Meiyu thought to herself… After a moment, she finally responded:
"I appreciate you," Meiyu said.
"You foolish man, you guessed one point correctly."
That is—
"Don't smile too much."
"But sadly, you are late."
Reikou was shocked because he couldn't understand what Meiyu was trying to say.
"Wh-what?"
"What's she telling me?"
"Is she trying to trap me?" Reikou thought to himself, feeling a little frustrated inside.
On the other side, Meiyu's inner thoughts—
"Auhh…"
"What do you think, you fool?"
"You thought you could trap me this easily, huh?"
Now, Meiyu was trying to trap Reikou with her words—
"I appreciate your intelligence."
"You guessed correctly that I don't smile too much."
"But you're late because—"
"I broke this rule myself."
"I smile now, and I laugh too."
Reikou was getting more and more confused. He really couldn't understand what she was trying to say.
"What are you saying?!" Reikou asked.
Meanwhile—
Shiori and Ryuuto sat in their seats, disappointed because they couldn't fix or even help in this situation.
"Oh god!" Shiori thought to herself.
Mr. Yinglan entered the classroom, and everyone quickly returned to their seats when he arrived.
As Mr. Yinglan scanned the classroom, he noticed the whole class was present—except for two students.
"Hm! I can clearly see that two students are missing from class," Mr. Yinglan muttered.
"Meiyu and Reikou."
"Does anyone know where they are?" he asked.
Shiori and Ryuuto immediately became alert because they knew Meiyu and Reikou weren't in class—but they didn't know where they were.
Suddenly, one student shouted—
"Sirrr! Not two—three students are missing! Yueko is also not in class!"
Mr. Yinglan adjusted his glasses and said,
"Don't worry about Yueko."
"She took permission from me."
"She requested a half-day leave."
"Now tell me about Meiyu and Reikou."
"Does anyone know where they are?"
The whole class whispered, "Noooo, Sirrr—"
"Okay, let's start the lecture then," Mr. Yinglan said.
He picked up a piece of chalk, opened his book, turned toward the board, and started his lecture.
"Ryuuto, do you know where Yueko has gone after taking a half-day leave?" Shiori whispered to Ryuuto in a low voice.
"To be honest," Ryuuto replied in a low voice, "I don't know. Maybe she went to cheer for Kiyoshi."
"Yeah! Maybe," Shiori agreed.
"Today is Kiyoshi's football match, and we didn't go to cheer for him."
"I'm just a friend by name only," Ryuuto muttered.
Kiyoshi was alone there. Reikou and Meiyu were also missing, and no one knew where they were.
Shiori thought to herself with disappointment—
"Hmph! Ryuuto, after school, we should go meet Kiyoshi."
Shiori said to Ryuuto with a faint smile—
"Yaaa! Sure!" Ryuuto replied loudly.
Mr. Yinglan noticed and whispered—
"Shiori and Ryuuto, both of you, stand up."
Shiori and Ryuuto stood up in their places, but Ryuuto whispered—
"Sir, we're not the only ones talking. That row and that row are also talking."
Ryuuto pointed to two rows and complained about them.
"Go! All of you stand up!" Mr. Yinglan said loudly and aggressively.
Both rows stood up, glaring at Ryuuto.
Meanwhile—
The library room felt more and more like a battlefield.
Neither side was willing to surrender.
Both Reikou and Meiyu were playing a mind game, trying to trap each other.
"You fool!"
"You can't understand simple language," Meiyu whispered.
Reikou couldn't read Meiyu's expression. She didn't directly say what she meant.
She was trying to mentally disturb Reikou by using unclear words and vague language. The brain struggles to process unclear sentences, instinctively trying to make sense of them. While the brain is stuck on this task, the person becomes distracted and frustrated, often leading to unintended or erratic behavior. This is one of the simplest ways to distract an opponent.
"What is she trying to do?"
"I really can't understand," Reikou thought, frustration clearly visible on his face. But he still tried to maintain a normal expression.
"Hmph! It's working," Meiyu thought.
"Okay, I'll tell you in simple words—"
"At first, I made a rule that I wouldn't smile."
"But later, I removed it because I thought that sometimes, at certain moments, a smile is needed."
"And I don't want to be hated, so I changed it," Meiyu explained with a soft smile, raising one finger, closing her eyes slightly, and tilting her head.
Huh! Reikou was still processing.
"Okay, that's enough. Class has started, I think."
"Let me go," Meiyu said politely, picked up her books, and left the library quietly and coldly.
Now that Meiyu was gone, Reikou still sat there, thinking to himself—
"Did I fail?"
"She's even smarter than I thought."
"She gave me a clear answer—but in an unclear way."
"She didn't say yes or no."
"First, she said yes, then no, because she broke her own rule."
"She… played smart."
"Agh!"
"My first step failed," Reikou said with a smirk, leaning back on the chair, stretching his legs, and staring outside.
Meanwhile—
Meiyu walked silently, her expression blank, but this time, she was smiling.
"That fool…"
"He broke my first rule successfully."
"He guessed correctly that I had a rule—"
'DON'T SMILE TOO MUCH.'
"Reikou didn't break it, but because of him, I had to break my own rule."
Meiyu whispered in her mind, still smiling.
She reached the class, opened the door, and whispered—
"May I come in, sir?"
Mr. Yinglan looked toward Meiyu and asked—
"Why are you coming so late?"
Huh! She's back! Shiori and Ryuuto thought.
"Actually, I was in the library, checking my mistakes from the test so that I don't repeat them next time," Meiyu answered coldly.
"Okay, next time, inform me first. Go and sit in your place," Mr. Yinglan said.
Meiyu walked to her seat, but Sayomi quickly noticed something—Meiyu's expression had changed slightly. She was smiling.
Meiyu sat down, but Shiori and Ryuuto were still standing, staring at her.
"What happened?"
"Why are you staring at me like this?"
"And—why are you still standing?" Meiyu asked them.
"Ahh… nothing!" Both Shiori and Ryuuto said together.
Shiori also noticed Meiyu's faint smile and whispered to herself—
"Why is she smiling? Did Reikou propose to her?"
"No-no, that's not possible," Shiori shook her head.
On the other side, Meiyu was lost in her thoughts—
"Why am I smiling?"
"That… that foolish Reikou."
"He changed me a little."
"He won this round by breaking my first rule."
"But don't worry—now he can't go further."
"At least, I have a reason to smile now."
Meiyu fell into deep thought, resting her chin on her hand and looking outside the window.
Meanwhile—
Reikou was still sitting in the library, looking outside the window.
But this time, the library didn't feel like a battlefield. It felt like a peaceful garden.
With peaceful silence—birds outside the window chirping, a soft, humble wind flowing, butterflies sitting on a flower. The rose felt like a beautiful princess, waiting to support her loved one.
On one side, Reikou failed in his first step to know and break Meiyu's rules. But in reality, he unknowingly broke Meiyu's first rule: "DON'T SMILE TOO MUCH."
On the other side, Meiyu found a reason to smile. Though the rule was broken, she smartly handled Reikou's plan without letting him realize it. She countered his strategy plan with unclear answers, ensuring he wouldn't notice the victory he had claimed.
Meanwhile—
TONK! TONK! TONK!
The period was over.
"Huh!"
"Sit down, all of you," Mr. Yinglan said, giving permission for the punished students to take their seats. He picked up his water bottle and book, then, before leaving the class, whispered—
"Be present tomorrow. I will give you test revisions."
Then, he left the class.
The students who had been punished because of Ryuuto glared at him with deadly stares.
"What— What are you looking at?"
"Sorry!" Ryuuto apologized while rubbing his head.
Meanwhile—
Kiyoshi, who had lost his football match, sat alone on a bench in the garden, looking dejected.
On the other side, Yueko finally arrived at the stadium. As she scanned the ground, she whispered—
"Oh no... The match is already over."
"I'm late..."
"But where is Kiyoshi?"