Chapter 243

Chapter 243 – Unexpected Help (2)

The class started and the noise surrounding us calmed down for the duration of it. But, there was still an air of awkwardness between Amami-san and me. Actually, the awkwardness became more and more pronounced as time passed.

Currently, the English class by Yagisawa-sensei was still ongoing.

“Alright, can someone translate the passage up to this point? Hm… Since it’s the first of September, the first person in the attendance list should do it, so go ahead, Amami-san.”

“Y-Yes!”

After being nominated, Amami-san stood up. But, she looked more jumpy than usual.

Then I noticed that she didn’t have her textbook on her desk.

…It seemed like she forgot to bring it.

“Amami-san? Did you forget your textbook?”

“Y-Yes… I came to school really early this morning, so I forgot… S-Sorry…”

“Ah, right, you had to help with the backboard installation this morning. It’s an easy part though, so you could ask the person next to you to show the passage for you.”

“Y-Yes, ma’am…”

Normally, in this kind of situation, whenever Amami-san’s clumsiness appeared, I’d help her with whatever she needed.

There was nothing special about this as everyone in class should be familiar with this, but…

“Here, Amami-san. The sentence goes from here to here.”

“Ah, u-um, t-thank you, Maki— n-no, Maehara-kun…”

I secretly wrote down the Japanese translation of the English passage so that she could have an easier time, but the way she acted was a little unnatural.

Why was she acting like this? I thought we decided to forget about the rumors and just act like usual?

I felt the need to do something about this. So, I immediately took a blank paper and started writing something on it.

[Amami-san, calm down. Nothing happened yet, don’t worry.]

I tore the piece of paper with my message on it and placed it on Amami-san’s deck. Seeing that, it seemed like she had regained some of her composure as she nodded. Then she proceeded to answer sensei’s question.

Although Amami-san’s grades in her studies, including English, weren’t that good, she still had foreign blood running through her veins. She didn’t speak English, but her pronunciation and intonation were on point.

“Alright, thank you. Share the textbook with Maehara-kun for the rest of the class, okay? Also, next time, bring your own textbook.”

“Yes, sorry… Hehe…”

She laughed weakly as she slowly sat down on the chair.

Then the class continued quietly. Suddenly, she passed over a piece of paper to me.

[Sorry to trouble you again, Maki-kun.]

[Don’t mind it. That’s what friends are for.]

[Okay. Also, can you not tell Umi that I forgot to bring my textbook?]

[No.]

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