Don't Make Me Go Through That Again!

The next morning, Yuki Himeno trudged toward the classroom, her legs dragging as if they were made of lead and her soul had been sucked right out of her.

Her usually languid face was now filled with despair, like a doll that had just been drained of every last bit of energy.

She looked just like an overworked employee coming home after a 996 work schedule, only to get an earful from her family.

"Yuki, are you okay? This is bad—Yuki's eyes are dead!"

Amikura Asako hurried over to check on her, but one look at Yuki's eyes left her stunned.

Yuki's usual dead-fish eyes had still held a little spark of life. Now, they looked more like a salted fish at the market, lying there unable to flip over.

"What happened to you? Did you stay up all night?"

Makoto Nishikado was puzzled, too.

Normally, ever since Yuki had escaped the hell of endless gatherings, she'd been pretty lively.

She wasn't exactly bursting with energy, but at least her dead-fish eyes had looked somewhat healthy. What was going on today?

"Wasn't it you who asked me to organize the materials?"

Yuki looked at Makoto in disbelief.

Her voice was heavy with exhaustion, and there was a faint hint of grievance in it.

She'd stayed up until three in the morning, and now she could barely keep her eyes open. Wasn't that all because of the task someone had given her?

"You stayed up all night? I never said you had to finish it today."

Makoto spread his hands, his face full of innocence.

He wasn't taking the blame for this.

"Huh?"

Yuki was instantly dumbfounded. She stood frozen in place, her mind racing as she carefully recalled their conversation the night before.

After a long while, she finally realized, dejectedly, that Makoto had indeed only asked her to organize the materials. He hadn't set a deadline.

"Are you an idiot? The school won't do anything new before the first month is over."

"You could've taken a whole week to finish it. Why work yourself so hard?"

Makoto looked Yuki up and down, as if he were seeing her in a new light.

With those dead-fish eyes that seemed to accuse society of everything, she still worked overtime of her own accord.

"Himeno, you might've been born to be an overworked employee."

[Emotion triggered from Yuki Himeno. Gained 3,138 emotion points.]

"Why would you say something so mean?"

Yuki puffed out her cheeks and weakly swung a fist at Makoto.

Even if she jumped off the school building, she'd never become an overworked employee!

"Makoto, Yuki doesn't look well. She might break the rules today."

Amikura was very worried. She turned to Makoto for help.

She knew that although Yuki seemed unmotivated and didn't want to get too close to everyone, she still considered herself a member of Class B.

Yuki was willing to work hard so they could all move up to Class A together.

If her own actions held back the whole class, Yuki would feel terrible.

"It's fine. I'll pay the points to get her out of the punishment."

Makoto took out his Personal Terminal.

In this world, money could solve nine out of ten problems.

And at this school, personal points could solve ninety-nine out of a hundred.

"Then I'm going to sleep."

Yuki looked as if a great weight had been lifted from her shoulders. She immediately closed her eyes and laid her head on the desk, falling asleep almost as soon as she did.

She slept quite soundly, at least without snoring. Her long eyelashes fluttered faintly with each breath.

"Amikura, could we switch seats?"

After watching for two minutes and confirming Yuki was fast asleep, Makoto suddenly made the request.

"Huh? Sure, but what are you going to do?"

Makoto quickly took the seat Amikura gave up.

Right in front of Amikura, he took out his Personal Terminal and snapped a picture of Yuki sleeping.

[Emotion triggered from Amikura Asako. Gained 4,356 emotion points.]

"Makoto, what are you doing?"

Once Amikura realized what was going on, she was completely stunned.

If she'd known Makoto wanted to switch seats for this, she never would've agreed.

"In everyday life, you need an eye for beauty. That's what gives life its color."

"I'm just capturing the beautiful sight right in front of me."

Makoto spoke with a perfectly straight face, then put away his Personal Terminal.

"I'm telling Yuki about this," Amikura said indignantly. Then she cautiously edged closer to Makoto and lowered her voice. "Makoto, do you like Yuki?"

As she asked, she paid close attention to Yuki, too.

Perhaps she was trying not to wake her, or perhaps she felt like she was doing something sneaky.

Maybe girls were just naturally interested in gossip.

"Are you trying to pursue Yuki with these weird tactics?"

Before Makoto could answer, Amikura pressed on.

At first, she hadn't thought much of Yuki becoming Makoto's follower and helping him with things.

After all, they sat next to each other and talked quite often. It wasn't that strange.

But now that she thought about it, a boy asking a girl to be his follower seemed like a pretty novel way to pursue her.

"You only just figured that out?"

Makoto was astonished.

Yuki herself had realized that was a possibility on the very day Makoto invited her.

And yet Amikura had spent all this time without ever considering it?

The real reason was that Yuki was pretty, and Makoto liked having her around because she was nice to look at.

"So you really did have that in mind?"

Amikura's eyes lit up.

She'd decided that once Yuki woke up, she would ask how Yuki felt about Makoto.

If they liked each other, she wouldn't mind helping them get together.

"I asked her to help me with something important. You're the one we need to talk about right now."

"Amikura, you're so slow when it comes to romance. Don't tell me you've ever realized you liked someone, only to find out he already had a girlfriend?"

[Emotion triggered from Amikura Asako. Gained 101,060 emotion points.]

"..."

Amikura's heart was deeply wounded.

She'd been happily enjoying her school life, only to be stabbed out of nowhere.

Makoto couldn't have been more right.

In fact, what had happened to her was even more melodramatic than his guess.

The last time her heart had hurt this much was when she realized she'd fallen for a friend's boyfriend.

Since she couldn't do anything and didn't dare to do anything, all she could do was let her love remain unrequited.

"Looks like I hit the mark. Amikura, I suggest reading more romance novels. At this rate, you're going to repeat history."

Makoto offered his advice with a solemn air.

[Emotion triggered from Amikura Asako. Gained 114,510 emotion points.]

"M-Makoto, do romance novels really help?"

Amikura's delicate frame trembled. She was genuinely scared.

She'd witnessed Makoto's abilities over the past few days, and they were far beyond anything she could hope to match.

If Makoto said she would repeat history, she really didn't dare to doubt him.

Did that mean she would once again fall for a friend's boyfriend because she was too slow to realize her feelings?

Don't make me go through that again!

She didn't want to experience it a second time!

"They might not help, but it's better than doing nothing."

Makoto gave Amikura a thumbs-up to cheer her on.

Amikura took the advice to heart and decided to check out the library sometime.

After two classes, Yuki finally woke up, and Makoto immediately called her over.

"Come on. We're going to Class D."

When they reached the entrance to the Class D classroom, Makoto saw Airi Sakura hesitating outside, too afraid to go in.

Several boys inside were having a loud discussion.