Yukinoshita’s Method of Correction [13]

“I’m really sorry!” Satou bowed deeply. “I never meant to drag anyone else into this. I didn’t think it would cause so much trouble for you…”

“No, no! It’s not like that!” Yuigahama Yui waved her hands frantically, sneaking a glance toward Yukinoshita Yukino.

“I’m partly to blame too. I overthought things… If only I’d… Oh! I don’t even know when you and Kaori started dating…”

There was a touch of sadness in her voice.

Her close friend had started dating someone—and she hadn’t known a thing.

Satou glanced uneasily at Hiratsuka Shizuka.

“What are you looking at me for?” Hiratsuka rolled her eyes. “It’s not like I knew either.”

Satou hadn’t expected to be discussing his relationship in front of a teacher.

“It’s been a little while. Kaori wanted to tell you, but then… she lost her plushie.”

Yuigahama immediately understood Kaori’s thinking.

Just like she didn’t want Kaori to find out she’d lost her plushie...

Kaori, having lost hers, didn’t want Yuigahama to know either.

Kaori had originally wanted to share the joy of her new relationship with Yuigahama. But after realizing the plushie was gone, she started avoiding her instead.

“Our cold war started because of that plushie too.” Satou let out a sigh.

“We were on a date that day—I’d planned a bunch of surprises. But as soon as we met up, she realized her plushie was missing and insisted on going to look for it. I said, ‘It’s just a plushie, isn’t it?’—which was… a pretty awful thing to say.”

Kaori had been furious. She told him, “That plushie represents my friendship with Yui.”

“I got mad too,” Satou said, hanging his head.

“I asked her, ‘What matters more to you—your boyfriend or your friend?’ She didn’t say a word. Just turned around and left.”

Once he’d cooled down, he realized an apology wouldn’t be enough. So he decided to find the missing plushie himself.

When emotions run high, rationality tends to go offline.

But once he calmed down, Satou saw clearly just how impulsive he’d been.

As her boyfriend, he should’ve faced her problems with her.

Not thrown her a question where any answer would’ve been wrong.

He wanted to find the plushie, and then talk things out with Kaori.

Solve both the problem she was facing—and the one he’d created.

But he couldn’t find it.

And as time passed, another realization slowly sank in:

Maybe… it would've been better to talk to Kaori first—then look for the plushie together.

It was around that time he saw Sagami Minami pick one up.

He’d wanted to take that plushie straight to Kaori.

But once he had it, another thought crept in.

He hadn’t spoken to Kaori because he wanted to find the plushie first.

But why hadn’t she spoken to him?

Was it the same reason?

With that question in mind, Satou placed the plushie somewhere visible in his bag—hoping it would prompt Kaori to approach him.

Instead, Yuigahama showed up.

So even when he knew she’d seen the plushie, he still pretended otherwise.

Because the person he really wanted to come talk to him… was Kaori.

At the same time, to prevent Kaori from just quietly retrieving it without a word, he stopped leaving it somewhere obvious. He tucked it away.

And waited.

Two days passed.

Then Higashigumo showed up at the Crafts Club.

“If you ever need help with something, come by the Service Club.”

Satou’s dilemma was this: if Kaori knew he had the plushie, why hadn’t she come to talk to him?

The answer was simple—she didn’t know.

“‘What’s more important, friends or your partner’—a question like that’s as pointless as asking whether you like your mom or your dad more. Childish and dumb.”

Satou pulled the plushie out from his bag’s inner pocket and held it out to Yuigahama.

“I was being immature…”

Yuigahama looked at the plushie in his hands.

It was a symbol of her friendship with Kaori.

It was also the beginning of their mutual avoidance.

And it had sparked Kaori and Satou’s cold war.

“So what now…” Yuigahama took the plushie, “…what are you going to do?”

“Keep searching, of course.” Satou sighed.

“I don’t want to just throw out some half-hearted apology and expect Kaori to forgive me.”

Higashigumo suddenly chimed in. “What exactly are you looking for?”

“The plushie. Kaori’s.”

“No,” Higashigumo raised a brow, “what you’re looking for is a way to talk to her.”

Satou looked down at the plushie in his hands. “You mean…”

“You wanted to find her missing plushie so you could apologize. But despite your efforts, the only one you found was Yuigahama’s.” Higashigumo spread his hands.

“You don’t know her well, so you asked her to pass it along.”

Satou stood frozen for a while. “Wait… that works?”

“Why wouldn’t it?” Yuigahama handed the plushie back to him. “Go, already!”

“I… I’m going right now!”

Satou took the plushie with both hands. He turned to leave, but after a few steps, he paused, spun around, and gave a deep bow.

“Thank you all so much!”

Not long after Satou left, Yuigahama got a message from Kaori and rushed out to meet her.

“The Service Club’s first request—officially complete.”

Hiratsuka clapped her hands together.

“That settles it. As agreed, Higashigumo wins twice. He’s now entitled to make two requests of Yukinoshita. So then…”

Before she could finish, her phone buzzed.

She picked up with a tinge of annoyance, waved vaguely between the two of them to suggest they handle the rest on their own, and exited the clubroom.

The room, once bustling with voices, suddenly fell quiet.

After a long silence, Yukinoshita turned to Higashigumo. “How did you figure it out?”

“Figure what out?”

“The flaw in my assessment.”

“I didn’t.” Higashigumo answered honestly. “I just didn’t believe it.”

“You didn’t believe in my judgment?”

“I don’t believe that anyone can reconstruct the entire truth from just a few hints—and that such a person would be sitting right next to me.” He pointed at himself.

“I couldn’t be certain you were right, but I couldn’t say for sure you were wrong either. And I couldn’t shake the doubts I had… So the only thing left was to act on them. Not to prove you wrong, or right—but to put my uncertainty to rest.”

It’s just like solving a tough problem.

The top student sees it once and has the answer.
The bottom student stares blankly.

How did they even get that? Did they guess?

The fastest way to erase that doubt—plug the answer into the question and see if it works.

Yukinoshita’s cool eyes narrowed slightly. “And?”

“And…” Higashigumo grinned, “I wanted to see what you looked like when you lost. You were so confident—it made me curious.”

He chuckled, as if savoring the memory.

“Turns out, it’s even cuter than I imagined. Not quite face-planting-onto-the-floor cute, but close.”

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T/N: i prefer him with shizuka....

This is a fan translation of 雪之下的矫正方式 by 微凉温热 All rights to the original work belong to the creator. Please support them by exploring their original work or sharing it with others if you can. Thank you for reading and supporting my efforts to bring this story to a wider audience!