Hasebe Haruka

The swimming class ended, and Konoe Hirakawa, after tidying his clothes, was about to head back to the dorm. Suddenly, a girl called out to him.

"Konoe Hirakawa-kun... is that you?"

The girl before him was Hasebe Haruka from his class, the one he'd had that 'clash of gazes' with earlier.

She had long blue hair, wispy bangs, and was beautiful. There was also a beauty mark below her left eye. She was, by all accounts, a stunning girl.

However, despite her beauty, she exuded an icy aura that seemed to keep others at bay, making it difficult for people to approach her. She showed clear aversion towards boys who tried to talk to her, so she seemed to keep to herself in class.

"Is there something you need, Hasebe-san?" Konoe recalled his childish behavior, and though embarrassed, he replied expressionlessly.

"You were staring at me during swimming class, weren't you? Don't tell me you were looking forward to my swimsuit?" Hasebe's tone was neither warm nor cold, making it impossible for Konoe to gauge her feelings.

"...If I offended you, I apologize. But you might not believe me if I say this, I didn't have any ill intentions towards you."

Although people are taught to look into each other's eyes when speaking, in reality, no one stares continuously. After a polite initial glance, they look at the nose or other areas. But for some reason, the girl before Konoe kept staring into his eyes, and Konoe, not wanting her to think he was guilty, also stared intently into her eyes.

"I know."

"Hm?" Konoe was puzzled. While it was good to be believed, he was aware of Hasebe's usual attitude towards boys.

"It's because I'm sensitive to gazes, and I hate vulgar stares. So I know your gaze didn't have that kind of feeling."

From Hasebe's steady gaze, Konoe could tell she was telling the truth. He suddenly realized that if two people talking looked into each other's eyes without interruption, it would be very difficult to lie.

"By the way, you still haven't answered my question. Were you looking forward to my swimsuit?"

Swimsuit? Konoe was confused by the strange question. Then, he unconsciously scanned her body. She was tall and slender, but well-developed in all the right places. Her legs, especially, clad in short socks, were smooth and fair. Konoe involuntarily recalled the swimsuits of other girls in the pool and began to imagine Hasebe in a swimsuit, falling into a daze.

Seeing Konoe's gaze sweep over her body, Hasebe felt a slight tremor, but she remained silent, keeping her eyes fixed on his.

The close observation made her suddenly realize that the young man before her had a very delicate, even cute, face.

A few seconds later, Konoe suddenly realized something, his face turning red as he averted his gaze. Then, unwillingly, he stared back into Hasebe's eyes, only to find her looking at him with a smile.

"...Not... not interested." Considering her personality, Konoe chose to play hard to get, but he had clearly forgotten his own conclusion: it's generally hard to lie when making eye contact. Especially now that Konoe was flustered.

"Eh, Konoe-kun is much more interesting than I imagined." Hasebe was very curious about Konoe's reaction. Recalling his usual aloof and serious demeanor in class, she inexplicably felt a sense of pleasure from his flustered state.

Realizing he was being teased, Konoe's expression shifted from flustered to angry.

Hasebe quickly said, "Sorry, I was just joking. How about we exchange contact information?"

"I refuse. I'm leaving." Konoe turned to leave immediately.

Konoe realized he was being teased by the girl before him, and felt a surge of anger, but more so, anger at his own reaction. More importantly, he felt a bit shy that the girl had seen his true thoughts.

"I said I was sorry! Sorry, wait a moment!" Hasebe grabbed Konoe's hand, making him stop. Then, realizing what a bold move she had made, her face turned red too. She let go of his hand, lowering her head with a hint of disappointment.

Konoe felt a pang of sympathy. He sighed and took out his phone. "Please, let's exchange contact information, Hasebe-san."

Hasebe looked up at Konoe in surprise, then quickly took out her phone and exchanged contact details with him.

"I feel a bit sorry. I'm not very good at interacting with boys. In fact, I don't have any male friends. Can Konoe-kun be my friend?" Hasebe asked expectantly. It was the first time she had found such an interesting boy, and she felt they could get along.

"We've exchanged contact information, so we're practically friends, right? Please take care of me in the future, Hasebe-san."

"Please take care of me! Then you can just call me Gaga from now on, Pingping!"

"Pingping?" Konoe was startled by the nickname.

"Pingping isn't okay? Then... Xiaochuan?" Hasebe was excited about making her first male friend.

"How about you just call me Saburo? My family likes to call me that as a nickname..." Konoe really wanted her to call him Konoe, but he couldn't bear to dampen her enthusiasm.

"Then... Xiao San?"

"I'll choose Pingping." Konoe compromised.

"Then it's decided! Pingping!"

"...Oh... Oh! Gaga..."

"It's still early, but I'm feeling a bit hungry after P.E. Let's go eat together! I'll treat, as an apology for earlier."

"I am indeed a bit hungry... Wait, weren't you just auditing!" Konoe looked at Hasebe with mock anger.

"Hehe... Just sitting around doing nothing also surprisingly consumes energy," Hasebe replied sheepishly.

"Hey, does that mean you can swim?"

"I've had swimming experience, but I'm not very good at it. Pingping was great! You kept practicing holding your breath, and you could even float on the water later. Did you already learn to swim?"

"You mean you... never mind."

Did you mean you were watching me the whole time? Konoe felt too embarrassed to ask. Hasebe, standing beside him, suddenly realized what her previous words implied and lowered her head, blushing.

"Ahem, if you're not very good at swimming, I suggest you learn properly next class. The teacher also said it would come in handy," Konoe suggested, changing the subject.

"Eh? What do you mean..."

"...It's hard to explain. Just pretend I tricked you, and start saving up points from now on. Of course, if you don't want to attend swimming class, that's fine. You can find opportunities at a swimming pool later to have a coach or a friend teach you."

"Although I don't quite understand what Pingping is saying, Pingping is doing this for my own good, right? I'll do as you say!"

They walked and talked, and soon arrived at the student cafeteria.

"What do you want to eat, Pingping?"

"Hmm... I'll have that extremely spicy beef curry again. It was quite delicious."

"You mean Pingping likes spicy food too! That's a surprise. I'm the same as Pingping, then. I'll have the curry. I haven't tried that place's yet."

Seeing Hasebe so happy just because they shared the same preference, Konoe began to think about this girl for the first time.

Perhaps Hasebe didn't intentionally look down on all boys. It was more likely that because she was so well-developed and attractive, the boys her age couldn't help but stare and have thoughts about her.

Maybe that's why she put on a "stay away" demeanor to protect herself, but it also inadvertently made her a loner.

She might be a little like me. Konoe thought inexplicably, then shook his head and dismissed the idea.

Watching Hasebe happily and excitedly share the delicious curry with him, Konoe found himself smiling too.