Yukinoshita's Correction Method Chapter 23

"If your goal is to improve your grades, then reading really can feel dull and painful." Dong Yunshan chose his words carefully, trying his best not to sound like the kind of adult he had hated most as a child. "How about trying a different approach?"

Yui Yuigahama, who had already stopped moving, looked over in confusion. "A different approach means...?"

"Try looking for the fun in studying." Dong Yunshan made a bench-pressing motion. "Like when you're working out, feeling tired and in pain is unavoidable. When you want to give up, you can imagine there's a little kitty lying on your chest. If you can't push it up, the kitty will get crushed. Once you push it up, the kitty will meow and rub against you all spoiled—something like that."

"A little kitty lying on your chest..." Yui Yuigahama subconsciously looked at Yukino Yukinoshita. "And meowing..."

Yukino Yukinoshita's gaze turned icy. "Why are you looking at me?"

"Um... it's because Dong Yun made it too hard to understand!" Yui Yuigahama hurriedly found an excuse. "Yukinon, do you look for fun like that when you study too?"

Yukino Yukinoshita said, "Studying itself is fun."

Yui Yuigahama's big eyes blinked and blinked. "...R-Right."

"However, there is something worthwhile in what he said." Yukino Yukinoshita would point out Dong Yunshan's mistakes, but she would not deny him when he was right. "You don't need to use my interests as a reference. You can think about what you personally like."

"I like... going out with friends!" Yui Yuigahama's eyes lit up. "Can that kind of interest be used for studying?"

Yukino Yukinoshita: "..."

"Congratulations." Dong Yunshan chuckled. "You've successfully touched upon little Yukinoshita's blind spot in knowledge."

Yukino Yukinoshita gave Dong Yunshan a calm, casual glance. "...I won't deny that."

"At least deny it a little!" Yui Yuigahama hugged Yukino Yukinoshita sympathetically, as if trying to get close to her pain. "I'm starting to feel sad for you."

Yukino Yukinoshita was clearly unused to this overly intimate contact. "...Now I'm starting to feel sad."

Completely ignoring Yukino Yukinoshita's feeble struggles, Yui Yuigahama hugged her and gently stroked her head, her gaze gradually growing firm. "I've decided. Starting this week, let's hold study sessions!"

Yukino Yukinoshita raised her head. "...What?"

Yui Yuigahama had inadvertently touched upon one of Yukino Yukinoshita's rare blind spots in knowledge again.

"Club activities stop one week before exams anyway, so aren't our afternoons pretty free?" Yui Yuigahama quickly came up with an idea. "How about Saizeriya at PIENA?"

PLENA was a shopping center, while Saizeriya was an Italian-style family restaurant chain.

"Good idea." Dong Yunshan voted in favor. "This way, both of your interests have been successfully combined."

Yukino Yukinoshita's delicate brows furrowed slightly, and almost instantly, she thought of something Dong Yunshan had said before.

["When I had just started my second year of middle school in Nagoya, a boy with a really bad personality transferred into our class. I hung out with him for a few days. We played games together, played soccer, had meals together, and he quickly got familiar with the classmates."]

Could this be Dong Yunshan's plan?

"Yukinon~" Yui Yuigahama shook Yukino Yukinoshita's hand. "I want to study properly, but if I'm by myself..."

Yukino Yukinoshita said, "...Fine."

"Yay! This is my first time going out with Yukinon too~" Yui Yuigahama hopped happily. "I'll definitely study hard. Nothing can shake my determination to study seriously!"

Knock knock knock.

There was a knock on the door.

Dong Yunshan answered, "Come in."

"Yahallo~" Komachi Hikigaya greeted them cheerfully. "The Film Research Club's short film is finished. Let's go watch it together."

Yui Yuigahama looked pitifully toward Yukino Yukinoshita.

Expressionless, Yukino Yukinoshita repeated, "Nothing can shake my determination to study seriously."

"It hasn't been shaken..." Yui Yuigahama awkwardly avoided her gaze. "It's just... delayed a little—Yukinon~"

Yukino Yukinoshita sighed. "If you want to go, then go."

P.S. Thank you to [Shuke 2876507] for the tip!

Volume Three: Final Exams and Spring Break: The Future Looks Bright

"What I meant by 'if you want to go, then go' was..." Yukino Yukinoshita's face was stiff, and she radiated an aura of resistance. "If you don't want to go, you don't have to."

"The film couldn't have been completed smoothly without your help." Komachi Hikigaya pressed her hands together. "Just think of it as giving us a chance to thank you."

Yukino Yukinoshita avoided Komachi Hikigaya's eager gaze. "I didn't establish the Service Club for the sake of receiving thanks..."

"So there's no need to avoid being thanked either." Yui Yuigahama linked arms with Yukino Yukinoshita. "Come with us, Yukinon~ I'll be scared if I go alone."

Yukino Yukinoshita's whole body seemed to stiffen, and her voice was icy. "If you're scared, then don't go."

"It's because I'm scared that I have to go." Yui Yuigahama pointed it out as if it were only natural. "Who would go watch a horror movie that isn't scary?"

Yukino Yukinoshita: "..."

"I wanted to ask last time." Dong Yunshan stared into Yukino Yukinoshita's eyes, refusing to miss even the tiniest detail. "You're not afraid of ghosts, are you?"

"There's no need to fear things that don't exist." Yukino Yukinoshita glared at Dong Yunshan. "I'm just no good with things outside common sense."

"Ah! Sorry, sorry. I didn't observe as carefully as Dong Yun did, so I didn't expect you to be this scared." Komachi Hikigaya apologized sincerely. "Then let's wait until next time, when we film a different type of story."

Yukino Yukinoshita said, "I already said..."

"Mm-hmm." Yui Yuigahama also considerately let go of her arm. "Everyone has things they're afraid of. It's nothing."

"Exactly, exactly." Komachi Hikigaya nodded repeatedly. "After I watched Hanako, I was too scared to go to the bathroom for ages too..."

Dong Yunshan helplessly pressed a hand to his forehead. If Yui Yuigahama and Komachi Hikigaya had phrased it differently, Yukino Yukinoshita probably really would not have gone.

But if they put it that way...

Yukino Yukinoshita's fine brows furrowed slightly. "We'll go after buying drinks."

Of course it would turn out like this.

Drinks in hand, they arrived at the multimedia classroom where the movie was being screened, and the sheer number of people there genuinely surprised them.

Komachi Hikigaya found a classmate from the Film Research Club at the scene and asked around, only to learn that many people had heard the earlier rumors about the Film Research Club being haunted and had come specifically to take a look.

Of course, with exams approaching, there were also people who had gotten sick of studying and had chosen to come relax for a bit.

Because the number of attendees had exceeded expectations, the chairs in the classroom had been arranged more tightly together to fit more people.

Komachi Hikigaya led them to a row of connected seats. Yui Yuigahama sat on the innermost side, then Yukino Yukinoshita, with Komachi Hikigaya beside Yukino Yukinoshita.

Considering his height, Dong Yunshan sat on the outermost seat near the aisle so he would not block the view of the students behind him.

Once the blackout curtains were drawn and the indoor lights were turned off, the place immediately gained a bit of a movie-theater atmosphere.

The film opened with the school at dusk, quiet and peaceful.

Then four students, three boys and one girl, entered the frame and began discussing the ghost stories circulating around the school.

The four of them talked about the ghost stories they had each heard, and the camera shifted between the various places involved in those stories.

Along with their narration, the school on screen grew darker and darker, and the discussion gradually focused on a wandering blue monster.

Some believed it, some did not, some were afraid, and some were excited.

In the end, they decided to go take a look at the old school building at night.

It was a fairly steady opening, and the atmosphere was built up quite well too.

At this point, Dong Yunshan felt Komachi Hikigaya beside him lightly poke him twice.

"Someone's asking me for help," Komachi Hikigaya whispered. "I'm heading out for a bit."

Dong Yunshan got up to let her pass, and Komachi Hikigaya tiptoed out.

Only after the four people in the movie met up and had wandered around the old school building several times did Komachi Hikigaya return.

Dong Yunshan was just about to stand up when he saw Komachi Hikigaya wave a hand.

"I might have to go out again later," Komachi Hikigaya said, gently pushing him. "You sit inside. I'll sit outside."

So Dong Yunshan sat down beside Yukino Yukinoshita.

"Whoa." Sensing movement beside her, Yukino Yukinoshita let out a short, low sound and snapped her head around to look.

Only after she discovered it was Dong Yunshan did her tense body relax slightly.

When she tilted her head a little and saw that Komachi Hikigaya had sat on the outside, she also understood what was going on.

"It's the principal." Yukino Yukinoshita did not want to disturb the others watching the movie, so she leaned close to Dong Yunshan's ear and whispered, "A lot of the clues point to the old principal."

"The hidden passage is behind the bookshelf." Dong Yunshan nodded. The thread of the story was still quite clear. After wandering around several times, the four students had gathered quite a bit of fragmentary information, then put it together and sorted it out.

Based on the information they already had, the four determined that there was a hidden passage here, and that there were also many unusual traces, as if left behind by some kind of monster.

The instant they reached that conclusion, the terrifying Blue Demon sprang out of the darkness, frightening the four of them into scattering and fleeing in all directions.

Bursts of startled cries also rang out in the classroom, even sharp shrieks.

That was right. It was Yui Yuigahama.

When the Blue Demon appeared, Yukino Yukinoshita's entire body froze, and she barely managed to maintain her composure.

With a sudden scream from beside her, Yukino Yukinoshita's arm trembled, and her fingers hooked onto the corner of Dong Yunshan's clothes.

The movie entered a tense and thrilling chase. Door scares, love at first turn around the corner, hiding in a cabinet and just breathing a sigh of relief after seeing the ghost leave, only for the cabinet to be yanked open... one classic scene after another played out, and screams rose and fell throughout the classroom.

A few of them were clearly half a beat slow. Just from the sound, it was obvious they were faked.

Dong Yunshan seemed to understand why so many people had come.

Three students were killed one after another, leaving only the final student. In the process of running away, while avoiding the Blue Demon's pursuit, he unraveled the secret of the old school building and discovered the hidden passage.

But the hidden passage did not lead outside. It led farther in.

At the end of the hidden passage, surrounded by iron railings, blue twisted creatures of all different shapes were writhing eerily.

The protagonist's mind was on the verge of collapse, and the corner of Dong Yunshan's clothes had also been mauled beyond recognition by Yukino Yukinoshita.

But it was only the corner of his clothes.

As long as she touched Dong Yunshan's body, Yukino Yukinoshita would pull her hand back.

But her fair, delicate fingers remained hooked around the corner of Dong Yunshan's clothes.

Dong Yunshan wanted to pat her hand and tell her not to be so nervous.

At least switch to another corner.

Dong Yunshan had just raised his hand when he saw Yukino Yukinoshita's serious profile and suspected that if he patted her now, she would probably get even more nervous.

So he put his hand back down.

Pretending not to notice the sorry state of his hem, he turned his head and focused on the movie.

In the dim classroom, Komachi Hikigaya's big eyes sparkled.

When Dong Yunshan lowered his hand, a hint of disappointment appeared on her face.

She blinked, looking at the two of them connected by that tiny corner of fabric, her eyes curving into crescents, her smile full of anticipation.

The protagonist in the film fled in terror, only to miss his footing, pitch forward, and slam into the wall, losing consciousness.

When he woke again, he was already in the hospital.

The moment the protagonist turned his head after waking, he saw the three classmates who had gone exploring with him.

The classmates in the hospital beds all talked over one another, explaining that the four of them had been found unconscious in the old school building, and that everything the protagonist had seen before had been a hallucination.

Seeing that the protagonist was still badly shaken, the classmates stopped making noise and even thoughtfully drew the curtain, letting him rest properly.

Dong Yunshan felt the hem of his clothes, which had been pulled taut, slowly loosen.

It seemed Yukino Yukinoshita had calmed down.

Dong Yunshan kept his eyes fixed straight ahead on the movie, pretending he had noticed nothing.

It was finally over...

Dong Yunshan felt a sense of release.

It wasn't that he disliked the movie. The Film Research Club had done a pretty good job.

A lot of classic horror-movie elements had been used quite well, and the slightly rough green-screen effects had a charm of their own.

Nor was it that he disliked horror movies. Back in university, Dong Yunshan had spent every Saturday having horror-movie nights with his close friends, buying a huge pile of snacks and watching ghost films.

Anyone who had watched horror movies with friends knew that compared with the scary images in the movie, the jumpy friends beside you were even scarier.

Someone like Yui Yuigahama.