Chapter 252 – Cute?
“What is it?”
In front of her dark-toned desk, the girl with indifferent eyes was tidying her bangs, which had gotten messy due to her hasty movements, using a small mirror on the corner of the desk. As she tapped the green connect button, she irritably asked the familiar dog-like face that popped up on her phone screen.
Who knew why her phone still had a signal in the death space of [Black Coffin]? However, looking back, this call wasn’t sudden. After all, according to the time, it was indeed the usual time for them to video call. It was just that the girl, busy after a day of dealing with some issues concerning her territory, had forgotten about it.
But what was even more worthy of complaint was her damn body’s reaction. She didn’t even carefully consider the subsequent exam for the Lich Governor, only giving a few rushed instructions before tiptoeing briskly towards the exit of her territory, as if afraid that the person on the other end would hang up if they couldn’t reach her.
“Kazumi… Good evening…”
Sato Shinichi on the other end of the phone wasn’t intimidated by the girl’s cool aura. The usual silly smile was on his face as he awkwardly raised his hand to greet his little girlfriend, whom he hadn’t seen all day.
Not receiving a response from the girl, the boy didn’t get discouraged. He answered Kazumi’s previous question as if talking to himself.
“I just wanted to ask what you’re doing, Kazumi?”
His dog-like words, which carried a hint of appeasement, made Kazumi’s lips curl up involuntarily. After confirming that her hair was tidy in the mirror, she turned her profile and looked at her always silly-looking dog.
“Sitting here playing a game.”
The girl’s words were always cold and precise, like a precise machine, replying to the questions from the other side emotionlessly.
“Ah, is it the game you mentioned before? Is it because there’s an event recently?”
The boy wasn’t affected by the girl’s cold tone and continued the awkward chat, as he believed that even though Kazumi always appeared indifferent, it was just her inability to express her emotions.
Rather, compared to talking with others, the fact that the girl was willing to keep talking to someone like him, who wasn’t good at conversation, showed her feelings for him.
“Something like that.”
“Oh oh oh, then Kazumi, do you remember before…”
“…”
Casually taking out a book to write and draw in, she casually replied to the boy’s extremely awkward conversation. This was probably one of their strange ways of interacting.
However, to be serious, while talking to her dog, although it seemed like Kazumi had flipped through many pages and written a lot, in reality, she hadn’t been able to focus on a single word, having given her full attention to talking to this troublesome fellow.
Was this a kind of disguise for Kazumi?
Otherwise, if they had to look each other in the eye while chatting, who knew what strange expressions her damn body might make on its own!
Kazumi had never expected much from her dog’s emotional intelligence.
Occasionally, he would unintentionally say something strange that made her heart flutter, but to Kazumi, who had more experience, these were mostly the naive and flustered clumsy words unique to a confused teenage boy, words that were particularly heavy on learning.
Of course, she didn’t dislike him for that. Or rather, in this boy, who showed a reflection of her younger self, Kazumi felt a sense of nostalgia for her so-called youthful life.
However…
The topic today was too strange, wasn’t it?
Slightly raising her eyebrows unconsciously, the girl put down the water-based pen she was writing and drawing with, and, with a rather strange expression, looked at the boy staring at her on the screen, interrupting his words.
“Shinichi.”
“Yeah, what is it?”
“What exactly do you want to ask?”
“Ah, no, I just…”
“Just say what you want to say.”
The girl’s slightly serious tone made the blond boy on the other end subconsciously sit up straighter. His already somewhat constrained expression struggled for a moment before finally relaxing. He pursed his lips and looked at his girlfriend on the screen.
“Um… Actually, I just wanted to ask about that message you sent me earlier…”
As if remembering something, the boy quickly raised his right hand above his head, his steady voice suddenly rising, as if taking an oath.
“Of course, I don’t not believe you at all, Kazumi!! I’m just a little curious, only a little. It’s okay if you don’t want to say it, I’ll definitely believe you.”
Looking at her dog’s performance with slight astonishment, Kazumi was completely stunned. Especially the part where he said it was okay if she didn’t say it, while his eyes dimmed and his expression drooped, causing the girl, who had a cold expression, to break her composure and let out a “pfft.”
What was this all about? Just now, her thoughts had strayed to whether Grandpa Sato had discovered her connection with [Shadow], which was why the dog was hesitant to speak, but in the end, you’re telling me it’s about this?
“Are you an idiot?”
Without time to suppress the smile on her face, the girl poked the wronged little dog’s head on the screen. She picked up a small gray notebook from the pile of books next to her and opened it in front of the phone’s front-facing camera.
“I borrowed some materials from the library by impersonating a senior student. I told you before that I want to focus my research on hero abilities, right?”
Fiddling with her bangs helplessly, Kazumi looked at her dog, who seemed to be a little jealous, and her expression became even more subtle. Although that was indeed her intention when she was playing a prank, her dog seemed a bit too possessive.
“Oh oh, is it a senior you met while working part-time?”
The girl’s words made Sato Shinichi, who had been wilting, instantly perk up again. He continued to ask on the screen with an awkward expression.
“Yes, I helped him with a small favor before, so I asked him to do it. I spent the whole afternoon taking notes at the library and got home around 7 something.”
Kazumi explained while flipping through the notebook in her hands. The neat handwriting covering the pages proved the truth of her words.
“I told you before I was going, so there shouldn’t be any problem, right? Sato-kun, who can’t refuse?”
…
Kazumi bid goodnight to the dog on the other end of the phone with a somewhat happy mood and hung up the video call with satisfaction.
Regardless of whether the girl was willing to admit it at the moment, the power that girls wield in love, being able to be willful, was indeed quite satisfying. Especially after she brought up past grievances and took the offensive, the dog’s helpless and pitiful appearance really made her feel much better.
However, the girl wasn’t a devil. After playing with the dog for a bit and confirming his heartfelt apology, she then “forgave” him half-heartedly. After that, they chatted as usual until it was time for bed.
Casually throwing her phone onto the bed, Kazumi stretched gently to relieve the soreness in her body. Yet, in her mind, she inexplicably saw the blond boy’s downcast and pitifully wronged appearance.
Her eyes narrowed slightly, and a trace of a smile appeared on her pale pink lips. Her deep black eyes looked at the dark phone lying on the gray bedsheet.
[He looks pretty cute when he’s jealous.]
