Chapter 162: Little Black Wakes Up Again and New Information
“Oh, Mai, don’t take it to heart. Kiyomizu-san is just like that, she’s not deliberately targeting you.”
In Shikoku Gakuin’s No. 1 student cafeteria, girls gathered together, eating and chatting. Nakamura Yu, with short hair, swallowed the potato from her spoon in one go and said to the quiet, yet slightly melancholic, long-haired girl beside her.
As one of the few, or rather, the only two people who had a good relationship with Kazumi, Nakamura Yu, who aimed to become friends with all her classmates, kindly wanted to make excuses for her friend in front of the new classmate.
“Yes, yes, yes, she’s not targeting Shinomiyai-san, but everyone! She’s always got that ice-cold demeanor, like everyone owes her money. I don’t know how Sato-kun ended up liking such an ice queen!”
Before Mai Shinomiyai could reply, Yamashita Hanako, sitting next to Nakamura Yu, leaned over, placed a hand on Nakamura Yu’s shoulder, put down her chopsticks, and made a funny facial expression as she complained.
“That’s not true. Kiyomizu-san is just not good at interacting with people. She’s a very friendly person when we chat normally.”
“Only someone like you, who can chat with delinquents outside of school, would think that person is easy to get along with.”
“I said he’s not a delinquent, just a senior who looks fierce! And compared to him, I think you’re more like a delinquent!”
“Then tell me, is there a delinquent with grades as good as mine?”
“…”
Looking at the two people in front of her who had started a battle with their chopsticks, clattering and bickering, Mai Shinomiyai felt a flash of warmth in her eyes. This kind of bickering and arguing, yet having a good relationship, was something she, who rarely interacted with peers, truly yearned for.
“It’s alright, it was also my own impulsiveness. Kiyomizu-san is probably someone who doesn’t like interacting with strangers.”
She elegantly arranged the tableware in front of her on the tray, then picked up a tissue to wipe her mouth. Although the cafeteria food wasn’t as delicious as the food from her family’s shrine, the taste wasn’t too bad, and it was quite novel.
She threw the used tissue into the tray as well and Mai Shinomiyai began to explain.
“Ummm, how should I put it? Kazumi Shimizu is quite difficult to deal with. She’s like that with everyone, so in the end, no one wants to play with her. What happened before wasn’t your fault.”
“It’s okay, Mai, you’ll be with us from now on. Anyway, that person usually only hangs out with her boyfriend and basically doesn’t interact with us.”
Using her chopsticks to snatch the last piece of meat from Nakamura Yu’s plate, the battle between the two ended with Yamashita Hanako’s victory. After all, the small and cute Nakamura Yu and the tall and large Yamashita Hanako didn’t seem to be in the same league in terms of combat power.
While enjoying her spoils, Yamashita Hanako explained to Mai Shinomiyai in front of her.
What she had said before was probably just a small complaint, and now she wanted to remind this girl, who clearly rarely interacted with people, not to suffer social disadvantages.
“Mm, okay. But boyfriend… do you mean Sato-san from our class?”
Mai Shinomiyai nodded obediently, seemingly accepting her words under Yamashita Hanako’s dominant aura. A hint of sharpness flashed in her light green eyes, and she then raised her head with some curiosity and asked.
“Yes, yes, yes! It’s the blond-haired boy in our class, the one sitting in the row next to you!”
Seeing that the girl was asking about gossip, Yamashita Hanako immediately became spirited. She put down the things in her hands onto the tray and leaned closer to Mai Shinomiyai.
“Them? … I feel like their auras are quite different…”
Although she had learned about their relationship from the information, Mai Shinomiyai still voiced her own doubts. After all, the blond boy who looked so sunny and cheerful was difficult to reconcile with the girl she had seen before, who was so cold it was suffocating, let alone the fact that their relationship seemed to be quite good?
“Yeah, yeah, we all think so! I’m telling you, I even saw Kiyomizu-san and Sato-san going out on a date at night. I don’t know if they stayed overnight!”
“Oh!!!”
Hearing the hint of gossip, Nakamura Yu immediately joined the fray, sharing some information she knew, which caused the others at the table to make strange sounds.
“But speaking of which, their personalities are quite complementary, aren’t they? Sato Shinichi’s personality… it’s hard for people to have feelings for someone like that!”
“Tsk~ Hanako, didn’t you think he was quite handsome on the first day of school?”
“That… that was a misjudgment, okay? It’s really hard to develop romantic feelings when you’re with that guy!”
“Hanako, the ‘virgin killer’, also makes misjudgments?”
“What kind of strange nickname is that!!”
Looking at the girls who had started chattering again due to the gossip session, Mai Shinomiyai, surrounded by kind classmates, showed a smile. While enjoying the happy time spent with her classmates, she quietly noted down the information about “Sato Shinichi” revealed in the snippets of conversation.
[It seems that collecting information about him is not that difficult.]
…
“Ring ring ring ring—”
With the final class dismissal bell of the day, Kazumi’s rather agonizing classes finally ended. She glanced back at Mai Shinomiyai in the back row, and then pretended to look at Sato Shinichi beside her.
However, the oblivious boy thought the girl was looking at him and eagerly ran up from the back row, approaching Kazumi and asking what was wrong.
“…”
Her view was completely blocked by the boy’s flat abdomen. Even through his shirt, she could see the outline of his abdominal muscles.
She poked the dog’s reasonably well-trained abdomen with some exasperation. The dog was now a model of shamelessness. He was a bit shy at first, but now, relying on the fact that everyone knew about their relationship, he was brazenly doing these things in class.
Things like waiting by her seat like a dog as soon as school was over; if she hadn’t strongly refused such actions, they would probably still be happening.
She tossed a small snack from her drawer into the dog’s hand, and at the same time, used the opportunity to get him to move his line of sight. But the next moment, a sound in her mind caused Kazumi’s expression to change almost imperceptibly.
Looking at Mai Shinomiyai, who was leaving the classroom with a few girls, Kazumi put on a cold smile, then looked up at Sato Shinichi, who was spontaneously helping her organize her backpack, and said.
“Shinichi, you don’t have to escort me today. I have some things to do before my part-time job tonight.”
“Oh, okay. Then I’ll accompany you to the intersection.”
Taking the school bag, Kazumi nodded, stood up, and put the chair back under the table, then walked out of the classroom with Sato Shinichi.
Mai Shinomiyai’s situation, for the current Kazumi, was important but could be ranked slightly lower in priority.
Because what was more important was that Little Black had woken up, and the particularly important new information that had just been conveyed from Little Black.
