(Nanao is just pretending not to understand…!)
Just as he had that premonition, he happened to make eye contact with Nanao.
——She gave a faint smile.
“…!?”
That expression confirmed it for him.
Nanao was outright lying when she said she didn’t understand math. In fact, she understood it perfectly. That’s why she was only picking out problems that seemed easy to answer and asking about those.
(This whole situation is just a farce! What do I do now!?)
The baffling situation of [two people who actually understand the material but pretend not to, being taught by Amane who genuinely doesn’t understand] had unfolded. When Izumi realized that, he felt like his stomach was going to have a hole in it.
Checking his phone, he had only about ten minutes before he had to leave school.
By now, it had become a mystery what they were fighting to protect, but this defensive battle was still reaching its climax. No, what were they really fighting to protect…?
(Ah, that’s right. If I just call it off, that would solve everything.)
He finally realized that.
If Izumi said “Well, it’s time for my part-time job” and stood up, this study session would likely be over. Or rather, he should steer things in that direction.
(I screwed up. Nanao has this way of just slipping right into your personal space.)
It was like that this morning too, when she confessed.
Before he knew it, she was right beside him, naturally joining the conversation. And when he realized it, it felt like a bomb had been dropped on him.
(……Hmm. How should I bring it up?)
He was so lost in thought that again, he was slow to catch on.
“Ah, Izumi-kun. You wrote that formula wrong there.”
“Eh? Really?”
Called out by Nanao, he hurriedly looked down at his notebook.
However, he couldn’t find any mistakes anywhere. Strange. Could he actually have made a mistake?
As he pondered that, Nanao suddenly reached out her hand.
“This one, right?”
“Eh?”
Without warning, Nanao placed her right hand over Izumi’s right hand holding the mechanical pencil.
“……!?!?!?”
Izumi’s face stiffened from the sudden contact.
Nanao didn’t seem to mind, calmly looking down at the notebook.
“Huh? Where was it again…?”
“U-um, Nanao san?”
“Just a second. Hmm, I’m pretty sure it was here…”
But her right hand didn’t seem to be searching for any part in particular.
Rather than looking for a mistake, she gently stroked the back of Izumi’s hand, as if checking its shape. Rubbing it lightly, then squeezing to confirm its size.
With her slender fingers, Nanao traced along the veins raised on the back of his hand. The ticklish sensation made Izumi shudder involuntarily.
(Th-this is getting kinda erotic…?)
His vocabulary failing from his overheated brain, Izumi stammered out:
“N-Nanao. You don’t need to hold my hand, right…?”
“Eh? Don’t girls do that normally?”
Of course not.
Amane, who should be one of those “girls”, had her face blushing bright red as she stared at their joined right hands. Her mouth kept opening and closing, like she wanted to say something but couldn’t.
Realizing he couldn’t count on Amane’s help, Izumi desperately tried to keep the conversation going.
“U-um. That part you said was wrong…”
“Hmm? Where was it again?”
Nanao wasn’t even looking at the notebook anymore.
Gazing at Izumi’s face from up close, she seemed to be intently observing his flustered expression. Her eyes sparkled with some sort of anticipation, her cheeks flushed with curiosity.
The saying goes “curiosity killed the cat”, but it seemed Izumi was the one being killed by curiosity here. He felt like he was being devoured by Nanao’s inquisitiveness.
Trying to somehow escape, the instant he tensed his hand to pull away –
Nanao’s face suddenly moved in closer. Leaning her lips right next to his ear,
“…… What? “
The moment Izumi Izumi unintentionally closed her eyes …….
Nanao gently whispered in her ear.
“Your fingers are really long, Izumi-kun.”
“~!!”
Izumi’s face went beet red from overheating.
Flustered, he shook off Nanao’s hand and hurriedly shoved his textbooks and notebooks into his bag.
“O-over! The study session is over! I have to go to work!”
“Eh? Izumi-kun…?”
Not waiting for Nanao to stop him, Izumi dashed out of the classroom.
He hurried down the stairs towards the shoe lockers at a brisk pace.
Along the way, his mind was in utter chaos.
(Wh-what was that about, that girl is~!!)
Of course, no one answered his internal scream.
When he reached the shoe lockers, Izumi finally came back to his senses.
(Ah, crap. I forgot to cover for Amane…)
Just as he considered heading back to the classroom, he heard:
READ THE ORIGINAL TRANSLATION AT LOCALIZERMEERKAT.PAGES.DEV
“Izumi-kun. Wait up!”
Nanao was peering down at him from the top of the stairs.
……It seemed Amane had managed to avoid trouble after all. “Well, at least the secret that she’s terrible at studying is safe…” He felt an oddly misplaced sense of relief.
Before he knew it, Nanao came trotting down the stairs towards him.
“Ah, I was surprised when you suddenly ran off.”
“……….”
She must have hurried after him, as her cheeks were flushed. Brushing away the strands of hair stuck to her forehead, she smiled brightly.
“Want to walk to the station together?”
“……Sure.”
Her casualness was so extreme that Izumi just nodded along. What kind of heart did this girl have, he couldn’t bring himself to say.
The two of them left through the school gates and walked the path to the station together.
“About earlier, was that intentional…?”
“What do you mean?”
“Um, when you grabbed my hand…”
“It’s normal for girls, you know?”
She seemed intent on passing it off with that excuse.
When she put it that way, Izumi had no counterargument. He could only assume it was probably normal behavior at her local high school.
(There’s no way that’s normal~!!)
He inwardly screamed, but outwardly maintained a poker face. Poker faces were his forte.
The likely reason he couldn’t turn Nanao down was because of that strap she had.
That day, after school.
He had simply called out to the troubled Nanao out of kindness.
But after seeing the strap she was holding, things changed. The soft, gentle way she gripped that strap as she said “I like you” – that expression lingered unforgettably in his mind.
(Dammit. I can’t get myself to switch gears…)
Izumi took a deep breath.
(Okay, calm down. Perfectly calm. I’m calm.)
That’s when he noticed Nanao staring straight at him.
For some reason, her direct gaze made him feel self-conscious, so he averted his eyes. Then, as if waving off the awkwardness, he scratched his head a bit roughly.
“By the way Nanao, you noticed, right?”
“Noticed what?”
“The study session.”
“Ah…..”
She didn’t answer, just giving a slight giggle.
It seemed the implication had gotten across. Which meant Amane’s modest appearances and secret were likely exposed too.
“Don’t tell the other students, okay?”
“I won’t, but……why not?”
“Amane is really hung up on appearances. She’s working hard to maintain this perfect student image.”
“I see. ……But why?”
She seemed genuinely curious.
To someone not interested, it may be hard to see value in such superficial appearances.
“Amane’s dad is a bit…no, not strict exactly. He just loves his daughter so much that his expectations are a bit overwhelming. But Amane is trying her best to live up to them.”
“…………”
Simply put, Amane was a “good girl.”
But saying it so plainly seemed too trite, and voicing it aloud would be Izumi’s own ego forcing his values on Nanao unnecessarily.
It was a conversation she had no obligation to be part of, really.
However, Nanao’s only response was:
“I understand.”
For some reason, he didn’t sense any dishonesty in those words.
Perhaps it was a sort of sympathy forged by that strap… Izumi felt a slight sense of reassurance.
But then:
“But I might still tease her a bit.”
“Why!? The conversation was going so well just now! That was supposed to lead to the happy ending of [I won’t tease her anymore], right!?”
Nanao just giggled mischievously.
Then, suddenly narrowing her eyes as if testing the waters, she proclaimed:
“Want to guess why?”
“……!?”
She straightened her back, rising up on her toes.
Then, breathing the words right into Izumi’s ear, she whispered:
“It’s so I can definitely make you fall for me.”
–Meanwhile.
Alone in the classroom, Amane’s face was blushing bright red as she remained frozen in place.
When she finally came to her senses, the classroom was already empty.
“Wh-why why is this happening ～～～～～～! “
There was no one to answer her anguished cry.
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