He found an empty seat facing her among the tables and chairs in the next row, gently set down the tray holding his combo meal, then quietly sat down.
Just as he had expected, he had not attracted her attention at all. Aside from his deliberate restraint, that also showed just how indifferent she was to everything around her.
While quietly watching her, he picked up his drink and took a sip. He had already been a little thirsty when he was with Hoshino Ai earlier, but his drink had been finished then, let alone now after walking all this way.
Pfft!
So bitter!
He nearly spat out the black beverage in his mouth. Looking at the black coffee in his hand, his expression became as bitter as the drink itself.
Tch, a miscalculation. He should have ordered a Happy Water combo.
"Heh~"
Sakurakoji Talent was a little startled. The sound had been faint, but he was certain it had come from across from him. He looked at the person ahead of him and saw that her gaze was still fixed on her tray, as if that mocking chuckle had not come from her at all.
She paid little attention to Sakurakoji Talent's obvious stare. She simply kept picking up the disposable sugar packets beside her, tearing them open one by one and pouring them into the same black coffee he had...
One packet, two packets, three packets, four packets...
"..."
Sakurakoji Talent's eyelid twitched wildly as he silently watched her keep using the free sugar packets, mixing a "lethal dose" of sugar into her drink and stirring it evenly. Then she lifted the cup and took a sip, looking thoroughly satisfied. Afterward, she shot Sakurakoji Talent a provocative look, seemingly laughing at him for not even being able to drink black coffee.
"..."
No! How did she have the nerve to laugh at him?
A string of question marks filled Sakurakoji Talent's mind as he sternly condemned her wasteful use of sugar!
This was intolerable! He grabbed the sugar packets beside him too, tore open two, poured them in, stirred, then took a sip and looked back at her, trying to disdain her shameless behavior in the same way. Yet all he saw was her profile—knowing she had no chance of winning, she had already shifted her gaze to the window to admire the night view.
This girl!
Sakurakoji Talent gave an unnatural, angry laugh, a vein pulsing on his forehead. He admitted it—he had truly been provoked. If he did not get revenge today, he probably would not be able to sleep tonight.
So he picked up his tray, stood, walked straight over to the four-person table where she sat alone, and calmly took a seat.
Drawn by his movement, the aloof girl turned to look at him. Seeing that he had sat down uninvited, she frowned deeply and spoke in a cold tone. "Hey, what do you think you're doing?"
"Nothing much. I just wanted to come over and talk to you." He answered gently with a smile.
"I have nothing to say to you. If you know what's good for you, leave already. Shoo, shoo!" She propped up her chin with her right hand while stretching out her left hand and waving it as though she were chasing off a stray cat or dog. Her beautiful face was full of disgust.
Though his appearance had indeed caught her eye slightly—he looked much more interesting than most people—she had no interest whatsoever in talking with him. That dazzling white hair of his would be better suited for admiring as a pet dog. Thinking that, she found it amusing, the corner of her mouth lifting imperceptibly.
"I don't see it that way." Sakurakoji Talent had expected her cold words. Unbothered, he took another sip of the now much milder coffee and continued, "I think the two of us have quite a lot in common."
"That's surprising. I don't recall having anything in common with an uninvited stray dog." The aloof girl remained sharp-tongued, not giving him any face despite his looks.
"But since you say so, I'll hear you out. Go on, then. What exactly do you think we have in common?"
"Like our looks, our looks, and our looks?" Sakurakoji Talent tilted his head and answered jokingly.
"Wait, wait, wait! I was wrong! It was just a joke! Give me another chance!"
His pupils reflected the sight of her impatiently lifting her coffee cup, clearly intending to splash it directly on him. He hurriedly explained himself.
The girl lowered her coffee, a cold glint flashing in her eyes. "If your next answer is still something like that, you should start thinking about how you'll clean your white poodle fur after it gets contaminated tonight."
She had way too much personality. Two drops of cold sweat appeared on Sakurakoji Talent's brow. Against an unreasonable Delinquent Girl like her, if he ruled out using force, it seemed he would have a hard time salvaging his pride today.
"I just thought you might be my kind, so I came over to talk. No need to get so worked up, right?"
"My kind? Are you trying to call me a poodle?"
"...How did you reach that conclusion? And in your eyes, I'm not even a person?"
"Heh~" The girl strategically took a sip of her drink and did not respond.
"Forget it." Sakurakoji Talent sighed. "In any case, based on my observations, you should be a professional who has diligently practiced an instrument, just like me. After observing you up close earlier, I'm even more certain."
"..." The girl did not answer, but neither did she stop him from continuing. She merely turned her head away indifferently.
"The proof is your upright, proper posture even while sitting, as well as the faint calluses on your hands... Mainly your slender fingers and fingertips that are stronger than those of ordinary people." Sakurakoji Talent paused when her cold gaze swept over him, but he continued anyway.
"So based on my guess, your main instrument should be the Piano, and you've also played string instruments. The calluses on your fingers are because..."
Noticing her brows knitting together again and the anger gathering on her face, he quickly stopped that topic.
"Tch, don't act like you understand me so well!" the girl snapped unhappily. Then she picked up a fry that was nearly cold, spread ketchup on it, and put it into her mouth.
"I really don't understand you. I was only guessing."
"Hmph!" The girl glared at him but said nothing else.
Had she tacitly allowed him to stay? Sakurakoji Talent guessed uncertainly. Looking at the beautiful Delinquent Girl before him—Touma Kazusa—he felt somewhat helpless.
For most people in the world, as long as he approached them with this face, he would usually receive courtesy and admiration, allowing conversation to proceed smoothly and their relationship to grow closer. Even if someone was not particularly sensitive to appearances, they would normally agree to being approached out of politeness.
But that rule did not apply to her. As long as something did not suit her fancy, she did not care who he was. Because she neither cared about looks nor behaved normally.
His goal was to improve his relationship with her, not turn things into a fight to the death. There were not many options left for him.
Besides, she was a high-class rich girl from an excellent family, carrying an unlimited black card in her pocket all year round. Her talent was even more... It was no exaggeration to say that among everyone he had pursued so far, she was the most talented one, an unquestionable world-class genius.
Even after wasting several years, she had still made it into the top four of the Tchaikovsky Competition a few years later, then won the championship in the following edition.
Both wealth and talent seemed difficult to exploit. Tch, she was hard to deal with.
Image: "Touma Kazusa", location: "Images/1755608067-100446961-113743991.jpg"
Author: Did you guess right?
The Daily Life of Attracting Bees and Butterflies: Touma Kazusa Was Set Up
Sakurakoji Talent's thoughts raced as he considered ways to win her over.
Since entering this line of work, he had never encountered someone so troublesome. His appearance could not help him, and she lacked neither money nor ability. It would be incredibly difficult to impress her through those aspects—she was practically flawless. She truly deserved to be called a genuine Flower on High Mountain. Her only weakness and possible opening seemed to be a lack of love...
Did he really have to use Baby's methods this time and approach things from an emotional angle? But could he really do that? Sakurakoji Talent's brows twisted as his head began to ache from thinking. In the end, the strength drained from his body, and he looked at Touma Kazusa as if giving up.
He had also figured out why she was in Shinjuku at night.
Minejo University and its affiliated high school were located in Shinjuku. As for why she was still wandering the streets so late at night... Were you trying to tell a delinquent what to do?
Maybe she had played the Piano at school until she forgot the time—though she might have overslept. Or perhaps she was simply in the mood to wander around and explore the night market. Who knew?
Just as he sank into a whirlpool of thought, Touma Kazusa found it strange that he had suddenly gone motionless and could not help reminding him, "Hey, aren't you eating?"
"Huh?" Sakurakoji Talent snapped awake and looked at her blankly.
"Your combo meal is almost cold already." She tapped the food on his tray with her slender, fair fingers, her expression still cold.
But when she saw that he had ordered the same combo as her, a faint ripple stirred in her heart. Was that a coincidence too?
"Oh, thanks for the reminder..."
Sakurakoji Talent looked at the food he had blindly picked downstairs earlier. Feeling his bloated stomach and how full he already was, nausea suddenly welled up in him. He seemed to have developed a condition where the sight of high-calorie food made him want to puke...
But when he looked up, Touma Kazusa was watching him with that cold, merciless gaze. To avoid making her suspicious, he steeled himself. His fingers trembling, he picked up a fry, put it into his mouth without dipping it in sauce, and swallowed both the bitter consequence and the food.
This was his third meal...
His feelings were incredibly complicated. He wanted to cry, yet he suddenly also had the urge to laugh at how absurd it was.
Damn it, was this the price of multitasking!!!
The two silently ate their burger combos for the moment. A few minutes later, Touma Kazusa was surprised to find that he ate much more slowly than she did. Could he even be considered a man if his appetite was worse than hers?
She smiled and pursed her lips. She had won!
"By the way, I've recently become interested in pop bands. Are you interested, miss?" Sakurakoji Talent tried to start a conversation while eating fries.
"Not at all. That's nothing more than children playing games, isn't it? If you're interested in that, your standards must be about that level too." Touma Kazusa absentmindedly played with the ketchup packet in her hand.
"If you came to ask me to form a band with you, then I must respectfully decline. You'd better give up on that idea."
Heh, she actually used words as difficult as "respectfully decline." Sakurakoji Talent silently held a fry between his lips, his eyebrows looking especially punchable.
"That's not it. I currently have no plans to form a band either."
"Then what exactly did you come over here for? Don't tell me you're still going to say that stupid thing about thinking I'm similar to you?"
"That is indeed part of the reason. The other reason is that I'm curious why you're out eating fast food alone so late. Judging by your school uniform, you're a student at a nearby high school, right?"
"What are you trying to say?" Touma Kazusa's tone grew even colder. "Is there some rule saying students can't come out and eat alone at night?"
"Nothing. I was just a little curious." Fully aware of what she was thinking, Sakurakoji Talent spoke before she could get angry. "Could it be that, like me, both your parents work overseas, and you normally live alone?"
"?" Touma Kazusa, who had been about to flare up, immediately calmed as though cold water had been poured over her. She stared at him in a daze.
Then, as if recalling something pleasant, she happily raised her coffee cup. "Looks like you were abandoned. How pitiful. But since you're so annoying, you deserve it."
Seeing that she really reacted this way, Sakurakoji Talent smiled and said, "I wouldn't call it abandonment. At least I'm well provided for financially, and I have plenty of freedom. I don't have much to complain about."
"That's exactly what abandonment is. You really don't understand at all." Touma Kazusa shook her head. "They looked down on you and thought you were useless, so they gave up on you completely. Otherwise, wouldn't they have taken you overseas with them?"
"That's why they don't care about you at all. No matter what you do, they won't care."
"It seems your way of thinking differs somewhat from mine." He stuffed the last fry into his mouth, directly ignoring the burger beside him, and spoke with some difficulty. "My name is Sakurakoji Talent. What about you?"
"Do I have to tell you?" Touma Kazusa elegantly wiped her mouth, closed her eyes, and answered casually.
"It's not a demand, but I'd like to get to know you. I enjoyed our conversation today."
"You enjoyed being insulted by me one-sidedly? You... don't you have some kind of psychological problem?" She gave him a suspicious look.
"I can't say I don't, but it's probably not what you're thinking..." Sakurakoji Talent's tone was heavy. "Can't you really tell me?"
Touma Kazusa stared at him for thirty seconds, then suddenly revealed a malicious smile. "Fine, I'll tell you. My name is Touno Kazumi. Remember it well."
Sakurakoji Talent froze. Then his expression became stiff and mechanical, his gaze as cold as though he were looking at a stranger.
"Heh~ So it's Miss Tou-no Ka-zu-mi. I see, I see."
"Y-you, what do you mean by that?" Touma Kazusa's face reddened, embarrassment filling her as though she had been seen through.
"No-th-ing. I just think it's such a wonderful name, don't you? Miss Tou-no Ka-zu-mi?" Sakurakoji Talent cast her a teasing look and mockingly drew out her false name.
He did not stop retaliating until she was so embarrassed she had nowhere to hide, her once-elegant manner becoming thoroughly flustered, her hands repeatedly curling uneasily and her earlobes turning red. Only then did he stop, feeling utterly refreshed.
He had finally gotten his revenge! So satisfying!
"Oh, right. I've recently been working at a live house called Starry in Shimokitazawa. If you have time and are interested, you can come take a look. I'll treat you to food."
"It's an evening shift, so it opens at six in the afternoon. It won't interfere with your usual classes."
"No need. Unlike you, I'm usually very busy. I don't have time to join in games like this." Touma Kazusa looked to the side and rejected him without a second thought.
"Busy? Busy with what?"
"Busy with... studying, okay!?" Since she did not want to lie about music, she changed her excuse. A faint blush appeared on her face as she glared at Sakurakoji Talent angrily.
"...That's really unexpected."
Touma Kazusa immediately slammed the table and shouted angrily, drawing the attention of those around them. "What do you mean by that?"
Sakurakoji Talent looked away and explained, "I thought you were definitely someone who believed in skipping school, just like me. Forget being busy studying—if you could attend class on time, I would have considered you very hardworking."
"You probably spend any free time practicing instruments, so your grades shouldn't be very good. Did I misjudge you? Or are you the kind of genius who can get perfect scores without studying much?"
Touma Kazusa was left speechless by his words. She stared at him in disbelief. Why did this guy understand her so well? Everything he had said since earlier was correct. Was he really that accurate at judging people?
Unable to endure the atmosphere any longer, she flushed, gave a soft huff, stood up after slapping the table, and left.
"Don't forget to come visit when you have time~" Sakurakoji Talent waved at her retreating back, but naturally, she ignored him.
Heh~ What an interesting woman.
Image: "Spring Had Already Deepened Before I Noticed It in My Dreams", location: "Images/1755608133-100446961-113744000.jpg"
The Daily Life of Attracting Bees and Butterflies: Distracted Nijika Ijichi
Over the next few days, Sakurakoji Talent was busy. Very busy.
If one were to ask what he was busy with—
"Mr. Talent, should I use this much butter?"
"Mm—add a little more. Don't be afraid of getting your hands dirty. When playing with butter, you should be completely uninhibited."
Before you continue