http://ncode.syosetu.com/n9531ga/25/
Episode 25: Yuriha’s Notebook
“Why do I even need to learn a foreign languageー!? Don’t we live in Japan!?”
“How do you do with your home language then? Our next class is Classical Japanese.”
“Ugh……dang it, I don’t need old Japanese……”
It’s our break period after English class. We have Classical Japanese after this followed by lunch.
Honoka has grown fed up with having one major subject after another like this.
“I’m already about to doze off in class, and the day’s just startedー. I gave up taking notes halfway through.”
And then to help illustrate her point, she thrust out her open notebook and exposed a small earthworm character she had doodled while lessons were going on.
“Awawa……..”
“I see, not a single note taken.”
“As you can see!”
“No, that’s not something you should be puffing your chest out about.”
“Kekeke”
Honoka staggered around and plopped herself down in Saki’s desk. Hold on a second, just because the person in question isn’t here.
“And that’s why~, I thought I would copy someone else’s~. But the person in question is away? This is the end for me~”
Are you already so desperate in class even though we just had a study session together last night? Honoka kept sighing and moaning, but this past class really was meant to be some basic review. It wasn’t supposed to be that difficult.
“What about you Yuzu? I’m sure your notes are much more clean.”
When I asked, Yuzuriha immediately averted her gaze away from me. Was she nodding off in class too? It didn’t look like it from back here.
“I-I’ve already archived mine…….so I cannot show them.”
“Archives?”
Those things you see in historical fantasies? Is she a case of chuunibyou like Suzushiro and is building up a fantasy world like in manga and games?
“Oh yeah~. I saw her use a whole bunch of difficult kanji before too like using 瑠璃 for lapis lazuli and 翡翠 for emeralds~.”¹
“Eh……..H-Honoka……s-secret……”
“What? That was supposed to be a secret? Sorry, my bad.”
Honoka playfully slapped her forehead with a small, “Teehee” at the end. It’s cute how she definitely doesn’t have any interest in actually apologizing…….
“But it’s impressive that you were able to read those kanji.”
“Ehehehe~. I’m confident in my eyesight.”
“No, I’m saying those were difficult kanji………”
I can’t tell if she’s actually really smart or an idiot.
“And anyway, 翡翠 is the kanji for jade, not emerald.”
“……..Huh!? Astonishing……..”
A surprised Yuzuriha. So she didn’t properly look up the English translation either? This is what you’d call stupid cute.
“So in summation, neither Honoka nor Yuzu took any notes.”
“Uuu…….”
Yuzuriha began groaning after I playfully called her out. Honoka however looked puzzled as she eyeballed me.
“What about Yuu? You’re not going to show us yours?”
“Eh, m……mine?”
“My shame was put on full display, so it’s only right that you grace us with your own…….”
“Hold on Yuzu, you just doodled in your notebook and didn’t write anything that was on the blackboard either right? I……I don’t want to?”
“It’s unfair if it is you alone………”
Yuzuriha pursed her lips dissatisfied and narrowed her eyes. I take a step back, but Honoka takes a step forward. In seconds I have my back to the wall, and Honoka’s face is about twenty centimeters away from my own with Yuzuriha standing close behind her.
A wide, self-satisfied smile spread across Honoka’s lips.
“Guhehehe~ Now you’re going to show us all your embarrassing little secrets!”
“Are you a pervert!?”
My eyes were swimming as I delivered my tsukkomi. Maybe that’s why my gaze unconsciously fell on the notebook sitting on my desk. Following my gaze, Honoka’s eyes began to shine…….I lunged out――
“Ku, I didn’t make it in time!”
“Victory! The notebook is already in my hands!”
“Ooh!”
Honoka raised my notebook high into the air like a video game character that just looted a chest. Yuzuriha joined in on the celebration, clapping her hands together to celebrate the brave and majestic figure.
“G-Give it back!”
“No way!”
“Please! I beg your forgiveness! ……..Stop!”
T-This is bad. I really need to get that back……..!
However no matter how much I push, Honoka is nimbly keeping my notebook just outside of my flailing arms’ reach.
“The more you fight, the more I look forward to this~! Oka~y then~. Yuriha’s notebook, open!”
“N-No…….”
I cover my face with both my hands. Ku……the absolute embarrassment if that gets exposed…….and sure enough……
“Huh?”
“U-Um……”
They’re frozen……..and of course they are. All my hard work has now gone to waste. Farewell my image as a super cool, handsome girl…….
“”Cats?””
Their voices were in perfect harmony.
“And a lot of them too— A lot of these are of the same child—”
“But their expressions and clothes are all different………the muffler is cute…….”
“Woah, look at this dancing umbrella cat~. I really love it—”
Oh God they’re giving their impressions out loud. Ugh…..Now that they’ve seen this, I can only foresee an endless stream of teasing from now on……..
“You…….didn’t want anyone to see this……..?”
“Of course, they’re cats. It’s weird for someone as masculine as me to be obsessed with them. Go ahead and laugh.”
The two of them fell silent and tilted their heads. Their gazes kept flipping back and forth between me and my notebook.
“Seriously cute?”
“Yeah, and cute things really don’t suit me.”
“Ahahaha! That’s so cute—!”
“Stop……”
“Yuriha is cute…….”
“Ugh……..”
I covered my face when Yuzuriha started patting my head and telling me, “There, there”. So embarrassing…….
“But this is pretty good isn’t it? The notes…….well, they’re normal, but the colors make things easy to see and beautiful too. Plus that cat does a good job explaining the main points. It’s clear that you’re doing your best in your note taking. Aren’t you a hard worker~?”
“The cat’s commentary……..good…….”
“Hey, even I can learn like this—”
“I don’t need your pity…….”
They spread out my notebook on the desk between them, but all the admiration they laid on to try and soothe me only helped to make my face feel even hotter.
“Isn’t it fine? They’re unique.”
“I want it. Make it into a book, and it would be amazing…….”
“Definitely! I’d give you 20,000 yen² for it!”
“Then I’ll pay 30,000…….”
“What!? Well played—!”
“This isn’t an auction…….”
The usual silly exchanges leave me flabbergasted. But, I’m a little grateful for it too. I forgot a bit of my shame partway through.
More importantly though, I’m starting to get worried about their sense of money. You’re not seriously considering paying that much right? Ladies?
“Besides, it doesn’t matter if you like cute things or not~? There are plenty of boys who like this kind of thing too, so there’s no problem—”
“Yes……and Yuriha was always cute, so it wouldn’t be a problem anyway”
“Seriously— And you aren’t masculine so much as boyish? More androgynous than anything else.”
“A prince who loves cats…….it’s good”
“Oh? That does sound good doesn’t it? All hail Prince Yurihasu!”
They’re getting excited. I guess my cat hobby was accepted easier than I thought it would…….but who is this Yurihasu supposed to be?
“Oh yeah, can I borrow your health science notebook?”
I’m going to get whiplash one of these days from Honoka’s sudden subject changes.
“Geez, you’re always so……”
I pulled out one of my other notebooks from my bag…….
“Ah……”
“Where is it?”
Honoka shoved her head in front of my open notebook. Although it doesn’t matter how hard you look, you aren’t going to find anything on a blank page…….
“I couldn’t copy anything down…….”
“There aren’t any cats……”
“No, that isn’t what’s important here.”
How much did she like the cats…….it looks like they were more excited to see my cats than they were my actual notes.
“What should we do? Borrow them from Sakisaki when she comes back?”
“I don’t think Saki was able to take any notes for class either though…….”
“Oh yeah—, you two were staring into each other’s eyes back then. I’m so jealous—”
“Y-You’re misunderstanding something”
But it’s not like she’s necessarily wrong either…….I’m getting embarrassed again…….
“If you say so~”
Honoka was looking smug. Meanwhile Yuzuriha was standing on her tiptoes, eyes shining with a loose grin.
“I know someone who can help…….”
“Eh? Who—?”
Did Yuzuriha make any friends other than us?
When Honoka asked, Yuzuriha turned around…….
“S-Suzushiro…….can we borrow your health science notebook……”
and so we’re once again back to Ranko.
1. In Japanese, you usually just use katakana to spell out lapis lazuli and emeralds. People rarely ever use the kanji, and most people wouldn’t recognize the kanji even if you used them.
2. It’s not quite accurate, but a good rule of thumb is that a yen is worth about a penny. So any yen amount, divide it by a 100 and that’s approximately how many US dollars you have. 20,000 yen = ~200$
Experimental Translations 
…and the bookworm says “My precious is mine. You wants to take away my previous….*
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Thanks for the new chapter!
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Thank you for the chapter! It’s good that Yuzuriha was the one to reach out to Suzushiro.
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