“Looks like you two ‘good friends’ are really close.”
After making that remark, Yuli took out an extracurricular book about gardening to read.
Although she felt Yuriko must have some interesting secrets, after all this time, she hadn’t found any cracks in Yuriko’s facade.
Her enthusiasm had waned considerably—at least she no longer kept an eye on Yuriko every moment.
After Yuli, the sisters Olesia and Nomily entered the classroom.
When Nomily passed by Yuriko’s seat, she specifically greeted her, which had become routine.
No one found it strange.
But unlike before, when Nomily greeted her, Olesia didn’t just walk past them.
She stopped and, like Nomily, offered Yuriko a greeting.
“The morning light is lovely. Good morning, Yuriko.”
Olesia wore a natural, composed smile.
Her proactive greeting surprised not only Carmilla and Yuli, but Yuriko as well.
Then again, after what happened yesterday, their relationship had certainly improved a bit.
It was understandable that Olesia would greet her.
“May you be in good health, Olesia.”
Yuriko returned the greeting.
After exchanging morning greetings, Olesia led Nomily back to their seats.
By then, Yuli, always drawn to fresh gossip, had already latched onto Yuriko, pressing her about what happened over the weekend and why Olesia’s attitude toward her had suddenly changed.
It wasn’t just Yuli—Carmilla was curious too.
Olesia had not only taken the initiative to greet Yuriko, but the way they addressed each other had also changed.
After all, Yuriko was always polite with everyone, addressing them by their surname followed by “classmate.”
She only changed how she addressed someone once they became close enough.
“Yuriko, did something happen over the weekend?”
With Yuli, Yuriko could brush things off.
But with Carmilla, she couldn’t do that.
Being evasive or giving careless answers might cause Carmilla to overthink and lower her affection toward Yuriko.
However, she had already promised Olesia to keep her secret, so she needed to come up with an excuse on the spot.
‘Guess I’ll mix truth with lies.’
“I ran into Olesia on the street yesterday. We chatted for a bit, and I found we get along pretty well. Maybe that’s why her attitude toward me changed.”
Aside from lying about running into her on the street, everything Yuriko said was true.
She and Olesia did share common interests when it came to food.
“Oh, what a coincidence. If only I could run into Yuriko on the street someday too. That would be such a nice surprise.”
Carmilla didn’t suspect Yuriko was lying.
Instead, her attention was on the fact that Yuriko had coincidentally met Olesia.
“If you want, Mira, you can just come find me directly~”
“But then there wouldn’t be any surprise.”
Carmilla shook her head.
When you run into a friend while you’re both free, isn’t that moment always a pleasant surprise for both sides?
“Is that so? I guess you’re right…”
Yuriko and Carmilla chatted a bit longer.
On the other side of the classroom, Longyu arrived at her seat, glanced in Yuriko’s direction, then carried a gift box over to Yuriko.
Longyu placed the gift box on Yuriko’s desk and explained:
“Yuriko, this is a thank-you gift I prepared for you. I had someone specially buy a limited-edition cake from Zhen Dian Fang. I couldn’t even bring myself to eat it.”
The box wasn’t large, but through its partially transparent sides, Yuriko could see the cake inside.
It was a bit too much for one person.
“You even went out of your way to buy a gift. That’s thoughtful of you.”
Desserts…
Yuriko actually quite liked them, but she rarely ate them in the gang.
She had never even been to a cake shop before.
If people found out that a gang leader liked eating cake, how embarrassing would that be?
But here at the Academy, she didn’t have to worry about her yakuza identity.
She could actually visit a dessert shop.
“Mhm, mhm! Go ahead and try it! If you can’t finish it, I can help you out!”
Yuriko looked at the cake, which was enough to make a meal.
Normal people wouldn’t eat sweets until they were stuffed, so was Longyu hoping to eat Yuriko’s leftovers?
“I’m not hungry yet. I’ll save the cake for lunch break or after school.”
Yuriko shook her head.
“Guh… fine…”
Longyu looked regretfully at the cake in the box, her little mouth hanging open in a dazed expression.
It looked like she might start drooling at any moment.
‘She really wants to eat it that badly…’
“I’ll accept the cake, but I definitely can’t finish it alone. I’ll have you help me share it later, Longyu.”
“Yes!”
Upon hearing there was cake to eat, the little dragon girl’s tail gently swayed with joy.
Yuriko put the cake away and turned back to find Carmilla’s gaze fixed on her.
Carmilla’s look carried curiosity and scrutiny, along with a faint hint of jealousy, putting considerable pressure on Yuriko.
‘Alright, I think I should take the initiative to explain why I’ve gotten closer to Longyu too, or else things might go wrong.’
“After I finished talking with Olesia yesterday, I ran into Longyu. She’d somehow wandered into the North District and gotten lost. Out of kindness, I sent her home.”
Yuriko explained.
“Oh? You sure are lucky. First you run into Olesia, then Longyu, and you’ve gotten so close with both of them.”
Though it sounded like a comment, Carmilla’s tone was completely flat, as if she were reading from a script.
It immediately made Yuriko break into a cold sweat.
‘Is this possessiveness between friends kicking in? Is she getting jealous seeing me get close with other girls?’
‘For now, I need to stabilize Carmilla first.’
Yuriko took Carmilla’s hand and coaxed her in a pleading tone:
“It really was just coincidence. I absolutely had no intention of deliberately flirting with other girls. Actually, I wanted to invite you out yesterday, but something came up and messed up my plans, so I had to give up.”
Under Yuriko’s reassurance, the jealousy in Carmilla finally faded.
“Then can we go out together this weekend?”
Carmilla asked.
“Mhm, mhm! Of course!”
Yuriko nodded eagerly.
Hearing this, Carmilla finally smiled.
It seemed she had been completely soothed.
“Tsk, tsk, tsk. Yuriko, you’re definitely going to be henpecked in the future,” Yuli, who had watched the whole thing, commented.
“What do you mean henpecked? Yuli, you’re talking nonsense again!”
Yuriko made as if to strike Yuli’s head with a hand knife, but Yuli predicted it and leaned back to dodge.
“Hehe, can’t catch me~”