My Youth Romantic Comedy Is Wrong, As Expected

So she nodded. "You did well, Miura."

Only then did Miura leisurely return to her seat, leaning back with an air that was modest yet composed, composed yet smug.

She lifted her chin slightly and spoke in the tone of a leader issuing a directive. "Not bad, I suppose. But you, Yukino, still need to work harder."

A girlfriend as wonderful as her had plenty of people eyeing her. If Yukino wasn't careful [the chances were zero], someone else might steal her away.

So, Yukino, you needed to try a little harder to pursue her.

Yukino looked a little confused.

Did she need to learn how to turn people down more tactfully? Was it because she'd been too harsh the last time she rejected someone?

But hardly anyone liked her in the first place. The boy who'd confessed to her last time had to have been blind to fall for her, so she didn't get many chances to turn people down.

She answered with difficulty, "We'll see. I probably won't get many chances..."

Miura froze for a moment.

Only then did she realize that while she herself knew she and Yukino were mutually in love, Yukino had no idea.

Two girls dating might draw criticism even in modern society, but Miura didn't want Yukino to face even the slightest bit of it.

She wanted to sound out her parents' views first. She wanted to soften the attitudes of a few of her friends as much as she could. She wanted to come across as strong and dependable.

Most importantly, call it an overflowing girlish heart or just plain stubbornness, but if the day came when the two of them really started dating...

—She hoped Yukino would be the one to confess to her.

But Yukino didn't know any of this.

Did Yukino still think she should keep that unspoken affection hidden in her heart forever?

Miura gently touched her flushed ears and turned away, too embarrassed to look at Yukino.

"It won't..." The more she spoke, the more embarrassed she became, and her voice grew quieter and quieter.

Because if it was Yukino...

"...Huh????"

The Yukino-brand translation machine had finally and utterly failed.

The second class in the afternoon was music, a class they hadn't had in a while.

As a famous school, Sobu High School was known not only for its high graduation and top-university admission rates, but also for its many extracurricular classes.

Music, Home Economics Class, tea ceremony, illustration, and a wide variety of club activities could all make use of the school's many facilities with little trouble.

Rumor had it the new principal, who had just taken office that very day, had set his sights on the famous Shuchiin, renowned as a school full of talented scholars, as his imaginary rival. He seemed ambitious, though Yukino thought that might be a little difficult.

The spacious music classroom was fully equipped for all kinds of lessons. It had a piano, a cello, a violin, and many other commonly used instruments.

The music teacher was an elegant, middle-aged woman who looked like she had an artistic bone in her body.

This music class wasn't for singing, but for playing instruments.

After asking everyone to sign up for the instruments they were good at, the teacher divided them into groups. Then they would perform together.

The teacher smiled warmly and reassured the class. "Don't worry too much. This isn't one of those nearly professional clubs at school. In this class, you just need to get a feel for how the sounds of different instruments differ."

"Um, teacher, will we lose participation points if we do really badly in this class?"

The teacher: "Hehe."

Hey, teacher, don't just say "hehe"!

You're making us really nervous!

Yukino casually signed up for piano.

Miura, who had been assigned to the violin group after signing up for violin, looked utterly devastated. She turned to Yui. "You're good at piano?"

Yui tried to play cute and bluff her way through. "Nope, hehe~"

The truth was that the piano could be played as a duet, making it easy to coast along.

Yukino's reputation had gradually recovered over the past little while, and several classmates assigned to the piano group wanted to team up with her. But they still weren't as quick as Yui.

Yui immediately went to Yukino's side and poked her arm.

"Little Yuki, you'll look after me later, okay~"

Yukino glanced at her. She waited a few seconds, but no quest appeared, which left her feeling a little disappointed.

She considered it for a second. "How does your piano skill compare to your math skills?"

Yui grimaced and seriously weighed the question in her mind. "Let's put it this way. At least I've studied math before."

Yukino: "...Get lost."

"Wah, help me, Little Yuki..."

Though she was harsh with her words, Yukino still teamed up with Yui when it was time to form groups.

"Don't rush when we play. Just follow my tempo, and I'll cover for you."

Then, many of the students looking around excitedly pulled out their phones and started taking pictures. Some even asked their friends to photograph them during their performances.

Even Hayama took out his phone, opened the camera app, and discreetly snapped a photo of Yukino.

He selected a contact in Line and sent a message.

[Yukino has been doing well lately. Nothing will happen while I'm here, so please don't worry.]

He typed a long message in the text box, then revised it again and again, trimming and rearranging the words. In the end, only a simple greeting remained, without a hint of overstepping.

[Haruno, how have you been lately?]

Hayama thought about it for a long time, then deleted even that utterly ordinary greeting.

After two groups gave performances on recorders that were downright painful to hear, it was Miura and her group's turn. She, Junko Kaho, and the others had all chosen violin.

The three of them had started playing violin back in kindergarten. They'd often performed together at school festivals in elementary school, too, so playing a simple opening together now was as easy as picking grass.

Yui listened with interest. "Little Yuki, what piece is this?"

As she listened, Yukino quietly explained, "It's the Violin Concerto in A Minor, one of the rare surviving gems among Vivaldi's works, with its distinctly Baroque style..."

Yui didn't really understand what Baroque style or Vivaldi's works meant. She just thought Yukino, who knew all this, was incredibly cool.

Miura and the others continued playing together. They'd always been in sync, and it was even easier with a beginner piece like the Violin Concerto in A Minor.

Their overall tempo and handling of every single note were just right. The melody they played was fresh, simple, and pleasant to the ear.

Miura, especially.

Though they'd chosen a piece like the Violin Concerto in A Minor, which wasn't particularly difficult, it was still obvious that she had plenty of talent and a solid foundation.

Was it any wonder so many people at Sobu High School admired and adored their Queen? She really could dabble in all sorts of things and was fairly skilled at quite a few of them.

After they finished performing, Miura walked over to Yukino.

???

Yukino wasn't particularly perceptive in this area, but she wasn't so oblivious that she couldn't pick up on it. At last, she understood what the smug look in the tsundere girl's expression meant.

Yukino nodded gently. "That was an excellent performance."

She wasn't just flattering Miura. Miura really was good at the violin.

Only then did Miura give a soft little hum and return to her seat, the corners of her mouth pressed down as hard as she could, but unable to hide the faint smile.

After several more groups with varying levels of skill had performed, it was finally Yukino and Yui's turn.

Many of their classmates discreetly turned their attention toward the two of them.

After all, they were both famous beauties at school.

Yui quietly hypnotized herself. "I'm not nervous, I'm not nervous, I'm not nervous..."

She hadn't been nervous before, no matter how much she'd messed around. But this time was different: she was performing with Yukino.

Yukino had the clever, talented look of someone who could do anything, but Yui didn't. What if she dragged down Yukino's performance? Wouldn't she be unforgivable?

Yukino looked down at her. "Don't be nervous. I'll play a bit first, then you can play whatever you like."

"Whatever I like?"

"Whatever you like."

Yukino's confidence rubbed off on Yui. When she was with someone who seemed capable of doing anything, she felt as though she could do anything, too.

Yui really did play whatever she liked, but after she randomly played a few notes, she realized that Yukino could always effortlessly come up with a melody to match.

Yui's random noodling paired with Yukino's effortless playing somehow created a strangely harmonious and pleasant sound, despite the seemingly chaotic rhythm.

Yui couldn't help remembering an old episode of Tom and Jerry she'd watched a long time ago, where Tom the cat and Jerry the mouse had played the piano.

Was Yukino the cat or the little mouse?

As she kept playing random notes, Yui couldn't help smiling.

"Miura's group is as excellent as ever. The teacher has praised you many times already. But it's not good to stay in your comfort zone forever. Next time, you could try a more challenging piece. You certainly have the ability."

At the end, the teacher singled out both Miura's group and Yukino and Yui's group for special praise, especially Yukino and Yui.

"Your performance was chaotic and free, but it had a lot of character and was very lively and fun. It left a deep impression on me. The highest score for this class goes to your group and Miura's group."

After using "very" three times in a row, the teacher gave Yukino and Yui's group an excellent evaluation, too.

Yui had kept her lips pressed together throughout the performance. At last, she could smile happily at Yukino.

"Yay!"

Shuchiin.

Maki Shijo gazed out the window and sighed again.

It was currently break time. Nagisa Kashiwagi, her friend, had gone over to the Student Council again because of her romantic troubles.

It wasn't that Maki Shijo wanted to criticize her second-year Senpai. It was just that if she went to ask an unreliable Senpai like Secretary Fujiwara for advice about love...

—She might as well break up right away.

Honestly, they were supposed to be rivals in love, yet Maki still had to worry about their relationship problems.

Maki Shijo, you poor thing.

As she was worrying, her phone vibrated.

She glanced around the classroom. Even during break, her classmates were only talking quietly, so she picked up her phone and checked the message.

It was from Miss Katori.

After latching onto the famous heiress of the Shijo Family, Miss Katori had quickly changed her line of work and received her first assignment from Maki Shijo.

—Investigate Yukino Yukinoshita's current marriage prospects.

There was no denying that Miss Katori had a real talent for this sort of thing. In just two days, she sent Maki a thoroughly detailed report.

Maki read it, frowning as she went.

The Yukinoshita Family was a typical industrial family that had risen during Japan's special period of economic growth in the last century. But after that unusual economic boom ended, the family had also declined for quite some time.

It wasn't until Madam Yukinoshita—then Miss Yukinoshita—took over in a moment of crisis that she quickly stabilized the dangerous situation. After that, she brought Mr. Yukinoshita into the family through marriage, and together they changed the Yukinoshita Family's profit structure, advancing in both politics and business.

Step by step, they had developed the Yukinoshita Family into the most powerful family in the region.

After several years of rapid growth, the Yukinoshita Family had now reached another bottleneck. Everyone in their circles knew the family's capital chain was tight, and the heads of several local banks were probably losing sleep these days.

At a time like this, if the Yukinoshita Family formed a marriage alliance with a family whose business was stable, it would certainly give the banks a lot of confidence.

Maki's fingers tapped lightly on the desk.

Maki had seen plenty of marriage alliances. Even the four great financial conglomerates that ruled Japan's financial world were bound together by marital and blood ties. Marriage was treated like a cheap commodity, priced and sold to the highest bidder.

But Maki didn't want Yukino to suffer that kind of tragic fate.

Of course, it wasn't as if she wanted to help Yukino.