Chapter 318 – A Child Is a Good Deceit #2
“…”
“…”
“Can you stop staring at me?”
Miyuki’s embarrassing tone as she was drinking strawberry milk through a straw.
I, who had been staring at her with my elbow resting on her desk, answered firmly.
“No.”
“It’s embarrassing.”
“Not once or twice, but all of a sudden?”
“Because I stare at you too closely. But is your hair very long?”
Having said that, Miyuki patted the back of my head with one of her hands.
Several fingers poking into her hair.
A smile crept across my lips thinking that the feeling wasn’t too bad.
“I have to cut it.”
“Can I cut it? Only the back of your head?”
“Yes.”
“What? Really?”
“Uh.”
“What if I cut it strangely?”
“Then what’s going to be weird?”
Would you have been taken aback by my carefree answer?
The corners of Miyuki’s lips moved upward.
Looking at it, it seems that I am in a good mood rather than dumbfounded. Because I gave off the feeling that I believed in Miyuki herself.
“Just go to the hair salon and cut it.”
“Why? Are you bothered?”
“Ah what…! It’s because she’s afraid of ruining her hair…!”
Miyuki tapped my arm in an affectionate tone.
Seeing Miyuki and me like that in the seat in front of her, the vice-captain clicked her tongue as if she was afraid to look at her.
If you’re envious, say you’re envious.
Swallowing the words, I gestured at the baker who was eating the mucky bread.
“I only have one piece of bread.”
“Kek…?”
“I’ll buy you a new one later.”
“Coke.”
A baker with a characteristic positive cough offered me a new loaf of bread, and Miyuki shook her head as if she couldn’t stop it…
It was a very peaceful day. Except for the incident with Hiyori in the morning.
After all the classes were over, it was time for activities.
Miyuki, who said she was busy with student council work today and said she wanted to go first, left, and I leisurely headed to the kendo club.
I could see Tetsuya going ahead, but I didn’t catch him.
Because it didn’t have to be.
Anyway, I definitely felt better.
It’s weak, but it has back teeth. But what can I do with that signature messy hair?
I work out hard and do that, so I feel like a serial killer.
When Miyuki, who is busy these days, sees me and Tetsuya, can we say that we have grown apart?
Although Tetsuya often calls Miyuki, Miyuki has not asked me about her relationship with Tetsuya lately.
Perhaps Tetsuya was ignoring this and just talking about everyday things.
As I thought about this and that and moved my steps, I came to an insolvency before I knew it.
I greeted the chatting members in front of the room and opened the door.
“Welcome, this is Yeboni Academy Kendo Club!”
I saw Chinami standing by the door and bending over her.
“Ah, you must be a junior.”
I was momentarily dazed by her unusual welcome, different from yesterday, but came to my senses with the sweet scent of peaches emanating from her.
“What are you doing here?”
“What do you do? We are saying hello to plant a good image for freshmen who want to join.”
If I receive a greeting like that from a distance close enough to be right in front of my nose, I wonder if it would be rather burdensome, let alone a good image.
No, since Chinami is such a bright person in the first place, she might like it as she wishes.
“Have you changed your strategy?”
“Yes. I think I look arrogant when I sit at my desk.”
“Wouldn’t that be?”
“Is that so? Anyway, I think it’s good to make eye contact and say hello.”
“Did the director give permission?”
“Of course. All work related to the application for admission was entrusted to me. It’s not like this, but please change into a uniform, juniors, and stand next to me and follow me.”
“All right.”
“Welcome, this is Yeboni Academy Kendo Club!”
I burst into laughter as I watched Chinami greet the new member who had just entered and lively greeted her. I went into her dressing room thinking that being with her made me feel as if I had returned to her innocence.
**
Tuduk.
‘Driving me crazy.’
It was the time when normal club activities were over as usual.
As I went out to the city center by car to buy school supplies requested by Miyuki, who was still in the student council, I caught my tongue in the sudden rain.
I like rain, but three days in a row is bad.
Is it a revelation from God that my future will be blurry? It’s too much to do.
I looked for an empty space close to the stationery store, but there are no seats at all.
I don’t even have an umbrella, so I’m going to have to buy a new one.
It’s raining like this all the time, so I’ll have to keep it in the car starting tomorrow.
I parked my car in a public parking lot far from the stationery store.
I could have turned on the emergency lights and parked it on the side of the road, but today I felt I had to obey the laws.
I didn’t know why. I just wanted to.
Maybe it was because he remembered what Hiyori had said in the morning, that he would play in the city today, and had anticipation that we might run into each other.
Putting on a windbreaker in the car, I ran to a nearby convenience store and bought an umbrella. I headed to the stationery store.
And in it, I met an uncomfortable person.
“Uh?”
Tetsuya was there.
There is no dirty luck once again. The world is so small.
Shaking off the rainwater from my shoulders, I poked my umbrella into the umbrella stand and approached Tetsuya, who opened his eyes wide when he saw me.
“Are you Miura? What are you doing here?”
“Me…? I came to buy a sharpie and something. You?”
“Miyuki asked me to buy a notebook and a lot of things.”
“Is it Miyuki?”
“I guess I need it for the student council work.”
“Oh yeah? I heard yesterday that the supplies used by the student council were outdated.”
Why do you have to tell me that?
Are you emphasizing the specialness that you knew earlier?
Or is he implying that the things he is buying now are things he will give to Miyuki?
No. Let’s not think negatively.
You seem to be influenced by that gloomy bastard.
If you start a fight, beat them up, otherwise it’s right to draw attention.
There is no bad luck today. It’s raining and I meet Tetsuya by chance.
But if you think on the contrary, good things come after luck comes.
I feel like luck will come to me today.
Actually, it’s a nonsense story, but I decided to just think that way.
You have to think positively to enjoy each day.
“Is that so? Look at it.”
“Okay. You also.”
I had no intention of continuing the conversation with him, so I walked past him and picked out what Miyuki asked for.
Afterwards, as soon as I finished the checkout, I got out of the stinking stationery and moved to the public parking lot.
Toduk, toduk.
I like the sound of rain falling on the umbrella fabric.
It’s a problem that the raindrops get stronger, but the echo isn’t too bad.
As I was walking through the rapidly darkened city center, I saw the signboards of restaurants in the alleyways lit up.
Seeing the lights turn on according to the timing as I walk there, it feels like I became the main character in the music video.
In that way, I, who was walking on the road in a daze, intoxicated with the atmosphere alone,
“Hi?”
Hearing a familiar voice from a new alley he had just passed by, he stopped.
It can be said that the sound of rain is quite loud, but the gentle tone cuts through it and sticks to my ears properly.
‘It’s Hiyori.’
I expected this to happen from the moment I entered the city center, but it is very good.
It feels like the dirty feeling of meeting Tetsuya is being washed away.
Why didn’t I see Hiyori?
It may be because the entrance to the alley is very dark.
I feel guilty because I can’t see the heroine who will be my last puzzle.
But who did Hiyori say hello to?
You will find out now If it’s a man, he’ll split his head in half.
I hide my curiosity and go back to the alley,
“Would you like to try this? It’s delicious.”
I saw Hiyori, squatting down, pushing something towards the floor.
Even the umbrella was tilted forward when no one was there.
When I calmed my eyes to see what it was doing, I saw a small black and white figure in the corner of the alley.
‘Cat?’
The figure was a cat.
Big enough to be a kitten, small enough to be considered an adult… The cat, which looked like it was growing up, was sitting there staring back and forth at Hiyori’s canned food and her face.
It’s like a stray cat, but Hiyori’s inside must have been awkward to pass by because of her kind personality.
But Hiyori… Why don’t you open the can lid?
If you want to feed it, wouldn’t it be necessary to entice the cat by letting it smell?
If you hold out a piece of iron, even me would react like that.
Our Hiyori is… Not as good as chinami, but full of baekchimi.
Aside from the skirt, when did you prepare the sandals again? Amazing.
I don’t think the cat sitting still is very wary, but if I call for Hiyori, it seems to run away right away.
However, I am worried about Hiyori who is getting wet in the rain just watching.
After thinking deeply about what to do for a short time, I finally decided to come up with a compromise.
“Asahina.”
At the corner leading to the alley, she whispered to Hiyori with only her face sticking out like Chinami, but as if she didn’t hear it, she still looked at the cat and shook the canned food.
“Asahina…!”
“Huh?”
I raised my voice just a little, and then Hiyori’s head turned towards me.
She rolls her eyes back and forth as if searching for the source of her sound.
Seeing my half-pushed face under Connor’s umbrella, she tilted her head and asked.
“Matsuda-senpai? What are you doing there?”
“Open the lid…!”
“Yes? What did you say?”
“Pour the lid…!”
“Lid? Ah…”
She laughed bashfully as if she was sorry for realizing what mistake she had made.
Then she cautiously opened the lid of the can.
Concerned that the cat might get hurt while eating, she opened the entire lid, and when the cat moved slightly as if showing interest, she opened her mouth wide and put the canned food down.
At the same time, the cat, slowly releasing her front paws, hesitantly approached the canned food.
The cat sniffed and sniffed, then immediately buried its face and moved its mouth quickly.
I must have been very hungry.
Hiyori was still holding the cat with an umbrella.
Convinced that the cat that was preoccupied with eating would not run away, I cautiously approached Hiyori and stood behind her.
Afterwards, Hiyori lowered her umbrella, bending her knees to keep out of her rain.
“Thank you.”
Her uniform, looking sideways over her shoulder and thanking me, is wet, revealing her inner skin, as she did under the tree the other day.
It’s similar to then, but it feels different. With Hiyori, something special seems to happen on rainy days.
I asked, scratching her nose, ignoring the bra strap sticking out of her back.
“What are you doing here?”
“I came to a cafe with a good atmosphere with my friends.”
“Is there a cafe like that here?”
“Yes. I’m going in a little bit. They say it’s good to take pictures with the old alley sensibility.”
“Why are you with me?”
“The cafe is small, so I came here to get some fresh air. What is that thing in her hand, senpai?”
You came out and found a cat getting cold in the rain, and you must have bought food and returned quickly.
“This? Writing utensils and notebooks… Well, this and that. But aren’t you cold?”
“It’s cold. Give me some clothes.”
She asks for the coat I’m wearing as if it were natural.
I laughed and took off the windshield and hung the hood over Hiyori’s head.
Then, casually, Hiyori threw the arm of her windbreaker over her shoulder and turned her gaze to her cat.
It’s kind of awkward because the kid who used to be like a goblin doesn’t talk.
It’s to the point where I wonder if I’ve already been victimized by an assistant.
Hoping that the cat will return to its nest soon, I stood still and stared at Hiyori’s tiny back of the head, which had been compressed by the hood.
