For Some Reason, I’m Almost Locked up by the Most Beautiful Girl in School Who Can Hear My Inner Thoughts - Chapter 18-19

Chapter 18

Today was the last day of the test, and the final subject, Math II, was about to end.

I had already finished checking my answers, and although there were two parts I didn’t understand, since it’s a subject I’m not good at, my total score for the test would probably be pretty high.

I could keep trying to solve the problems I didn’t understand until the end, but since I had no clue at all, there was no point.

More than that, I was more concerned about Noa-san these past two days.

She kept glancing at me and seemed to be deep in thought.

When I asked Noa-san about it, she said, “N-nothing’s wrong, okay?” while looking away, and then she went back to thinking again.

Was there something she didn’t understand in the test, or was she worried about getting a really bad score?

I thought that and glanced at her, but she didn’t seem to be struggling with the test and was just staring blankly ahead.

While I was focused on Noa-san, the bell rang.

“Okay, that’s it. I’ll collect the tests, so pass them forward to the person in front of you.”

What was she really thinking about?

***

When I went to our usual meeting spot, as always, she was there before me.

When she saw me coming, she smiled, but for some reason, her smile quickly turned into a strange expression.

“Sorry for making you wait.”

“No, I didn’t wait at all. Let’s go.”

“Okay.”

I started walking, and she walked beside me.

As usual, she was thinking about something and didn’t seem like she was going to talk.

Since I couldn’t figure it out no matter how much I thought about it, I spoke up first.

“This might be annoying, but is something troubling you?”

“Um… why do you think that?”

“You’ve been looking like you’re deep in thought.”

When I said that, she flinched and went quiet again.

Then she tried to say something but stopped.

“There really is something, isn’t there?”

“No, it’s not about me…”

If it’s not about Noa-san herself, then…

“Did something happen with Yukika!? If there’s anything I can help with, I’ll do what I can.”

“No, it’s not about Mama either.”

Then what could it be?

She looked hesitant, but finally spoke up.

“Yuki-kun, are you hiding something from me? Isn’t there something going on with you?”

“Huh? Me?”

Was there anything I was hiding from her?

I tried to recall if there was any secret between us, but nothing came to mind.

“It’s about the first day of the test. That day, Yuki-kun, you looked like you were in pain, so I thought something might’ve happened.”

“Oh…”

It’s true that I wasn’t in a great mood that day.

Was she worried about that the whole time?

Now, what should I say?

I don’t think I need to tell Noa-san that my mood wasn’t great even after meeting her.

It’s something related to my past, and it doesn’t concern Noa-san.

“It’s true that I wasn’t feeling great that day. But it was just because I wasn’t feeling well.”

“That’s a lie. Why are you lying? It really hurts me when you lie, Yuki-kun.”

As soon as I explained, she immediately shot back, looking like she was about to cry and staring at me with pleading eyes.

I don’t know why she thought it was a lie. Maybe it’s a woman’s intuition?

Either way, I had to do something to stop Noa-san’s tears. The stares from housewives and students from our school, thinking “Why is he making a girl cry?” were painful, and more than that, hurting someone with a lie was wrong.

“I’m sorry. I did lie. It’s a bit hard to talk about here, so can we change locations? The stares are painful too.”

When I said that, her tearful expression calmed down a bit.

“…Okay. Then come to my house.”

She said it with such intense pressure that I could only nod and say, “Okay.”

—

Chapter 19

Noa-san dragged me by the hand from her nearest station to her house, and after greeting Yukika, she pulled me into her room without any discussion.

Yukika said, “I also want to talk with Yuki-kun,” but Noa-san glared at her and made her quiet.

Noa-san’s room was full of girly charm, which felt a bit mismatched with the slightly intense Noa-san right now.

“Yuki-kun, you’ll tell me, right?”

“Well… yeah, I’ll tell you.”

Noa-san said that, and since I came this far, I couldn’t not talk, so I started speaking bit by bit.

“First, the day before the test, I ran into someone I didn’t want to meet.”

“That’s a girl, right?”

“Yes.”

While Noa-san stared at me so hard it felt like she was burning a hole through me, I continued talking, feeling like I was being interrogated.

“That person was my childhood friend, and we used to play together a lot.”

“…Then why didn’t you want to meet her?”

She asked that while pouting for some reason.

It was a natural question, so even though it was embarrassing, I had to answer.

“Because I liked her.”

“…”

When I said that, she looked very sad and seemed like she was about to cry again.

“No, I mean I liked her before. Now I don’t feel that way at all and think of her as someone I don’t like.”

“Really?!”

Why was I explaining this to her like I was making excuses for cheating?

Also, Noa-san looked so happy and was smiling brightly after hearing that.

“Then why did you start disliking her? Why don’t you want to meet her?”

“That’s…”

Did I have to talk about this too?

I really didn’t want to talk about it.

Even though I had sorted it out, remembering it when talking to someone brought back bitter feelings.

Maybe I should just summarize it.

“To put it simply, I got rejected before I could confess. She only saw me as a friend.”

“…I see.”

But I was also grateful to her in a way.

It made me think I wasn’t someone who could date girls and that I probably had no charm.

It wasn’t entirely her fault. Things like that happened a few times before, and I just got my hopes up about her on my own.

While I was thinking about that, Noa-san suddenly came close and hugged me.

“Noa-san?”

“Yuki-kun, you’re a wonderful boy full of charm. I guarantee it.”

She said that while patting my head, making me feel calm.

“That girl just didn’t see it. There’s no one as cool and kind as you, Yuki-kun.”

“There are others.”

“No, absolutely not. Only you, Yuki-kun.”

Noa-san didn’t back down and hugged me even tighter.

Her words and actions made the fog deep in my heart start to clear.

How many minutes passed while she kept patting me?

She stopped hugging and looked straight into my eyes.

“Thank you for telling me. You really are a kind and wonderful boy. You talked to me because you thought I was worried.”

“No, thank you for listening.”

She smiled and patted my head again.

When she tried to hug me again, Yukika came in and said, “Hey, are you done talking? I want to talk with Yuki-kun too.”

Noa-san’s face twitched with anger.

“Mama!! We were in the middle of something!”

“But I wanted to talk with Yuki-kun too. Besides, it’s not good to keep him all to yourself!”

Yukika said that and hugged me.

“That’s not fair! I’ll do it too!”

Noa-san said that and hugged me from behind.

Yukika was in front, and Noa-san was behind. I wanted to ask what kind of situation this was, but their hugs were surprisingly strong, and I couldn’t escape.

“Yuki-kun, it’s been a while. Did you come to see me?”

“No way. Yuki-kun came to talk with me.”

While listening to their silly argument, I was trying my best to focus and not think about the chests pressing against my back.