My Beautiful Childhood Friend Is Working in a Maid Cafe For Some Reason - Chapter 39-40

Chapter 39: Studying for Exams with My Childhood Friend (1)

Right now, I’m waiting for Yukina.

Why am I sitting here, waiting for someone I don’t even want to see? It’s obvious—I’m waiting for her to help me study for the upcoming exams.

“When I come over tomorrow, we’ll start studying right away. I’ll be there at 9 AM, so make sure you’re awake!”

That’s what Yukina said to me as we left Poplar.

But she hasn’t shown up yet.

What am I even doing with my time?

Finally, after what felt like forever, the doorbell rang.

She’s here at last…

I moved my numb legs and went to open the door.

“You’re late! It’s thirty minutes past nine!”

“What’s with you? Were you that eager to see me? You’re so impatient.”

“No. Absolutely not. You’re the one who said you’d be here at nine.”

“Whatever. A girl has things to prepare, you know.”

Yukina said this while holding her school bag. She looked the same as always—dressed in her tracksuit and wearing glasses. The only difference today was that her hair was neatly styled, not messy like usual.

“…Well, fine. Come on in—”

“Not yet.”

“Huh?”

“You haven’t greeted me properly yet.”

Yukina looked at me expectantly.

A greeting… That’s something we only do at school, right? But if I say that, she’ll probably complain again…

“Good morning, Yukina.”

“Good morning, Yusuke.”

I gave in, and she smiled, clearly satisfied.

“So, what do you need help with?”

Yukina and I sat facing each other at the table in the living room. There were textbooks, notebooks, and worksheets on the table.

“Well…”

What should I start with?

It’s not something to brag about, but I’m bad at every subject: Japanese, math, English, science, history—you name it. Ever since I started high school, everything has gotten harder, and I’ve never scored above forty points in any subject.

And while I’m here thinking about what to do, the exam days are coming closer and closer.

Damn it… Isn’t there some way to easily improve my grades in all subjects?

“What are you seriously thinking about— No, that’s a big no!”

“Huh? What’s wrong?”

“I’m here to help you study, not to give you any lessons in health education!”

Yukina assumed her usual defensive posture.

“Are you kidding me? I’m actually serious about my exams for the first time since starting high school. Besides, health education isn’t even part of the midterms.”

“You could at least waver a little!”

“Anyway, I don’t even know what to study for each subject, so teach me that first.”

I ignored Yukina’s joke. My determination right now isn’t weak enough to be swayed by her teasing.

“Fine… Alright then.”

Yukina patted the empty seat next to her.

“Um… What?”

“Sit next to me. I can’t teach you if you’re over there.”

“I’m fine just sitting here…”

“I’m the one who’s uncomfortable! If you don’t sit here, I’m leaving!”

She’s the one who showed up late, and now she’s making demands?

But, if she leaves, I’m the one who’ll be in trouble. I have no choice but to do as she says.

I reluctantly sat down beside her.

“So, you don’t know what to study for each subject?”

“Yeah.”

“Unbelievable… You don’t even know the basics…”

Yukina said this in a voice mixed with disappointment and disbelief.

I knew I was pathetic, so I couldn’t find any words to argue back. I just felt utterly ashamed.

“Listen. The only subject that requires actual studying is math.”

“Really?”

“Yes, really. For everything else, you just need to memorize the basics.”

Yukina told me to open my textbook, so I started with the history book.

“Completely blank…”

It looked like it had been sealed in a time capsule right after I bought it—the pages were completely untouched.

Seeing this, Yukina sighed again.

“…Seriously, instead of sleeping all the time, you should at least underline the important parts. That’s why you end up panicking before exams.”

I couldn’t argue with that… Wait, how does she know I’m always sleeping?

It’s easy for me to see Yukina in class. All I have to do is look up and to the left, and there she is.

But for Yukina to see me, she’d have to turn around. From her seat, it would be difficult to look back and see me. Not to mention, this is during class. Yukina, who is always serious in class, wouldn’t have any reason to turn around unless she had a specific reason to do so…

“E-Every time I look back, I see your stupid face sleeping!”

“Is it when you’re handing out papers?”

“Y-Yeah, that’s it!”

Yukina suddenly pulled out her own history textbook from her school bag and handed it to me.

“Here, stop talking about that and just copy my notes.”

Yukina’s textbook was completely different from mine—every important part was neatly underlined.

I quickly started copying her notes.

“Once you’re done copying, focus on memorizing everything—”

“Yukina.”

“W-What?”

Her cheeks seemed to flush slightly.

I opened my mouth to speak to her.

“If you have more notes with underlined parts, please let me see them. I’ll copy them quickly.”

And then—

“…Idiot!”

For some reason, she got mad at me.

I don’t understand why she’s mad.

So in my mind, I talked back to her.

Yes, I’m an idiot, but so what?

—

Chapter 40: Studying for Exams with My Childhood Friend (2)

I was copying the highlighted sections from the textbooks that Yukina had given me, even though I had been unnecessarily scolded by her earlier.

“Okay, remember to keep writing down what you want to memorize. If you say it out loud while doing so, it will stick better in your head,” she instructed.

“Got it,” I replied.

“With this, you should be able to manage science and history. These two subjects are all about memorization,” Yukina said confidently.

I didn’t quite understand everything, but since Yukina said so, it was probably true. It seemed I could handle science and history later by memorizing what I wrote down.

“What about English?” I asked.

“English is also mostly about memorizing the meanings of words and their spellings. Without knowing the vocabulary, you won’t be able to solve difficult translations either.”

“I see…” I nodded, agreeing with her logic.

When I studied alone, I often got stuck because I didn’t know the meaning of words, which led me to check my phone repeatedly until I eventually gave up out of frustration.

“Look, I’ve written down the important stuff in my notes,” Yukina said, handing me her notebook, almost as if she was telling me to hurry up and copy it. Her notes were just as organized and easy to read as they were when we were kids.

“Hey, how do you make your notes look so neat?” I asked.

“Anyone can do it by listening to the teacher and marking the important parts with a red pen,” Yukina replied as if it were the most obvious thing.

But I knew better. What Yukina thought was obvious was actually quite difficult for most people.

After all, the teacher’s lectures were like sleep spells. Only someone with a lot of resistance could stay awake and pay attention.

In other words, Yukina had unknowingly put in an extraordinary amount of effort…

“Are you thinking about something foolish again?” she asked suspiciously.

“Not at all. I’m just focused on copying this down. I don’t have time to think about anything else,” I quickly denied.

“…If you say so,” Yukina said, giving me a sidelong glance, but I kept my head down and continued copying quickly.

By the time I finished memorizing English, science, and history, it was already past noon.

“I’ve never studied this seriously before…” I muttered.

“What are you talking about? This isn’t even studying yet; you’ve just been doing basic work,” she said bluntly.

That was harsh… though it was true, so I had no argument.

“…Hey, how about we take a break?” I suggested.

“Yeah, I’m getting hungry,” she agreed.

“What should we do for lunch?” I asked.

“Isn’t it obvious?” she replied.

I knew what she was going to say before she even answered. Sure enough, Yukina stared straight at me with a slightly tense expression.

“I want to eat your homemade food, Yusuke!” she declared.

I knew it… Yukina never offers to cook in return.

Besides, I couldn’t trust her with the kitchen. She’d probably wreck it.

“How about fried rice?” I offered.

“Wow, you agreed pretty quickly,” she said, sounding surprised.

“I figured this would happen,” I admitted.

That’s why I had done some prep yesterday—just chopping vegetables, though.

“Hehe, you know me well. I’ll give you credit for that,” she said with a smile.

“I’m not happy about that, so no thanks,” I replied, standing up from my seat.

I went to the kitchen and started washing the rice. After setting the timer, I returned to the table.

“We’ll have to wait until the rice is ready,” I told her.

“I can wait that long,” she said, but her feet were tapping impatiently.

How excited are you? Or are you just a big eater?

When the rice was done, I started stir-frying the vegetables and slicing the ham.

“Yukina, keep an eye on it so it doesn’t burn,” I asked.

“Sure,” she replied, focusing intently on the pan.

I added the ham and cooked rice to the frying pan and mixed everything together.

“Hehe,” Yukina giggled.

“What’s so funny?” I asked, puzzled.

“It’s just… I realized this is fun,” she said.

“Fun?”

“Yeah, I’ve never cooked with someone like this before,” she said with a smile.

Well, technically, you’re not really cooking… I’m the one doing all the work!

Yukina made it sound like she was helping with the cooking, but she was just watching me do it all.

“…And it kind of feels like we’re newlyweds,” she added.

“Wh-What!? Don’t say that!” I nearly choked.

From an outsider’s perspective, maybe it did look that way, but it was just the two of us here. No one was watching.

In other words, she was just teasing me for fun.

Even though I knew she was teasing, I still couldn’t help but feel a little self-conscious…

No, no! If I let myself get flustered, that’s exactly what Yukina wants.

I shook my head to clear my mind of any unnecessary thoughts.

“Why are you shaking your head like that?” she asked.

“It’s nothing… It’s nothing…” I replied stiffly.

“Why are you talking like a robot?” she asked with a puzzled look.

“I’m just being natural,” I said.

This was totally natural. I wasn’t flustered. I wasn’t nervous. I was completely calm!

Eventually, I managed to finish making the fried rice without falling into Yukina’s trap.

She immediately took a bite of the fried rice. As soon as she did, her face lit up.

“It’s delicious!” she exclaimed.

It seemed I had made a satisfying meal.

I took a bite myself.

…Not bad, if I say so myself—

“I really like the taste of your cooking, Yusuke. I could eat it every day,” Yukina said with a dreamy expression, almost like a girl in love.

I almost spit out my food in shock.

“Cough, cough!” I quickly swallowed, but it hurt my throat.

“That’s gross. Are you okay? Here, take a tissue,” she said, handing me a tissue with a worried look.

W-What is she saying all of a sudden!?

“You should stop joking around…” I started.

“I’m not joking. I really do think it’s delicious,” she insisted.

“But still…”

“Hey, why don’t you become my personal chef and cook for me every day? I’ll pay you,” she offered.

“No thanks,” I quickly declined.

The thought of cooking for Yukina every day… just imagining it gave me a headache.

“You’re such a stingy person,” she pouted.

“Stingy? It’s not like I’m a great cook. If you want good food, ask your mom,” I suggested.

“Yusuke, you’re not very good at studying, so why don’t you quit school and take up cooking instead? Then you could make me delicious food all the time,” she teased.

What kind of nonsense is she spouting now…

“Who do you think you are, a princess?” I asked.

“I’m not a princess. I’m just your childhood friend making a suggestion,” she replied with a grin.

“That’s totally unreasonable…”

“And if you did that, then I’d…”

Yukina suddenly became hesitant, glancing at me shyly. Her cheeks seemed to flush slightly.

What’s going on?

“What about the rest?” I asked.

“There is no rest, idiot. This conversation is over!” she snapped.

“Huh!?”

Even though she was the one who brought it up, Yukina abruptly ended the conversation and began shoveling the remaining fried rice into her mouth.

Once again, I was called an idiot without knowing why. It didn’t sit right with me…