Chapter 342

"Have you been treating me worse lately?" Riki crossed her arms. "I'm older than you, after all. In terms of seniority, you should call me 'brother'."

"Only those who don't understand your true nature would respect you so much. I, who am often with you, simply can't do that," Nagasaki Sose snorted, tossing the blackboard eraser to Riki: "Help me clean up."

"Ordering people again?"

Riki said, not thinking it was a big deal, and helped with the cleaning.

Nagasaki Sose glanced at Riki. Having met a few times before, she and Riki had become increasingly familiar with each other over the past two weeks, and she even subconsciously considered Riki a friend.

"Besides, I don't talk like this in front of everyone. In front of others, I'm a cultured, elegant, and handsome artist. You and I are the only ones who are really close in school," Riki said, shaking his head.

"You don't like me, do you?" Nagasaki Sose took a step to the side warily. "Let me make this clear beforehand, I don't like you."

Have you become increasingly narcissistic lately?

Japanese girls are easy to please.

Nagasaki Sose snorted. What would have made her shy and embarrassed half a month ago was now nothing to her.

However, just as Riki said, she only revealed her true nature in front of Riki.

Could it be that I am Riki's only one?

Nagasaki Sose casually said to Riki, "Does Riki have very few true friends who can show their true feelings? No wonder you can only be good friends with students like me. If I were the only one, I would reluctantly be your friend..."

"I have a lot of friends, band members, principals, mentors, and even the female captain of the Beijing team is practically one of them. Wait... why did you step on my foot?" Riki looked down at Nagasaki Sose's petite student shoes stepping on his shoes.

Su Shi, do you have a grudge against my Anta brand?

Should I wear Li-Ning next time?

"Sorry, I stepped on it by accident." Nagasaki Sose smiled gently.

For some reason, she just felt very unhappy.

She thought Riki had few friends, just like her.

It turns out I was just one of his many friends.

"There are rumors circulating at school that you like me. If things get out of hand, I won't care about your feelings and will just reject you outright. I have absolutely no feelings for you," Nagasaki Sose said coldly.

"Don't worry, I didn't mean anything by it... Why did you step on my foot again?"

"Sorry, I stepped on it by accident."

Got it, I'll get a pair of Japanese-made shoes next time.

Nagasaki Sose would not tolerate anyone being unpatriotic in front of her.

After school, Nagasaki Sose was walking home when she thought for a moment and turned onto Ring, hoping to see Takamatsu Akari there.

Nagasaki Sose quickly approached the street of Ring and suddenly saw a familiar figure. She stopped and saw Riki standing at the entrance of Ring, staring straight at Shiina Riki behind the counter.

"Pervert, what are you doing?" Nagasaki Sose walked over expressionlessly and said, "Don't look at my friend with that perverted look."

"I didn't look at it. I was just thinking about whether I should take a part-time job at Cafe, since I'm pretty free outside of my job at Tsukinomori," Riki said.

Nagasaki Sose glanced at Shiina Riki, behind the Ring counter. Thinking of how Riki and Rikki worked together at Ring every day, she felt even more unhappy for some reason.

"We've already hired all the staff, we don't need anyone else," Nagasaki Sose said irritably. "You'd better go home!"

Shiina Riki saw Nagasaki Sose talking to a boy outside the shop from behind the counter, which seemed odd.

Who is that boy?

He seemed to know Su Shi very well.

"I'm back."

Nagasaki Sose pushed open the door and returned to her empty house. She sat on the sofa, her eyes slightly lowered, lost in thought.

She spends far more time alone at home than with her family.

That's why she misses Crychic so much.

However, I've been unexpectedly happy when I'm with Riki lately.

Thinking of Riki, Nagasaki Sose's lips curled up slightly, and she let out a light laugh in the empty house.

Another month passed, and it became a regular activity for Nagasaki Sose and Riki to talk in the classroom after school every day.

"If I get into the top ten in the grade this time, what kind of reward do you want for me?" Nagasaki Sose asked Riki.

Are you asking for a favor?

No, I think I was indeed a teacher in the Tsukinomori.

That's definitely something I should give them, and Su Shi is a good friend of mine, so it's not excessive to give him something!

"What kind of reward do you want?" Riki asked after thinking for a moment.

"A bear!" Nagasaki Sose exclaimed happily to Riki, "I want a teddy bear!"

A teddy bear the same size as Riki.

*******

If there were a dual-character storyline, what would you like to see? For example, a dual-character storyline between Riki and Sakiko Su Shi, or a dual-character storyline between Rikki, etc. I feel that dual-character storylines are quite interesting to write.

Side Story: Su Shi's Route 02

Nagasaki Sose has been very motivated to study lately. It's as if a roaring engine has been added to her petite body. Usually, she would just finish her homework as usual after returning home and keep her grades in the middle of the grade. But recently, she has even forgotten to say "I'm home" when she gets home. She throws her schoolbag down and buries herself in the living room to study seriously.

They even forgot that they were alone at home.

Nagasaki Sose wasn't quite sure why she wanted to be in the top ten of her grade to prove herself to Riki, even though it was just something she said casually.

Perhaps... she really wants a Kuma-chan.

Or would she be happy to see Riki's surprised expression?

If Riki saw her rapidly improving grades, he would be astonished as the extra, thinking, "Impossible! You're not just an average student!"

Nagasaki Sose thought about it and couldn't help but chuckle, then quickly covered her mouth, realizing her laughter was a bit indecent.

No, this is because no one is home.

"I'm hungry, let's cook some noodles."

Nagasaki Sose went to the kitchen to boil water. While waiting, she took out her phone and browsed Twitter for interesting topics. Suddenly, her eyes were drawn to a trending topic in Japan.

[Famous rock musician marries her high school teacher after a teacher-student relationship]

"It's actually a teacher-student relationship. How could something so immoral happen..." Nagasaki Sose shook her head.

She looked down on this behavior. Teachers are much older than students, and with the experience of a mature adult, they would definitely be at a disadvantage when facing students. This kind of romantic relationship is completely unhealthy!

In any case, Nagasaki Sose would never accept such a thing.

However, such a thing is impossible in Tsukinomori. After all, the school's teachers are either elderly men and women in their fifties and sixties or newly graduated female teachers. The principal strictly prohibits early romantic relationships. The only male teacher who could be considered young is...

"Riki?" Nagasaki Sose muttered.

Speaking of which, this guy has a very good reputation among the students, and he's only two years older than them. Maybe some of the students in Tsukinomori really like him.

"They definitely haven't discovered Riki's true colors. If they knew what he was really like like I do, they definitely wouldn't like him anymore. But Riki is only like this in front of me..."

Nagasaki Sose found herself feeling a little smug and paused for a moment.

No, what's she so smug about?

She had no interest in Riki.

On the contrary, what she hates most is unreliable people like Riki!

To avoid any misunderstandings, I will stop talking to Riki.

"Let's wait until we get the bear plush toy..." Nagasaki Sose thought for a moment and postponed the date of breaking off her friendship with Riki.

"Vegetarian Sauce, you've improved so much in the rankings this time! You're eighth!" Her classmates gathered around Nagasaki Sose's desk, their eyes sparkling. "You must have been studying really hard lately!"

"No, I've been watching TV since I got home. Variety shows are so much fun. I haven't touched studying or anything. I was just lucky this time," Nagasaki Sose said with a smile, waving her hands.

This is a lie.

Nagasaki Sose stayed up until 11 p. m. every day, almost breaking her principle of not staying up late.

She stared at the clock above the blackboard, wishing the hour hand would immediately move from nine in the morning to four in the afternoon when school ended.

After a long day, Nagasaki Sose finally waited for Riki in the empty classroom.

Riki had been busy at the Drama Club all afternoon and finally found a break to sit down and stretch. Suddenly, she remembered to ask Nagasaki Sose, "By the way, the exams are over today. What rank did you get?"

"Rankings?" Nagasaki Sose tilted her head, thought for a moment, and then suddenly realized, "Riki means the exam? I almost forgot, I just reviewed a little before the exam..."

"You watch TV as soon as you get home?" Riki interrupted, asking.

"Hmm." Nagasaki Sose replied calmly.

"Are you watching variety shows?" Riki asked again.

"... Um."

"Was it just luck that you got a high score this time?"

How can every word be so precious?

"You didn't plant a listening device in my desk, did you?" Nagasaki Sose looked at Riki suspiciously. This was clearly what she and her classmate had said this morning. How did Riki know?

"I studied hard before the exam and then said that to Rokko... I mean, to my classmates when I was showing off. It was really effective. Everyone said they wanted to kill me. It was so satisfying!" Riki said.

The classroom was quiet.

Nagasaki Sose's face slowly flushed. She casually looked out the window at the track and field students on the playground when the starting gun rang out as if it had hit her heart, shattering the box of embarrassment in her heart and leaving her completely stiff.

"I'm different from you. I actually watched variety shows after I got home," Nagasaki Sose retorted stubbornly.

"I've been watching variety shows lately to learn katakana. Did you watch this week's episode of 'Monday Late Show'? It's a special episode about Beijing, where they went to China for interviews..." Riki said.

Nagasaki Sose had never even seen the show, let alone heard of it, so she remained silent.

I'm sulking.

I've been studying so hard, and instead of praising me, you're making fun of me.

I should have broken off our friendship sooner.

No, let's break off all ties right now!

Nagasaki Sose had a cold expression.

"Shall we go buy a teddy bear now?" Riki asked.

"... Let's go."

Nagasaki Sose slammed her hand on the desk and stood up.

Let's talk about breaking off relations later.

Nagasaki Sose hugged the teddy bear tightly, feeling its soft, fluffy texture. Her bright eyes and raised eyebrows, radiating youthful energy and beauty, she scoffed, "So it wasn't bought, it was won by shooting hoops!"

"I'm exhausted and this is the evaluation I get? This is the biggest plush toy in the whole mall, don't give it back to me." Riki reached out.

"No, this is mine!" Nagasaki Sose laughed and dodged away.

Nagasaki Sose is like that; her manners have always been very poor.

Nagasaki Sose was in a good mood when she suddenly saw something and quickly pulled Riki aside to hide.

"There are classmates among them!" Nagasaki Sose said nervously.

"So what?" Riki asked, confused.

"We..." Nagasaki Sose paused halfway through her sentence.

It seems unlikely that anything will happen.

Why was she so nervous?