Pat, pat~ 21
Where am I...?
A forest...? A plain...?
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A wild Puni Jelly appeared!
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What?!
Where!
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Bang-!
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"Kyaak!"
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Wh-what was that!
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I open my eyes to see the darkness of my room.
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You might say I can't see anything because the curtains block out even the slightest moonlight...
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But I have a halo, you know.
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"Huff...huff..."
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I woke up breathing heavily.
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After going through hell, I had a nightmare.
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Never again... I'll never do that again...
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And Yuzu's right next to me, so I can't even complain...
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Ah, shit!
I have a class with Sensei today!
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I really don't want to live anymore.
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I can't go back to sleep because I'm afraid I'll have another nightmare.
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I won't grow taller if I sleep like this...
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Waking up like this made me thirsty.
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Beep-
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Glug-glug-glug-
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Gulp- gulp-
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"Phew..."
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I drank the water I just poured from the dispenser.
But it was ice-cold,
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Zing-
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"Ugh!"
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The back of my head throbbed intensely.
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It felt like today was going to be another incredibly tiring day.
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So now...
I'm at Schale.
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I feel like I'm losing my mind, but I managed to pull myself together and get to Schale.
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On the way, I thought about just taking the day off countless times, but I still made it.
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Maybe because I arrived at Schale so early, there was no one there.
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Looking at the empty clubroom of Schale, I thought.
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Ah, should I just give up on everything and go to sleep?
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As I sat on the sofa, that thought kept creeping in.
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Maybe my body is already asleep.
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Yeah...
Right...
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The commute to work brings about a truly strange feeling.
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I should go.
I should go and I have to go.
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Because I'm an adult.
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But...why do I always feel so reluctant to go?
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I have a class with Nito today, so I need to get there a bit early...
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"Haah..."
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Still, I have to stay strong.
My relationship with Nito is gradually improving little by little.
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She's still wary of me, but she seems more used to me than before.
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Before, it was like 'Eek! Why is he doing that!' but now it's more like 'He's doing that again... Whatever...'
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Hmm...
Thinking about it like this, it doesn't feel that different?
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As I walked with these thoughts, I arrived at the clubroom before I knew it.
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I should get some work done before Nito arrives.
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Snore...snore...
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What's that?
Am I hearing things?
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Snore...snore...
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Nito is
'again'
sleeping.
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Hmm... What should I do?
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At that moment, the door to the Schale clubroom opened.
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"Sensei, good morning. I'm here to help with the accounting for the first time in a while..."
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Yuuka stopped mid-sentence, her usual greeting cut short.
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Let's think about this from Yuuka's perspective.
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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.
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The girl is even asleep.
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Hmm...
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"Yuuka, listen to me for a second."
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"Sensei! You're supposed to set an example for the students, how could you...!"
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Yuuka couldn't find the words.
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"You're the worst!"
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"Gah!"
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No, it's not like that!
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"Yuuka, let me explain. See, what happened was..."
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I poured out my grievances to Yuuka.
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At first skeptical, Yuuka realized she had misunderstood and apologized.
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Meanwhile, despite all the commotion, Nito continued to sleep peacefully.
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"Hmm... Then why is Nito sleeping here so early in the morning?"
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"I wonder..."
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Nito's expression seemed troubled for some reason.
Was she having a nightmare?
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And Yuuka's eyes were watching her.
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Ah, I just thought of something interesting.
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"Yuuka, want to try patting Nito's head?"
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"Wh-what?! If I do something like that..."
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"It's okay. She won't wake up for a while in this state, and besides, she's cute."
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"Ugh..."
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Yuuka hesitated.
But her hesitation didn't last long.
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"Well, then, just for a little bit..."
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"Yeah, good decision."
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Yuuka carefully approached Nito and placed her hand on her head.
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Nito continued to sleep soundly.
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Yuuka moved her hand and gently patted Nito's head.
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Stroke...stroke...
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"Hue..."
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A strange sound came from Nito's mouth.
But her expression was much more relaxed than before.
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Yuuka looked incredibly happy.
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"How is it? Isn't she cute?"
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"...Yes."
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It was a long while later that Nito finally woke up.
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I definitely had a nightmare, but somewhere along the way, I felt a sense of calm wash over me, and I became comfortable.
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What was that?
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When I woke up, the first thing I saw was Sensei.
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Yuuka was handling accounting work beside him.
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Yuuka came.
Then Sensei couldn't have done anything to me while I was asleep, right?
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"Hehe..."
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That's nice.
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"Nito, are you awake?"
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"Yeah, I mean, yes."
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"Then shall we start class in a bit?"
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"Yes."
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Sensei was busy working, so we couldn't start class right away.
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Should I just watch Yuuka work?
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"Um... Yuuka."
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"Y-yes?! W-what is it?"
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Yuuka seemed incredibly flustered.
Why...?
Well, it's probably not important, so I'll let it go.
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"Can I watch you work?"
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"O-of course!"
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Oh yeah.
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So, I sat next to Yuuka and watched until Sensei finished his work.
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Yuuka's face seemed redder than usual, but I just assumed it was my imagination.
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After a while, Sensei finished his work and stood up.
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Sensei said he was going to get some water.
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Yuuka had already finished the accounting and was resting beside me.
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Ah, speaking of which...
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"Yuuka, aren't you teaching today?"
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"Hmm... I'll just give Sensei advice from the side."
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Why?
Is she tired?
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It's convenient for me, though...
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"I'm back! Nito, let's really start class now!"
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"Yes."
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Let's start with the class, for now.
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The class began.
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Sensei's teaching skills were definitely quite good.
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Yuuka chimed in occasionally, supplementing the explanations or giving hints for solving difficult problems.
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Since the problems were easy to solve, studying was manageable.
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We continued the class, listening to the lecture, solving problems, receiving supplementary explanations, getting hints, and solving more problems.
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I don't know how much time passed, but the class finally came to an end.
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"Alright! That's it for today! Good work~."
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"Good work, Nito~."
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Stroke...stroke...
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"Higik?!"
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W-why are you patting my head all of a sudden?!
And why are both of you so skilled at it?
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And not just anyone, but Sensei too?!
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Their touch was so skilled, that it felt strange.
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Hii, hyat, heuut...
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My mind started to go blank.
This is... really dangerous.
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"W-why are you patting me all of a sudden?!"
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"Ah." "Ah."
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Stroke...stroke...
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Ah. Instead of just saying "Ah," can't you stop patting me?!
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The two continued to pat my head, and I tried to tell them to stop to halt this dangerous feeling.
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"Hiiut?!... S-stop..."
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But my words didn't reach them.
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The two continued to pat my head as if possessed, and I had no choice but to continue feeling this dangerous sensation.
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Finally, when the two came to their senses and stopped patting,
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"Heuu... P-please spare me... S-stop..."
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"What do we do...?"
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"Ugh, without thinking..."
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I melted down to the point where I couldn't even comprehend that I had escaped the head-patting hell.
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"Hehuu..."
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It was only tens of minutes later that I regained my senses.
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