"Hmm?"
After rummaging through his desk, peeking into his backpack, and checking his locker in the back of the classroom, Masachika started to panic slightly. He couldn't find his textbook for the next class, and when he looked up at the clock, he realized he had less than two minutes before it started.
Masachika could sprint to the classroom next door and ask his sister to borrow her book, but he decided not to bother her. He had no choice but to lean to his left, clasp his hands together in supplication, and whisper, "Alya, sorry, but do you think we could share your chemistry book?"
"You forgot your book again?" replied Alya, rolling her eyes irritably.
"Yeah, I probably left it at home."
"Fine." She sighed.
"Thanks!"
Masachika hastily scooted his desk next to hers.
"How do you forget your book so often? You don't seem to have changed one bit even after starting high school."
"Hey, can you blame me? We have way too many textbooks."
Seiren Academy had an absurd number of textbooks required for their classes due to being a college-preparatory private school. Therefore, each subject demanded numerous textbooks and reference books, and some classes even had supplementary books created by the teachers themselves. And yet their schoolbags hadn't been upgraded once in the past few decades.
Whether the school was simply being respectful of tradition was unclear, but what was clear was that one day's worth of textbooks was enough to fill their bags until they were on the verge of tearing at the seams. Therefore, most students left all their textbooks at school. This seemed a bit tricky for Masachika to manage, however.
"It wasn't in my desk when I checked yesterday, so I thought it was in my locker, but…it looks like I was wrong."
"You should have checked your locker to make sure, then. This only happens because you don't double-check which books you take home and which ones you leave here."
"Well, you got me there."
"I'm not in the mood for sarcasm."
"Oof. Harsh."
Alisa shrugged and rolled her eyes at Masachika's apathetic demeanor and monotone voice. She then pulled all her chemistry textbooks out of her desk and turned to Masachika with a questioning gaze.
"So? Which textbook did you need?"
"Oh, that one. The blue one."
After opening the blue reference book, she placed it in the middle of their desks. Masachika promptly thanked her and prepared for the teacher's lecture…when the sandman suddenly came out of nowhere and attacked.
Oh god. I'm feeling sleepy.
Having PE second period didn't help the fact that he was sleep-deprived. Although he resisted the sandman while the teacher was writing on the board, sleep instantly gained the upper hand when the teacher began asking the students questions. Their back-and-forth started to sound like a lullaby of sorts, causing Masachika to slowly doze off…
"Nnng?!"
Immediately, the tip of a mechanical pencil was jammed into his side.
I-it went…right between my ribs!
Masachika silently groaned in agony and shot a reproachful look toward the girl beside him…who instantly returned his gaze with a contemptuous stare, causing him to flinch. Her narrowed blue eyes were eloquently saying, "Wow. Pretty bold of you to sleep after begging me to share my textbook with you."
"Sorry."
Masachika whispered an apology while facing straight ahead, now wide awake and alert.
"Hmph."
But the only response he got was a snort of contempt.
"All right, then. Anyone want to guess what goes into the blank here? Hmm…How about you, Kuze?"
"Huh? Oh, okay."
Masachika stood up in a fluster after being called on by the teacher without warning. Of course, there was no way he would know the answer, since he'd been dozing off up until a few seconds ago. In fact, he didn't even know what problem the teacher was talking about. He looked to his side for help, but Alisa didn't even glance in his direction, pretending not to notice.
"What's wrong? We don't have all day."
"Uh… Um…"
Right as he was about to consider admitting he didn't know the answer, Alisa suddenly sighed while tapping on a certain line in the textbook.
"…! The answer is number two! Copper!"
Masachika internally thanked Alisa and responded to the teacher with the answer being presented to him, but…
"Wrong."
"Huh?" Masachika grunted with embarrassment after immediately being shot down.
The hell?! It wasn't number two!
Masachika screamed internally, swiftly looking over to his side, but Alisa was still pretending like she didn't notice him…However, after a closer look, he noticed she was faintly smirking.
"How about you, Kujou? Do you know the answer?"
"Yes, it's number eight: nickel."
"Yep. Good job. Kuze, stop daydreaming and start paying attention. Got it?"
"Y-yes, sir…"
Masachika sat down dejectedly but immediately started whispering complaints to Alisa.
"Why'd you tell me the wrong answer?"
"I was just showing you where the answers were."
"You liar! You were clearly pointing at number two!"
"That's quite the accusation."
"You're laughing at me! I can see it in your eyes!"
Masachika was on the verge of screaming out loud. Alisa smirked contemptuously and snorted with laughter. She then whispered in Russian;
"
It took everything Masachika had to keep his cheek from twitching, to the point that his hands were almost trembling, but he eventually managed to keep his composure and acted like he didn't understand her affectionate remark.
"What was that?" he asked her, keeping his voice low.
"I called you an idiot."
You liarrrrrr!!
He was shouting in his head, but he made sure to keep a straight face.
Masachika could understand Russian because his grandfather on his father's side loved Russia. It all started in elementary school when he temporarily lived with his grandfather, who made him watch countless Russian movies.
Masachika himself had never been to Russia, nor did he have any Russian relatives. He never spoke about it at school, either, so the only person who knew he understood Russian was his younger sister, who was in the class next door. Furthermore, he told his sister not to tell a soul, so there was no way anyone else would ever find out.
In hindsight, Masachika wished he had told Alisa sooner, but it was far too late now. This form of humiliation play, where the beautiful girl next to him only spoke affectionately of him in Russian, was all his fault, so he had no choice but to take the hit on the chin.
Masachika's cheeks turned red, his lips pressing together tightly as he desperately struggled to hide the indescribable embarrassment welling in his chest.
Alisa, however, thought he was trying to control his anger and amusingly whispered,
"
Masachika suddenly imagined himself as a baby with Alisa poking his cheeks, a big grin on her face.
It's war she wants, huh?
Once he realized she was being condescending and toying with him, his expression instantly turned serious.
Who are you callin' a baby? I hope you're ready for this, you punk.