I, who advocate giving up, feel like a disqualified person

"..."

Should I move my sleeping time forward by two hours?

It's okay to call it a misunderstanding

For some reason, he still seemed somewhat worried.

In recent days, whenever I pass the road near the school gate, my eyes will involuntarily look towards the place where I saw the cat.

But that guy is already quite familiar with our schedule, so he probably won't be in public during this time. It's unclear what the school's stance is on stray cats and dogs roaming on campus... but if you really want to make a fuss, the best approach is to expel him. If the measures are a bit more forceful...

Thinking about it this way, the fewer people who know about it, the better...

Well, I won’t think about it for now.

Chapter 3: It's okay to call it a misunderstanding

Habits are hard to change. Even though Ye Hui reminded me, I still almost saw the city at four in the morning today.

I don’t know if it’s because of staying up late and having poor eating habits, but when I woke up this morning I suddenly realized that my mouth seemed to have ulcers, and even speaking seemed to have become much more difficult.

So I decided today, no, I would try not to talk until I feel better.

“Ha…Ahh, hiss—”

I opened my mouth to yawn, but as soon as I did, I felt a sharp pain, instantly shattering my sleepiness. For the first time in my life, I felt confused about how to position my tongue in my mouth.

Fighting back the pain and the tears that were about to burst out, I finally reached the classroom.

"Oh, you're here early today too." Noticing my presence, Rinquanchuan took his eyes off the book and stared at me. Then, as if confirming how to address me today, he said the second half of the sentence, "Ishaji-san, whose eye bags are still obvious."

"Uh-huh..."

I should have refuted it, but due to physical reasons, I had to pretend to agree and nodded in agreement.

"Oh wow, your reaction today is quite calm..."

"Um--"

In fact, I don't want this either.

But from Rinquanchuan's point of view, he was packing his schoolbag with a very calm look.

"Could it be that he hasn't woken up yet?"

"Hmm~" I responded, shaking my head.

"Is all you can do is make "hmm" sounds?" Maybe she thought I was just trying to deal with her, so at this moment, not only the sound, but also the look in Rinquanchuan's eyes looked a little scary.

"uh-huh?"

Yes, if you close your mouth you can still hum other sounds besides "hmm".

"...What the hell are you doing? Are you imitating some comedian from some boring show?" His eyes were already filled with disgust.

"..."

Things had come to a head, and if I continued like this, I was sure I'd get beaten. So I gestured for her to pause. Then I pulled out my phone, opened the notepad function, typed out what I wanted to say, and held it up to her.

"...What's this?" Puzzled, she read aloud while looking at my phone screen. "My mouth and oral cavity seem to be rotting, so I usually don't feel like talking."

"Uh-huh."

After listening to her finish reading, I nodded decisively.

"Ohhh, really?"

Why did I see not pity in her eyes, but a look of obvious joy?

"Um..."

"Is this retribution for your excessive talk? Hahaha, this punishment really suits you."

I didn't expect this guy to show his rare smile when he was gloating...

"Hmph..." The only resistance I could muster was a slightly disdainful sound.

"How does it feel to be speechless?"

“…”

"Oh, sorry, sorry, I seem to have forgotten that you can't express your thoughts freely now~"

“…”

I feel like she's talking more all of a sudden. Maybe she's doing it on purpose.

"But, I'm a little curious..." She put down her book and came closer to me, "I'm a little curious...what's going on in your mouth right now."

"Um??!"

After hearing this, I couldn't help but lean against the wall behind me.

For some reason, I always feel that letting people other than dentists see my oral cavity is like exposing my naked body, and the sense of shame is extremely great.

And what's there to be curious about? Although we are both young ladies, your last name is not Chitanda.

"Oh my... Really, your lips are dry..."

Rin Izumikawa sighed as she got closer to me. My eyes turned to her lips, which looked moist and plump, and a healthy cherry color.

"Yes or no..."

Hey, hey, don’t you think we’re too close... Just when I was still wondering about this, my dry lips suddenly felt a soft touch.

"It would be better to drink more water to stay hydrated... huh?"

"Um..."

Finally realizing what he was doing, Rinzenkawa's face suddenly turned red. He immediately released his hand that was touching my lips and took two steps back.

"..."

For some reason, my heart seemed to flutter for a moment. Perhaps I was afraid that the action I just took would cause my mouth to hurt...

"Well... Anyway, now that I understand the situation, I'll change the type of tea today."

As if trying to change the subject, Rinquanchuan lowered his head and sat in his seat.

"See if you have any tea that's better for your condition... You look like you're having trouble even eating, right?"

"..." Does this mean you care about me...

"Hearing you humming and humming is like being a fly on the wall. You'd better get better soon."

"..." Well, maybe this can also be considered a kind of concern.

...............

After understanding the situation, Brother Nan finally allowed me to go to the school infirmary for a checkup during my last study period. However, in my opinion, this situation won't last long... As long as I resume a healthy routine from today on, I'll be fine.

I went to the infirmary anyway, but as expected, it was often empty. I didn't stay there for long, and since I didn't really want to go back to the classroom, I ran to the pavilion again.

Unlike last time, this time I had some leftover breakfast in my pocket... After all, because of my mouth, I couldn't eat much even if I had an appetite. Instead of throwing it away and wasting it, I might as well feed it to stray cats.

But will it really appear again?

Wondering about this, I sat in the pavilion and looked around.

"Rustle..."

Along with the sound received by my ears, a familiar figure finally appeared in my sight from the grass.

"Um...."

This guy actually came.

With this sigh... no, more like a feeling of relief, it and I moved closer to each other. Then, I slowly squatted down and opened the plastic bag I had been holding for a long time.

“…”

“Wuwu——”

He kept chewing the bacon and making some kind of noise, whether it was from a place of enjoyment or something. Anyway, I'm starting to wonder if all cats in the world eat like this...

After thinking it over, I reached out and slowly stroked the fur on its back. However, it didn't even touch the bread beside it... Cats really are meat-eaters... Dogs, by comparison, aren't very picky eaters.

Next time I'll buy it some canned food or something.

Thinking of this, I couldn't help but think of the money that has been idle in my bank card... Maybe it's because I really don't have anything I like, so I don't have any desire to spend it.

“…!”

At this moment, the cat that was eating with its head down suddenly pricked up its ears as if it heard something, and then looked behind it.

"..."

This means someone is approaching. However, it doesn't seem to want to escape... I'm wondering if I should leave now.

"Meow--"

"Ah, so you are here."

However, with the guy's screams, I was finally exposed along with it.

"..."

It's a bit troublesome. I can hardly speak now, and the cell phone I use to communicate with others was forgotten in the classroom.

"Huh...eh?" The person who came looking for the cat made a surprised sound, as if he had just noticed my presence.

“…”

She was wearing our school uniform, so I could rest easy for now...after all, the teacher hadn't caught me. And judging by her voice, she seemed like a rather gentle girl, and since get out of class wasn't over yet...in other words, there was no need to worry about being reported. After all, in a sense, we were all accomplices.

"Hello...Hello..."

"Ah."

I nodded and stood up. My eyes moved from her shoes to her face. Her skirt was a proper, knee-length dress, and her hair style was a recently popular bob, with the right side slightly obscuring her dark eyes, making her look a little reserved...wait, even though this was indeed our first time meeting, this face felt quite familiar.

"...Um..." She looked at me awkwardly, then apparently noticed the spread-out plastic bag. "Are you here to feed Xiao Hei too?"

"...Um..."

I nodded. Even though it just started today.

Having said that, I admit that the guy has black hair, but at least he is black and white. This name is obviously more suitable for a pure black cat.

"Actually, me too... But this is a difficult problem. I don't know if it can still be eaten." With some distress, she took out the canned food on her back.

"Hmm...hmm." I thought it should be edible. After all, the most I just ate was two slices of bacon.

"I'm sorry... I don't quite understand what you mean..."

Ah, because of me, she has a troubled expression on her face... This is really difficult.

"what..."

However, just as I was about to open my mouth, I suddenly felt a tearing pain in my tongue and mouth.

"Hmm..." Damn, I can't say anything like this...

"Oh, I see." She looked at me like something suddenly became clear to her. "You can't speak, right?"

"Yeah, yeah." I nodded quickly.

"So that's how it is... How pitiful..."

“…”

No, I felt like she had misunderstood something. The pity in her eyes proved it; she seemed to have mistaken me for someone with aphasia.

"...Uh-huh..."

I shook my head and pointed to my mouth and cheeks, saying that it was just a problem with my mouth that made it hard to speak, even though I knew that explanation was probably useless.

"Ah, I understand. Don't worry."

I feel like she doesn't understand at all.

"I won't tell anyone about what happened today."