— — — — — —
After dinner, Oikawa began packing for the school trip.
There were still two days left before the four-day, three-night excursion, and technically he could've packed after midterms tomorrow and the day after.
But Oikawa didn't believe in procrastinating.
He prepared several changes of clothes. A few extra pairs of underwear and socks too, just in case. And naturally, snacks were essential.
Oikawa stuffed in all the snacks he'd been hoarding like treasure.
Finally, he added a basic set of toiletries.
And that was it.
That was his entire luggage.
Just as Oikawa finished packing and prepared to head out for a night run, his phone lit up.
It was a message from Utaha, "Senpai, let's go to a café. I finished the draft for volume two of Love Metronome. I want you to be the first person to read it."
Seeing that message, Oikawa suddenly felt like she was saying: 'I want to give you my first time.'
Was his mind too dirty?
After thinking for a moment, he replied, "Sure. I'll bring the draft for Clannad too. Though it'll only be the digital version."
"Senpai, I'm looking forward to it! But... is Clannad really a healing story? You don't exactly have much credibility with me anymore." Utaha openly voiced her doubts.
Oikawa was immediately dissatisfied.
What kind of nonsense was that?
Clannad was obviously a healing story. A healing story to the absolute maximum degree.
"Of course. Once you read it, you'll understand. Clannad is a healing novel from beginning to end. Especially the second volume. It'll make people feel warm deep down in their hearts."
"I wrote this book to help readers recover from the emotional damage caused by Your Lie in April and leave them with happier feelings."
As Oikawa sent those messages, his expression was incomparably serious.
After all, Copycat-sensei had always been an author who cared deeply about his readers.
This time, Clannad would definitely heal everyone's sadness.
"Really? Then why do I feel like senpai is smiling right now? Am I misunderstanding you...?" Utaha felt her suspicions were perfectly reasonable.
Was Clannad really a healing story? A giant question mark hovered in her heart.
...
..
Midterms arrived right on schedule.
Oikawa still remembered his very first exam at this school. Back then, he'd been assigned to the very last testing room.
This time... He was in the first.
Most school exams were arranged by ranking anyway. It was an effective way to prevent cheating.
Not that cheating happened often in Japan, but precautions were still precautions.
After all, if the bottom-ranked student sat next to the second-to-last-ranked student, neither of them would have much to copy.
There were only around twenty students in each exam room. Among everyone there, the only person Oikawa was familiar with was Yukino.
Kawasaki had been assigned to the second testing room instead.
Their eyes met briefly. That alone counted as a greeting.
Sitting at his desk, Oikawa absentmindedly thought about the upcoming school trip until, around ten minutes later, the teacher walked in carrying the exam papers.
The first subject was English.
For Oikawa, it was basically effortless. A little over an hour later, he handed in his paper.
Yukino followed shortly after.
Oikawa waited for her outside, and the two walked side by side through the hallway in silence.
Their destinations were both in the club building. Just different rooms.
One headed for the Literature Club. The other for the Service Club.
"Want some tea? I made black tea today." Yukino's cool voice broke the silence before either of them even entered the club room.
"Are there snacks?" Oikawa had bought black tea himself before and tried brewing it a few times in the Literature Club room. But somehow, it never tasted as good as the tea in the Service Club.
Maybe it was psychological. Or maybe his tea-making skills just sucked.
"Dorayaki."
"Let's go."
The conversation ended after that brief exchange.
The two quietly entered the Service Club room together.
Several books had been added to the shelves. Unlike the light novels piled around the Literature Club, the Service Club shelves held actual literary works.
Anna Karenina, Dawn Blossoms Plucked at Dusk, Kusamakura...
Oikawa had read most of them.
Though there were still a few he hadn't touched before.
He pulled out a copy of The Brothers Karamazov.
The old professor had recommended it to him ages ago, but although he'd bought it, he'd never gotten around to reading it.
"Were these books always here? Have you read all of them?"
Yukino glanced at the book in Oikawa's hand while preparing tea before turning back around. "I only recently brought them here. I thought the Service Club felt a little lonely."
"A little lonely, huh..." Oikawa murmured softly to himself before taking The Brothers Karamazov and sitting down by the window. "Yukino, if I remember right, you live alone in an apartment, don't you?"
"Mm."
"Don't you get lonely?"
Yukino stood beside the kettle, waiting for the water to boil. "...Sometimes. But I'm used to it."
The room fell silent again.
Only the hissing sound of boiling water filled the air as the kettle struggled noisily toward its limit.
"Do you think it'll succeed?" Yukino spoke again.
Naturally, Oikawa knew what she meant.
"No."
His answer came without hesitation.
"Is that why you didn't want to help?"
"Not really. I just think it's troublesome."
Stretching lazily, Oikawa thought to himself that "troublesome" was only half the reason.
The bigger reason was that he simply didn't care.
"..."
"After you left yesterday, Ebina Hina came by." Yukino broke the silence again.
"What for?" Oikawa looked puzzled.
As always, Yukino didn't bother withholding information, "She said she didn't want things to become awkward between Tobe, Hayama, Ōka, and the others... Probably because of the group arrangements."
At that moment, the kettle let out one final burst of joyous bubbling before falling quiet.
Yukino poured the hot water into the teapot.
Oikawa carefully watched her technique the whole time, but honestly couldn't spot anything particularly special.
After pouring herself a cup, Yukino took out a large mug and filled one for Oikawa too.
The mug had a ragdoll cat printed on it. Very Yukino-like.
"Zaimokuza complained in the group chat that your black tea tastes terrible. If you want tea in the future, just come here."
That traitor Zaimokuza really had a loose mouth.
Still... Hearing Yukino say something like that felt strangely like an invitation to get closer.
Was this really Yukino?
Oikawa smiled faintly in surprise before taking the mug and returning to his seat.
The conversation naturally drifted back to the earlier topic.
"Yukino... Ebina Hina is a smart girl. Mostly emotionally intelligent."
Oikawa blew gently across the surface of the tea before taking a sip.
A blissful expression immediately appeared on his face. Clearly the tea itself had some secret trick behind it.
There was no way the problem was his own skill.
"Let Tobe be direct and see how things turn out, or just forget the whole thing… no need to waste your time on this."
"Yeah." Yukino gazed out at the sky beyond the window, though it was impossible to tell what she was looking at.
And with that, today's conversation came to an end.
Still, Yukino somehow felt less distant today than she usually did.
…
..
Inside the Literature Club—
"Oikawa, what'd you get for the last big math problem? Was it 0.7?"
Seeing the hopeful look in Kawasaki's eyes, Oikawa gave up on teasing her and simply nodded.
"Yes. Hehehe~!"
Kawasaki practically jumped in excitement.
She looked genuinely happy, yet at the same time so relieved she almost seemed ready to cry.
Study every day.
EVERY DAY.
That kind of life had honestly been driving her close to insanity.
But in the end... Her hard work had paid off.
"You know… if effort always guaranteed results in this world, wouldn't that be nice?" After a brief moment of happiness, Kawasaki suddenly asked a rather profound question.
"Why the sudden emotional turn?" Oikawa was baffled by the shift.
"It's just... something I was thinking about." Kawasaki suddenly smiled before looking straight into Oikawa's eyes. "Oikawa, do you want to come over for dinner again tonight? Keika said she misses you."
Oikawa's eyes immediately lit up, "Sure! What are we eating tonight?"
"What do you want? I'll make whatever you like. I'm in a really good mood today."
Watching Kawasaki smile nonstop, Oikawa found himself smiling too.
It really was obvious how happy she was today.
After thinking for a moment, he suggested, "How about we make Chanko nabe tonight?"
"Chanko nabe?" Kawasaki began thinking about the recipe.
"Yep. Let's split up. I'll buy the meat, you buy the vegetables."
"No, I'll pay for—"
Before Kawasaki could finish, Oikawa cut her off, "Kawasaki, I'll go pick up Keika first, then take her shopping with me. And don't forget to buy some mushrooms."
"...Okay." Kawasaki stared at him quietly for a few seconds before smiling and nodding.
The two split up efficiently.
.
.
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