Feeling Thoughtful (Season 1)

Please Understand

Inei wakes up, gets up, goes through his typical morning routines, then heads down the stairs, a primary breakfast plate placed on the table in front of his seat. He sits, eats, and leaves for school. When he arrives, no one approaches him as he walks alone to class.
Nome of the girls has approached me yet; this is strange.
Inei sits down in class, opens his textbook, then waits for class to start. As he reads, no one disturbs him, the bell ringing. When it rings, he closes the book and looks up—no one in the classroom but him, a couple of other people, and Yasu. The Dean enters the classroom.
"Hello, students. I'm making trips to every class, and today is the annual study trip day. Those who need extra work on their studies take a trip somewhere to focus on nothing but studying. If you are here, your grades are acceptable, classes are canceled for you today, and you may relax or study to your avail. Have a nice day!"
With that, the Dean leaves the room, moving on to the next room. The two people leave the room, leaving a surprised Inei and a silent Yasu. Inei looks over at her, then gets up and goes around to her. She looks up at him from her book.
"Oh, Inei, hello."
She looks around, unaware of what has happened.
"Where is everyone?"
Inei pulls out a calendar, looks at it, then points to a date showing her, and it reads
"Thursday: Annual Study Trip Day (Your grades are always good, don't think about it)."
Yasu examines it and looks up at him.
"I guess we are the only two in our group that get at least decent grades. I mean, some of them get decent grades, but not great. This school focuses a lot on their students and their grades."
Inei nods.
When it's just her and me, it's like her personality is the opposite when there are more people.
Inei looks at her book, and she notices instantly.
"It's called The Enemy; it's about these teenagers that try to survive after a disease worldwide turns all adults into zombies. There are a lot of characters, and it's cool to see how they utilize them all. There's a whole series about these books too. If you want, you can read it with me."
Inei nods with approval, then sits next to her, pulling a chair close, both looking at the book. She looks over to Inei.
"Are you a fast reader?"
Inei looks at her, then moves his hand to say, so or so, and then looks back at the book.
Yasu does seem to like an interesting book, but I don't want to slow her down.
Yasu smiles.
"Well, okay, but don't rush. If you can't read as fast as me, I'm not worried about slowing down. I mean, from the looks of it, I don't know when you have to leave, but if it's for normally when you have practice, we have probably around eight hours to kill, so we're in no rush."
Inei looks at her, then back at the book. They read for a while, Inei still looking at the pages. His eyes scroll across the words with high speed and show deep interest.
Wow. Yasu does have an interesting taste in books. This book is excellent. However-
He glances over to Yasu, whose eyes look heavy.
Is she falling asleep?!
Inei taps on her shoulder, and she looks at him.
"Huh? What is it?"
He takes a piece of paper and writes on it.
"Are you alright?"
She nods.
"Yes, I'm okay. Are you ready to switch to the next page?"
Well, if she says she's okay, then she's okay.
Inei nods, and they both look back at the book. As Inei reads on after some time, he feels a small weight against his shoulder. To his surprise, it seems Yasu has fallen asleep on his shoulder.
What do I do?! If people walk past, they'll think this is so weird! But it's tutor trip day. There's probably no one on campus and no one in the halls. Maybe it would be okay to let her rest. Besides, perhaps I can continue reading to get ahead while she's asleep.
Inei takes the book, reading it as Yasu dreams, her head against his shoulder. As time passes, she slowly begins to wrap her arms around his arm, holding it tightly to her, his arm pressing against her chest and stomach. Inei turns beat red, now not able to focus on the book.
Just stay calm. Just stay calm.
He takes a deep breath, sighs, then refocuses on the book. A couple of hours go by, and Yasu squirms in her sleep, getting more comfortable. Still clinging to his arm, she cuddles up closer to him, his arm pressed tighter against her body.
Every time I relax and focus on reading, she squirms and makes my arm touch her body more every time! I can't stay focused this way! Not that I like Yasu that way, but she's not exactly a girl who is not built like a guy's dream!
He looks at her for a moment, her sleeping, then suddenly gains a smile in her sleep.
Well, even with what she's got, she does have a cute smile. However, she does still confuse me.
Inei looks out the window of the building, looking at the empty courtyard.
When she's around all her friends, she is always super quiet, doesn't engage, and rarely wants to be the center of attention.
He looks back at her.
But when it's just her and me, she's the opposite, always talking, willing to chat with me, and wants to be noticed, even if it's just a head nod to what she asks. I don't think it's anything more than friendship. But I wonder what it is that makes her act so freely.
Inei looks back at the book.
Oh well. I shouldn't overthink it. Even though Yasu keeps squeezing my arms between her chest repeatedly, this is still quite a relaxing day. I'll keep reading for a few more hours.
As more time passes, Inei quietly closes the book, Yasu yawning and slowly opening her eyes.
"Inei..."
She looks at him, and he does her, then tilts her head.
"Why are you so close?"
She then realizes she's holding his arm in hers, and his arm pressed against hers. She gains a super large blush, then gets up, stumbling away momentarily.
"I'm, I'm sorry!"
She gets up and begins running but remembers the book and looks back at Inei, holding it in his hands. She then avoids eye contact, slowly walking toward him, putting her hand out, not looking at him.
"T-the book."
After a little bit, she feels something in her hand, and then she looks at it, a little note in her hand.
"Can you please answer a question for me before you run off? Also, I didn't mind what you did; if it helped you sleep and relax, then all the better."
She blushes more, looking away.
"Hurry up and ask so I can go and forget this embarrassing encounter."
Inei hands her the following note.
"Well, two questions. Why is it embarrassing that you relied on your friend for comfort? And why do you act so different with me than the others?"
Yasu looks at this note momentarily, then at Inei, who looks at her. She sighs, the rose on her cheek staying. She sits beside him, scooting her chair a little away from him.
"I cuddled your arm as I slept. Is that not enough to say why it's embarrassing? And for once, I have a friend who is like me. Quiet, smart, and caring. The other four are usually loud. Always loud. The reason I tried running when Azami wanted to introduce you to me, I thought she was going to introduce me to another loud person, and I couldn't take that anymore. And then I realized you do not talk after Aneko made Azami sad about it, so I stuck around. And even though they are always so loud, I still care about them because they're my friends. Just like you are my friend, so I care. Plus, you're quiet, like me. You don't want to be the center of attention, like me. You relate to me the most of all of us, and even though you're quiet, you can still be and have fun. I don't talk much around the others because they're always too busy talking."
Inei listens to Yasu as she talks.
It's like she has wanted to get this out for a while.
Yasu continues to talk.
"But you know, sometimes I take their talking for granted because I can't imagine such a quiet boring life like that. No offense to you, of course. And I think that's what Azami saw in you, was that quiet boring life."
Inei looks at her, at a loss for words, even in his thoughts.
"So that answers your question along with the tangent. Can I have my book now? By the way, how much of it did you read while I was sleeping?"
Inei pointed at the back and handed it to her. She smiles.
"Wow, you do read fast, huh? I'll have to find the next book of the series for you. Well, enjoy your practice. And don't tell anyone about what happened today! That stays between you and me."
And with that, Yasu leaves the classroom. Inei is left in the room alone, looking down at the desk, and lays his head down, now taking a nap.