Episode 1 - A Beautiful Girl Who Gave Me Lunch Wrote Something On My Back

“Hey Yuzu, where are you going?"

“Lunch, on my way to the cafeteria”

"My mom forgot to bring her lunch box, so now I have two. Please eat this"

    Like this, the beautiful girl behind me grabbed me and wouldn't let go.

*

    The first year of high school. The day after the entrance ceremony, during self-introduction I was so nervous that I failed to make friends.

    Likewise, Ayaka-san who was lying face down in her seat had also failed to make friends. No, she probably doesn't care about that. She was just sleeping all the time.

    The two of us who had no friends happened to sit front and back of each other. We became acquaintances through sheer luck and we have been friends ever since.

    It was in the middle of April, she gave me a lunch box.

"Etto, itadakimasu”

“Itadakimasu"

    I sat across the desk from Ayaka-san, spread out the lunch box I'd been given, and held both of my hands together.

    I couldn't read her thoughts from the unchanging expression that sometimes comes across her face.

    The fact that she gave me a lunch box, could it be that she likes me?

“It’s not like that. Also, if I was a tsundere, then ‘I made two by mistake’ is what would I’ve said“

“Sorry…”

    I was so surprised that she read my thoughts and even made a comment that left my mouth open. 

    Silence is formed, and I start to eat my lunch.

    Even without the fact that it was made by this beautiful girl, the lunch was delicious.

“I don't mind”

“Eh? what for?”

“For you apologizing. The way I said it sounded like I was blaming you, so…”

    …I'm at fault. I knew the words that followed without even hearing them.

    It would be troublesome to deny it and say, "Ayaka-san’s not at fault" so I just nodded.

    Ayaka-san laughed softly, perhaps hearing my dull reason.

“I like Yuzu because you’re like that."

    When you say that with crescent moon-shaped eyes, my heart leaps for no reason. As I thought, the beautiful girl behind my seat, grabbed my heart and wouldn't let go.

    I shoved a mouth full of rice in order to hide my heart, which was throbbing, even if I had to force myself to hide it.

“Is it tasty?"

"You would’ve known even without asking"

    Of course, it's delicious.

    I say that inwardly because the fact is that Ayaka-san can read my mind.

　But she’s not like the protagonist of a novel about a child who was created at a research institute, or whose legacy has been passed down from generation to generation,

    She says that her condition can be explained by the fact that she has a strong psychic sense.

　Either way, it doesn't change the fact that she can read my mind, and that my thoughts are exposed to her.

    This is so absurd. Not that I think about naughty stuff in class.

“But I want to listen to it directly. It makes me happy to hear it.”

"......it’s delicious. Really delicious. You know this is not lip service, okay? Is this enough?"

“Thanks"

    Even if I hid my embarrassment, it's obvious what I'm thinking, so I get even more embarrassed.

    As she replied in such a cheerful manner, it made me feel bashful. Troubled, I felt I had lost my place of standing.

“Don’t worry, Yuzu has a place to sit in front of me”

“No, that's just a figure of speech…”

    That said, I can't help but think that Ayaka-san surely likes me when she says things like this.

    When I gave her such a look, she shrugged saying ‘maybe?’ and took a side dish into her mouth a little forcefully.

*

“The value of this angle here is--"

    Fifth period, math. Being tapped on the shoulder, I turned around seeing Ayaka-san laughed.

    That innocent smile made my heart flutter.

“Yuzu, do you understand what’s on the board?”

    I turned my attention back to the blackboard.

    The teacher was explaining a lesson I have already studied before, so I don't need to listen to it. Rather, I was bored because I had nothing to learn. 

    I am sure that Ayaka-san poked me on the shoulder because she knew that. As Ayaka-san doesn't like to disturb other people.

“I do understand it”

“Then please teach me this part.”

“Okay”

    I lowered my voice to answer Ayaka-san's question. I also tried to clear my mind, because the simpler the thought is, the easier it is to convey the concept.

    Perhaps it was because of this, or perhaps Ayaka-san's good intuition in the subject matter, that she immediately understood when I taught her the example problems and their explanations.

“Thank you"

"No, I almost didn’t do anything, you should thank the one who made the examples”

“No, you helped me a lot. So I should thank the person who explained it to me”

    I was about to reply "Don't do that, I would get embarrassed every time you say it" but I swallowed it down because it was embarrassing to even say that, so I became flustered to think that she can read this too after all.

    As I was moving my body back and forth to run away, I heard a soft, fluffy, short laugh.

"Wha- what's wrong?"

    When I asked her about it, I felt a sudden poke on my back. Still surprised, her finger began to move slowly.

(... no... thing…)

    Did you write – it’s nothing 

    I asked in my mind, and a circle was written on my back. Then her finger started moving again.

(…Yuzu ... you ... like this…)

– Yuzu, don't you like this kind of thing?

    It took me a few seconds to realize that ‘this kind of thing’ meant writing on my back, I immediately shook my head.

    I don't dislike it, though. In fact, I quite like it because it feels like we’re doing something secretive.

    I answered that in my mind, then realized, so I felt a little embarrassed.

(glad … I like …)

– I'm glad. I like it.

(... Yu…)

    Wait, what did you write?

    I couldn't grasp it, but I felt it was written “(I meant) Yuzu” in hiragana. So I turned to check Ayaka-san.

    Ayaka-san opened her mouth with a blank expression on her face.

"Please look ahead, I don't want you to misunderstand me. What I meant was ‘I like doing this too’ instead of stating ‘I like Yuzu’, okay?“

    I turn my face back to the front. I looked down at my textbook in disappointment, wondering if I had been completely mistaken, although it seemed a little possible.

    Ayaka-san is quite cute and mischievous… I thought so and started writing, forgetting that Ayaka-san could read my mind.