Jin-kun, You’re Way Too Smart

The whistle signaling the end of the morning P.E. class sounded, as if pressing a pause button for the boys and girls on the field who had been drenched in sweat.

From afar came the noise of students enjoying their free activity time, but that liveliness had nothing to do with Imaizumi Keita, because today was his duty day.

He lowered his head and carried the used hurdles one by one toward the sports equipment storage room beside the school building.

As soon as the door opened, the smell of rust mixed with old rubber rushed into his nose.

The storage room was rather dim, barely lit by the light leaking through the door crack and a small, dust-covered window on the wall.

Various pieces of sports equipment were piled on shelves, casting patches of pitch-black shadows.

Imaizumi Keita leaned the last hurdle against the wall, then returned the scattered basketballs and marker cones on the floor to their places.

After finishing all the work, he clapped the dust from his hands and prepared to turn around and leave.

At the moment he turned around, a sudden dull clang sounded behind him, followed immediately by a click, like the sound of an old lock automatically falling into place.

The surroundings suddenly went dark.

Imaizumi Keita paused, then turned back in confusion to look toward the door.

A figure stood there with her back to him, hands still in the posture of pushing the door, having completely shut the heavy iron door.

In the dim light, the brown short hair plastered to her cheeks with sweat, along with the athletic T-shirt and shorts that tightly outlined a fit, energetic figure, clearly identified the girl as Shioyaki Lemon.

She also seemed not to have expected the door to make such a loud noise.

Her whole body stiffened there, unsure whether she should turn around or continue pretending she had merely passed by.

“……”

Imaizumi Keita didn’t say anything. He simply watched Shioyaki quietly, waiting to see what she would do next.

At last, Shioyaki Lemon seemed to make up her mind.

Her body turned around little by little in an extremely slow and stiff manner.

Her face showed a complicated expression mixed with nervousness, shyness, and a sense of throwing caution to the wind.

Her eyes avoided his, and an awkward smile hung on her face.

“Th-that… Imaizumi…”

She opened her mouth, lifted a hand to brush aside the strands of hair sticking to her cheek, and said softly, “I… I have something I want to tell you…”

“Mm, what is it?”

“Well… well, before, I saw… you and… Mitsuki, talking in the classroom…”

She stammered her way through the beginning of her reason for coming.

“Oh, that thing.”

Imaizumi Keita nodded, a look of understanding appearing on his face. “He wanted to borrow some books from the literature club, so I just helped ask.”

“Th-then… did Mitsuki… take the books away?”

A glimmer of hope rekindled in Shioyaki Lemon’s eyes.

“No, not yet. I just got the club president’s permission and haven’t had the chance to tell Ayano about it.”

As soon as Imaizumi finished speaking, he saw delight immediately bloom on Shioyaki Lemon’s face, and without thinking she said, “Then, if it’s… if it’s convenient… could I help you deliver the books to him?”

Seeing Shioyaki Lemon’s eager and adorable expression, the slight displeasure Imaizumi Keita felt from being interrupted quietly faded away.

He immediately understood why she had come to find him.

It was nothing more than wanting to use the excuse of “returning books” to create an opportunity for herself to spend some alone time talking with Ayano Mitsuki.

Such a… simple and easy-to-read plan that it felt a bit cute.

Looking at Shioyaki Lemon’s shy and nervous face, Imaizumi couldn’t help wanting to tease her a little.

“So, Shioyaki, are you trying to get closer to Ayano through borrowing books? If that’s the case, I might be able to give you an even better suggestion.”

“Yah—!”

Shioyaki Lemon let out a short cry and took a step back. “N-no! That’s not what I mean at all. Mitsuki and I are just ordinary friends!”

After saying that, she seemed to realize her own airheaded nature.

With Imaizumi and Mitsuki both being top students, they were probably much smarter than her, so she hesitantly asked for Imaizumi’s advice instead.

“Jin-kun, what is that better suggestion you mentioned? Can I hear it?”

Imaizumi nodded. “If you want to spend as much time as possible with Ayano, you could actually pretend to come visit the literature club when he comes to borrow the books. That way, the two of you can hang out in the clubroom a bit longer.”

“Eh—eh—eh—eh!”

Shioyaki Lemon exclaimed in surprise, her face lighting up with excitement as she rushed over, grabbed Imaizumi’s hand, and hopped twice. “Jin-kun, you’re way too smart!”

After saying that, Shioyaki Lemon realized she might have gotten a bit too excited.

She released Imaizumi’s hand and hurried to cover it up. “Jin-kun, don’t misunderstand, okay! Mitsuki and I are still just friends for now…”

“If you’re going to give advice, please be a bit more tactful and consider a girl’s modesty, alright?”

Modesty?

Imaizumi Keita’s gaze swept over her sportswear, its tight lines outlined by sweat, and he recalled her valiant, dashing figure on the track.

No matter how you looked at it, this tomboyish athletic girl in front of him didn’t seem to have much to do with the word “modesty.”

Of course, he didn’t say that out loud—such a comment would only make things more troublesome.

He simply looked at Shioyaki Lemon’s adorably indignant expression and felt his mood inexplicably improve.

After all, he was just pushing a losing heroine to face her inevitable defeat.

As for matchmaking them into a couple and doing something that would make others envious—he had no intention of doing that.

“I’ll be more tactful next time.”

Imaizumi Keita replied perfunctorily to Shioyaki Lemon.

“Th-then… I’ll leave this to you, Jin-kun…”

“Mm, I’ll pass it on for you.”

Imaizumi Keita nodded, fully agreeing to take care of it.

For him, it was just a small favor.

“That’s great! Thank you, Jin-kun!”

Shioyaki Lemon visibly relaxed, her bright, cheerful smile returning to her face.

“Well then, if there’s nothing else, I’ll head back to the classroom first.”

As he spoke, Imaizumi Keita walked past Shioyaki Lemon and stood at the storage room door.

“Okay! Bye-bye!”

Shioyaki Lemon turned around as well and waved goodbye.

Imaizumi Keita placed his hand on the door handle, turned it downward, and pushed hard.

The door didn’t budge at all.

He tried again, putting in more strength.

Still, it didn’t move an inch.

The handle could turn normally, but the door seemed to be jammed from the outside—or… locked.

He frowned and forcefully shook the iron door.

It made a dull banging sound, yet still refused to open.

“What’s wrong?”

Shioyaki Lemon behind him noticed something was off and asked curiously.

Imaizumi Keita let go of the handle, turned around, and looked at Shioyaki Lemon with a serious expression, stating the fact in a heavy tone.

“It seems we’ve… been locked inside.”