Hyouka - Volume 03 - The Kudryavka Sequence - Welcome to KANYA FESTA! (1)

He smiled while asking with serious eyes, I smiled bitterly and shook my
head. Tani-kun quickly show a sign of relief,
"I see, I see. Even you couldn't solve it. And I had expected something of
you,"
"Sorry to let you down."
"Don't worry about it. Well, it was a fun Cultural Festival. I'll have to repay
you for the Cooking Club clue you gave me someday,"
Come to think of it, I did tell him something like that, but it was quite some
time ago.
We waved at each other and walked our separate paths. Mayaka then asked,
"Your friend?"
...... Hmm, I wonder?
"Not exactly a friend,"
"Then what?"
"Hmm, let's see, you could say he's just a classmate,"
I gave it some thought,
"He's bad in Languages, I think,"
"So he flunked his tests often?"
"Not really. How should I say it, it's the way he uses his words that's weird,"
Mayaka raised her eyebrows, indicating that I was saying something strange
again. I smiled and explained,
"He uses the word 'expect' a bit too lightly,"