Pat, pat~ 21

Where am I...?

A forest...? A plain...?

 

 

 

 

A wild Puni Jelly appeared!

 

 

 

 

What?!

Where!

 

 

 

Bang-!

 

"Kyaak!"

 

 

 

Wh-what was that!

 

 

 

I open my eyes to see the darkness of my room.

 

 

 

You might say I can't see anything because the curtains block out even the slightest moonlight...

 

 

 

But I have a halo, you know.

 

 

 

"Huff...huff..."

 

 

 

I woke up breathing heavily.

 

 

 

After going through hell, I had a nightmare.

 

 

 

Never again... I'll never do that again...

 

 

 

And Yuzu's right next to me, so I can't even complain...

 

 

 

Ah, shit!

I have a class with Sensei today!

 

 

 

I really don't want to live anymore.

 

 

 

I can't go back to sleep because I'm afraid I'll have another nightmare.

 

 

 

I won't grow taller if I sleep like this...

 

 

 

Waking up like this made me thirsty.

 

 

 

Beep-

 

 

 

Glug-glug-glug-

 

 

 

Gulp- gulp-

 

 

 

"Phew..."

 

 

 

I drank the water I just poured from the dispenser.

But it was ice-cold,

 

 

 

Zing-

 

 

 

"Ugh!"

 

 

 

The back of my head throbbed intensely.

 

 

 

It felt like today was going to be another incredibly tiring day.

 

 

 

So now...

I'm at Schale.

 

 

 

I feel like I'm losing my mind, but I managed to pull myself together and get to Schale.

 

 

 

On the way, I thought about just taking the day off countless times, but I still made it.

 

 

 

Maybe because I arrived at Schale so early, there was no one there.

 

 

 

Looking at the empty clubroom of Schale, I thought.

 

 

 

Ah, should I just give up on everything and go to sleep?

 

 

 

As I sat on the sofa, that thought kept creeping in.

 

 

 

Maybe my body is already asleep.

 

 

 

Yeah...

Right...

 

 

 

ㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡ

 

 

 

The commute to work brings about a truly strange feeling.

 

 

 

I should go.

I should go and I have to go.

 

 

 

Because I'm an adult.

 

 

 

But...why do I always feel so reluctant to go?

 

 

 

I have a class with Nito today, so I need to get there a bit early...

 

 

 

"Haah..."

 

 

 

Still, I have to stay strong.

My relationship with Nito is gradually improving little by little.

 

 

 

She's still wary of me, but she seems more used to me than before.

 

 

 

Before, it was like 'Eek! Why is he doing that!' but now it's more like 'He's doing that again... Whatever...'

 

 

 

Hmm...

Thinking about it like this, it doesn't feel that different?

 

 

 

As I walked with these thoughts, I arrived at the clubroom before I knew it.

 

 

 

I should get some work done before Nito arrives.

 

 

 

Snore...snore...

 

 

 

What's that?

Am I hearing things?

 

 

 

Snore...snore...

 

 

 

Nito is

'again'

sleeping.

 

 

 

Hmm... What should I do?

 

 

 

At that moment, the door to the Schale clubroom opened.

 

 

 

"Sensei, good morning. I'm here to help with the accounting for the first time in a while..."

 

 

 

Yuuka stopped mid-sentence, her usual greeting cut short.

 

 

 

Let's think about this from Yuuka's perspective.

 

 

 

She comes to Schale early in the morning and finds a young girl, not even in high school yet, and a grown man alone together.

 

 

 

The girl is even asleep.

 

 

 

Hmm...

 

 

 

"Yuuka, listen to me for a second."

 

 

 

"Sensei! You're supposed to set an example for the students, how could you...!"

 

 

 

Yuuka couldn't find the words.

 

 

 

"You're the worst!"

 

 

 

"Gah!"

 

 

 

No, it's not like that!

 

 

 

"Yuuka, let me explain. See, what happened was..."

 

 

 

I poured out my grievances to Yuuka.

 

 

 

At first skeptical, Yuuka realized she had misunderstood and apologized.

 

 

 

Meanwhile, despite all the commotion, Nito continued to sleep peacefully.

 

 

 

"Hmm... Then why is Nito sleeping here so early in the morning?"

 

 

 

"I wonder..."

 

 

 

Nito's expression seemed troubled for some reason.

Was she having a nightmare?

 

 

 

And Yuuka's eyes were watching her.

 

 

 

Ah, I just thought of something interesting.

 

 

 

"Yuuka, want to try patting Nito's head?"

 

 

 

"Wh-what?! If I do something like that..."

 

 

 

"It's okay. She won't wake up for a while in this state, and besides, she's cute."

 

 

 

"Ugh..."

 

 

 

Yuuka hesitated.

But her hesitation didn't last long.

 

 

 

"Well, then, just for a little bit..."

 

 

 

"Yeah, good decision."

 

 

 

Yuuka carefully approached Nito and placed her hand on her head.

 

 

 

Nito continued to sleep soundly.

 

 

 

Yuuka moved her hand and gently patted Nito's head.

 

 

 

Stroke...stroke...

 

 

 

"Hue..."

 

 

 

A strange sound came from Nito's mouth.

But her expression was much more relaxed than before.

 

 

 

Yuuka looked incredibly happy.

 

 

 

"How is it? Isn't she cute?"

 

 

 

"...Yes."

 

 

 

It was a long while later that Nito finally woke up.

 

 

 

ㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡ

 

 

 

I definitely had a nightmare, but somewhere along the way, I felt a sense of calm wash over me, and I became comfortable.

 

 

 

What was that?

 

 

 

When I woke up, the first thing I saw was Sensei.

 

 

 

Yuuka was handling accounting work beside him.

 

 

 

Yuuka came.

Then Sensei couldn't have done anything to me while I was asleep, right?

 

 

 

"Hehe..."

 

 

 

That's nice.

 

 

 

"Nito, are you awake?"

 

 

 

"Yeah, I mean, yes."

 

 

 

"Then shall we start class in a bit?"

 

 

 

"Yes."

 

 

 

Sensei was busy working, so we couldn't start class right away.

 

 

 

Should I just watch Yuuka work?

 

 

 

"Um... Yuuka."

 

 

 

"Y-yes?! W-what is it?"

 

 

 

Yuuka seemed incredibly flustered.

Why...?

Well, it's probably not important, so I'll let it go.

 

 

 

"Can I watch you work?"

 

 

 

"O-of course!"

 

 

 

Oh yeah.

 

 

 

So, I sat next to Yuuka and watched until Sensei finished his work.

 

 

 

Yuuka's face seemed redder than usual, but I just assumed it was my imagination.

 

 

 

After a while, Sensei finished his work and stood up.

 

 

 

Sensei said he was going to get some water.

 

 

 

Yuuka had already finished the accounting and was resting beside me.

 

 

 

Ah, speaking of which...

 

 

 

"Yuuka, aren't you teaching today?"

 

 

 

"Hmm... I'll just give Sensei advice from the side."

 

 

 

Why?

Is she tired?

 

 

 

It's convenient for me, though...

 

 

 

"I'm back! Nito, let's really start class now!"

 

 

 

"Yes."

 

 

 

Let's start with the class, for now.

 

 

 

The class began.

 

 

 

Sensei's teaching skills were definitely quite good.

 

 

 

Yuuka chimed in occasionally, supplementing the explanations or giving hints for solving difficult problems.

 

 

 

Since the problems were easy to solve, studying was manageable.

 

 

 

We continued the class, listening to the lecture, solving problems, receiving supplementary explanations, getting hints, and solving more problems.

 

 

 

I don't know how much time passed, but the class finally came to an end.

 

 

 

"Alright! That's it for today! Good work~."

 

 

 

"Good work, Nito~."

 

 

 

Stroke...stroke...

 

 

 

"Higik?!"

 

 

 

W-why are you patting my head all of a sudden?!

And why are both of you so skilled at it?

 

 

 

And not just anyone, but Sensei too?!

 

 

 

Their touch was so skilled, that it felt strange.

 

 

 

Hii, hyat, heuut...

 

 

 

My mind started to go blank.

This is... really dangerous.

 

 

 

"W-why are you patting me all of a sudden?!"

 

 

 

"Ah." "Ah."

 

 

 

Stroke...stroke...

 

 

 

Ah. Instead of just saying "Ah," can't you stop patting me?!

 

 

 

The two continued to pat my head, and I tried to tell them to stop to halt this dangerous feeling.

 

 

 

"Hiiut?!... S-stop..."

 

 

 

But my words didn't reach them.

 

 

 

The two continued to pat my head as if possessed, and I had no choice but to continue feeling this dangerous sensation.

 

 

 

Finally, when the two came to their senses and stopped patting,

 

 

 

"Heuu... P-please spare me... S-stop..."

 

 

 

"What do we do...?"

 

 

 

"Ugh, without thinking..."

 

 

 

I melted down to the point where I couldn't even comprehend that I had escaped the head-patting hell.

 

 

 

"Hehuu..."

 

 

 

It was only tens of minutes later that I regained my senses.