Chapter 242: One of Life’s Greatest Illusions: Does She Like Me?
Beside a small supermarket near Shikoku Gakuin, a black-haired boy in a loose short-sleeved shirt was staring blankly at the pedestrians, looking bored. His noticeably styled hair couldn’t suppress his fierce expression. He glanced briefly at two curious children passing by, which scared them into running away with a yelp.
His eyebrows twitched twice as he watched the two small figures disappear into the distance, and Noyoru Yokota sighed helplessly. He brought his face close to the glass of a nearby store and examined himself closely, tidying his somewhat messy hairstyle.
Then, as if he had remembered something, he picked up his phone and took a selfie with a click. He opened a messaging app, found a dark avatar, and sent it.
[Image]
[How do I look in this? Am I handsome enough?]
The black Fujiyui avatar on the other side of the phone screen was silent for a while, and then began to shake violently.
[???????] [Are you coming out of the closet? Don’t use me as a target, brother, you know I’m straight.]
[Get lost! I wouldn’t look at you even if I was coming out of the closet! A date! Help me see if there’s anything wrong with this!!]
[Tsk, with your looks, is there anyone willing to go on a date with you? Are there still delinquent little girls with bad complexes in this day and age? Or did you finally save enough money to find an auntie in the red-light district to end your virginity?]
[I’m too lazy to argue with you today. It’s the underclassman from the convenience store I told you about last time. Quick, quick, help me see if there’s anything wrong with this outfit?]
[Yoho, moving that fast? I remember someone saying a few days ago that he didn’t like her. Such a big-mouthed beast. But are you sure this is a date, and not just her wanting your help?]
[Stop talking nonsense. If it’s no good, I still have time to go back and change. It’ll be too late if I don’t hurry.]
[No, no, brother, if others can tolerate your face, they won’t care about these things. Besides, you actually look quite presentable like this. Don’t change it, don’t change it.]
[Alright, it’s fine now. Thanks, son.]
He pressed the button on his phone, swiped away the reply that he knew would be a string of insults without even looking, and Noyoru Yokota finally relaxed his tense heart, putting his phone back into his pocket.
Recalling what his good friend Takuma Fujiyui had said during their usual bickering, although Noyoru Yokota had outwardly retorted with an indifferent tone, now that he thought about it, he didn’t seem to know what he himself was thinking.
Did he like Kazumi Shimizu?
It didn’t seem like it. Although they worked together a couple of nights a week, besides the aimless and uninformative conversations, he and Kazumi Shimizu didn’t have any other substantial interactions.
But for this seemingly ordinary underclassman, who even had a somewhat unapproachable aura, Noyoru Yokota had a peculiar feeling in his heart.
Perhaps it was the inexplicable goodwill he felt when the girl pulled him out of the abyss; perhaps it was the natural resonance born from their similar experiences; or perhaps it was the cold, emotionless gaze that the girl always directed at him.
In fact, looking back now after the event had passed, he realized that the things that had been troubling him were nothing much. He clearly had better ways to solve them, but at the time, he had foolishly chosen the most stupid method.
No matter what, Noyoru Yokota had no reason to refuse the request made by this girl who had greatly helped him on his life’s journey.
But perhaps it was the restlessness of a teenager’s heart, coupled with the fact that he wasn’t particularly popular with girls due to his disposition, that this rare opportunity to go out alone with a girl made Noyoru Yokota inevitably nervous.
He had even specifically chosen what he considered his most handsome outfit before going out, and meticulously organized his hair. Later, out of consideration for the girl, he had arrived at the agreed-upon meeting place a long time in advance.
Although the girl’s appearance wasn’t particularly outstanding, her cool demeanor gave the young man a slight flutter in his heart. The girl’s bloodthirsty smile with a metal bar that night might be something Noyoru Yokota would never forget.
Perhaps this pitiable girl, who had a similar experience to him, also had a story known only to herself behind it.
But as long as she could drag him out of the darkness, even if it was a devil, it didn’t seem to matter.
[Kazumi Shimizu, with her personality and temperament, she probably doesn’t have many friends at school, right? I didn’t see any friends come looking for her when she was working part-time at the convenience store. And she’s only just started high school at this age, so she probably doesn’t have a boyfriend either…]
[Her performance in the assessment before was also very good. Her foundational knowledge is very solid, and she seems to specialize in medical abilities. In that case, my internship position should be attainable.]
[Does her willingness to ask me out alone mean she has some feelings for me? Otherwise, if she just wanted to borrow materials, most of the information in the school’s online library is open to ordinary students. Also, there are special services at school that help ordinary students borrow books or solve problems for a fee, like small part-time jobs. If there’s no other purpose, she shouldn’t have specifically come to find me like this, right?]
[Then… if she really confessed, should I agree? Although she’s not the type I like, I can’t say I dislike her either? As we spend more time together, I feel she has a unique charm, and she helped me with such an important matter. Not to mention repayment, if she really likes me, it might not be bad to have a girlfriend like her?]
…
Just as Noyoru Yokota was lost in his own thoughts, a small head poked out from the corner of the street, quickly scanned the area, and then quickly retracted.
Seeing the boy who had arrived earlier than expected, Kazumi nodded, put her phone, which she was using to check the time, back into her pocket, and extended her hands to mess up her already slightly messy hair even more.
Then, she took a deep breath, puffing her pale little face until it turned red before exhaling. She took a couple of steps back, pushed off with her calves, and started a light run towards the supermarket ahead.
The sound of her footsteps attracted the attention of the boy who was still thinking. Before he could even look up, a cold yet somewhat flustered voice reached his ears.
“Sorry… pant… pant… I was late… pant… I’m really sorry.”
(ps: Yugan, who updates a chapter every two hours, really can’t be great, sniff.)
