How We Met Again

Chapter 15: The Storm Strikes

The next day was Saturday, and I arrived at the Nakanos' apartment fairly early -- though not as early as the time a month prior. I was buzzed in by Yotsuba, and soon found myself set up on the coffee table with her sitting cross-legged across from me. As we got to work, I noted that the fantastic spread was smaller than it had been the day before -- perhaps Yotsuba hadn't had the energy needed to develop a more opulent rendition, given how late we'd studied the night before.

As we plowed ahead with both social studies and English, I could see the forced concentration on Yotsuba's face. It had been a mere ten hours since we had previously parted ways, and I doubted she was fully recovered from the last session. Hell, my hand was still mildly sore, and I was used to this level of studying -- though now that I thought back on it, my soreness was probably due to making an entire binder worth of material in one night.

As Yotsuba studied, I worked on developing a second binder of material for her. The contents of the first covered approximately up until the end of the second term of our first year, and so I had been hopeful that she would be able to finish that first binder by Monday or Tuesday evening. However, with the pace she was making...

"Hey, Uesugi-san, can you explain this bit?"

"Ah. Yeah, sure..."

Yotsuba pulled a strand of hair out of her face and tucked it behind her ear as she listened to my explanation, her eyes on me and nodding occasionally. As she nodded, her bow bounced over top her head as though it, too, were acknowledging my words. Somehow, that gave me a strange sense of satisfaction.

We're off to a slow start.

As Yotsuba flipped to the next page of the binder, she let out a yelp, and immediately stuck her finger in her mouth. She stood up, and pulled it out to look at it.

"Paper cut?"

"Yep. Ow..."

Yotsuba left the table and went into the bathroom, presumably to apply a bandage and some antibiotic cream. I was left there alone at the table, and I took the opportunity to continue working on the second binder for Yotsuba. It was a nice review for me -- the material I usually studied was of a significantly higher level.

...Geez, why is my back so stiff?

Maybe my posture needed some work. I'd spent so much time hunched over on the couch the previous night and this morning that my back was beginning to get sore. I put down my pencil, gently closed the binder, and leaned back on the couch. I arched my spine and stretched my hands far above my head to their full extension; the relief it brought the muscles in my back and upper arms was enough to make me sigh with pleasure. I closed my eyes, basking in the sweet sensation.

I felt the couch compress slightly as someone sat down next to me, and so I opened my eyes again and glanced over.

"That looked like a nice stretch."

The girl with headphones next to me put down her cup of tea, and joined me in stretching. I wasn't entirely sure if she was showing camaraderie, or if she was just mocking me -- but I decided to assume it was the former. It was just easier that way -- plus, her face seemed completely innocent.

"Morning, Miku," I said, rolling my arms and then leaning forward again. "Yeah, it was -- I needed that. My posture is... how do I put this? Hot garbage."

She leaned forward, picked her tea back up, and took a slow sip. I opened the binder for Yotsuba back up, and began writing again. There was an awkward silence as neither of us said anything, a silence marred only by the sound of my pencil scratching on paper.