The hallway was silent save for the faint tapping of footsteps echoing down the empty corridor. Sunlight filtered through dusty windowpanes, casting long shadows that danced across the walls as Natsumi and Mizuki carried a heavy stack of worksheets and folders between them. Their arms were full, faces pinched with the weight and annoyance of it all.
"Ugh, why did we have to be the ones to help her?" Natsumi muttered, adjusting the bundle in her arms.
Mizuki blew a loose strand of hair from her face. "Because she saw us in the hallway and caught us like deer in headlights."
Natsumi huffed, her tone half-whine, half-laughter. "I just wanted to get home, cuddle up with Yohan and Yumi, and forget math even exists."
"You and those babies," Mizuki teased. "You're obsessed."
"Of course I am! Yohan literally smiles in his sleep when I tickle his belly, and Yumi wraps her whole hand around one of my fingers like I'm the most important person in the world. I am obsessed."
