Chapter 105: Chapter 99: Too Close

The classroom buzzed softly with the sound of pencils scratching against paper and occasional whispers between seatmates. The math teacher had left the room for a brief moment, leaving the students to struggle with an especially difficult set of problems.

Lumine sat at her desk, eyebrows furrowed, pencil tapping against her notebook. The math problem in front of her might as well have been ancient alien text.

“Why does this even exist…” she muttered under her breath.

From her right, Amber peeked over. “Lumine, are you okay? You’ve been staring at that problem for ten minutes.”

“I think it’s staring back at me,” Lumine said dramatically, dropping her pencil.

Across the room, Aether was chatting with Venti and Albedo, occasionally glancing back at his sister with a protective older brother squint. Meanwhile, Ayaka was neatly finishing her equations, her focus unshakable.

And then… there was Scaramouche.

Sitting directly behind Lumine, his chin rested lazily on one hand as he tapped his pencil rhythmically against his desk. He’d been watching her struggle with mild amusement for a while now.

“Pathetic,” he said under his breath.

Lumine heard him and turned halfway in her seat, her cheeks puffed in frustration. “If you’re so smart, why don’t you solve it?”

Scaramouche smirked, his violet eyes glinting. “Fine, move aside.”

Before Lumine could protest, Scaramouche leaned forward over her shoulder, his face dangerously close to hers. His breath brushed against her ear as he spoke, voice low and teasing.

“You just have to carry over the coefficient here… and then simplify this term…”

Lumine froze. Her pencil slipped from her fingers as she felt how close he was. She could feel his breath on her skin, and the faint scent of his cologne—something sharp yet oddly comforting—invaded her senses.

Slowly, she turned her head to look at him… only to realize their faces were mere inches apart.

Her golden eyes met his deep indigo ones, and for a moment, time seemed to stop.

Scaramouche’s smirk softened slightly as his gaze locked onto hers. “What? Cat got your tongue?”

Lumine’s face turned crimson as she quickly turned back to face her desk. “Y-You’re too close!”

Scaramouche leaned back into his chair, crossing his arms with a smug grin. “You asked for help. Don’t blame me if you can’t handle it.”

From across the room, Aether had seen everything.

He stood up so abruptly that his chair screeched against the floor. The entire classroom turned to look at him as he stormed toward Lumine and Scaramouche’s desks.

“Hey!” Aether’s voice cut through the silence, eyes narrowed at Scaramouche. “What do you think you’re doing leaning that close to my sister?!”

Scaramouche didn’t even flinch. He glanced up lazily at Aether and said, “Relax, big brother. I was just helping her solve a math problem. Or do you think I have other intentions?”

The smugness in his voice made Aether’s eye twitch.

“Scaramouche…” Aether’s voice was low and threatening.

Venti and Albedo appeared behind Aether, Venti barely holding back laughter while Albedo adjusted his glasses with mild amusement.

“Oh, dear,” Venti said, biting his lip. “The overprotective brother mode has been activated.”

Amber leaned toward Ayaka, whispering, “Should we step in, or…?”

Ayaka gave a soft sigh. “Perhaps in a moment. Let’s see how this unfolds.”

Lumine buried her face in her hands. “Why are you all like this…”

Scaramouche leaned back in his chair, completely unfazed by Aether’s death glare. “You’re so dramatic, Aether. She’s not that fragile.”

Aether slammed his hands on Lumine’s desk. “She’s my little sister!”

Snowball, nestled in Lumine’s bag under her desk, let out a startled meow, drawing everyone’s attention.

“Oh no!” Lumine quickly pulled her bag onto her lap, gently petting Snowball to calm her down.

Amber gasped. “You brought Snowball again?!”

Ayaka covered her mouth with a soft laugh. “Oh dear, this might become a problem.”

Scaramouche, finally breaking eye contact with Aether, leaned slightly to look at Snowball. A faint, almost imperceptible softness flickered in his gaze.

“Even the cat looks smarter than you, Aether,” Scaramouche quipped.

Aether’s jaw dropped. “Did you just—”

Venti finally burst into laughter, clutching his stomach. “Oh, this is gold!”

Albedo coughed into his hand, clearly trying not to smile. “Perhaps we should all return to our seats before the teacher comes back.”

Lumine, still holding Snowball protectively, looked at Scaramouche with wide eyes. “Can you not start a fight with my brother every five minutes?”

Scaramouche smirked again, resting his chin on his hand. “No promises, princess.”

Lumine’s face turned red again, and she quickly turned back to her math problem, muttering under her breath, “Why am I surrounded by chaos…”

As the classroom settled down and the teacher returned, Aether continued to shoot daggers at Scaramouche from his seat, while Amber and Ayaka tried their best not to giggle.

Venti leaned back in his chair, letting out a content sigh. “Honestly, this is better than any drama series I’ve ever watched.”

And in the middle of it all, Scaramouche just smirked to himself, his sharp indigo eyes flickering briefly to Lumine before he returned his focus to his notebook.

Oh, this was going to be fun.