My stepmother's burden is my ex-girlfriend.

"Ugh~"

Dongtou seemed unconvinced and blew air into the straw to make the orange juice bubble.

We are having a book club at a family restaurant to prepare for the final exams of last semester.

The participants included myself, my classmate from Dongtou, and—

"........."

Xiaoyue, who was sitting opposite me, kept staring at me and Dongtou.

She stirred the glass with a straw, making a crackling sound, but now only smaller ice cubes remained.

If I remember correctly, I haven't turned a single page of the textbook I'm holding since the book club started. Xiaoyue, that clever girl, was in the top fifty in the last midterm exam; I hardly need to teach her. So I've mainly focused my attention on teaching Dongtou, but…

"Xiaoyue...? You've already finished your drink..."

"Huh? Ah, really!"

"...Hey, is there something you want to ask me?"

"No, no, nothing's wrong—? It's okay, I'm fine—"

"I'm going to get the drinks. What do you guys want to drink?" Xiaoyue asked us before running off to the drinks bar. I silently watched her petite figure disappear into the distance.

"Hmm──..."

"What's wrong, Ms. Jie? Does your stomach hurt?"

"No...it just feels like something's off..."

On the surface, she was just like any other day, still the lively and cheerful Nan Xiaoyue.

But from behind, I could feel a slight stiffness—or rather, a prickly feeling.

This atmosphere seems so familiar...?

Just as I was racking my brains trying to figure it out, my classmate from the east side calmly took out his phone.

"Phew—take a break."

"Confiscated."

"Ahhh—! The lifeline of high school girls—!"

You can only play games after you finish your studies.

Something happened the next day.

"Yume, let's go to the toilet together—!"

As soon as the first period ended, Xiaoyue came to my seat and said this with a beaming smile.

I didn't think it was necessary to be so loud, but my stepson was already engrossed in his book. Well, we live together anyway, there's no need to hide anything about going to the bathroom.

"Yeah, that's exactly what I wanted to do too."

When I was in junior high school, I couldn't quite understand how a group of girls would feel going to the bathroom together, but now I completely understand why.

Only the toilet can keep you away from boys' eyes and ears.

It wasn't until I made friends in my third year of junior high that I finally realized how many topics girls can actually go through in a day. This includes things they don't want the opposite sex to hear, and things they can't easily discuss in front of others. In other words, they can exhaust these topics in the semi-enclosed women's restroom.

"—And then, during gym class—"

"Uh-huh."

"—This happened~"

"What?!"

"—This is really ridiculous, isn't it?—"

"A little bit, yeah~"

After using the restroom, I tidied myself up in front of the mirror while chatting happily with Xiaoyue. However, I mostly just answered questions. I really admire her ability to come up with so many topics one after another.

We returned to the classroom as the bell rang to begin the second lesson. Then get out of class ended.

"Yume, let's go to the toilet together—!"

Xiaoyue immediately rushed over.

Didn't we just go online? Haven't you had enough of chatting yet...?

I originally wanted to study during my break... but I felt bad ignoring her, so I went with her.

"—And then—"

"Uh-huh."

"—This happened—"

"What?!"

"This is absolutely ridiculous!"

"A little bit, yeah~"

Then the third class ended.

"Yume, let's go to the toilet together—!"

Is it because I'm urinating too frequently?

No, of course I know her purpose was to chat with me, but this is a bit too much. Come to think of it, did Xiaoyue ever really enjoy having parties in the bathroom like this before...?

"I'm sorry... I need to study for a bit..."

Since there were some areas I wanted to review, I politely declined, and Xiaoyue smiled and waved gently.

"Oh, I see. Sorry, it's okay! Good luck!"

After saying that, he ran off to find his other friends.

I took a look... Xiaoyue didn't ask anyone to go to the toilet except for me.

"Xiaoyue is acting strangely."

That night, I spoke these words into my phone in my room.

The person I was talking to was my stepson, who occupies the space next door. To avoid arousing suspicion from my mother and the others, we agreed beforehand that we would use our cell phones to talk that evening.

Mizuto made no attempt to hide his annoyance, saying:

"What brings you here? When has Nan ever not been acting strangely?"

"What's strange about it? If we're really comparing, you, Higashi-kun, and Kawanami-kun are the strange ones."

"That's called a difference in values..."

I hugged the pillow tightly to my chest, trying to express the abruptness I felt through words.

"It probably started when we began preparing for final exams; I guess you could say she became inexplicably clingy to me..."

"Wasn't it always like this?"

"It's different! Completely different!"

I don't understand the difference.

Just hearing his voice, you can imagine his furrowed brows.

"I should say, why did you come to ask for my opinion?"

"Aren't Kawanami and Akatsuki childhood friends? I was thinking you might know something."

"Just let me relay the message... Indeed, that guy might know something."

"Right?"

But... um──

"What's wrong?"

"No...it's just that he's studying like crazy right now to prepare for his final exams."

"ah."

I don't want him to worry about other things.

"I see...that makes sense."

It's really inconvenient to bother him... Besides, there was no basis or evidence to begin with, it was just a little abrupt. There's no need to let this issue interfere with his exam preparation.

"Okay, anyway, if Nan acts noticeably strange, let me know. For example, if she calls you in the middle of the night to bother you or something."

"...Who's bothering you?"

"That's called a difference in values."

Can't this guy breathe unless he says something sarcastic?

As I was thinking about how to retort, this reminded me of something.

I smiled slightly, the corners of my mouth turning up.

"Talking about phone calls in the middle of the night reminds me of... Oh yeah, so-and-so also had a period of time when they would call my cell phone every night to bother me—"

—The call ended with a beep.

I looked at the screen that displayed "Call Ended" and smiled victoriously.

I remember back then... I made some new friends and spent less time with him, and he got jealous? Looking back now, it was actually quite cute.

"...Jealous?"

It happened to me by chance.

Xiaoyue started acting strangely when she began preparing for the exam... In other words, it started when I started teaching Dongtou to read.

"...That's impossible."

I found it embarrassing to even look at myself, so I put my phone on the charging dock.

Xiaoyue has many friends besides me, so it's impossible for her to be jealous of me... Thinking like that is just too narcissistic.

That's what I originally thought.

But Xiaoyue's behavior became more and more outrageous each day.

"...Nan-kun."

"What is it, Yui?"

"It's so hot..."

"Ah! I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry."

Xiaoyue finally let go of my arm... I thought that was it, but she brought over some cold water from the beverage bar, gulped it down, and then took my arm again.

"I've lowered my body temperature. Is that okay?"

"……no……"

That was not what I meant.

That's not what I meant at all.

What I mean is, if you're here to study at a family restaurant, doesn't that mean you can't even hold a mechanical pencil?

Is this really the distance between friends? It's just like Shuidou and Dongtou... Wait, so is this right? I have so little experience in making friends, I'm confused.

"Hmm—I see, so you're into yuri (lesbian) stuff, huh? As expected of a teacher, always at the forefront of the times."

It goes without saying that the person making such sarcastic remarks is Izana from the east end. She's sitting across from me today.

"Personally, however, I prefer a more subtle and complex sense of distance to something more intimate than something like this, which might give me more room for wishful thinking."

"I'm sorry, but I can't! My relationship with Yui is so good that there's no need for us to maintain any distance, right?"

"I guess so...?"

Okay, I think we do have a very good relationship.

I'm also very happy that Xiaoyue is willing to say that.

However, there seems to be a slight difference in our understanding between Xiaoyue and me.