After school that day.
Today, it’s my turn for classroom cleaning duty, and I silently went about sweeping and tidying up.
It seemed like Yamagiyama-kun had already left, and Shun had gone to the basketball club, fired up for the upcoming inter-high.
All that was left was to take the trash to the incinerator, with the cleaning around me finished.
Since I was the only boy on cleaning duty today, I put on a show and said, “I’ll take care of the trash, so don’t worry!” with a smile to everyone.
Everyone said thank you and left before me in response to my words.
Now, once I dispose of the trash, I’ll head home…!
As I took out the trash bag and was about to tie it up, my eyes were drawn to something inside the bag, and at that moment… My heart raced.
“I-Is this…!!”
Yes, what was inside was the empty box of the nutrition cookie I had given to Yamagiyama-kun…
It had been opened and discarded…
He actually ate it…
Even though we haven’t spoken yet and despite his aloof demeanor, he had put something I gave him into his mouth…
Just that simple action made me incredibly happy.
Even if it’s just a little bit, my feelings will surely reach him…!
I gathered up the trash bag and headed towards the incinerator while believing that.
* * *
Since then, no matter what actions I took as usual, Yamagiyama-kun has rarely turned towards me…
Even the people around us gradually started to wonder why I could go to such lengths… There was this strange atmosphere building up around me.
You can say whatever you want… I’m sorry, but there’s a pain that others can’t understand, and I’m sure he feels it…
After continuing like this, one day in April, during math class, the teacher suddenly started reviewing the second-year material, and a trigonometry problem, my weak point, was written on the blackboard.
For some reason that day, my gaze drifted towards the sky that Yamagiyama-kun was staring at, and I was pondering how to get his attention…
Of course, that’s when things always happen…
“Can you solve this problem… Yamashita?”
Eh… me?!
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
P’w rbggs, P tjnf cb lvfj tbk ab rbinf la… P mjc’a rjs atja… Dea P tjnfc’a fnfc ibbxfv ja atf qgbyifw… Yt cb, atlr lr yjv…
Snfc ktfc P ribkis aegcfv ab Vtec, tf pera ufraegfv jr lo rjslcu, “P tjnf cb lvfj flatfg!”… Qts vbfr la tjnf ab yf aglubcbwfags, ws kfjx qblca, ja j alwf ilxf atlr?!
I thought I had no choice but to tell the teacher that I didn’t understand when, in the midst of my panic, a small whisper reached only my ears…
“… -2/5π…”
Yes, the voice I heard was indeed Yamagiyama-kun’s voice… I stuttered as I relayed Yamagiyama-kun’s answer, which only I heard, to the teacher.
“Oh, correct! You got it!”
Th-Thank goodness… If I couldn’t answer, I might have been scolded for not paying attention… I let out a sigh of relief right there.
Hmm…? Wait a minute…?
D-Did I… Did Yamagiyama-kun help me…?! He finally spoke up…?! Huh?! At this timing?!
My feelings suddenly became unsettled… I finally heard his voice… And he even helped me… Could this be a turning point…?
Despite my hopes, Yamagiyama-kun continued to gaze outside as if nothing had happened…
I was so happy… Yamagiyama-kun, thank you so much for helping me… I silently expressed my gratitude to him in my heart and then continued to focus on my weak point, trigonometry.
* * *
And then lunchtime came that day.
As expected, Yamagiyama-kun didn’t attempt to leave his seat, nor did he show any signs of eating lunch…
I tried to execute my strategies when I could, but doing it every day was difficult… Plus, I had a limited allowance to work with…
But just for today, I wanted to treat Yamagiyama-kun to his favorite strawberry juice as a token of my gratitude… That feeling strongly motivated me.
So I decided to face the battle at the school store with determination in my heart for Yamagiyama-kun’s sake.
I headed to the school store before Shun, maneuvering through the crowd as best as I could, and finally reached the store counter…
There it is…! Phew! There’s only one left…!
The last bottle of strawberry juice jumped out at me.
Amidst the chaos, I mustered up all my social skills and exclaimed, “Please give me the strawberry juice!” I managed to secure the last bottle of strawberry juice.
Afterwards, I was pushed out of the crowd, and, while catching my breath, I slowly made my way back to the classroom.
I hope Yamagiyama-kun will be happy…
I approached Yamagiyama-kun’s seat with that feeling gently held in my heart, placed the strawberry juice on his desk as usual, and spoke softly.
“Yamagiyama-kun, during math class… Thank you… I was really happy…? Would you like to try this? It’s my favorite…!”
At that moment… Finally, he glanced at me for a moment, then quickly averted his eyes… This time, he looked at the strawberry juice… And then…
“…Thanks.”
Yamagiyama-kun once again turned away from me while tightly gripping the strawberry juice…
But more than anything, I was just happy that he responded to me…
Finally… Finally, he looked at my face…
Maybe I’m getting closer to his feelings… Just a little more, just a little more…!
It was a moment when I felt that my feelings were starting to reach Yamagiyama-kun’s heart, even if only little by little…
* * *
After school that day.
I was heading towards the bicycle parking area after having finished my turn for the periodic cleaning duty.
I don’t have work tomorrow, so I should be able to go home slowly today…
I support myself with the allowance from my parents and a part-time job twice a week, living alone.
When I first entered high school away from home, I had never lived alone before, and I couldn’t cook well either… Everything was new to me, and I was completely at sea.
But I never thought about going back to my parents’ house, and more than that, I’m happier than anything with my current life.
Living as an Omega but passing as a Beta, I quickly found a part-time job, made friends, got used to living alone… And now there’s only one year left of high school…
What might be normal for other Alphas or Betas is, in a sense, a challenge every day for me, an Omega…
If I’m found out… it’s over…
It’s not a lie to say that I’m constantly assaulted by such anxiety, tension, and impatience… I don’t want to lose everything by being exposed… Just like back then…
With these thoughts swirling in my mind, when I arrived at the bicycle parking area, a boy standing there looking up at the sky caught my eye.
Yes, it was a big back and a very small back… It was Yamagiyama-kun!
But… What is he doing…
And he’s standing near my bicycle…
Still, my feelings remain unchanged.
I want to turn him around… I’ll never let you be alone…!
And then…
“Yamagiyama-kun!”
I mustered up the courage for the second time today and called out to him from behind.
I couldn’t believe my eyes…
Yes, the moment I’ve been waiting for has finally come…
His big, small back showed a sign of slowly turning around, and Yamagiyama-kun’s face was directed towards mine…
“…You’re late…”
“…Huh?!!”
I was taken aback and made a strange noise, having achieved my goal… but Yamagiyama-kun didn’t lose his pace.
“…It’s punishment for making me wait…”
“W-What…?”
“…Put me on the back of your bicycle rack…”
Y-Yes?! Huh?! Two people on one bike??
Huh?! What’s going on?
I was so happy that he actually turned around for me, but I hadn’t thought at all about what would happen after he turned around, so I couldn’t find the right words…
“…Come on, hurry up.”
“O-Okay… just wait a moment…!”
I hurriedly managed to unlock the bike’s lock and push it to the point where I could ride it.
Of course, Yamagiyama-kun was following me.
I straddled the saddle, and just as I put one foot on the pedal… gently, Yamagiyama-kun climbed onto the rack sideways.
“C-Can I pedal…?”
“Yeah.”
I pedaled with all my might with that confirmation, feeling the pedals heavier than usual in more ways than one.
Interesting turn of events. Thanks for translating