Time with Celian
“Haaah…”
“Huh? What’s this? Celian actually looking tired for once. Did you not sleep well last night?”
Celian almost never yawned in front of anyone, yet here she was, yawning the moment she walked into class that morning.
“Ah, no. It just… sort of happened…”
“Really? If you’re that worn out, why don’t we skip the tutoring you promised me today and let you rest instead?”
“No! I’m wide awake! You don’t have to worry about me at all.”
Whoa—startled me. One second she was slumped over her desk with dark circles under her eyes, and the next she snapped upright with that much energy.
“Uh, okay. Then… where should we do it?”
“…How about my room?”
Yesterday I had invited a girl into my room and spent the evening alone with her. Today the tables had turned, and I was being invited into a girl’s room for the exact same thing. It was far too late to start making a fuss about it, so I just went with the flow.
“All right. I’ll come by after dinner, then.”
“Yes. I’ll be waiting.”
After yesterday’s math session, today was military science. I gathered a few related textbooks and a notebook and headed for Celian’s room. We lived on the same floor, so it took almost no time at all to reach her door.
Knock knock.
“Come in, El.”
“Pardon the intrusion.”
She opened the door almost the instant I knocked. Following her beckoning hand inside, I found myself looking around a room far more carefully decorated than my own.
Inviting a girl into my room had been a first yesterday; stepping into a girl’s room was a first today. I was still glancing around with open curiosity when my eyes met Celian’s, who had been watching me the whole time.
“Ah! Sorry. It’s just so different from mine.”
“It’s fine. You’re welcome anytime, El.”
I stopped sightseeing and focused on the reason I was there. Crossing to the desk, I set down the books and notebook I had brought.
“Shall we start right away?”
“Of course. Whenever you’re ready.”
I took the seat at the desk in place of its owner, while Celian pulled another chair over and sat beside me. And so began another one-on-one tutoring session—this time with Celian instead of Yuri.
“All right, let’s look at this section. This tactic was used by a small nation in the past; you can see how it reflects several unique traits of that country.”
Celian began walking me through the material point by point, explaining every detail with care.
“This part will be on the exam, so you’d do well to memorize it. Ah, this one won’t appear, so we can skip it.”
Comparing her to Yuri would have been unfair to both of them given the different subjects, but Celian’s style was distinctly different: she zeroed in on the essentials—especially the parts likely to show up on tests—and drilled those home. I still remembered how high the hit rate had been for everything she had flagged before the midterms.
“Here, take a look at this as well.”
Thump.
“Ah, sorry.”
As I reached to mark the passage she indicated, my arm brushed against her. Glancing over, I realized the distance between us had closed a little since we first sat down.
She had probably drifted closer without noticing while pointing things out in the textbook. Shifting away or calling attention to it would only have embarrassed her, so I let it pass in silence.
“No, don’t mind it. Let’s just keep focusing on the lesson.”
Celian herself seemed unbothered and went right back to picking out exam-worthy sections. Yet every time she had to reach for something on the far edge of the book—the side farthest from her—she would close the gap by the tiniest increments, as if the stretch were inconvenient.
“Um… it’s getting hard to write when we’re this close…”
Before I knew it we were pressed side by side, forearms touching. Unable to endure it any longer, I made a half-request, half-excuse about needing room to take notes.
“Oh! I didn’t think of that. In that case…”
She stood, picked up her chair, and moved it all the way around to my left. Then she sat down again and leaned right back against me.
“Shall we continue?”
I had no idea why she would reopen the distance only to close it again, but any excuse I might have used had just evaporated. Saying anything more would have been the same as telling her outright, “I’m uncomfortable being this close to you.”
So I kept my mouth shut, and the lesson resumed.
“So why does this part work that way?”
Midway through studying I hit a section too interesting to simply memorize and move past, so I asked Celian. I simply could not picture why anyone would attempt that particular operation in that place.
“Hmm? I could just tell you, of course… but would you like to try figuring it out yourself first?”
Even the girl who had been giving me pinpoint tutoring decided to make me think this time. I ran through the location, the timing, the enemy’s situation, our own forces—everything—inside my head. But trying to hold it all mentally soon left me tangled and confused.
In the end I decided to sketch the rough situation on paper. The problem was that the page I was currently writing on was already full of notes, and doodling in the middle of them felt wrong. Flipping to a fresh page would have worked, except the notebook was nearly finished.
While I was still debating whether to just imagine it, a single sheet of paper tucked between books on the shelf caught my eye. I couldn’t see the back, but the part sticking out looked blank.
“Celian, if you’re not using this paper, mind if I borrow it?”
I asked as I lightly touched the edge.
“What paper are you— Hiek!”
Celian reacted with the same lightning speed she showed in sparring, snatching the paper from between the books and hiding it behind her back. In the brief flash I caught before it vanished, I saw writing on the side that had been hidden from view.
“Hm?”
“Th-this is… um… ah! A letter! Yes! A letter from home! It’s very precious, so… I’m sorry.”
That explained why she wouldn’t want me to see it. Even between friends, private family correspondence could easily feel too personal to share.
“No, I’m the one who should apologize. I had no idea it was something important. I just thought it might be scrap paper.”
“Not at all. It’s my fault for leaving such an important le—letter somewhere so visible. Just a moment—I’ll lend you one of my notebooks instead.”
She carefully tucked the letter deep into her drawer, then handed me a blank notebook.
“It’s unused, so feel free to write as much as you like.”
“Thanks.”
Sketching out the problem on the fresh pages, I found the answer faster than expected. When I asked Celian whether I was right, her eyes kept flicking between me and the drawer, still clearly preoccupied with the letter.
“Don’t worry. I really didn’t see a single word.”
“I know you didn’t… of course I know that…”
Even so, she didn’t look entirely reassured. With nothing more to say on the matter, she simply returned to helping me study. Every so often her gaze would dart toward the drawer where the letter was hidden, but only for the briefest of moments.
“If you just memorize the parts I pointed out today, you shouldn’t have much to worry about for the finals.”
Unlike Yuri’s math lessons, this was a memorization subject, and Celian’s laser focus on the essentials meant we managed to cover a full week’s worth of material before lights-out.
“Seriously, thank you. Even if I’d sat through the actual lectures, I wouldn’t have learned half as much as I did today.”
I meant every word. Studying alone, I would have tried to swallow the entire textbook instead of locking in the key points and likely exam material.
“I should head back and get ready for roll call. Thanks again—really. You looked exhausted this morning, so get some proper sleep.”
She had stayed bright and energetic the whole time she was teaching me, yet the dark circles under her eyes remained. Wanting her to rest as soon as possible, I tidied the desk and stood.
“Um… wait!”
I had already gathered my books and notebook and was turning to leave when Celian called out to me.
“Would you… like to sleep here tonight? In my room?”
“Huh?”
The sudden invitation caught me completely off guard. Yes, Yuri and I had shared a bed in my room the night before, but that had been unavoidable—we still had unfinished material to cover. Today we had already finished the entire week’s content. There was no reason, and no face-saving excuse, to accept Celian’s offer.
“But you’re tired too…”
“No! I’m fine. In fact, I think I’d sleep even better if you stayed.”
Somehow she showed no sign of letting me go.
“Still…”
“You slept with Yuri yesterday, didn’t you? I was the one who… no, I want to sleep with you too.”
I hadn’t run into her since starting the session with Yuri last night, yet Celian already knew Yuri had stayed over. She must have seen Yuri carrying a pillow after roll call.
Refusing now would look like I was treating her differently from Yuri. A true rock-and-a-hard-place situation.
The determination in her eyes—dark circles and all—made it clear she would counter anything I said. In the end, the only answer I could give was yes.
I changed into my nightclothes, grabbed my pillow, and returned to Celian’s room. The moment the door opened at my knock, I froze.
Celian’s sleepwear was nothing like the modest pink long-sleeved set Yuri had worn the night before. Not even close.
The shape itself wasn’t the problem—it was a proper one-piece held up by shoulder straps, even if the fabric coverage was a little skimpy. The real issue was that everything except the bra and panties was made of a sheer material that left almost nothing to the imagination. I had already seen her naked once before, but this was different. The almost-but-not-quite visibility was somehow far more provocative.
Unable to speak, I dipped my head slightly—only for bare skin to fill the upper edge of my vision. I jerked my face completely to the side.
“El?”
Celian called to me as if nothing were amiss, still standing calmly in the doorway. I couldn’t keep hovering forever, so I stepped inside.
“It’s nothing. Really.”
I said the words, but I still couldn’t look at her. Even aiming for her face would inevitably pull the rest of her into view.
“What are you looking at? Why won’t you meet my eyes?”
I was trying my hardest to pretend nothing was wrong, and she refused to play along. In the end I kept my gaze deliberately unfocused and answered while looking at nothing in particular.
“It’s just… your pajamas caught me off guard.”
“Do they look strange? I like them because they’re comfortable…”
“No! They’re not strange at all.”
“Hehe. Well then, shall we get some sleep? Like you said, I am a little tired.”
The only place with bedding in her room was the bed itself.
“Could I borrow just one blanket? My sleeping habits are pretty bad, so I’ll take the floor.”
“I’m fine with sharing the bed. Besides, I only have the one blanket.”
“Then I’ll just run back to my room and grab mine. Wait a second—”
The instant I turned to leave, Celian caught my hand.
“Yesterday…”
“Yeah?”
“You slept right up against Yuri. But you won’t with me?”
She brought up Yuri again. The moment she phrased it that way, I had nothing left to say…
How did she even know we had been pressed together? She must have heard it from Yuri sometime today.
“…Fine. We’ll just share the bed.”
Just like before, I couldn’t refuse.
And so we lay down under the same blanket. I stared hard at the ceiling, determined not to look at her if I could help it.
Part of me wanted to roll over and give her my back out of consideration, but from her perspective that might have felt more like rejection than kindness, so I stayed put.
“El?”
“Yeah?”
I had barely closed my eyes when she called my name. We had only just lain down; there was no way I could pretend to be asleep yet.
“Could you face this way while we sleep? I’d like to talk a little before we drift off…”
“…Okay.”
If I refused, she would only keep coaxing me with one argument after another. We were already under the same blanket—time to give in. I turned toward her, and of course the first thing that filled my vision was the soft swell of her chest pressed together by her arm.
In the end, long after Celian had slipped into dreamland mid-conversation, I still couldn’t fall asleep.
Come to think of it, I had been too tense to notice earlier, but pressed this close I could smell a familiar scent. After a moment’s thought I realized it was the same shampoo I used. So she used the same brand as me.