Chapter 14 – “Three Girls, One Study Desk”

The library room was supposed to be quiet.

Supposed to be.

Yuuto Kanda had just finished arranging his notes into a neat little tower of order—fresh pencils, highlighted formulas, printed practice sheets—all lined up with military precision. Today, he promised himself, would be a calm, productive day. No accidents, no misunderstandings, no chaos.

…He should’ve known better.

The door slid open with a sharp clack!

“I’m sitting on the left,” Rika announced before even saying hello, her arms filled with a mountain of notebooks and a ruler sticking out of her pocket like a sword. “That position gives me the optimal angle to monitor your handwriting for accuracy.”

Yuuto blinked. “There’s… an optimal angle for that?”

“Of course. Observation affects results. You wouldn’t want flawed data, would you?”

He sighed, already sensing the end of his peace. “Fine. Just don’t—”

The door slid open again. Mizuki peeked in, holding a novel to her chest like a shield. “Um… Kanda-kun? If it’s okay, I’d like to sit on your right. So I can, um… read your expressions while you explain things. It helps me… understand tone and subtext better.”

Rika frowned. “Tone and subtext are irrelevant to physics, Mizuki.”

“They’re never irrelevant to the heart,” Mizuki whispered dramatically, her cheeks faint pink.

Yuuto’s eyes darted between them. “Guys, there’s enough space—just don’t argue about—”

“Room for one more!” a loud, cheerful voice cut in.

Akari burst through the door like a gust of wind, ponytail bouncing, gym bag slung over her shoulder. Before Yuuto could even react, she plopped herself directly on the desk in front of him, crossing her legs.

“Perfect! I’ll sit here—front-row seat to Kanda-sensei’s genius brain!”

“Akari,” Yuuto groaned, “that’s not a seat! You’re sitting on the notes!”

She blinked, then looked down. “Oh! So that’s what the weird paper-crunch sound was!”

Rika adjusted her glasses sharply. “You’re obstructing my field of vision.”

“And the light,” Mizuki added softly. “Also… that’s improper…”

Akari just grinned. “Relax! We’re all friends here, right? Besides, this way I can see everyone’s faces. It’s good team energy!”

Rika muttered under her breath, “It’s chaotic energy, not team energy.”

Yuuto tried to refocus, pointing to the worksheet. “A-anyway! Let’s start with the practice problems—”

But the moment he began explaining, all three of them leaned in closer.

Rika from the left, Mizuki from the right, Akari leaning forward from the desk.

Their shoulders brushed against his; their hair mingled near his face, filling the air with the scent of shampoo, perfume, and something dangerously sweet. Yuuto’s heart hammered in panic.

“Okay… question one…” he stammered, eyes darting helplessly between them. “When an object falls at—”

“Yuuto,” Rika interrupted suddenly, her voice crisp, serious, but softer than usual.

Time stopped.

Yuuto’s brain short-circuited. Wait—did she just say my first name?

Mizuki froze mid-note. Akari’s grin widened like a cat spotting a mouse.

“…Rika?” Yuuto croaked.

The scientist blinked, realizing her slip. Her cheeks turned crimson in an instant. “I—I mean Kanda-kun! It was a scientific slip of the tongue! Data error!”

Akari leaned in mischievously. “Ooooh~ Yuuto, huh? Didn’t know we were on first-name basis now!”

Mizuki’s pen slipped from her hand. “S-so close already…” she murmured, voice small and hurt.

Yuuto, still stunned, tried to wave it off. “I-It’s fine! Really! Names are—uh—just labels!”

Rika huffed, looking away. “Exactly. Labels. Irrelevant. Totally meaningless.”

Her ears, however, betrayed her—bright red.

Trying to salvage the session, Yuuto quickly redirected. “Okay, next question. What’s Newton’s third law—?”

But then Akari yawned and stretched, her back arching slightly as she leaned forward again—her shirt drooping just enough for Yuuto to panic and look away so fast his neck cracked.

“Akari!” he squeaked. “Focus!”

“I am focusing!” she protested. “Just stretching to keep my study muscles loose!”

Mizuki covered her face with her book. “T-too much stretching…”

Rika pushed her glasses up with a glare. “Your ‘muscles’ are a distraction to the learning environment.”

“Eh? You’re just jealous!” Akari shot back, sticking out her tongue.

“Jealous?!” Rika’s voice pitched. “Of your lack of academic discipline? Hardly!”

The argument spiraled—Akari laughing, Rika sputtering, Mizuki quietly sighing. Yuuto sat there frozen in the middle, praying for divine intervention.

Outside the slightly ajar door, however, divine intervention took a very different form.

Sensei Amamiya stood with her phone raised, eyes sparkling with mischief. Click!

“Motivation tracking,” she whispered gleefully as the shutter snapped again. “For academic records, of course.”

Inside, Yuuto was trying to calm the trio down. “Please—let’s just—get back to—studying—”

But the chaos only grew worse. Akari’s pencil flew out of her hand and bounced off Yuuto’s head.

“Oops!”

Rika’s elbow knocked over a cup of water, splashing across the table.

“My data!”

And Mizuki, flustered, reached to help—and accidentally grabbed Yuuto’s hand instead.

They both froze.

“Ah… s-sorry…” she whispered, face as red as Rika’s.

Yuuto’s mind was melting. His body was somehow hotter than the spilled water. “I-It’s okay! Really! Let’s just—uh—dry this off!”

Akari giggled. “Kanda-kun, you’re redder than my gym shirt.”

Rika folded her arms. “Probably because of your constant contact violations.”

“Hey! It’s teamwork!”

“Teamwork doesn’t involve sitting on the instructor’s desk!”

Mizuki quietly dabbed the table with tissues, mumbling, “This feels like the first scene of a romance novel…”

By the time Sensei Amamiya peeked in again, Yuuto’s hair was frazzled, the notes were soaked, and three beautiful disasters surrounded him like competing storms.

Amamiya smiled, clearly delighted. “Looks like our study group’s getting… closer, hm?”

“Sensei!” Yuuto groaned, slamming his forehead on the desk. “Please don’t make it sound weird!”

She only chuckled and waved. “Oh, but growth is all about intimacy, Kanda-kun. Don’t be shy.”

The door closed. Silence.

Then—

“Yuuto,” Rika began again, softer this time. “You really are… impossible.”

“Eh?”

She looked away, hiding her blush behind her notebook. “Nothing. Just—focus on the lesson.”

Mizuki smiled faintly at the corner of the table, eyes lingering on Yuuto’s hand.

Akari stretched again, humming happily, no awareness of the tension she’d caused.

And Yuuto… just sighed, utterly defeated.

“Studying,” he muttered, “should not feel like surviving a love war.”

But in the quiet that followed, even he couldn’t help noticing—

for the first time—

that his heart was beating faster not from panic… but from something far more dangerous.