My Beautiful Childhood Friend Is Working in a Maid Cafe For Some Reason - Chapter 85

In the unused classroom, now serving as the Maid Club room, an ominous atmosphere lingered. Rather than ominous, it felt just…gloomy. A heavy aura seemed to be radiating from Tadokoro and Akiba.

For now, I exchanged glances with Yukina and then sat down, facing each other.

“What’s wrong?”

“…On a certain day in July, they’ll come…No, never mind.”

“Oh, the final exams, huh?”

I pretty much understood why they were feeling down. Akiba had a habit of saying the same thing whenever exams were approaching.

But what did it mean that he stopped halfway through?

“…Oyama, you seem pretty relaxed since you did well on the last test.”

“No, I’m not really relaxed…”

It’s just that Yukina is going to help me study again, so I feel reassured. You know how when you team up with someone really strong in a game, you get this strange confidence that you’ll win, even if you’re weak? It’s like that.

“But, what about it?”

“Yukina is going to be there for me, so…”

“Y-Yuu-kun!”

Yukina suddenly stood up from her chair at an incredible speed, her face turning red.

“Ah…”

I realized after I said it. I had let something terrible slip out. I needed to correct it immediately.

“Oh, senpai…Even though Akiba-senpai and I are struggling so much, feeling depressed, you seem to be enjoying yourself quite a bit, don’t you? I bet, every night, when you say you’re studying with Yukina-senpai, you’re actually doing something…naughty, aren’t you?”

Tadokoro let out a big sigh. As annoying as ever, but this wasn’t the time for that. I had to correct this quickly.

“No, that’s not it! Yukina just taught me how to study last time, so I thought I’d be okay again this time!”

“Well, I don’t believe you, senpai. We were all in the remedial group, right? Yet, you sneakily raised your score…That’s unfair!”

“Unfair? It’s because of my own hard work. I don’t deserve to be criticized for that.”

That’s right. Yukina taught me how to study, but the results came from my own effort. No one had the right to complain about that.

“Yukina…?”

I looked at Yukina, hoping for her support, but she was giving me a strange smile. I had a vague idea why, but I didn’t want to dig too deep.

Clearing my throat, I opened my mouth to speak.

“Well, Akiba, you’re also in your third year like me, so having remedial classes every day during summer vacation would be rough. I’ll teach you how to study.”

I felt a little proud. I had always been the lowest in our group, but now I was above these two. So, this is what superiority feels like.

“…You’re talking big for someone who’s only improved by ten points. Well, I’ll listen, though.”

“W-Wait a second! Teach me too!”

“Tadokoro…You’re too annoying, so I won’t.”

“T-That’s so mean! Yukina-senpai, that’s too mean…Wait, Yukina-senpai!?”

It seemed Tadokoro had finally noticed Yukina’s odd behavior. Akiba, on the other hand, showed no interest whatsoever. In a way, it was impressive.

“Senpai, Yukina-senpai is acting strange. She’s all wiggly!”

“Ah, don’t worry about it.”

“No, I’m worried!”

“She’s just in her imagination zone.”

“Imagination zone!?”

With Tadokoro’s loud voice, Yukina finally snapped out of it and spoke with a bit of a grudge.

“Don’t call it my imagination zone…Yuu-kun.”

Yukina quietly sat down again. At the same time, Tadokoro opened her mouth.

“Hey, what’s with you two lately? You suddenly started calling him Yuu-kun, and your whole vibe has changed…It’s confusing!”

“Yuu-kun said he would accept me, no matter what kind of person I am.”

Yukina said this happily, blushing. I almost said something to contradict her, but stopped. I had said something similar, and if Yukina took it that way, I guess it wasn’t a bad outcome.

“So, are you two dating or something—”

“—Forget about Oyama and Himemiya’s relationship for now. Let’s focus on the upcoming final exams.”

Akiba interrupted Tadokoro’s words.

“Y-Yeah, right. In that case, I have a proposal!”

Tadokoro raised her index finger as if she had come up with a brilliant idea.

“Let’s have a study session with this group!”

“No way.”

“Not interested.”

“No thanks.”

Our voices harmonized perfectly. Tadokoro’s brilliant idea was utterly shattered, and she slumped her shoulders in disappointment.

“Why not!?”

“Because you’re annoying.”

“Because you’re noisy.”

“For no particular reason.”

Yukina’s reason was the harshest. Mine and Akiba’s reasons were justified by Tadokoro’s personality, but Yukina’s was just arbitrary. In other words, she wasn’t interested from the start.

Still, it was unusual for Yukina to be this candid. Normally, in class, she would only show a fake smile…Maybe that’s how comfortable she felt in this place.

“Hey, Tadokoro. When you ask someone for a favor, you should show a little sincerity, you know?”

“W-What do you want me to do? What are you trying to make me do?”

“How about just being quiet and staying still?”

“T-That’s…If I lose those two things, what’s left of me?”

“…Who knows?”

I couldn’t care less about what was left of Tadokoro. This was perfect payback for her usual behavior.

“I-I guess I have no choice…If I can’t avoid it, I’ll do as you say. So please, let’s have a study session!”

Tadokoro bent her waist at a perfect ninety-degree angle. I’m not heartless enough to refuse her after she’s gone this far. I can’t say the same for the other two, though.

“I’m fine with it.”

“Really!? Thank you!”

Tadokoro lit up with joy. She’s usually so annoying, so getting a straightforward ‘thank you’ felt strange.

“I’ll join too. I don’t want you and Yuu-kun to be alone together.”

Well, I figured Yukina would react this way. So now, three of us are participating. That left Akiba, but with things going this far, he would probably join too.

“I’ll pass. I doubt a proper study session will happen with this group.”

“…As stubborn as always.”

“Oyama, teach me that study method Himemiya taught you.”

“Oh, it’s just memorization. You memorize as much as you can, focus on the basics. Tackling difficult problems without memorizing first is pointless, she said.”

I looked at Yukina to confirm, and she nodded in agreement. Seeing that, Akiba rubbed his chin and started mumbling to himself.

“I see…So, not memorizing and jumping straight to difficult questions was why my results weren’t improving…”

Akiba, being serious by nature, would probably start studying right away. At this rate, I might lose to him again in the next test.

“So, where are we having this study session? The library?”

“Senpai, you live alone, right?”

“Yeah, I do.”

“Then let’s do it at your place!”

I thought about refusing but considered the consequences. With Tadokoro involved, there was no way it would be quiet. She’s the type to break promises easily, so she definitely wouldn’t keep her word from earlier. If we did it at the library, we’d probably get kicked out for causing a disturbance.

“Sigh. Fine.”

“Great! Next break, we’ll study at your place!”

And so, it was decided that we’d have a study session at my house.