When lunch break came around, Yuuki found himself munching on his rice balls alone. Keitarou bounded into his personal space out of nowhere though, and he was drooling to know all of the juicy details about Yuuki’s new seat and his new seatmate. The seatmate in question was currently eating and socializing with another group of girls at a different table.
“How about you sit down?” Yuuki asked, pointing at Yui’s currently vacant seat.
Keitarou simply shook his head from where he was stationed, leaning against the wall.
“Helloooo?” he said. “You forget whose seat we’re talking about? I don’t want any death threats coming my way!”
“Death threats? From whom?”
“The gaggle of losers sitting over there, obviously. They may look all pure and innocent on the outside, but they’re the type of weirdos who spend all day fantasizing about burying their faces wherever Yui’s sat down.”
“No kidding?” Yuuki said. I don’t know what you’d get out of rubbing your face against a piece of wood...
Suddenly, Keitarou got down on his knees in front of Yui’s desk. Before Yuuki could ask just what in the world he was doing, he began praying to the seat for good luck.
“—Well anyways, how is it?” As soon as it had begun, it was over, and Keitarou was now leaning in and whispering in Yuuki’s ears. “What do you think of her?”
“I think she’s pretty nice,” Yuuki answered flatly.
“What’s that now?” Keitarou replied with a huge grin on his face, “You’re telling me she’s already got your seal of approval just half a day in? Impossible! I mean, everyone was saying that you’re pretty much one smile away from fallin’ for her, but damn, dude.”
“She let me copy her homework.”
“... Not the answer I was expecting. Well, nevermind... Wait, hold up. You copied off of her? C’mon man, get your head in the game! You’re the one who’s supposed to be doing all the impressing, not her!”
Keitarou progressed further into Yuuki’s personal space as he kept pestering him for more information. It was to no avail, however, as Yuuki kept quiet and looked to be focused entirely on finishing his food. Suddenly, Keitarou wrapped his arm around Yuuki’s shoulders and brought him in for some manly guidance.
“A piece of advice from one friend to the other,” he said. “You might think that things are going well with her, but I gotta snap you back to reality... She’s that chatty with everyone. Better not get your hopes up!”
“Wasn’t planning on it.”
“It’s all ‘cuz you’re seated next to her, man. It’s all in your head; don’t get it twisted,” warned Keitarou, making it seem like some form of a suspension bridge effect was at play or something.
Yuuki was barely listening to Keitarou when they both noticed Yui briefly return to her seat. She retrieved something from her desk, gave them both a brief glance, and returned to the group of girls she’d been chatting with.
“What’s wrong, Keitarou? You look pale.”
Though Keitarou’s rowdy character would seem to dictate that he at least make an attempt to get Yui’s attention, he in fact did no such thing. It was almost like he was avoiding her altogether.
“Ahaha, nah, it’s nothing, really. We just used to go to the same middle school and... y’know. Stuff.”
“What does that have to do with anything?” Yuuki said, eyebrow quirked. “Well whatever, I guess.”
“Wow, dude. Can you at least pretend to be interested in my mysterious, sordid past? What kinda detective lets the witnesses go home without even taking their statements?” Keitarou protested.
Yuuki once again elected to ignore Keitarou and his ramblings when Yui walked back over to her desk for a second time. Keitarou suddenly shifted his gaze toward the window in a feeble attempt to not appear suspicious, and Yuuki followed suit. Unfortunately for him, he felt someone tapping on his shoulder. He turned to see Yui stooping over him.
“Hey, Narito. Do you remember what we talked about just a while back?” she asked calmly.
“Huh? Oh yeah, of course... I do.”
“Very convincing there, chief.”
Apparently, Yuuki was supposed to treat Yui to some drinks as a way to thank her for generously letting him copy her homework. He’d already completely forgotten about it though, on account of the fact that they had two classes back-to-back right after.
“I’ll go get you something right now. Want something in particular?”
“Hmmmm, I wonder what drinks they have... How about I tag along?”
“Huh? Sure, I suppose.”
Yuuki was clearly taken by surprise, but he had no reason to decline either. This would normally have been a perfect opportunity for Keitarou to pick on Yuuki, but before anyone had realized it, he had already retreated from the scene entirely. Yuuki was relieved that nobody was around to bother him as he stood up from his seat and left the classroom with Yui in tow.
They made their way toward the first floor where the school shop and all the vending machines were located. This part of the school could get very crowded depending on the time of day, but there were few people around now since the pair had shown up at a more or less unusual time.
As they waited in line for the vending machine, Yui suddenly turned to Yuuki and broke the silence. “You’re awfully quiet, Narito. Cat got your tongue or something?”
“This is just how I am.”
“There’s nothing normal about being straight-up silent for five minutes!”
“You aren’t any better yourself,” Yuuki retorted. He wasn’t wrong. After all, they’d both walked down the hallway without so much as a word exchanged between them.
“I was waiting for you to say something, anything! And then we got here before I knew it.”
“I was waiting on you, too.”
“... You for real?”
As usual, Yuuki was honest. He truly thought that Yui would take the initiative to start a conversation just as she’d been doing all morning. Yui, meanwhile, likely suspected that perhaps Yuuki was merely playing some incomprehensible mind games. Yet the truth was that the boy simply couldn’t come up with a topic to save his life.
“Nah, wait, don’t tell me... Were you perhaps nervous?” she asked teasingly, staring adorably up at Yuuki.
“Me? Nervous?”
“You know what? Forget it. I didn’t say anything,” she said with a shake of her head.
Their little back-and-forth was interrupted by what seemed to be a couple flirting a little too intensely in front of them in line.
“Heyyy, Taku-pie, what would you like to drink?”
“I’m not sure, sweet pea~ What would you like to have?”
“I’m really not suuuure... Your sweet pea can’t decide on her own~ Can you choose for me, cutiepie?”
“How about we both press what we usually drink? Just to see what happens!”
“What a sweet idea! I’m sure we’ll end up picking the same thing!”
It was unclear whether the couple were flaunting their relationship or simply unaware that they were holding up the entire line. After taking their sweet time to settle on a drink, they finally walked away, their arms entangled and their eyes firmly locked onto each other.
“Tch,” Yui stared blankly at the couple as they left.
“Did you click your tongue just now?”
“Who me? I would never! What did you make of that lovey-dovey bunch back there, anyways?”
“Nothing much outside of them being incredibly annoying.”
“I see... I think this is the first time we’ve seen eye to eye.”
“So you did click your tongue at them.”
“I just told you I didn’t! Hatred weighs the heart down, you know,” she teasingly tapped her finger against Yuuki’s nose before turning back to the vending machine. “Got any suggestions?”
“Hmmm. How about some Dr. Fepper?”
“Pass. Any other ones?”
Yuuki’s ideas seemingly started and ended with Dr. Fepper, so Yui ended up going with some black tea. Yuuki bought himself a drink too while they were at it, then cracked open the plastic bottle with a satisfying hiss.
“Do you actually like that stuff?” she asked, skepticism engulfing her face.
“Yep. Want a sip?” he answered and offered her the bottle.
“Uhh, well, I mean...” her voice trailed off. Her eyes darted back and forth as she awkwardly pointed at the mouth of the bottle.
“Oh, I get you. I drank from this side, so you can drink from the other if you want.”
“You’re actually okay with us drinking from the same bottle?!”
“Yeah, I don’t particularly mind.”
“Th-That so? I’ll have you know that it’s not a big deal for me either! Not at all!”
“Well, then go right ahead,” he said as he passed her the drink.
Yui drew a complete blank; she could do nothing but stare silently at the bottle in her hand. It took what felt like an eternity for her to snap out of it, and judging by the look on her face, she clearly had some grievances to hurl Yuuki’s way.
“What?” he asked.
“Umm, well, I can’t drink in peace with you ogling me so hard! Turn around, now!” she demanded. She clearly wasn’t taking no for an answer, as she grabbed him and forced him to look away
It’s not like I’m watching you change or something, Yuuki silently protested. He didn’t have much time to stew, though, as before long, she let him know that it was okay to turn around. She handed the bottle right back at him as soon as he did.
“Hm? So you tried it?”
“Sure did.”
“Really? Looks untouched to me.”
“I said I did!” she exclaimed, her face turning red with anger.
I guess she didn’t like how it tasted after all, Yuuki concluded.