17

First Semester: Chapter 17 — The Library Encounter! Did Ichinose Think of Something Strange? After returning to the dorm, Yuan Yuyuan couldn't figure it out. He hadn't missed Ichinose's slip of the tongue, but somehow, the strange wording made him feel the two of them would be embarrassed. How had they ended up talking about marriage? He'd been trying not to get carried away for a long time now—two days—but Ichinose... She really did have feelings for him, didn't she? Satisfied that he'd worked it out, Yuan Yuyuan left and took out a novel, reading it absentmindedly. Was this the legendary case of two people falling for each other at the same time? Honami really was shy. As a man, he ought to take the initiative, but something about it still didn't feel right. Just then, a famous quote came to mind: "Hard work doesn't always bring success, but giving up is easy." His last bout of overconfidence had only happened the day before yesterday, so maybe he should leave it alone. It was fine to say things like that in his head, but if he actually did something and Ichinose didn't feel that way... Just imagining it was enough to make Yuan Yuyuan lose the will to live. Before he knew it, more than half a month had passed. Yuan Yuyuan was growing tired of his routine of going between the dorm, classroom, and Student Council. For Class B, the test that had begun the moment they enrolled had become an open-book exam. The remaining ten days were just dead time. During this period, Yuan Yuyuan had also looked into people from the other classes he ought to keep an eye on. First was Katsuragi, the bald student who shared control of Class A with Sakayanagi Arisu. He was an ordinary top student, concerned only with holding on to Class A's position and making it through high school. He had practically no desire to attack, and looked like someone who wouldn't stand a chance against that female demon. Then there was Ryuen Kakeru, the red-haired delinquent who had used violence to make Class C his personal fiefdom. He was Katsuragi's polar opposite and often sent his underlings to harass Classes A and B. Finally, there were Yosuke Hirata and Kushida Kikyo, who held great sway among the students of the opposite sex in Class D thanks to their good looks and easygoing personalities. Still, Yuan Yuyuan had his doubts about them. Even if the two were merely inferior substitutes for Ichinose, that alone shouldn't have landed them in Class D—especially since each of them had strengths Ichinose lacked. There was probably more to the story. "I'm so bored. How can this school have no bullying cases or anything to deal with? I have to live like this for another ten days." Sitting at his desk, Yuan Yuyuan complained to Ichinose, who had practically become his secretary. "You can't say things like that. If someone hears you, it'll reflect badly on us." After spending so many days together, Ichinose seemed to have forgotten what had happened before. But while they were working, she kept getting distracted and looking at Yuan Yuyuan as he bent over his paperwork. With Ichinose's tacit approval, Class B had fallen into a pattern of Yuan Yuyuan handling external affairs while Ichinose managed things at home. Though since school had started, the only time he'd dealt with the outside world had been when he sold information to Class D. "It's just us here. Besides, these documents are completely pointless. I don't want to end up a dead-eyed siscon." "Mm, just bear with it, Yuyuan. Things will get busy once this month is over. Probably?" Between Yuan Yuyuan's complaints and Ichinose's reassurances, they finished the Student Council's work and headed to the cafeteria together, as usual. The other students had long since gotten used to seeing the handsome pair together all the time. Later, as Yuan Yuyuan lay in bed, he suddenly noticed the book he'd borrowed from the library a while ago still sitting by his bedside. It must have been overdue for ages. But Student Council work had kept him so busy that whenever he had free time, all he wanted to do was lie down in his dorm. Going to the library felt like too much effort. Still, Yuan Yuyuan decided to change. After more than two weeks, he went back to the library. Determined not to return another book late, he decided not to borrow anything this time. Instead, he picked up a book and found a random seat to kill some time. "Hello. May I sit here?" The girl who approached had silver hair, violet eyes, and an elegant air about her. Yuan Yuyuan narrowed his eyes and glanced around. There weren't many people nearby, so she didn't have to sit here, but he smiled and nodded. "Go ahead." "Thank you. I'm Shiina Hiyori from Class 1-C. It's nice to meet you." "Yuan Yuyuan from Class 1-B. Nice to meet you." Shiina Hiyori blinked, seeming unsure how to handle the situation, but she still gathered her courage and spoke. "Does Yuan-kun like reading mystery novels?" "They're all right. I'm interested in them, but I might've just picked up a book at random to kill time." "No, I say that because I saw you borrow a mystery novel before, and now you're reading The Maltese Falcon." She was pretty meticulous. So, had she simply found a kindred spirit? Yuan Yuyuan decided to take the initiative and start a conversation. "Last time? Does that mean you come to the library every day to read, Shiina?" "Yes. I've loved mystery novels since I was little, so I noticed when you came here." There wasn't a single flaw in her explanation. If she'd made it up, sending such a clever girl to gather information would be overkill. Yuan Yuyuan felt increasingly unsure. Could it really be a coincidence? "I'd hoped to talk with you, but because of... some personal reasons, I never got around to it. You hadn't come to the library for so long, so I wondered if something had happened... Sorry, that was far too forward of me." Shiina Hiyori had stopped halfway, realizing the question might sound like she was prying into his private life. But since she barely had any friends, she found it hard to judge the right distance between people. "Don't worry about it. There's just been too much Student Council work, so I haven't had much time lately." "You joined the Student Council, Yuan-kun? That's a shame. I'd hoped we could talk about books more often when you had time." "It's fine. The president keeps dumping work on me, so I can just tell him. That way, he could claim he had to deal with a spy from another class and dump all his work on that tsundere siscon. Then he could tell Shiina he'd tried his best, but couldn't escape the president's relentless exploitation." That way, he could get a good stretch of rest in the dorm. Miss Shiina had been a huge help! "Really? That's wonderful! I've always wanted a friend to talk about books with." "I'm honored. But I'm sorry—I came to the library to kill time while waiting for someone, and now I have to go. Let's talk another time." Yuan Yuyuan still felt that being approached in a library was too much like the start of a scene in a novel. He decided to leave Shiina alone for now. If he'd judged her wrong, he'd just have to apologize to her... in his head, of course. "I see. That can't be helped." "Let's exchange contact information. If you have time, you can let me know in advance, okay?" Yuan Yuyuan couldn't resist Shiina's big, watery eyes. In the end, he gave up resisting and exchanged contact information with her.

First Semester: Chapter 18 — A Test for Reference Only Before he knew it, only two days remained in the first month. Yuan Yuyuan was still leading the same dull life. The only change was that Miss Shiina occasionally invited him to read together. He'd said "next time" as a polite excuse, but it seemed Shiina really was socially awkward. During the last class of the morning that day, Hoshinomiya, as usual, acted as though she'd picked something up off the street...