ll swallow my pride as a man and accept my new teacher.”

Dr. Mori pats herself on the back with her genius idea.

“Yuki-san isn’t in any clubs either, and don’t worry, she won’t say no. Word goes around there’s a popular cat café across town…and the school forbids students from having jobs.”

She was seconds away from maniacal laughter, but she held back. It was like she had been waiting for an opportunity to bring down Yuki-san.

What does she have in store???

“Also, you’re welcome Kazuki-kun. Ah young love!”

Someone marry her please!

It was time for my regular study session with Kaneko-san. However, Dr. Mori already told me that Yuki-san should be joining us today. I tried to go to the study room with her but she left too quickly from my class. As I’m heading towards our usual room, I see Kaneko-san.

“Hey Kaneko-san wait up!”

I run up to her from behind. She slows down and I catch up with her.

“You’re running late idiot.” said Kaneko-san.

I can tell that she wasn’t in the right mood today. Ever since the results of the test I’ve been getting weird mixed signals from her. Our previous tutoring sessions were mostly quiet, and it was me doing most of the talking, when it would usually be her screaming in frustration of being unable to figure out the questions.

“Are you ok Kaneko-san?”

“Yes, everything’s fine.”

The thing is, Akane told me that when girls say they’re ok like that, they’re not really okay.

I may be dense, but not that dense!

It was obvious to me that something was bothering Kaneko-san, and I asked her a few days ago what was wrong. She simply replied that nothing was wrong. Kaneko-san was the school’s best athlete after all; I can’t even imagine the expectations everyone else had for her.

We reach our room, and Kaneko-san being the impulsive one slides the door open with a bang. Only she suddenly stops and blocks me from entering with her tiny frame.

“Hey…what’s the hold up?”

I look over Kaneko-san’s head, and there she was. Yuki-san was already inside our room, reading her usual black-covered book. With her presence, the atmosphere changed from a happy-go-lucky vibe that me and Kaneko-san built up, into something that was more serious. She was sitting at the end of the table, like a queen sitting on her throne. She was patiently waiting for both of us and it seemed that she didn’t even notice that we were here. Kaneko-san and I come into the room, finally catching her attention.

“What are you doing here?” said Kaneko-san.

Kaneko-san was biting her tiny lips, as Yuki-san promptly closed her book and stood up from the chair.

“I have been assigned by Dr. Mori to help you two raise up your grades.” said Yuki-san.

Yuki-san sat right back down onto her chair, and popped open her book, trying to find the part she left off. She didn’t even glance at the two of us still standing in front of the table. Kaneko-san slammed her bag in front of Yuki-san.

“I don’t need your help. I already have Kazuki. Don’t you have a job?” said Kaneko-san.

“I do. But Dr. Mori made me an offer I cannot refuse. I have already told my manager that I would do more shifts on other days instead.”

Despite all that, Yuki-san was still unfazed, reading her book.

“Besides, you two would be hopeless without me.”

Yuki-san closed her book finally, and let out her cold gaze, befitting of her “Ice Witch of Kasumigaseki High,” reputation.

“NGHRHGHRGHR…” Kaneko-san didn’t have a rebuttal to Yuki-san.

I better say something before these two kill each other!

“Kaneko-san c’mon. I’ve been doing badly lately and I need some help too. A student can’t be better than his master right? Even a master needs a refresher or two every once in a while haha…”

Kaneko-san stops pouting and gives up. Defeated, she pulls out her notebook and starts looking over her work. I open up my science notebook and we begin our study session.

“Alright you two, I have already analyzed your strengths and weaknesses. Kaneko-san, you have improved in English, but it leads more to be desired. However, your literature score was better than your previous score. So let us start with English. For Kaneshiro-san, you have been in a disappointing downward spiral ever since your incident. My condolences for your situation, but your literature grades have been slipping, so we will start there with you.”

It was the cold calculating Yuki-san that everyone of Kasumigaseki High knew. Both Kaneko-san and I were hit in our pride by her thorough examination of our weaknesses. It was different from my tutoring style, and I had to admit that it felt weird. I put away my science notebook and pull out my dusty literature textbook. I look out into the window and see gray clouds forming in the skyline.

This is gonna be a long afternoon…

I’m in my bed now. What’s crazy was that it suddenly started raining! The weather forecast only gave about a 10% chance of rain, but it still happened anyways. Luckily for me, I left before it started pouring.

Oh Wait! It would’ve been perfect if I had an umbrella for Yuki-san!

I grab my pillow to the side and yell into it. For some reason, I was still bothered by Kaneko-san. Kaneko-san’s been weird since Valentines’ Day, and I haven’t been making much progress on Yuki-san either, even with Akane’s help. Akane said that Yuki-san probably doesn’t what to do either. Those two have a lot more in common than you would expect.

This is giving me a headache…

In a few hours I’ll wake up in the other world, World A(kane). Like usual, I wake up to see the bedhead of Akane Yuki sleeping next to me. It feels like a dream when I see her, but it’s all real. So far she and I have been studying together more than anything. To be honest, even though we’re apparently a couple, we haven’t really done anything “couple-y.” We haven’t done anything that other couples do, it’s like we’re both too busy with school for anything like that. We’ve been trying to have some spare time to do something together. Akane likes to think of it as “practice for Yuki-san.” She’s been planning a date together sometime soon, because it’s been a while since our last date at the amusement park. She wouldn’t let me on the details either, except to expect a surprise.

We didn’t even do anything for Valentines!

I open my eyes to confirm that I was in the other world now. I see Akane sleeping softly next to me with her red ribbon. I can feel her breathe as her sweet air hits me in the face. It feels pleasant. Even with her snoring and some random mumbling, it was undeniably cute.

“Nyaaaaa kitty cat…”

How cute! My heart!

I head down to the kitchen to start making breakfast. Mother already left since she and dad were still on their Valentines’ Day trip. It was my turn to cook something, since Akane would wake up earlier than me usually and cook anyways (not that I didn’t mind, her cooking is on par with my mother’s!). My mother hasn’t revealed her secret recipe just yet, but I managed to come up with my own from observing her closely. The aroma of the spices and grilled meat starts to diffuse around my house.

“Hamburg…steakkkkkkk my favoriteeeeeee…”

What the?!?

A zombie-like Akane suddenly appeared behind me! She was dragging her body forward, with her arms in front of her like she was in a trance. She paused, only to continue follow the scent with her sniffing.

She’s not wearing any pants! I can see her pant-!

Akane starts getting closer and closer to me in the kitchen, until she finally wakes up in front of me.

“AHHHHHH!”

Her scream and push both knocks us down onto the floor.

She’s on top of me!

Her long black hair covered most of my face, so I couldn’t see her as clearly. I could however see the blush that was powerful enough to seep through her hair. She stands up and helps me off the ground.

“I-I’m sorry Kazuki!”

“I-I’m fine really!”

We’re both started by a loud sizzling noise on the stove-top.

“Oh the hamburg steak!”

Before I could react, Akane already managed to take off the hamburg steak to let it rest on a plate. In one quick motion, she managed to cut the veggies and started to sauté them in the same pan.

“Y’know, it’s my turn today Akane.”

“Yeah, but I don’t mind. You should be grateful considering you knocked me down like that…”

Hey wait a minute!

“You knocked me down since you can’t stop your appetite!”

Akane starts to fake cry again.

“How can you say that to a fair maiden like me?” she sobs profuesly.

She stops the comedy routine and promptly serves the veggies along with the hamburg steaks. I’m not sure if my hamburg steaks would have come out as well as hers.

“Dig in!” said Akane.

I help her wash the dishes since that was the least I could do. Akane was unusually quiet this morning. Too quiet. She was staring off into space, randomly blushing here and there during our meal. Despite the rather awkward moment this morning (not that I didn’t mind!), it felt like she wanted to say something but was hiding it.

“H-Hey Akan-“

“H-Hey Kazuk-“

We both have the same thought and I’m interrupted. I can’t help but laugh, and she does as well.

We’re in sync this morning.

“You go first Akane.”

“I didn’t know when to bring this up, but I’ve planned a practice date for you Kazuki! It’ll be fun sinc-“

She gets interrupted by the doorbell.

Strange, who could that be?

“I’ll get the door!”

I dash to the door to see who’s already here this early in the morning. I open it only to see Daisuke and Kaneko-san together.

What are they doing here? Not that I don’t mind!

Akane comes to the front entrance door and stands behind me.

“Hey it’s Daisuke and Mary-chan!” said Akane.

It’s strange since Daisuke and Mary-chan both looked away from me when Akane appeared behind me. Until I realized that Akane still wasn’t wearing any pants. I whispered into her ear and let her know.

“U-Uh…like I was going to say, Daisuke and Mary-chan will be joining us on a double date. After I change haha sorry!” and she scuttles away.

Wait what?

Upon further observation, I notice that Daisuke and Kaneko-san were equally embarrassed; looking away from each other. But Kaneko-san had a slight smile of satisfaction. I look and notice they were holding hands, albeit reluctantly.

Then that means…?

“U-Uh…let me change too guys. Come in.”

So they will be joining us on a double date?!? Daisuke x Mary?!?

Good grief…I was just walking back from the hospital when it suddenly started pouring. It’s just my luck that a 10% chance of rain actually happens. I try to dry my wet hair the best I can.

“Achoo!”

A cold is the last thing I needed. Now I was stuck here at the old dusty bus stop along the road, and all I could hear was the loud cacophony of pouring rain, hitting the metal covering above my head. I hear what sounded to be splashes coming closer and closer to me.

“NGHRNGHRNGHR!”

A girl in a red track suit wearing a Kasumigaseki High uniform underneath appeared! She lowers her track suit that was covering her head, and her blonde hair flows out from it. It was Mary! She was pouring wet from running in the rain. The Roadrunner of Kasumigaseki High was standing in front of me at an abandoned bus stop.

“M-Mary?!?”

She tries to move the wet hair out of her face, and her blue eyes meet mine. Her cheeks were bright red from the cold. I immediately feel my heart rate suddenly increase at her sight.

“Oh! Daisuke-kun! What a weird coincidence haha! Thankfully I found someplace to stay dry until it stops!”

It was indeed a weird coincidence. I didn’t know Mary lived around this part of town.

“Do you live around here Mary?”

She untied one of her shoes and tilted them to the side, trying to get some water out of it. Her socks were wet enough that I could see through them.

“No not really. This is just my usual route I run for track after having tutoring sessions with Kazuki. When it started raining I ran even faster!” said Mary.

School was almost 2 km away. When she showed up she barely showed any signs that she was running for that long. She finally sits down next to me.

“Achoo!”

I cover my sneeze with my arm in time and move in the other direction away from Mary.

“I-I’m sorry! I think the rain’s gonna give me a cold.”

I try to laugh it off. But Mary reaches into her bag and pulls out some paper tissues.

“You have snot all over your face dummy!” said Mary.

She and I joked around a lot. As I reached for one of the tissues, I can see that the white shirt that was part of her uniform was soaking wet. I could see through! I quickly grab a tissue blow my nose into it.

“T-Thanks Mary!”

I can feel my face was getting heated, and my forehead was burning up.

“Uh…are you okay Daisuke?” said Mary.

“I-I’m fine!”

Any other girl I was normal around. Confessions were almost on a daily basis. It was just with Mary for some reason I felt weird. I knew everything about this girl over the year. I knew her favorite color, I knew her favorite song, I knew her favorite food. We’re both sitting at the bus stop together, waiting for the rain to subside