Chapter 4 – Various Sources of Stress

“Oh hey, Inori. Taking a dump? Mornin’.”

“Is that really the first thing you ask someone? Morning.”

When I got back to the classroom, Kazuki hit me with that crude nonsense.

Look at that—now the girls are giving me looks like I’m some kind of biohazard. Don’t drag me into your mess.

Yukimori seems to be back from the restroom, and she’s still surrounded by a bunch of classmates.

Well, nothing I can do. Guess I’ll kill some time chatting with Kazuki today too.

“Nice job with the part-time gig. Wasn’t it an overnight thing? Sounds rough.”

“Well, it’s got its fun parts.”

I mean, I’m getting paid while living it up, so if I dared to complain, I might get assassinated. You never know with the Yukimori family—they’re an enigma.

“Man, I’m jealous of a once-a-week job. I’m working five days a week including weekends! And it’s a convenience store job, packed with customer complaints.”

“That sounds rough. I did that too until last year, so I get it.”

“Haaah… I wish I could find a better-paying job. Like, 100,000 yen a month for working once a week, you know?”

All I could do was give a wry smile at Kazuki’s comment. If I said anything, I’d just be digging myself a hole.

And then, he just kept going on and on with part-time job complaints.

I nodded along, sympathizing.

Pretty standard banter between us.

But then—things took a different turn.

“Come to think of it, I’ve been hogging the complaining. What about you, Inori? You’ve gotta have at least one or two gripes about your job, right?”

“Complaints, huh…”

Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Yukimori glance over like she’d picked up on our conversation.

She looked a bit fidgety. Maybe she was wondering what I’d say.

“…Nah, I don’t really have any complaints. They let me do things pretty freely, and when I get tired, my employer takes care of stuff for me.”

“Takes care of stuff? Like what?”

“That’s classified.”

“Tch. Must be nice.”

Kazuki made a pouty face, and I glanced over at Yukimori.

“Huh? Yukimori-san, your face is all red.”

“You okay? You sick?”

“N-No, I’m fine! It’s just been hot lately, haha…”

Her face was red as a tomato. I didn’t say anything particularly suggestive, but who knows what she’s imagining.

“Well, if I had to name one thing—it’d be nice if I could get some sleep.”

“Yikes, they don’t even let you sleep? Sounds like a black company. Even my job has break time.”

“It’s just once a week, so it’s manageable. And there’s a fair return.”

Yeah, that last part I said on purpose. Sure enough, Yukimori was glaring at me like she wanted to strangle me.

Hey, it’s true. Might as well use this as a chance for her to build some resistance to her desires.

“Oh right! Inori, let me copy your homework again today! Please and thank you!”

“Again?”

“Hehe, I’ve been busy working over the weekend, y’know?”

Jeez, this guy. It’s fine since we’re in the same class again this year, but what’s he gonna do if we end up in separate ones?

I went back to my seat and pulled out my math notebook.

And then—my eyes accidentally met Yukimori’s.

I could see it, the faint glimmer of desire hiding in her gaze, only noticeable to me.

It’s only Monday, what’s going on with her?

“Hatsuse-kun. I know you’re always letting Tomita-kun copy your homework, but that’s not helping him. Homework’s only meaningful when you do it yourself.”

“Ah, that’s…”

“What is it?”

“Nothing. Just… nothing.”

Yukimori’s really serious.

She always does things herself and rarely relies on others. But when it comes to that secret job, she needs someone else to, uh… help her vent.

So seeing Kazuki constantly rely on me probably stresses her out.

“Don’t worry about it. It’s not like I let him copy everything—think of it more like I’m tutoring him. It helps reinforce my own understanding, too. Right?”

“That’s true, but…”

“Anyway, that’s how it is. And I get juice in return, so it’s a win-win.”

If we talked any longer, people might start getting suspicious, so I bailed early.

I grabbed my notebook and headed back to Kazuki.

“Hey, hey, Inori. Was Yukimori-san looking at me just now? You think she’s got a thing for me…!?”

“No chance.”

“How can you be so sure?”

“Don’t worry about it. She’s just looking down on you for always copying my homework.”

“Of course I’m gonna worry! Wait, is that what she really thinks!?”

Kazuki looked seriously shocked. Well, if this motivates him to start doing his homework on his own, all the better.

“Hate to break it to you while you’re having a crisis, but if you don’t get copying soon, you’ll run out of time. I’ll teach you, so hurry up.”

“Yeah, yeah. Guess it’s time for me to turn over a new leaf…”

So easy to read.

I moved my desk next to his and started explaining while he copied.

And then, someone came up beside us.

“Hm? …Toudou?”

“Oh hey, Toudou! Mornin’!”

“Mm, good morning.”

It was the gal from earlier in the hallway—Asuka Toudou.

She looked a little awkward, fidgeting with a notebook in hand. On the cover, in cutesy round letters, it said “Math.”

“Don’t tell me… you came to copy math homework too?”

“Well… yeah, kinda. I was overthinking stuff all weekend, and I didn’t get it done…”

“I see, I see. Come take a seat. Let’s copy from Lord Inori’s notes together.”

“Why are you giving out permission? Whatever, it’s fine.”

Kazuki pulled over a chair, and Toudou sat down quietly, murmuring “Thanks.”

Watching them copy my homework, I started feeling weird.

That was the first real conversation I’d had with Toudou… I think. I’d remember if we had talked before.

So why was she coming to me to copy homework?

Noticing my stare, she stopped writing and glared at me.

“What?”

“Ah, sorry.”

“You don’t have to apologize. I just wanted to know why you were looking at me…”

The mood got awkward, and we both looked away.

Sensing the shift in atmosphere, Kazuki tried to smooth things over with a “now now.”

“Don’t take it the wrong way, Inori. Toudou might look intimidating, but she’s not a delinquent or anything. She actually loves cute stuff and baking sweets. Super girly.”

“Wha—!? Tomita, what the hell are you saying!?”

“Actually, everyone from our old middle school thinks the way she looks now doesn’t suit her. Brown or black hair fits her way better, hands down.”

“Shut up! You big dummy!”

Toudou turned bright red and started yelling.

So they went to the same middle school. That’s news to me.

“I get it now. So she came to talk to me because she’s got a connection through you.”

“That’s half of it.”

“Half?”

“…Forget it. Thanks for the homework. I’ll make it up to you sometime.”

Toudou quickly packed her things and returned to her seat.

She’d only copied about half the homework though… is that really okay?

“Wonder what’s up with her.”

“Beats me. …Alright, I’m done too!”

Just barely before the morning homeroom bell rang, Kazuki finished copying.

As Yukimori said, maybe now he’ll finally start doing his own work for once.