23 Seeping In
I feel restless.
The monotonous tapping of chalk against the blackboard, the math teacher’s low, monotone voice.
The afternoon classes always make me drowsy, but today, there’s no sign of sleepiness.
It’s Riri-chan’s fault.
“I have a plan!”
She wouldn’t tell me what it was.
During lunch break, she just kept feeding me her bento.
Her eyes were sparkling, and I knew she was planning something.
I’m uneasy.
I can’t stop wondering what she’s going to do.
I couldn’t concentrate on class at all.
◇◇◇
Class ended, and it was break time.
“Suzuna?”
I flinched.
Riri-chan’s clear, high-pitched voice.
She called out to me from a distance.
Several people must have heard her. Riri-chan never does that in class.
“…”
I pretended not to hear and looked down at the grain of my desk.
“Suzuna~”
“…”
W-What is this?
What is she doing?
Why is she deliberately calling attention to me? What is she trying to do?
“Hey, Suzuna. Hinase is calling you.”
Shindo-kun informed me.
I know, I can hear her.
Please understand that I’m ignoring her.
“It’s not me.”
I replied, still staring at the wood grain.
“No, she’s clearly looking at you and calling ‘Suzuna.’”
“…It’s not me.”
“It is you. Ah, she’s coming this way.”
“Eh?”
W-What is this?
What does Riri-chan want from me?
“Suzuna, can’t you hear me?”
Riri-chan’s voice was right next to me.
I glanced sideways, and my eyes fell on her short skirt and thighs.
Those legs definitely belonged to Riri-chan.
“…I’m busy right now.”
“…You just look like you’re staring at your desk.”
“That’s what I’m doing.”
“Isn’t that the same as doing nothing?”
“It’s not.”
I don’t even know what I’m saying anymore, but I’m being stubborn.
I avoided eye contact with Riri-chan, trying to maintain an indifferent attitude so she would go away.
“Then look at this.”
A math formula appeared before my eyes.
Riri-chan slid a textbook between me and my desk.
“…I’d rather look at the wood grain.”
“What kind of hobby is that? Just teach me this.”
Riri-chan pointed to a problem we had been working on in the latter half of the class.
It was a problem that used a formula we had just learned today.
“…Teach you?”
“Yeah, I didn’t understand this problem, so I’m asking you to teach me.”
…No one has ever asked me that before.
I don’t know much about Hinase Riri’s grades, but she wasn’t the type of character to immediately ask about something she didn’t understand in class. She wasn’t that studious.
So why is she asking me this?
“Won’t you teach me? You’re good at math, right, Suzuna?”
I’m not particularly good at math, but I can answer the question Riri-chan asked.
However, I’m hesitant to do it in the classroom.
“You can ask your friends, Riri-chan.”
Why did she come all the way over here, away from her usual spot in the center of the classroom?
She can ask the other high-ranking students.
“That’s why I’m asking you, Suzuna.”
“…”
Riri-chan’s voice is always clear and easy to understand.
Unlike me, who mumbles.
But right now, it’s bothersome.
I can’t stop worrying about whether other people in the class can hear our conversation.
“Hey. Teach me.”
“Your voice is too loud, Riri-chan.”
“Will you teach me if I lower my voice?”
“…After school.”
“No, now.”
“Why?”
“I’ll forget if I wait.”
I’ve never talked about studying with Riri-chan before.
So she definitely isn’t that studious.
Is this the “plan” she was talking about during lunch break?
“I’ll stay here until you teach me.”
That’s a problem.
It’s strange for Hinase Riri, who attracts so much attention, to be standing next to Amatsuki Suzuna, who’s looking down at her desk.
Or rather, I can already imagine people wondering, “Why is Hinase Riri just standing there while Amatsuki Suzuna is ignoring her?”
“…Fine.”
I gave in.
I’ll quickly explain it and have her go back to her seat.
I looked up and faced the textbook.
“How much do you understand?”
“Hmm? I didn’t understand it from the beginning.”
…Seriously?
That means she wasn’t listening at all.
She really isn’t interested in studying.
“So, please explain it to me carefully, so even I can understand.”
So she wants me to teach her everything.
I feel like that’s going to take a while.
“…You can use this formula.”
I pointed to the next page, which had the explanation, and told her that all she had to do was use this formula.
The problem was solved instantly.
Now, please go away.
“Well, if it’s that easy, we don’t need schools or teachers.”
I couldn’t argue with that logic.
“So you don’t need them, Riri-chan.”
But I pressed on.
“Yes, I do. Otherwise, I wouldn’t understand.”
“Then pay attention in class. You would have understood if you listened.”
“Afternoon classes are sleepy.”
She was sleeping…?
Of course she wouldn’t understand.
“I understand how you feel, but you should try to stay awake and listen. You’ll get confused again.”
“It’s fine. I can ask Amatsuki-sensei to teach me.”
“…I’m not a teacher.”
“Don’t worry, I won’t fall asleep in Amatsuki-sensei’s class.”
I didn’t agree to this.
I never agreed to this.
Riri-chan is saying whatever she wants.
And I realized that this conversation wasn’t progressing at all, just wasting time.
“Fine, I’ll teach you, but listen carefully.”
“Okay. Thank you, Amatsuki-sensei.”
Riri-chan bent her knees and crouched down.
She brought her face level with the desk and gripped the edge with her fingertips.
Smiling brightly, she waited for my explanation.
Anyone could see that we were close.
I explained it to Riri-chan, half-heartedly.
◇◇◇
In the end, the time it took for her to understand and the end of break time coincided perfectly.
“Thanks, Suzuna. Teach me again if I don’t understand something.”
“…No.”
“Yes, you will. See you later.”
Riri-chan waved and returned to her seat.
Too embarrassed to turn around, I bowed my head slightly.
Then I stared at the wood grain of my desk.
In the end, wouldn’t Riri-chan have stayed by my side until the end of break time whether I taught her or not?
Or rather, explaining things probably made it look like we were talking even more.
It might have been better if she had just stood there silently.
“Suzuna, you were pretty close with Hinase, weren’t you?”
…See, Shindo-kun has already picked up on it.
Rumors spread quickly.
Once they start, they don’t stop.
So I have to stop them before they spread.
“We’re not close.”
“No, that’s the first time I’ve seen you talk to anyone that much besides me.”
“I was just explaining something. We’re not close.”
“Even though you called her ‘Riri-chan’?”
“…Well, I call Kokona-chan ‘-chan’ too.”
“Hinase was calling you ‘Suzuna.’ She was calling you ‘Amatsuki-san’ until recently, wasn’t she?”
“…”
I see.
So even the way we address each other reveals so much about our relationship.
Such a small thing easily invalidates my denial.
“You’re friends, right? Why are you hiding it? You can tell me.”
“…Sort of.”
I confessed.
I feel like I’m gradually falling into Riri-chan’s trap.
My shell is slowly being eroded by her.
There are no cracks yet, but…
Her presence is starting to fill the space around me.
I’m not confident I can resist Hinase Riri.
That was a bit of a shock.
Me, who is always so desperate to protect my boundaries, can’t deny her—
“…It’s as if I’m looking forward to being consumed by Riri-chan.”
—That’s what I thought.
Leave a Reply to Vapor Cancel reply