Amamiya Natsuki brought the folding table over from the balcony. "Because I only cleaned my room yesterday."
"Huh?"
"My room's usually a complete mess. There's barely any floor space, and supernatural things happen all the time."
"Supernatural things?"
Yurikawa Hana clasped her hands to her chest and opened her eyes wide, tense.
Amamiya Natsuki's voice turned grave as he began his tale. "One day not long ago, I woke up groggily in the morning and suddenly realized something really important was missing from my room. There was no sign that anyone had opened the door, and the window was shut tight, so nobody could have broken in. But no matter how hard I looked, I couldn't find that important thing. It was as if it had quietly vanished from the face of the earth..."
Yurikawa Hana lowered her voice without thinking. "Could it have been the work of a ghost?"
Miko rested her right cheek in her hand and got straight to the point.
"What did you lose?"
"Good question." Amamiya Natsuki interlaced his fingers, his expression serious. "That morning, I got up and started getting dressed. I could only find one sock. The other had vanished from the face of the earth, and no matter how hard I looked, I couldn't find it."
"A-a sock?"
Yurikawa Hana stared at him in disbelief.
"What else did you think it was?" Amamiya Natsuki asked.
The Blonde Girl came to her senses, puffed up her cheeks like a hamster with its mouth full of seeds, and said, "Natsuki-classmate, you're so mean!"
"My sincerest apologies." Amamiya Natsuki showed no sign of remorse. "But I wasn't lying. Socks mysteriously vanishing is indeed one of the three common supernatural phenomena of everyday life."
Yurikawa Hana held her oolong tea in both hands, unable to resist her curiosity. "Um... what are the other two supernatural phenomena?"
Amamiya Natsuki looked at the Blonde Girl. "You want to know?"
"Mm-hmm."
Yurikawa Hana nodded quickly, her eyes full of curiosity.
Amamiya Natsuki looked away and took out his workbook. "I'm not telling you."
Yurikawa Hana puffed out her cheeks and complained, "Miko, Natsuki-classmate is bullying me! Do something about him!"
Yotsuya Miko lay limply across the table like a salted fish.
"Sorry, I can't."
Natsuki-classmate, Could You Be a Little Gentler?
Studying didn't just make people happy. It also made them sleepy.
Miko hadn't finished her homework, but her eyelids were already drooping. Her head bobbed up and down before she soon fell asleep with it on the table.
"Miko fell asleep."
Yurikawa Hana glanced up and said quietly, "Don't wake her up. Let her sleep for a while, okay?"
"Okay."
Amamiya Natsuki nodded gently.
It wasn't as if she had fallen asleep during an exam. He hadn't planned on waking her anyway.
"Miko seems really worn out," Yurikawa Hana said softly. "She spaces out in class sometimes and often gets sleepy, but she won't let herself go to bed when she should. It's like she's always pushing herself too hard. Now that she's finally asleep, let's give her a good rest."
Amamiya Natsuki looked at her in surprise.
She could tell all that? And here he'd thought she was supposed to be an airhead.
"Natsuki-classmate, that look in your eyes is so mean." Yurikawa Hana puffed out her cheeks. "You're definitely thinking something rude."
You guessed right, but there's no prize.
Amamiya Natsuki stood up and went to the closet. He took out a blanket and gently draped it over Miko.
It was still spring, but as the sun sank in the west, the temperature gradually dropped.
"Natsuki-classmate, you're so kind."
Yurikawa Hana gave him a thumbs-up and praised him in a whisper.
So putting a blanket over someone counted as kindness? No wonder increasingly nice male leads were getting such a bad rap.
Amamiya Natsuki sat back down. "Let's keep studying."
"Got it."
To avoid disturbing Miko, Yurikawa Hana moved her seat and quietly came over to Amamiya Natsuki's side. She looked at him pitifully.
"Natsuki-classmate, look at this problem. There are nine lit candles in a room. If you blow out five of them, how many candles will be left? The answer should be four, but why does the answer key say five?"
"I don't get it. I don't get it at all."
That inexplicable pull appeared in the air again, drawing Amamiya Natsuki's gaze away from his workbook and toward the Blonde Girl's chest.
The airhead was probably used to doing this at home. To ease the burden on her shoulders, she'd unconsciously rested her chest on the table... She should sit up straight when studying instead of leaning on the table.
The table couldn't take any more titty!
As the sun sank farther west, the room quietly grew dim.
"Mm, what time is it?"
Yurikawa Hana suddenly noticed the sky outside the window.
Amamiya Natsuki glanced at his phone. "Five ten."
"Oh, we can go home now."
Yurikawa Hana sat up and stretched both arms over her head, letting out a lazy hum. "We had PE today, so my shoulders are really sore. I'll take a nice bath when I get home."
Her shoulders had nothing to do with PE. The real culprit was the fat on her chest!
Amamiya Natsuki lowered his head and tidied up his workbook.
The next moment, a startled cry rang out.
Amamiya Natsuki had just looked up when a shadow flashed past his eyes, flying straight toward him.
A projectile!
Amamiya Natsuki instinctively dodged, but he wasn't quick enough. He felt a slight sting on his face as the projectile hit him, then bounced away.
"What was that?"
Amamiya Natsuki covered his cheek and looked toward Yurikawa Hana.
The moment the words left his mouth, he knew what the projectile was.
Yurikawa Hana's face had gone bright red as she hurriedly covered her collar. Amamiya Natsuki could clearly see her snow-white neck, her delicate collarbones, and the faint outline below them... The button that had been protecting the girl's modesty had vanished.
"I'm sorry!"
Yurikawa Hana covered her chest with both hands and hurriedly apologized, her face flushed and her voice mortified. "I stretched too hard just now, and my button popped off again by accident."
Wait, why did she say "again"?
Was this not the first time?
"My deepest apologies. Please forgive me!"
Amamiya Natsuki rubbed his cheek and said without thinking, "When you apologize, you should show..."
"Show what?"
Yurikawa Hana blinked. She was clearly an innocent girl who'd never raced down Akina Mountain.
"Nothing." Amamiya Natsuki changed the subject. "Your button hit me in the face and bounced under the bed."
"I'll get it myself. You don't need to help, Natsuki-classmate."
Yurikawa Hana covered her chest, knelt on the floor, and leaned down to peer beneath the bed.
Watching her, Amamiya Natsuki suddenly thought of a saying: "You can't guard the front and forget the back."
You couldn't just watch out for what was in front. You had to be careful behind you, too.
As everyone knew, girls' uniforms at private schools in Japan usually had very short skirts, and Shuuchiin was no exception. It normally wasn't a problem, but if you were leaning over the floor to look for something, it was easy to flash someone.
For instance, Amamiya Natsuki caught sight of a pink, barely visible Peppa Pig.
A high school student wearing Peppa Pig? Wasn't that a design for an elementary school student?
Yurikawa Hana soon sat up. She glanced at Miko, who was still sleeping, then blushed and stammered as she asked for help.
"Um... it's dark under the bed, and I can't see. Natsuki-classmate, could you use your phone to shine a light under there?"
Amamiya Natsuki nodded and agreed. He took his phone over to the bed, turned on the flashlight, and aimed it underneath.
"I see it. It went in so far..."
Yurikawa Hana's voice soon came from below.
Amamiya Natsuki tilted his head and peered under the bed. The button was lying quietly in the corner by the wall. It really had gone far in.
"Don't move, Natsuki-classmate," Yurikawa Hana quickly said. "I'll crawl in and get the button."
"Actually..."
Amamiya Natsuki had barely started speaking when Yurikawa Hana crawled under the bed like a caterpillar.
"What did you say just now, Natsuki-classmate?" the Blonde Girl asked curiously from under the bed.
"It's fine now."
Amamiya Natsuki shook his head.
He could've used a tool to fish the button out. She really didn't have to crawl under there herself.
"I got the button!"
Yurikawa Hana soon cried out in delight and started backing out from under the bed. But halfway out, the Blonde Girl suddenly stopped moving.
"Natsuki-classmate, my clothes got caught on something, and I can't move."
Amamiya Natsuki considered it. "Want me to take a look?"
"Please, Natsuki-classmate."
Amamiya Natsuki crouched down and shone his phone under the bed. He could only see that her uniform was caught on something; he couldn't tell what.
"I can't see clearly," Amamiya Natsuki said. "Let me check."
"Okay."
Amamiya Natsuki reached out with his right hand and placed it on Yurikawa Hana's waist.
"Ah..."
A shy little gasp slipped out, like a startled beast that had accidentally stepped into a trap.
"Don't move," Amamiya Natsuki said steadily. "You might tear your clothes."
"I-I know..." Yurikawa Hana stammered. "That tickled just now... Um, Natsuki-classmate, please be gentler."
He'd only touched her waist. Wasn't she overreacting?
Still, the airhead girl's waist was surprisingly slender. He couldn't help imagining wrapping both hands around it.
"Hold still. Don't move."
Amamiya Natsuki gave her an instruction and quickly found the culprit that had snagged her clothes.
"It's a nail sticking out of the bed."
As he spoke, Amamiya Natsuki eased the fabric free. "Move slowly. You should be fine now."
A moment later.
The golden-haired girl finally got out from under the bed, her hair mussed. She lay panting on the bed, her eyes hazy with tears.
"I finally made it out."
Before you continue