💜💗The Equation of Love: When X Meets Y - Ch1

💜💗💜💗💜 Story 💗💜💗💜💗 Page 1 — Secret Feelings After School The dismissal bell had already rung, and the classroom at Kamiyama High School seemed to have been gently muted by the setting sun. The sound of footsteps in the hallway gradually faded away, leaving only the soft rustling of the curtains in the breeze. Megurine Luka opened her last textbook on the desk and raised her pencil, but she couldn't bring herself to write a single word. The desks and chairs remained neatly arranged from the day's lessons. Faint traces of chalk still lingered in one corner of the blackboard. Their dark, rectangular school bags rested beside their desks, yet neither of them seemed eager to pick them up. Luka loved these quiet moments after school. There were no teachers asking questions, no crowds to search through, and no need to pretend she wasn't looking for someone. All she had to do was raise her eyes slightly, and the person she wanted to see would be right there. It wasn't because the homework was difficult. At least, that was what she kept telling herself. At the neighboring desk, Kamui Gakupo was quietly arranging his calculations. He wore Kamiyama High School's navy blazer with pale trim, a white shirt, and a striped tie that had become slightly crooked from leaning over his work. His long, pure-purple hair was tied behind him, while two beautiful strands of hair fell in front of his ears, flowing past his shoulders toward his waist. His expression was especially serious whenever he held a pencil. Sometimes he frowned in concentration, only to relax again a moment later. Luka watched him, and a tiny imaginary version of Gakupo suddenly appeared in her thoughts. The miniature Gakupo stood on her notebook, pointing sternly at the empty page as if scolding her for getting distracted. But a moment later, he smiled at her so sweetly that she almost laughed aloud. Luka hurriedly pressed her lips together to hide her smile. She remembered how Gakupo had tilted his umbrella toward her during the rain last week, leaving his own shoulder almost completely soaked. She also remembered the day she had forgotten her eraser. Without saying anything, he had simply pushed a clean one toward the corner of her desk. Such small things hardly seemed worth mentioning. And yet, each memory was like a piece of candy someone had secretly placed inside her drawer. The more she remembered, the sweeter everything became. "What are you smiling about?" Luka suddenly raised her head. Gakupo had stopped writing and was looking at her with curious purple eyes. "N-Nothing!" She quickly lowered her gaze, letting her long pink hair fall across her cheeks to conceal the warmth spreading over her face. "I just remembered a problem." "A problem that makes you happy?" "Maybe." She answered so quickly that even she thought it sounded suspicious. Gakupo didn't ask any further questions. He simply chuckled and returned his attention to his notebook. But his pencil remained motionless. The truth was, he wasn't concentrating much better than Luka. The way she gently bit the end of her pencil while thinking, the way her pink hair swayed in the breeze, and the adorable expressions she made without realizing it had captured his attention completely. He wanted to ask why she was smiling. But he was afraid that the answer might have nothing to do with him. So he pretended to continue calculating. If his imagination could take the form of a tiny character, there would undoubtedly be a miniature Luka inside his heart, smiling at him while holding her crimson school ribbon. Outside the window, the sky gradually changed from gold to a delicate orange-pink. Luka pushed her notebook forward, hoping that neatly arranged equations would help conceal her embarrassment. Unfortunately, the harder she tried to concentrate, the more the numbers seemed to dance before her eyes. She erased one line, wrote it again, and finally sighed. "Um... Did I make a mistake here?" Gakupo leaned forward to examine her work. He didn't answer immediately. "You used the given conditions correctly, but you forgot that they're related to each other." Luka raised her blue eyes. "You can tell just by looking?" "Because I know your habits when you solve problems." He spoke as though it were the most natural thing in the world. His expression softened. "Whenever you get nervous, you write the most important step especially small." Luka froze. She had never realized someone was paying attention to such little details about her. The paper on her desk was still an ordinary homework assignment, but somehow, even her incorrect calculations no longer felt so discouraging. Gakupo moved his chair a little closer. "Would you like us to look at it together?" Luka tightened her fingers around her pencil and nodded. She had originally planned to finish her homework and go straight home. But now, she secretly wished the sunset would remain outside their classroom window just a little longer.