I was browsing for books in the zoological section, as I wanted some references to complete today’s homework too.

After a few moments of searching, I finally got the book I wanted. Searching for books online is much easier than searching for them in a real life library.

As I walked past the next aisle of bookshelves, I noticed a figure in my peripheral vision. I thought I was alone in the library at the moment.

I stepped back and saw Yasurouka standing on her tippy toes and her hand was stretching upwards towards the bookshelf.

She was a short girl, but not too short. She was probably the same height as Lilith.

It’s just that the shelves are too tall in the library and generally we have a wooden ladder to assist us reaching for books on the higher shelves. But since the library was empty today, there wasn’t anyone to help.

Seeing this, I walked up beside her and followed her hand to check which book she wanted. My presence startled her.

I reached my hand towards the book and held it’s corner with the tip of my index finger. “This one?” I asked.

She shook her head from left to right slowly and pointed towards a book with a green cover and golden margins. I still wasn’t used to seeing things without my spectacles. The parallax was hitting my eyes.

“Anatomical Structures?” I asked in a hesitant voice.

She nodded, so I took out the book and handed it to her. Now I wasn’t a really tall guy, I was fairly tall. The last time I measured my height, it was 176 cm. Despite that, the shelf was high for me too.

“Thank you, Sakamaki-kun.”

“You’re welcome.” After a slight pause I added, “So you remembered my name?”

“If that’s a question, then… umm… of course.” She narrowed her eyes at me.

Judging from her reaction, I realised that it was a really lame thing to ask her. But I don’t know how to keep a conversation going.

There was silence again between us. Starting a conversation was difficult for me because I’ve never done it before. She was staring at the cover of the book in her hand. Maybe this situation is just as awkward for her as it is for me.

“Why are you alone in this library?” I asked.

“Huh? Library is a place where you generally come alone.” She answered.

Why do I keep asking these weird questions!? Now she will think I’m a creep.

“Hmm, Sakamaki-kun?” she said in a questioning tone. My eyes glanced at her, and it seemed like she wanted to ask me something.

“What?”

“Why are you in the library alone?” She asked me the same question that I asked her.

“I wanted to get some information on today’s homework,” I said while showing her the book in my hand.

“Well, you don’t seem like a person who studies.”

“Indeed, that’s true. But I keep my assignments up to date.” I smiled. Her gazes were locked on the book in my hand.

“Is something wrong?” I asked.

“If you want references for today’s homework then that’s not the correct book.”

“Huh?”

“Yes, because we have to write about the cellular organisation of organisms, but you have a zoological book in your hand. Clearly the wrong book to take reference from. Since cellular organisation is a part of anatomy, take this book.” She said, while pointing at the book in her hand.

I stared at her for a few seconds, and then replied, “Nerd.” Is what I thought of saying but I decided to correct her since her choice of book was wrong.

“Is that so?” I asked her.

‘What do you mean by that?”

“Why don’t you take a look in that book and tell me if you found the answers for our homework or not.” I probed her. She looked at me with a confused look and started flipping through the pages of that book.

There was again silence between us, except for the sound of her flipping through the pages of the book. I looked at her head moving from left to right, as scanned through the pages.

She raised her head and looked at me with a confused look.

“Did you get the answers?”

“No, but I know they should be here. Maybe I couldn’t search for them.”

“Ahh yes, look at this.” I opened a page of the book I was holding and showed it to her. She squinted her eyes to read the contents of the pages properly.

“Ectoderms… Diploblastic… Triploblastic…” She read it in a low voice and then looked at me in surprise.

“Wait…?” It looked like she was in deep thoughts.

“See, the book you have is about anatomy, right?”

“Yes, but how does it not have information about it?”

“Because anatomy is a complex version of cellular organisation. It’s more about the muscles and tissues rather than going into the basics of their formations from cells.” I explained.

“Okay… but then explain how a zoological book has that information?” She asked me.

“Because it’s the basics to explain the structures of animals on a cellular level. You’re getting me, right?”

“Now that you said it like, I feel dumb.” She sighed.

“You can have this if you want.” I offered her the book.

“But how will you read it then?” She asked me.

“Good question.” I chuckled.

“See,” She shrugged.

“Why don’t you just complete the homework then send me the pictures on text. How does that sound?” I proposed this idea.

“Huh? So you want to copy my homework?” She glanced at me with suspicion in her eyes.

“Copy isn’t the term I would use. More like assist.” I smiled and handed her the book.

After giving my proposal some thought, she said “Okay… since you’re Seifuku-kun’s friend and also you’re smarter than I expected you to be, I might lend you a helping hand this one time only.”

“Smarter than you expected? What did you expect?” I asked her.

“Umm… let’s not talk about it now.” She gave an awkward laugh while staring away from me.

I think she thought of me as an idiot, which I was, but coming from someone else I didn’t like it. Then again, my current attire gave off a certain vibe of someone who isn’t an intellectual individual. My messy hair and the untucked shirt. Also, I wasn’t wearing my spectacles, which used to give me a nerd vibe.

“Anyway… here, take my number.” I shared my number with her and she saved it on her mobile.

I managed to exchange contacts with her. Definitely not what I was expecting to happen.

“Ping me once you’re done,” I said.

“You’re not in a hurry? You know this assignment is due next week right?” I nodded as she asked me this.

“Ohh, you’re going to wait that long despite the fact that you can do it much quicker on your own?”

“I’m a lazy person, Yasurouka-san. Since we have this deal, I won’t bother to do it on my own now.” I smiled. She gave me this weird look.

The last bell rang, and she went off on her own. I didn’t have my bag with me or I would’ve followed her. But the outcome of this meeting with her in the library was definitely more useful than I expected it to be.