Volume 3 - CH 2.5

Despite the damage done to Hina’s spirit in many ways, putting Yuzu in a positive frame of mind about clearing up the misunderstanding was certainly a good idea. Furthermore, there was also the additional trick of finding the time when she was in a good mood. 

Did I say I’d hold off on addressing this matter until after the exam? I lied. My resolve may have wavered now and then, but I’d try giving it a shot in any way I could.

I snuck through the corridor of the club building and opened the lock of the literature club room.

“Yo! Sorry for keeping you waiting!” I smiled as much as I could and greeted Yuzu, who had started studying inside.

“…I didn’t wait for you,” she answered, but she only took a glance at me and immediately returned her eyes to her notebook.

Her mood was so bad that I could tell from her short reply; the plan given to me by Hina was half-crushed within five seconds of entering the room.

“Um… Yuzu-san? Did something happen?” 

I unknowingly applied the polite suffix when calling her, and she raised her face towards me.

She then took out her smartphone and silently showed me the display. On it was a photo of Hina and me talking in front of a vending machine—

“TH-This is…?!” 

I was flustered and Yuzu’s stare sharpened on me.

“My friend coincidentally saw this and sent it to me, you know! I’d wondered where you’ve gone, not coming to the clubroom. And there you were, having a secret rendezvous!”

Oh no, I’d underestimated her connections!

“So, care to explain?!”

“It-It’s a misunderstanding! Honestly, nothing like that happened!”

What a mess! I had thought of clearing a misunderstanding only to create another! 

Wait a moment! The present me could use that principle of ‘By other’s faults, wise men correct their own’! By putting this to use, wouldn’t both misunderstandings get cleared in one go?!

“Anyway, calm down, Yuzu. Please listen to me.”

“Heh… So you’re going to make excuses. Alright, I’ll listen.” Yuzu was miffed when I tried to justify myself, but she toned down her anger a little.

Alright, here was my chance to pop out some good analogies and teach her the magnificence of clearing misunderstandings.

“Look, it’s very damaging to keep a misunderstanding unaddressed. I once knew a girl in my class who was hiding her face with her bangs, so I gave her a hairpin. When I saw her face, which was surprisingly cute, it made a big difference to my impression of her. It’s important to clear up misunderstandings like this.”

“Isn’t that Hiiragi-san?! You’re telling me that lovey-dovey story right now? You have no intention of clearing any misunderstanding, do you?!”

“Huh? Could it be that I made a mistake in choosing an analogy?”

“BIG MISTAKE!”

O-oh, this happened on the spur of the moment, so I went straight for the best analogy I’d heard earlier, but it seemed to backfire on me.

“Isn’t this enough to identify you as cheating?! Yamato, you cheater! Idiot!”

“Wait a minute! Seriously!” Having completely dug my grave, I hurriedly continued my defence.

In the end, that day I was so desperate to clear up the newly created misunderstanding that I didn’t mention the Christmas misunderstanding at all.

===

I was standing in front of the station on a weekday afternoon wearing casual clothes.

“…I really should do something about it soon.”

With deep determination, I waited for Yuzu in front of the station.

Starting today, it was our exam holiday. 

Those long exams were finally over and it should’ve been okay even if I didn’t consider making her upset or whatnot. Also, the abominable cheating scandal was dispelled and there were no other worries.

“…It’s finally time to settle the issue,” I gritted my teeth as I said this, urging myself to be fully ready.

Today was the day we got back our exam papers, so school was only a half day. 

And we were going on a date to fulfil my promise to Yuzu to go shopping for a muffler. Also my last and best chance to clear up the misunderstanding.

“Though I said that… Quite a while has passed and now it’s even more difficult to bring up this matter.”

Above all, along with the passing of time, some doubts had also been born; did Yuzu really understand the meaning behind the ‘Christmas Fulfilment’ event or not?

“It’s also possible that she doesn’t know the original meaning as I did before…”

In that case, my action of clearing up the misunderstanding itself would just be me ineffectually spinning my wheels. Thus, I must first ascertain Yuzu’s true intentions for this event.

“Ah, Yamato-kun! Sorry I made you wait~”

At the same time as I decided once again what I was going to do, Yuzu came running. She was dressed in a white knee-length dress, a grey coat, and black stockings.

“Oh, ay.” I was strangely nervous and I greeted her awkwardly.

“Anything wrong, Yamato-kun?”

My nervousness seemed to be something that Yuzu—an expert in attentiveness—could easily see through, and she peeked at me suspiciously.

“Mm, no-nothing.”

“It doesn’t look like there’s nothing, though?” Yuzu closely scrutinised my face.

F-for the time being, let’s just gloss things over. I’d like to tell her myself on my own terms rather than the misunderstanding be unknowingly exposed.

“I-I’m okay. It’s just my standing-in-front-of-the-station allergy that flared up.”

“My first time hearing of that illness.” 

That was a super illogical excuse! I took a deep breath and calmed myself down.

“Phew… Sorry, really, it’s nothing. I was just bothered by my performance in the exam.”

When I used an excuse that was just right for our situation, Yuzu nodded her head in agreement.

“Oh, so that’s it. I thought you’d overdosed on my cuteness and gone mental.”

“That worry is ridiculous, though.” That was a dangerous fear that only a narcissist could have. 

Anyway, we would go nowhere if we only stood still here.

“So, let’s go buy the muffler?” I brought up the purpose of our date, yet Yuzu showed a slightly thinking face.

“Mmmn… That’s okay too, but this is also to celebrate the end of our exams, so I’d like to go around to other places before that. It has been quite a while since I last came here, and I bet you also want to stroll around to show off your cute girlfriend.”

“Thanks for your consideration but you totally got that wrong. But well, I also agree to randomly go somewhere else first.”

It might be easier to broach the subject while strolling rather than when she’s focused on choosing mufflers.

“So, it’s set. Let’s go!”

“Alright.”

Like that, we walked side by side.

chocolala: LOL at that allergy