章節 47: Palet

Yuto strolled down the hallway with Shironami and Shibata trailing a bit behind, both of them staring at him like he had just killed someone. He frowned, turning back with a forced cheerful grin. "So… where do you two want to study?"

Shironami and Shibata exchanged a quick, nervous glance. After a bit of thinking, Shibata raised a thumbs-up. "Let's just go to the library—"

"Let's go to Palet!" Shironami blurted out shyly.

Yuto and Shibata froze. Palet was that overly cute, pastel café infamous for its "no boys allowed" vibe. Every inch of the place screamed "feminine." complete with floral wallpaper, stuffed animals, and a menu that sounded like it was named by kindergarteners. If Yuto walked in there…

He gulped, but then thought of the library—where the chance of running into Horikita was around 90%. His face turned grim. If he had to choose between an encounter with Horikita or enduring a pink, frilly nightmare with women, well…

"Palet it is," Yuto declared sternly, bracing himself for the fate that awaited him. Shironami clapped her hands, with a cute smile, while Shibata looked like his soul left his body.

"Palet…" Shibata repeated, voice hollow. He glanced at Yuto, eyes wide with fear. "I hope you know what you're getting us into, Kazuki-kun."

Yuto shrugged, trying to keep his composure. "Brace yourself Shibata..."

Shibata just sighed, muttering, "Great. Let's go sip overpriced flower tea and pretend we belong there."

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Yuto walked into Palet, instantly drawing gazes from women. Yuto grimaced as he found himself surrounded by women. Countless questions were launched at him

From a safe distance, Shibata watched Yuto's predicament with pity, pressing his hands together in mock prayer. "May you rest in peace, brave warrior," he muttered with faux solemnity.

Yuto struggled to extricate himself from the crowd, glaring at Shibata with envy. 'Gosh, why am I born so beautiful?' he cursed, finally managing to escape the throng and stagger over to his table.

"Sorry, ladies, but duty calls. I really have to study," he said, chuckling awkwardly, as he plopped down beside Shironami and Shibata, who already had their books open.

Yuto slumped into the couch, exhausted, while Shibata waved over the waiter to order drinks for three. "Coming here was a terrible idea," Yuto groaned, rubbing his temples.

Shibata nodded in sympathy. "Yeah, we'll be lucky if we leave this place without autograph requests."

Shironami giggled. "Oh, come on, it's not that bad!"

She was instantly met with two deadpan stares. Shironami's smile faltered as she shrank under their unamused glares.

"Not that bad?" Yuto deadpanned. "I just got interrogated like I'm on a reality dating show."

Shibata nodded solemnly. "I'm pretty sure they think you're the latest dessert on the menu."

Yuto almost laughed. He didn't know Shibata was capable of making him laugh. He re-evalueted him as a brother who went through hell along side him.

Yuto sighed. "Next time, we're studying at the most boring library we can find."

The group attempted to study for a few minutes, but Yuto couldn't shake the feeling that something was… off. He glanced at Shironami and Shibata over the rim of his mojito. Both of them kept sneaking glances at him, trying to be subtle and failing miserably.

'If it were just Shironami, I'd get it,' Yuto thought, slightly smug. 'It's hard not to stare when you're this beautiful. But… Shibata was doing it too.' Yuto's eyes widened for a second. 'Wait. Could it be? Is Shibata… into me?!'

A shiver of discomfort ran down his spine. Not being able to take it anymore, he set his drink down and sighed. "Alright, guys." Both Shironami and Shibata looked up at him, blinking innocently. "Look, I can't have you two so distracted. If there's a misunderstanding or something, let's just clear it up before we keep studying."

The two exchanged a look, nodding at each other like they'd prepared for this moment. Yuto raised an eyebrow as Shibata took a deep breath, looking uncharacteristically serious.

"Kazuki-san…" Shibata leaned forward, his face deadly serious. "Are you and Ichinose-san dating?!"

Yuto choked on his mojito, glancing around as nearby women turned to stare, their sixth sense telling them that thier is juicey gossip. Suddenly, everything clicked. Oh, right. Shibata had a thing for Ichinose. And Shironami? Well, Yuto vaguely recalled her confessing to Ichinose, too. Ah. So that's why they're both acting so weird.

Yuto burst out laughing. "Guys, come on! Those are just rumors," he said, still chuckling.

"But Honami-chan and Kazuki-kun have been really close lately…" Shironami said, a hint of worry in her voice.

"We're just good friends, nothing major," Yuto replied, waving his hand dismissively. He started to add, "Plus, my heart belongs to…" but trailed off, realizing he wasn't as sure as he'd thought. He frowned at his textbook, feeling oddly flustered.

Shibata and Shironami laughed awkwardly, the tension finally breaking. "Alright," Yuto said, snapping out of it. "Let's get back to studying."

Both of them nodded furiously, picking up their pens and scribbling away. Just then, the café door swung open,

"Huh? Kazucchi?" Yuto sighed as he turned around to see, Hasebe? Following Hasebe was Akito, Yukimura and Ayanokoji... YUto and Ayanokoji's eyes briefly met before they both turned away. Hasebe glanced at Yuto before glancing at Shironami and Shibata. "Are you both... from class B by chance?" The pair nodded as Yukimura frowned. "Kazuki, you really are dispecable. You abandon your own class and proceed to help another class? Disgusting."

Yuto simply smiled as he looked at Yukimura, "The last I checked, you were practically useless during the sports festival, weren't you? Funny how I practically carried our class that whole time, yet no one even bothered to thank me. At least Class B tries to keep me in good spirits." Normally, he wouldn't bite back at such petty insults, but today his patience was thin.

Yukimura gritted his teeth as he adjusted his glasses, "At least I didn't abandon the class, you traitor." Yuto sipped his drink as he prompted Shironami and Shibata to work, before side-eyeing Yukimura. "Really now? I feel that abandoning one and helping the other is better than being useless to everyone. Plus," His eyes narrowed, "If I really was a traitor, Class D would be beyond help right now."

Losing his composure, Yukimura slammed his hand down on the desk, drawing a few stares from those nearby. "What are you talking about?! I'm the one currently helping the class here! Can't you see!" He shouted, pointing at Hasebe and Akito, who clearly felt awkward due to the gazes. 'looks like I hit his reverse scale.'

Yuto thought as he sighed, "And? What's your point?" He glanced at Yukimura with straight eyes. "If your saying you have contributed more than me to the class, go ahead and continue your delusional thoughts and leave me alone. If you have even a little bit of critical thinking, you would see how pointless our conversation as been and how your wasting everyone's time. I suggest you go and actually study."

Yukimura was about to retort but he felt a hand grabbing his shoulder. He glanced back to see Ayanokoji holding him. "Yukimura, he is right. we are just wasting time. I suggest we go." Yukimura looked at Ayanokoji for a second, getting back his cool while he adjusted his glasses. "You are right Ayanokoji-kun." He glanced at Hasebe and Akito, "Sorry guys, lets go and study."

They both nodded thier heads and followed Yukimura.

As they left, Shiranami and Shibata exchanged a look. Shibata turned to Yuto, raising an eyebrow. "Was that really necessary?"

Yuto sighed. "Look, if I hadn't shut him down, he'd have stuck around even longer. Though…" He scratched the back of his head, a bit sheepish. "I guess I was partly to blame for starting things with my own petty retort."

He looked at Shibata seriously, his gaze sharpening. "But sometimes, an aggressive approach gets the job done faster than a passive one."