Arc 1.5 – Episode 9: Saving Summer Homework for the Last Minute

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[Side: Kyoichi]

Summer break was almost over, just a few days left to savor the freedom.

Rina, my new stepsister, and I had grown pretty close by now. She used to call me “Kyoichi-niisan” and Ichigo “Ichigo-neesan,” all formal and stuff. But after a while, she dropped the formalities and just called us “niisan” and “neesan.” When I started calling her just “Rina” in return, her face turned bright red.

Ichigo told me she was just embarrassed, so I stuck with it. Gotta admit, teasing her a little was fun.

As I sat around, zoning out and thinking about the new term creeping up on me, a notification popped up on Rain.

Suzuki Yuri: Help! I haven't finished my summer homework!

It was from the group chat with Itou and the others.

Itou Keiko: You haven't finished yet? I'm already done.

Kobayashi Kayo: Honestly? Same boat here.

Itou Keiko: Seriously?

Suzuki Yuri: Judging by the read receipts… Kuzuha Kyoichi! I know you're reading this!

Guess I got caught. There were only four of us in the chat anyway.

Kuzuha Kyoichi: Yeah, I'm reading. By the way, I'm done with mine.

Suzuki Yuri: Kuzuha… No, Kuzuha-sama! Keiko-sama! Please, let me copy your homework!

Kobayashi Kayo: Honestly, let me copy too. You can even—well, y'know, do naughty things if you want.

Suzuki Yuri: Don't sell me out! …Actually, if it's Kuzuha, maybe it's fine.

These girls, man.

Kuzuha Kyoichi: Don't sell yourselves like that. You don't need to do anything weird for homework.

I typed that, but then I thought about it for a second.

Kuzuha Kyoichi: I can't let you copy, but I'll help you out.

Suzuki Yuri: You retyped that! You were totally gonna let us copy!

Itou Keiko: Yuri, quit whining. I'll help too. Let's just get it done together.

Kobayashi Kayo: How about meeting up? Karaoke or something?

Itou Keiko: Our usual spot?

Kobayashi Kayo: Works for me.

Kuzuha Kyoichi: I'm good.

Suzuki Yuri: Alright, today it is!

Plans were set. Stamps sent. Done deal.

I hadn't spent much time with them lately, being caught up with Ichigo, Rina, and Aria. This was probably a good chance to catch up before school started.

When I got to our usual karaoke spot, Suzuki had already grabbed a room.

She was belting out some song when I walked in.

“Yay!”

I gave her a chop on the head.

“Ow! Kuzuha, what the hell?”

“We're not here to play.”

“Ugh, you're so uptight.”

Not long after, Itou and Kobayashi showed up, and we got to work.

Suzuki had surprisingly made progress. If she kept at it, she'd probably finish today. The real slacker was Kobayashi. She'd barely started—maybe 10% done tops.

“Kobayashi, if Suzuki hadn't dragged you here, were you even gonna bother?”

“Probably just hit you up on the first day back.”

“Not happening.”

I sighed and pulled out Ichigo's “secret weapon” from my bag: cheat sheets. Model answers, drafts for reports—they were lifesavers.

“Here. Use this.”

“Thanks, Kuzuha! You're a god!”

“Do I owe you anything?”

Kobayashi grabbed at the hem of Suzuki's skirt.

“Stop it! Don't sell out your friends!”

Suzuki, red-faced, swatted her hand away and looked at me nervously.

“Did you… see?”

“Uh… it was white, right?”

“No, it was black lace! AH! I just said that without thinking!”

For the record, they were black lace. I just pretended otherwise. Not like it mattered.

“Where's Keiko?”

“She went to grab some lead for my pencil but hasn't come back.”

“Alright. You two keep working. I'll go find her.”

Suzuki and Kobayashi waved as I left.

I found Itou in the karaoke hallway, cornered by some sleazebag.

“Just one song. Come on, sing with me.”

“My friends are waiting…”

“Bring them too. Or maybe I'll crash your party.”

This guy was trash. I stepped between them.

“Oh, Kuzuha-kun.”

“Back off. She's with me.”

“Tch. Another guy? Whatever. Thought she was just a flirt.”

Itou had dyed green hair, so yeah, people probably judged her. Still, hearing that pissed me off.

“You wanna mess up my face?”

I grabbed his head with one hand and squeezed. Hard.

“Like this?”

He screamed and clawed at my wrist. No dice.

“This face is Ichigo's masterpiece, got it? Ruin it, and you're done.”

He eventually begged for mercy. I let go, and he hit the floor.

“Get lost.”

“Y-yes!”

He scrambled away like a rat.

“Thanks, Kuzuha-kun.”

“Don't mention it. Let's go. The others are waiting.”

She followed quietly, head down.

Back in the room, we wrapped up the homework, snacked, sang a few songs, and called it a day.

***

[Side: Itou Keiko]

We managed to finish Suzuki-san and Kobayashi-san's homework today, thanks to the reference materials Kuzuha-kun brought.

Did he prepare those himself? He's really smart. Not to mention how strong he was during that fight. He's so cool.

Before I realized it, I was caught up in memories of middle school.

“Keiko-chi? What's up?”

I snapped back to reality, startled by Suzuki-san, who was walking home with me.

“Oh, sorry. Just thinking about something.”

“Were you thinking about Kuzuha?”

“N-no, no, no!”

My denial came out way too fast, and Suzuki-san just smirked.

“You're a terrible liar.”

“Yeah, you were totally staring at him the whole time after we got back from the convenience store.”

Suzuki-san and Kobayashi-san exchanged knowing looks. For the record, Kuzuha-kun wasn't even with us—he'd left earlier to swing by the supermarket.

“Ugh…”

I groaned, but that only made them press harder.

“Something definitely happened! Spill it! What happened with Kuzuha?!”

“If you don't talk, we'll have to do something embarrassing to you.”

Faced with their relentless teasing, I ended up blurting out what happened in the karaoke hallway. It wasn't even a big deal, but for some reason, I'd kept it to myself.

“That happened? I'm so jealous!”

“Did you fall for him?”

That question hit me like a truck.

Fall for him? Who? Me? Fall for Kuzuha-kun? What?!

Sure, he's cool, and he's helped me a few times since middle school. Honestly, that's why I followed him to this high school in the first place. But I never thought of it as liking him. I just admired him and thought it might be fun to date him.

There were even rumors he was a playboy, so I figured I might have a chance. I dyed my hair green, hoping he'd notice me since he seemed into flashy girls.

But when we got closer, he turned out to be surprisingly serious. He never even tried to make a move. That kinda threw me off. We just stayed friends.

When he started hanging out with Kakyoin-san, I thought they made a cute couple and watched them like it was some school drama.

And now, out of nowhere, I'm falling for him?

Seriously?

I've been thinking about him all day. It's not like this is the first time he's helped me, and he made it pretty clear we're just friends. So why now?

Ugh, I'm so easy. Maybe this is just a passing thing that'll be gone after a good night's sleep.

But the truth is… I don't want it to go away.

How am I even supposed to face Kuzuha-kun when the new term starts? I've completely forgotten how to act normal around him.

Lost in thought, I'd completely tuned out Suzuki-san and Kobayashi-san. They were just standing there, grinning like idiots while I stood frozen, my face burning.