You are Me and I am You - ch 4

You are Me and I am You?! - chapter 4


"Morning, Karin! Usui-kun!"

Maki Tokitou greeted the two once they arrived in homeroom.

"Good morning, Ma-"

Kenta gave Karin a slight jab of the shoulder, and she recomposed herself.

"er, -Tokitou."

"Good morning, Maki~" Kenta gave off an out-of-character beam and sat in Karin's desk.

Maki leaned to Karin's ear, "hehe, so what'd you do, you dog? Tell me why Karin is in such a good mood today!"

"Oh, um, no particular reason..." Karin didn't feel like making this conversation any more awkward, so she mimicked Kenta and sat in his desk without saying anything more.

Maki wasn't satisfied with that answer, of course. "Looks like I'll just have to ask Karin during lunch myself then, huh? hehe."

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First Period, English

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Oh, Karin... if only you'd TRY to study once in awhile. "Friend" doesn't have two E's!

Kenta nearly spent the entire class period correcting Karin's "self-made" notes. English was probably her second-worst class right behind Math, and it showed when she had to read a passage for the class, "But even yet I ref-ree-need? and keepu steeru. I scary breeze. I herudu za ranterun moshunressu. I turai how st-... st-..."

The English teacher's jaw dropped at what she was hearing.

Kenta Usui, bad at ANY class?! It was known throughout Shiihaba High (though mostly to the teachers) that Kenta was one of the highest ranked students in his grade. Not because he was a genius, but through sheer hard work. Study hard, work hard, save up, was his motto. How could he allow himself to fall behind?

"U-Usui-san, are you feeling alright? Perhaps you should go the nurse's office for awhile?"

The teacher had no other explanation for this other than, 'he's feeling sick'. Because really, what other reason could there be?

Karin tilted her head behind a little and looked at Kenta for guidance. Kenta nodded his head so much it look like it'd fall off his shoulders.

"Uh, yeah. I'm feeling really sick today, *cough* *cough* Thank you..." Karin dashed out of the class and made her way to the nurse's office, and looking back at Kenta's expression through the classroom door's window, he seemed pretty relieved.

"I'm not feeling too well, so is it okay if I just lie down here?"

"Sure. I'll take your temperature."

Karin knew she wouldn't be in here very long if the nurse was going to do that.
Still, this office had that familiar smell of disinfectant that she hadn't been in contact with for awhile now, ever since she stopped having nosebleeds. While she definitely didn't miss having those, she sort of missed the nurse's room, if only because it brought her comfort in her otherwise hectic school life.

"Hmm. You don't seem to have a fever. Probably just fatigue. Studying is important, but don't overdo it, okay?"

"Yes, I understand..."

By the time Karin left, second period had already started.

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Second Period, Math

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AHHH! How am I supposed to KNOW this?! I did study with Kenta-kun, but I still dont' get ANY of this!

Karin's brain felt like it would explode at any moment. It wasn't anything new that Math was her worst subject, but she felt the added pressure of getting a horrible grade put on Kenta's record.

Kenta sat just a few seats behind, and he could clearly see how much her fingers were twitching. And from his angle he could see the entire paper was blank, aside from his name at the top.

Well, he wasn't a supporter of passing notes during class, but desperate times call for desperate measures!

"mm?" A boy sitting behind Karin tapped her on the shoulder and handed her a folded paper.

She hid it beneath her arm at just the right angle so the teacher wouldn't see it.

Pretend you are sick and get sent to the nurse's office again.

That's all that was written on the note. But she definitely knew who it was from. Since she didn't have any better ideas, she went with it and raised her hand.

"Excuse me! I'm feeling very sick. May I be excused from class?"

"Oh, Usui-san. Yes, you may."

Kenta had a pretty good reputation, so all went smoothly. She couldn't exactly go back the nurse's office again though, so she just hid herself in the boy's restroom.

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"K-Karin...! This is...! HAVE I STEPPED INTO THE TWILIGHT ZONE?!"

Maki held the results of today's Math test, her face in disbelief because today, a miracle had happened.

"KARIN GOT A PERFECT SCORE ON THE TEST!" Maki couldn't help but inform the entire class of it, gaining everyone's attention.

"WHAT?! Lemme see!"

"That can't be right!"

"Nobody else in this class, not even Fukumi-chan got a 100!"

"She must have cheated!"

Soon, the entire class was huddled around Kenta, asking him what study methods he used and how much he must have studied to ace the test.

Thankfully, he was saved by the bell.

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Lunch

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Kenta looked down the hallway but saw no signs of Karin. It was lunchtime, so she'd probably be waiting up the the roof most likely.

...except she wasn't.

"Now where could she be?"

The only other option was their homeroom, but he just left there, so he scratched that off.

"Nurse's office, maybe?"

Nope.

"Well, this is strange... WAIT! Could she be...?!"

Sure enough, he was right. There she was, sitting on the floor inside the boy's restroom.

"Don't sit on the floor! Boy's restrooms aren't exactly known for their cleanliness, you know..."

"Ah... sorry. But I couldn't just go back the nurse's office again. Then it would seem like I'm faking it. And someone might catch me up on the roof."

"It's fine, but we're going to have to think of something... you can't exactly keep on feigning sickness."

"But what else can I do? We don't know how to return to our bodies."

"Yeah, you're right. But we'll have to find a way back soon, or, no offense, I don't have much hope for my grades."

"...ah... y-yeah. Umm... K-Kenta-kun?" Her face turned a bright red.

"W-what is it? Something wrong?"

"...I have to use the restroom."