Gakkou Gurashi: The Perfect Friend

Chapter Five, Vol 1

4:40 PM

I stood in the classroom, alone with only Yuki sitting at a table close to me. Behind me was the large whiteboard with the words "Makeup Test, Japanese" down the middle.

"Bye Sakura-sensei!" Shoujouji-san called out from the hallway

"Bye!" Another voice followed.

As they both made their way down the room, Shoujouji leaned over towards her friend.

"Megu-nee sure has it rough" Shoujouji whispered in amusement, almost ignorant that I could hear her. Her friend giggled in response.

I looked over back at the table, noticing Yuki staring at me with her hands resting on the paper.

"What is it?" I asked with a soft voice, prompting Yuki to look down ashamedly, "Is it hard to focus with me standing here?"

Yuki shook her head, with her pink hair and hat waving as well.

"I just don't like tests," Yuki said while keeping her head down, "But I don't mind being with you, Megu-nee".

I smiled, pulling a nearby chair close to Yuki's table.

"Let's get this over with"

Yuki looked at me with a smile, before looking down at her test paper. I didn't mind breaking the basic protocol of not helping students with a test, especially since I could say that this 'test' didn't count.

After about 40 minutes, Yuki had made quite some progress despite the pace we were at. The afternoon light had set into the classroom, almost making me ignore having to turn on the class lights for the time being.

Going through each question, I popped down hint after hint to help push Yuki closer to the answer, while trying to prevent it from being obvious. With this simple strategy, I managed to make some progress.

As I watched Yuki finish up on her second last question, I felt someone looking over at me from the hallway.

Turning over, I noticed Kurumi peeking over at the door, still in her track and field uniform. She did a quick wave, before walking off.

It seemed urgent. I didn't want to leave Yuki in the classroom. However, her current performance and overall innocence made me think otherwise.

"I'll be right back, okay Yuki-chan?"

"Eh?" Yuki looked at me with her adorable yet disappointed face"

"If you have questions, I'll be outside in the hall"

"I'm hungry..." Yuki said, speaking in a childish voice.

"Once your test's over, okay?" I responded, backpedaling back to keep my sights on Yuki until I left the hallway.

I turned over, seeing Kurumi sit on a nearby wooden platform staring at the ground. Instead of the usual school uniform, she wore her track-and-field uniform which consisted of shorts and a white shirt

"What's wrong, Ebisuzawa-san?" I asked, "Isn't the track-and-field club running outside?"

"Um..." Kurumi fiddled with her words, "Well... sorry if I interrupted you during the make-up test, but... you're the only one I can talk to about this, Megu-nee"

I sat down on the platform next to Kurumi.

"Don't call me Megu-nee" I responded, "It's Sakura-sensei"

Kurumi nonetheless ignored it.

"I just don't understand... Why do I feel the way I do when he's around"