Now directly questioned, Amane…
Of course, she just didn’t want Nanao intruding on her alone time with Izumi. But having reflexively declined already, she had no real reason prepared.
Various excuses flashed through her mind, and she averted her gaze while forcibly changing the subject:
“It might get a bit naughty study session?”
“No way! Amane, don’t start weird baseless rumors!”
She had gone too far. Thanks to Amane’s careless comment, it suddenly created the impression that Izumi would promise something like “If you get a perfect score on the next test, I’ll do anything♪”
But the effect was outstanding.
Nanao cleared her throat and checked with him.
“Hey, Izumi-kun. Is that true…?”
“Look, you believed me! Nanao, I was just joking, don’t take it seriously!”
Nanao said, “Ah, I see…” with a relieved look.
“I see. So this is the baptism of city life, huh?”
“Absolutely not, so please don’t tell anyone else.”
It was a ridiculous misunderstanding.
Izumi whispered to the sound of Amane.
(Amane. What are you saying!?)
(But, the study session…)
(You don’t have to refuse. I have to go to my part-time job in thirty minutes, so today I’ll just pretend Amane is teaching me…)
(But~…)
Then Amane had a realization.
── Isn’t this a chance?
It was truly an epiphany.
Earlier, Izumi had stubbornly denied going out with Nanao. It turned out that he was indirectly appealing that he liked Amane (※misunderstanding), but perhaps that was a distress signal for this kind of situation (※misunderstanding).
It was a rare nice idea for Amane.
Except for the part where the premise that he liked Amane was a misunderstanding, it was an extremely nice idea. It seemed like she could win a Nobel something prize.
And that misunderstanding gave Amane a handful of courage and the wrong sense of justice!
“Ah, um!”
Amane’s voice was louder than expected, which startled Izumi.
“Eh? Amane, what’s wrong?”
Amane winked at the puzzled Izumi. “I understand everything you want to say.”
And she boldly said to Nanao:
“I know you’re appealing to Izumi-cchi, but—have you checked how he feels?”
“────”
It was an unexpectedly sound argument.
Despite swallowing such a mistaken premise, what she said was surprisingly on point.
“Izumi-cchi might have someone he likes too, you know?”
“That’s…”
Even Nanao’s expression showed a slight hint of disturbance.
Confident of her victory, Amane said to Izumi a little shyly:
“I think Izumi-cchi is also at fault? It’s kind of pitiful to give her too much hope.”
“…Indeed, Amane is right.”
Izumi felt a deep resonance with Amane’s words.
Indeed, it’s not good to prolong a confession with no possibility. Isn’t that just like keeping her hopes up?
Izumi thinks it’s not good to toy with someone’s pure feelings like that.
Seeing Izumi like that, Amane opened her eyes a little wider. For some reason, her cheeks flushed, and she fidgeted restlessly with her hair.
“Then, let’s be clear?”
“Yeah.”
“I might be a little embarrassed in front of Amane.”
“Yeah…huh? Why?”
Although he didn’t quite understand the latter part, Izumi nodded.
Well, it must be embarrassing to reveal one’s crush in front of a classmate. That’s not allowed except on school trip nights or something. He convinced himself of that.
Then, with an extremely serious expression, he declared while putting his finger to his chin:
“But I don’t have anyone I like, and lying is no good.”
“Then why────────!?”
Amane’s sudden shout startled not only Izumi but Nanao as well.
“Eh? Why, you ask…?”
“Wha-, Izumi Izumi-cchi, seriously…, …………~~!!”
Glaring at Izumi, who had question marks floating above his head, Amane’s face turned beet red. She grabbed his shoulders tightly and shouted at close range.
“Izumi-cchi!”
“What!?”
“Se-, Seriously!? Are you serious!?”
“Yeah. I’m serious, but…”
He was dead serious.
It was as simple a reply as “Yeah, I ate breakfast this morning,” conveying that there was no pretense whatsoever. Just the realization that there was absolutely no meaning in putting on such airs.
Seeing that—Amane writhed in agony on the spot.
(Izumi-cchi! You didn’t like Amane~!?)
He didn’t like her.
He liked her, but only as a classmate. There was an insurmountable wall between love and like.
(Even though You worked so hard making notes for me!?)
He just made them.
Since the school-designated textbooks didn’t suit Amane, Izumi had no choice but to make his own shortcut teaching materials. Moreover, Izumi actually enjoyed that kind of work, so it wasn’t too much of a hassle.
(Seriously, not a speck of romantic feelings!?)
Not a speck.
There wasn’t even a single grain left over like when you drink all the canned corn soup and some grains are stubbornly left behind. From the beginning, Izumi had been putting up a smokescreen by acting the fool, so being seen studying and becoming a romantic interest was totally unexpected.
(When I said Izumi-cchi is the only one I show my weak side to, you said you understood~!)
Of course, he just understood.
The only person a girl who is expected to be perfect can reveal her weaknesses to. When confronted with that fact, the emotion that crossed Izumi’s mind was simply the satisfaction of being “trusted as a man who can keep a secret.”
(Ah~geez! I’m just wrestling with myself~!)
The sight of Amane writhing in agony is nothing short of hilarious.
READ THE ORIGINAL TRANSLATION AT LOCALIZERMEERKAT.PAGES.DEV
In this situation, memories raced through her mind like a kaleidoscope. Everything she had thought was Izumi showing affection for her was just guesswork. Rather, now that she had the answer, that made more sense.
Like the Tower of Babel, a mountain of embarrassing history had been piled up.
Lightning had struck, leaving only the pitiful ruins of pride.
(Maybe I should drop out of school…)
Izumi was troubled by her eerie demeanor.
Meanwhile, Nanao had opened her notebook.
“Ah, I don’t understand this formula here—”
“You’ve already pulled over a desk and made yourself at home!?”
“Izumi-kun, want some candy? Eat it.”
“You’ve gotten way too comfortable!”
While putting a milk-flavored candy in his mouth, Izumi decided to pretend to study.
(Anyway, I need to skillfully cover for Amane…)
But Amane had turned completely blue, in a state where she wouldn’t be able to answer any questions.
Nanao pointed to the textbook.
“Hey, Izumi Izumi-kun. I don’t understand this problem…”
“Ah, that one. Yeah, a lot of people tend to get that one wrong. Well, if you solve it like this, it becomes easy, I think.”
“Wow, you’re amazing, Izumi-kun.”
Receiving Nanao’s sparkling gaze, Izumi hurriedly turned to Amane.
“Right, Amane!?”
“Ah, yeah! That’s right! As expected of Izumi-cchi! You’ve studied hard!”
Nanao didn’t seem suspicious of their clumsy combination.
Relieved for the moment, he continued pretending to study.
“Amane-chan. I don’t understand this problem…”
“Eh!? Ah, umm…”
Of course, Amane panicked.
Unable to just watch, Izumi threw her a lifeline.
“Didn’t you teach me that one before, Amane? You use this formula for that one, right?”
“Ah, that’s right! As expected of Izumi-cchi! You’ve studied hard!”
Rather than that, Izumi wanted to retort, “Then why don’t you remember?” But he forcefully suppressed the urge. Surely she couldn’t have neglected reviewing because she was so captivated by him.
And Izumi glanced at the beautiful transfer student next to him.
(But Nanao doesn’t seem shy at all…)
It was supposed to be their first meeting with Amane, yet she showed no signs of shyness. Well, she did confess in public this morning, after all.
She also seemed to be taking the study session seriously…
(Huh?)
Then Izumi realized.
The problems Nanao claimed not to understand had felt off from the beginning. It was like she was only skimming the surface in a very organized way…
The math taught in school is a chain reaction, similar to studying history.
What you learn in the spring of your first year becomes the foundation for solving problems in the summer of that year. That then connects to the fall and winter of the first year, and becomes the foundation for second-year material.
Students who don’t understand math usually failed to build that foundation. So when teaching math, it’s often helpful to review the basics that form the foundation of the problem at hand.
However, the problems Nanao claimed not to understand…if you looked closely, they were full of contradictions. “If you don’t understand that, then it doesn’t make sense that you understand this other problem” came up frequently.
(Could it be that Nanao actually understands these problems…!?)
But Amane couldn’t realize that, since she herself didn’t understand. However, Izumi could tell.
This led Izumi to the hypothesis that—:
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