Yukino Yukinoshita Is Definitely Crushing on Me

Yui Yuigahama had always thought, how nice.

She hadn't expected the strong and haughty Yumiko to notice the unnatural behavior she was exhibiting, especially when she had felt she was hiding it so well.

Yui Yuigahama: [You're overthinking it, Yumiko. I'm just not very good at getting along with Yukino Yukinoshita.]

Messages from Miura came through in a rapid-fire flurry.

[For real? But I always get this weird feeling whenever you mention Yukino Yukinoshita.]

Yui Yuigahama: [It's true! I've explained it to you, Yumiko, and everyone else so many times already. The rumors about me, Yukino Yukinoshita, and Hikigaya are all false. I don't hate her at all (.?ω?.)]

[I see... In that case, if you don't really hate Yukino Yukinoshita, I actually think you two might be able to try and get along.]

[Of course, that's just my personal opinion.]

Yui Yuigahama let out a long sigh. Her body, which had been leaning against the side of the bathtub, slowly slid down into the water. She opened her eyes beneath the surface, gazing into a world made bizarre and surreal by the refraction of the light, the glare stinging her eyes ever so slightly.

Submerged in the water, her peach-colored hair floated in every direction, like a flower in full, decadent bloom.

She blew a bubble.

---It's useless.

No matter how good her relationship with Yukino Yukinoshita becomes, she will eventually be completely abandoned by her.

Because Yukino Yukinoshita only has one true desire; everything else can be considered expendable.

Back then, the blonde girl had turned back, crying, her makeup smudged all over her face, saying things that were incomprehensible yet so heartbreaking.

"Yui Yuigahama, I am so, so sorry."

"But I just want to go home..."

Eriri had been feeling that Kasumigaoka had been acting strange lately.

She had started checking her phone frequently.

Every ten minutes or so, she couldn't help but glance at the screen, and the moment her phone vibrated and lit up, she would snatch it up in a flash.

Most of the time, it was just useless promotional or advertising spam, but there were also times when Kasumigaoka would look at a message and an unconscious smile would tug at the corners of her lips.

It was as if she were waiting for a message from someone.

"Strike a sexier pose, Kasumigaoka! You're super good at that kind of thing, aren't you?"

"You're the one who's super good at it, you perverted manga artist with a head full of smut... Hold on a second, I need to reply to a message."

Her phone vibrated slightly again. After a moment of thought, she took out a blank sheet of paper, sketched something on it, and then took a photo with her phone to send it off.

That day, Yukino Yukinoshita still didn't agree to the free tutoring. Out of guilt, Kasumigaoka offered that even on days other than the weekend, she could come to her at any time to ask about problems she didn't understand.

Yukino Yukinoshita agreed.

It was clear that she really wanted to improve her grades as quickly as possible.

"Teaching your student again?" Eriri mocked Kasumigaoka while quickly sketching a draft. "Even a private tutor wouldn't be as dedicated as you. You don't happen to like her, do you?"

Kasumigaoka rolled her eyes at her. "Nonsense, my student is a girl."

"It's not like I haven't drawn yuri erotic manga before. Besides, I'm half-British, so don't worry, I won't discriminate against you."

"You have the nerve to say that? You're half-British, yet you often fail your English tests..."

This kind of bickering and mutual snarking made Eriri feel, to some extent, like things had returned to how they were in the beginning.

Back then, when she and Kasumigaoka were entangled because of Tomoya, they were often like this, refusing to give an inch in their verbal sparring.

Ever since Tomoya was dumped by that scumbag bitch, he had begun to reject romance, reject being an otaku, and started focusing on conquering his entrance exams. He avoided both Kasumigaoka and Eriri like the plague.

Even though they were all gloomy losers who had failed at love in the past, Kasumigaoka had recently seemed to step out of the shadows and become energetic again. Rumor had it she was even preparing to start a new book.

Eriri, who had lost the mood to draw erotic manga, felt increasingly depressed about this, leaving the fans on Twitter who were waiting for her updates practically dying of anticipation.

Damn it, damn it, damn it!

How did it end up that only she was stuck in place?

Doesn't that just make her look like the biggest loser?

Speaking of yuri, Eriri remembered something else.

"Kasumigaoka, have you heard? That Yukino Yukinoshita actually declared at Sobu High School that she likes girls!"

It had actually reached Eriri's ears already; as expected of Yukino Yukinoshita.

Kasumigaoka sighed inwardly, but with a beaming smile on her face, she said, "Is that so? That really is surprising."

"Right? You find it unbelievable too, don't you? I was practically stunned when I heard it. So, why did that woman try to snatch Tomoya back then anyway?"

The girl with the golden twin-tails joked with a grin, "She wouldn't happen to actually like one of us, would she~?"

Kasumigaoka's heart skipped a beat.

"Yahallo, Yukino Yukinoshita-san~"

That day, during the morning commute, just as Yukino Yukinoshita had sat down, she saw Yui Yuigahama walking in through the classroom door with a light step and a bright smile.

This girl was the super-duper-ultra-cute type in class, and her popularity both in the classroom and throughout the school was quite high.

Because her shoulder-length hair was a lighter shade, it looked more like a pale peach color than brown.

With her hair tied into cute buns on her head with black ribbons, the ends of her hair and the ribbons would sway lightly whenever she moved.

She also left the top two buttons of her blouse undone. While this might make her look like a frivolous girl, she was actually friendly and gentle. She was not only very popular with the boys in class but also navigated the social circles of the girls with ease.

Ah, a normie.

Just as a sense of class hostility began to rise in her heart, Yukino saw this class enemy leaning against her desk. Her massive assets swayed enticingly, and her smile was even more dazzling than her figure.

"Good morning, Yukino-san~"

Yukino: "..."

Yukino wore an expression as if she had seen a ghost.

Wait, it was understandable that Miura's attitude toward her had changed because she had farmed favorability with her, but she and Yui Yuigahama had barely spoken a word to each other, right?

Besides, wasn't there a rumor that the two of them had a grudge over a stolen lover in the past?

What on earth was going on?

"Are you memorizing English vocabulary, Yukino-san?"

Yukino, holding an English dictionary: "..."

Why are you asking when you already know the answer?

"Your hair is so silky, Yukino-san. Is it natural?"

Don't you know whether it's natural or not? It took me two and a half weeks to get it back to black from that messy blonde; of course, it was achieved through expensive maintenance.

In her sixteen years of life, Yukino feared two types of people: first, clever people whose brains were constantly calculating gains and losses, and second, complete idiots.

And right now, she felt like she had met her nemesis.

Finally, Yui leaned in toward Yukino with a beaming smile. Yukino leaned her head back, feeling uncomfortable.

The gentle, sweet fragrance of the incredibly cute girl spread densely around her.

"Can I exchange Line accounts with you, Yukino-san?"

Just as Yukino was about to brainstorm what this person was up to, she heard the unscrupulous System stir again.

[The System has filtered the best option for reversing your negative image: Agree to Yui Yuigahama's request to exchange contact information.]

And so, Yukino, who had just felt her scalp tingling and her whole body awkward, suddenly found that her back didn't ache and her legs didn't hurt anymore. She felt like she could climb eight floors in one breath.

So, it was a popular character who hated her.

She should have said so sooner; dealing with people who hated her was her specialty.

And so, they calmly exchanged contact information.

Miura, who had been watching them the entire time, had initially worn a relieved and peaceful expression. But soon, her face turned green—greener and greener, then a dark, purplish-black.

By the time the two successfully exchanged contact information, she was practically radiating a terrifying, invisible black aura from behind.

Ka Onozawa looked confused. "What's wrong with Yumiko? Didn't she always want Yui and Yukinoshita to be friends again?"

Junko Kamizawa turned a page in her textbook. "You idiot, Ka. Yumiko only wanted Yui and Yukinoshita to be friends again, not for them to become girlfriends..."

Ka Onozawa looked completely bewildered. "Huh?"

Junko Kamizawa sighed. "Yukinoshita hasn't even exchanged contact information with Yumiko yet..."

Miura: ...(ノ?益?)

Shut up, shut up, shut up!

I'm about to cry!

Yukinoshita felt that Miura was acting a bit strange today.

Yumiko Miura, who was usually unyielding, held the nickname of "School Queen." That high-and-mighty, sky-high pride of hers gave her an overwhelming presence and charisma.

But today, Miura looked like a mistreated, timid young bride.

She was slumped listlessly over her desk. Yukinoshita had initially thought she was sick and intended to ask her about it, but the moment their eyes met, Miura huffed and immediately turned her head away.

Yukinoshita: ?

Yukinoshita looked baffled and could only turn her attention back to her textbook.

Blonde Yukinoshita had likely put all her skill points into being charming, so her grades were truly disastrous. She definitely couldn't afford to be this degenerate by the time the next monthly exam rolled around.

Seeing Yukinoshita turn back like that and stop paying attention to her, Miura felt even more distressed, practically puffing her cheeks up like a steamed bun in her anger.

Yukinoshita is an idiot!

Miura lay on her desk, her golden hair seeming to lose its luster.

I'm clearly the one you have a crush on!

Why does everyone else get your contact information before I do!

Of course, this isn't jealousy. It's just—it's just that Yukinoshita is failing as a friend!

Or was it that her personality was truly, genuinely too terrible, too overbearing, to the point that even though Yukino Yukinoshita had a crush on her, she didn't dare get too close?

But, but, other than that brief moment of tenderness in the gaps of time after the volleyball match in gym class that day, Yukino Yukinoshita rarely even spoke to her.

In this situation, she couldn't exactly show a softer side of herself either.

Ugh...

Junko Kamizawa and Ka Onozawa exchanged glances and tagged Miura in their Line group chat, titled [Lovey-Dovey Family].

Ka Onozawa: [If Yumiko really wants Yukino Yukinoshita's contact info, you could just go ask her directly.]

Junko Kamizawa: [If Yumiko had the nerve to go ask, she wouldn't be Yumiko (￢?￢)]

Yumiko Miura: [...It's not like I really want it, okay? But if Yukino Yukinoshita insisted on giving it to me, I suppose I could consider begrudgingly accepting it.]

Ka Onozawa: [...]

Junko Kamizawa: [...]

Unlike Yui Yuigahama, whom they only met in high school, the three of them had been close friends since kindergarten and understood this tsundere freak Miura better than anyone.

Junko Kamizawa sighed. Miura was a reliable friend in every other aspect, even possessing a bit of a meddlesome, mother-hen personality, but when it came to the issue of Yukino Yukinoshita, her inability to be honest with herself was beyond saving.

She sent a private message to Ka Onozawa on Line.

Junko Kamizawa: [If we count on Yumiko to make the first move, she's going to end up suffocating herself to death sooner or later.]

Ka Onozawa: [How about we get Yumiko to add Yukino Yukinoshita through the class Line group?]

Junko Kamizawa: [...Yukino Yukinoshita isn't in the class group.]