How We Met Again

Chapter 18: The Storm Resumes

"Ah, but Uesugi-san, you were having trouble finding me this morning! So, I thought I'd help by making it nice and simple!"

"That's... fair, I guess? Anyways, I have something for you."

I pulled out the pile of papers from the night before, which I had collated in a folder, and handed them to her.

"This is the actually useful stuff for the midterm. Please don't forget it -- you need to be focusing entirely on what's going to be tested right now if you want to stand a shred of a chance."

Yotsuba took the folder, glanced through it, and then nodded. She pulled her bag off the floor, put the folder away, and then leaned forward in her chair. There was suddenly a serious look on her face.

"Uesugi-san... I have an important question for you."

"Yes?"

Yotsuba seemed to hesitate for a moment, almost as if she didn't want to hear the answer.

"Please be honest with me... do you think I'm going to make it?"

I paused... and then sighed.

"With, or without Second Place-san's continued interference?"

"With, I guess?"

"No," I said bluntly. "You're screwed."

There was an ugly moment of silence as Yotsuba digested what I'd said. Then, she let out a soft laugh. Somehow, it was pain-filled.

"You don't hold back, do you, Uesugi-san?"

I shook my head sadly. "I'm sorry -- I just don't want to lie to you. If you go to these two sessions, you're probably going to fail. Even without them, of course, you still might; just like I said when we started studying for this midterm, I can't guarantee you'll make it, even with all this effort. I can say with confidence, though, that if you do go, you will fail, unless Second Place-san decided to overhaul his entire pedagogy in the last two days."

There was another moment of silence, and then Yotsuba took in a deep, quivering breath, and slowly released it.

"I... don't think he has," she said, her voice quiet.

"That seems like a reasonable assumption," I said, using every ounce of my willpower to not look away from her. She was clearly upset. Somehow, it was... hard for me to face that head-on.

Yotsuba glanced up at me, and it almost seemed like she had a question in her eyes -- though what the question was, I didn't know. We locked eyes, and she looked over my face. Perhaps she found her answer, because a half-smile flitted across her face, though I could tell that it had the same sad quality as her earlier laugh.

"...Ok." Yotsuba said. She took a deep breath, let it out, and then leaned back in her chair. Whether it was the calm herself, or to steel herself, I wasn't sure.

"Uesugi-san... is it alright if I come over tonight as well?"

It took me a moment to process the implications of what she'd said, and then a small smile crossed my face.

"Sure, sounds good."

Yotsuba hunched up on the table, her jaw clenched. I could tell she was deeply uncomfortable with the decision she had just made; part of me felt bad for her, but another part of me found it difficult to fathom why it had been such a hard decision in the first place.

There's something about this I'm not understanding... but if she wants to tell me, she'll tell me. Maybe she really does have a tragic backstory.