Spy Classroom - Volume SS2 - Chapter 2.5

Interlude

Intermission ①

Out in the hallway, Annette and Erna stood frozen in front of the passage that read, Klaus loves you. Eventually, Erna screamed, “YEEEEEEEEEEEP!” and tottered off unsteadily down to the hallway’s far end with a face just as red as Lily’s had been.

Annette, on the other hand, was calm and collected. After closing her eyes for a few seconds as though digging through her memories, she ultimately grinned cheerily—

“I assume this is just silly misinformation, yo.”

—and arrived at the truth. It wasn’t clear why, but she seemed satisfied with that, and she headed off to the kitchen.

When she got there, she found Monika boiling some water to make tea.

“Hey, Annette,” Monika said to her, “Lily and Erna just shot by with bright-red faces. You know what that’s about?”

“I think this here is to blame.” Annette held up the declaration of love. “Here you go, Sis. Everything’ll make sense once you read it.”

“Huh. Thanks.”

Annette handed Monika the aforementioned slip, then grabbed a cookie from the cupboard and a bottle of milk from the fridge before leaving. She didn’t stick around to explain any further.

After finding herself alone in the kitchen once more, Monika read the note—the one that said, Klaus loves you.

“What’s this about…?” Her face contorted into an undisguised grimace. “Was this addressed to me, Annette? …Dammit, she’s gone.”

Monika had no idea how to interpret the message. Had Lily and Erna freaked out after discovering that Klaus was in love with her? Or had the message been addressed to someone else altogether?

…Was this seriously meant for me?

She spent half a second considering the possibility, then mumbled, “…This is stupid,” and tossed it onto the counter.

That marked the misunderstanding’s fourth victim.