The Fourth Class Is Modern Chinese (Continued)

But Yukino, seated beside me, had been gripping the safety bar with both hands from the very beginning, braced for impact at any moment.

As we climbed, she said things like, "I'm fine," "I'm used to this," and "This is a retry," her long hair fluttering behind her. It showed how composed she was, but from the moment she got into the ride, she had gone completely stiff, like a cat in an unfamiliar place.

It would have been nice if I had brought Churu, but unfortunately, I did not have anything like that on me. Even if I wanted to go get some, I could not get off midway through the ride. At the very least, I wanted to distract her, so I lowered my voice and spoke to her.

"Still can't handle it?"

"No. I'm fine."

After saying that stubbornly, Yukino gave a faint smile and nodded dramatically. But her wandering eyes, strange halting speech, and twitching cheeks made it utterly unconvincing.

Still, the fact that she could force a smile at all meant she was more composed than she had been at Christmas. If she could relax just a little more, she would probably be able to enjoy the ride normally. Thinking that, I said casually,

"You already rode the monorail, so this should be fine, right? You could say this ride is safer."

"Hearing you say that just makes the monorail sound terrifying..."

"Relax. The Chiba Urban Monorail operates only after its safety has been thoroughly proven. It's the world's number one monorail."

"Your tone is full of concern too..."

Yukino smiled helplessly and let her shoulders droop slightly. The tension left her straight-backed posture, and her stiff expression eased a little as well.

The ride had already passed the halfway point. Frogs sang while splashing