My Cat Girl Neighbor Is Impossible to Understand

Chapter 14: Chapter 14 - Your Name

Monday mornings always sounded a bit noisier following the weekend.

Conversations about films, homework, sport events and holiday plans filled the classroom.

While...

Sui diligently put the schedule of the classes in his notebook.

As usual.

Yuiko sorted out her textbooks according to their sizes.

Nothing strange happened during the morning routine.

That is until Haru entered the room.

"Good morning!"

His merry voice caught everyone’s attention.

He carelessly threw his bag on the desk and turned around towards Sui and Yuiko with his habitual grin.

"So!"

"What have you two been doing on the weekend?"

Sui did not lift his gaze from the notebook.

"Bought groceries."

"Really?"

"We bought some notebooks."

"...You are the most entertaining people I have ever met."

Yuiko smiled faintly.

"...The melon bread was good."

Haru gave a theatrical gasp.

"You did not invite me?"

"You would buy out the entire bakery."

"I would support the local economy."

Sui finally looked up.

"That is one description."

The trio quietly laughed until the first class began.

The morning passed fast.

History.

Mathematics.

Literature.

And finally...

The lunch bell rang.

Students immediately began to unite their desks.

Haru moved his desk beside Sui’s almost automatically.

"Lunch time!"

Yuiko appeared shortly afterwards.

Today, her lunch box contained small shrimp croquettes, rolled omelets, cherry tomatoes, broccoli and nicely shaped rice.

Haru took a quick peek inside.

"I swear..."

"One day your lunch will get a prize."

Yuiko blushed.

"...It is just the food."

"It is art."

Sui nodded.

"I agree."

Her ears pricked up in happiness.

"...Thank you."

Haru opened his own lunchbox with pride.

It looked slightly less messy than usually.

"I packed it myself."

Sui briefly glanced inside.

"...Congratulations."

"I improved?"

"A little."

"I’ll take it."

They started eating.

Their discussion flowed from the weekend plans to the upcoming exams.

At one point...

Haru remembered something.

"Oh!"

"Sui."

"Can I borrow your math notes later?"

"Sure."

"Their help is the only reason I managed to pass the last quiz."

Yuiko turned her gaze to Sui.

"...You are good at math too?"

"I like numbers."

"They are logical."

"...Lucky."

She sighed.

"I have spent twenty minutes working on one task."

"You have the right answer."

"After three mistakes."

Haru nodded with sympathy.

"That is progress."

As they continued talking...

Yuiko reached her lunch box to take another croquette.

Unconsciously...

She looked at Sui.

"...Sui."

Silence.

"..."

"..."

"..."

The chopsticks in Haru’s hand froze half-way to his mouth.

All the nearby conversations stopped.

A classmate looked over.

Another student blinked twice.

Yuiko did not notice it.

"...Could you pass the tea?"

She politely smiled and waited.

No one moved.

Instead...

Everyone just stared.

"..."

Yuiko cocked her head.

"...What’s wrong?"

Haru slowly pointed at Sui.

"...You..."

"...Have just called him Sui."

She blinked.

"...I have?"

"You have."

"I..."

She replayed the previous seconds in her head.

"Sui."

Not...

Aoyama.

But just...

Sui.

Her golden eyes widened.

"..."

"..."

"...Ah."

The understanding hit her.

Her face immediately flushed red.

"I-I..."

She hastily covered her mouth with her palms.

"...I didn’t..."

"...I mean..."

"...It was just..."

She could not find any words.

Her cat ears flattened.

Her tail swelled into the fluffiest form Sui has ever seen.

Haru was unable to control himself.

"Whoa..."

"This is historical moment."

"It isn’t."

"It surely is."

Some students began to whisper.

"Has Nekozawa just called him by his first name?"

"I have never heard her doing it."

"Are they..."

"No clue."

Yuiko wished to sink into the floor.

She slowly turned to Sui.

"...S-Sorry."

"I didn’t mean..."

Sui silently passed her the bottle of tea.

"...Here."

She automatically accepted it.

"...Thank you."

He smiled.

"No problem."

His calmness made her even more embarrassed.

"You aren’t..."

He cocked his head.

"...Angry?"

"Why should I be?"

"You have called me..."

"...By my name."

"I have noticed."

"..."

"..."

She looked at him.

"That’s all?"

"Is there anything else?"

"I..."

She expected to hear some mocking.

Or surprised reaction.

But not...

Acceptance.

Haru looked between the two of them and put his hand on his heart with a dramatic gesture.

"I feel like I have just witnessed the start of something beautiful."

"You have witnessed someone making a mistake," mumbled Yuiko.

"I don’t think it was a mistake," Haru grinned.

Yuiko buried her face in her lunch box.

"...Please, stop talking."

The classroom returned to its normal state.

The students resumed eating.

Discussion started again.

But sometimes...

Someone glanced towards Sui and Yuiko with knowing smile.

Yuiko noticed all of them.

She was not able to taste her lunch anymore.

Meanwhile...

Sui calmly continued eating as if nothing extraordinary happened.

The only difference...

Was that each time he was looking at Yuiko...

The corners of his mouth lifted.

For some reason...

Calling him "Sui" sounded strangely natural.

And somehow...

He found himself wishing it won’t be the last time.

Afternoon classes were meant to start.

Or, at least...

That’s what they were supposed to.

But after the lunch break, for Yuiko, it seemed impossible to concentrate.

"Sui."

The name echoed endlessly inside her head.

Yuiko dropped her forehead onto the surface of her desk.

Why did I say it?

Why?

I always call him Aoyama...

And why did it sound so natural to me?

From beside her, Haru looked happy.

He was leaning forward, grinning, through the space between their desks.

"Hey, Yuiko."

"..."

"No comments?"

"..."

"So, you’re now big fans of first names?"

"..."

Yuiko couldn’t even look at him.

Luckily, teacher came right in time.

"All of you, please sit down."

Yuiko had never been more happy to hear the teacher’s voice.

The next class was literature.

Unfortunately...

Haru wasn’t easy to give up on it.

Teacher was writing something on the blackboard.

"Could any of you read the next paragraph?"

While students were trying to find their textbooks...

Haru whispered quietly,

"Hey, Yuiko."

"..."

"If you need some help..."

"...Perhaps, ask Sui."

Yuiko broke the pencil she was holding.

"..."

Slowly, she turned towards him.

"...Please."

"What?"

"...Shut up."

Haru smiled sweetly.

"I’m helping you."

"No, you’re not."

"Yes, I am."

"Never."

Beside them, Sui silently scratched his neck.

He wasn’t blushing, of course.

Though...

He felt his cheeks burning.

He was pretty close to Yuiko when it came to it.

Hearing his first name from her...

Surprised him completely.

He glanced outside.

Stay calm.

It’s just a name.

People usually call each other by their first names.

Then one thought quietly appeared in his head.

...Except Yuiko.

He heard his heart beating.

He immediately focused back to his textbook.

When classes ended, Haru yawned dramatically.

"I’ve made my decision."

Yuiko immediately became suspicious.

"...And what?"

"I’m not going to forget this ever."

"..."

"...Please, do."

"No."

"Why?"

"Because watching you blushing is funny."

Yuiko covered her face.

"...You’re awful."

"I’ve heard worse."

Some of their classmates started laughing.

One of the girls smiled warmly.

"I think it sounded cute."

Yuiko froze.

"...Cute?"

"Yeah."

"You two are together all the time."

Another of them nodded.

"I thought you had started calling each other by the first names already."

Yuiko put her hands on her face deeper.

"...Please stop..."

"I can’t live with it..."

Haru laughed so hard he had to hold the edge of his desk.

During the short afternoon break, Sui was heading to the vending machine.

He wanted tea.

Though mostly...

He just wanted a peaceful five minutes.

As he was putting in the coins...

Someone was standing right beside him.

Yuiko.

"..."

"..."

Neither of them said anything.

The machine hummed quietly.

Yuiko was staring at the buttons.

"I..."

She managed to say.

"...About lunch."

Sui glanced at her.

"You don’t have to apologize."

"I wasn’t going to."

"...Oh."

"I wanted to ask..."

She paused.

"...Can we act like it never happened?"

Sui thought for a second.

"...If you want it."

She nodded multiple times.

"...Please."

"It was embarrassing."

"It seemed so."

"It was."

She sighed slightly.

"I don’t even understand why I said it."

Sui smiled softly.

"It just slipped."

"...Exactly."

She was looking at her shoes.

"I’ve been thinking about it all the afternoon."

"And?"

"...I still don’t understand."

Sui didn’t say anything right away.

Instead...

He bought two bottles of milk tea.

He gave one of them to her.

"...Here."

She looked confused.

"I haven’t brought money."

"It’s okay."

"...Thanks."

She took the drink with both hands.

"...You’re distracting me."

"A little."

"...Just like the laser."

He nodded.

"...You remembered."

"I remember good things."

Yuiko was looking at him quietly.

For some reason...

These words made her heart flutter.

"..."

Quickly, she opened her bottle to hide her face.

While they were walking back to the classroom...

Haru saw them in the hallway.

"Oh?"

"Are you buying drinks together now?"

"..."

Yuiko turned around instantly.

"I’m going home."

"It’s still school."

"Then, I’ll change the school."

Quietly, Sui laughed.

Not loudly.

Just sincerely.

Yuiko stopped.

"..."

"You laughed again."

"I did."

"...At me?"

"...A little."

"...Mean."

Though she was saying it...

She smiled.

Haru pointed dramatically.

"There!"

"She smiled!"

"I saw it!"

Yuiko sighed.

"I give up."

The last class of the day was quite peaceful.

Though...

As peaceful as it could be with Haru quietly whispering from time to time,

"Sui."

Loud enough for Yuiko to hear.

Every single time...

Her ears twitched.

Every.

Single.

Time.

By the last bell...

She stopped reacting completely.

"...I’m immune to it now."

Haru grinned.

"I doubt it."

He suddenly looked at Sui.

"So..."

"How did it feel?"

Sui blinked.

"...What?"

"About hearing Yuiko calling your first name."

Silence.

Yuiko slowly turned to Sui.

For the first time of the whole day...

She became the one who received the attention.

Sui opened his mouth.

"...It..."

He paused.

His face gradually became pink.

"..."

"..."

"...I liked it."

The hallway became deadly silent.

Even Haru was surprised by this honest answer.

Yuiko was staring at Sui with wide eyes.

"...You..."

He quickly looked away, obviously feeling embarrassed.

"...It sounded nice."

His heart started beating faster.

He was bad at keeping it hidden.

Yuiko could see it from the slightest blush on his cheeks.

For some reason...

Watching a normally calm Sui blushing made her embarrassment go away.

Instead...

A little smile appeared on her face.

A sincere one.

Soft.

Warm.

"...Then..."

She whispered almost inaudibly.

"...Maybe..."

She stopped, gathering all her strength.

"...Goodbye..."

"...Sui."

She instantly turned around and ran towards the school gate, so nobody would notice her blush.

Behind her...

Sui was standing stunned.

His heart beat once.

Then again.

A little faster than before.

Haru looked at him, then at Yuiko’s figure leaving.

Wide smile appeared on his face.

"..."

"I think..."

"...I’m watching a romance happen step-by-step."