An Unexpected Guest

"Sure enough, nothing beats rewarding yourself properly after a workout!"

Five thousand points flowed from Kōenji's pocket into Shinjo's, then from there to the Cloud Cafe.

Being able to eat your favorite desserts whenever you wanted— even the proprietor of the Yorozuya couldn't help humming with delight, right?

"My little darlings, here I come to spoil you~"

Looking at the rewards on the table, Shinjo was like Dong Zhuo after entering the capital, unable to decide which one to start with. Just as he finally picked the caramel pudding as an appetizer, an unexpected guest rang the doorbell of his dorm room.

"Ding-dong~"

"Gee, I must be so exhausted that I'm hallucinating. Just my imagination, just my imagination..."

"Ding-dong."

"I must be too tired!"

Shinjo raised his voice, hoping the unexpected guest outside would hear him and leave quickly. Nothing mattered more right now than savoring the pudding's springy texture and sweetness!!

"Ding-dong! Ding-dong!"

Whether the person outside hadn't heard him or simply didn't want to leave, they kept pressing the doorbell, growing more and more impatient.

"Tsk... You'd better have a good reason for this."

Reluctantly, Shinjo got up and slowly opened the dorm room door. A familiar yet unfamiliar face came into view.

The girl had what could be called the cutest face in all of Class D. Her honey-colored hair was tied in a high ponytail, and perhaps to show off her personality, she had taken off her top and tied it around her waist.

She looked exactly like the stereotypical gyaru.

"Uh... Karuizawa?"

Countless possibilities had flashed through Shinjo's mind, but this was the one person he hadn't expected.

After all, the two of them had exchanged greetings and spoken before, but that was all.

"Um... Shinjo, could I talk to you for a bit?"

The girl looked reserved and nervous. It seemed she really had something important to discuss, so Shinjo agreed to her request without hesitation.

"Come in, if you don't mind."

Karuizawa let out a long breath of relief after he agreed, then closed the dorm room door behind her.

"Sorry, I don't have any clean slippers, so you'll have to make do with these."

"Oh, it's fine! Honestly, it's fine."

She really did seem nervous. Her words were already getting jumbled.

Shinjo thoughtfully poured her a glass of water. "Please, have a seat."

Karuizawa took it and thanked him, then caught sight of the various snacks and cakes on the table and exclaimed, "Wow! Shinjo, you really do like sweets."

"They're delicious. You might laugh at me, but whenever I go somewhere new, I always try the local food first. Over time, eating sweets went from something I liked to a habit."

"Oh? That sounds pretty nice."

The two chatted back and forth. Perhaps because Shinjo was so easy to get along with, Karuizawa gradually let her guard down, until she was comfortable making the occasional little joke with him.

"Hahaha. So, Karuizawa, what brings you here today?"

At Shinjo's question, Karuizawa stiffened for a moment, then picked up her glass and rubbed her fingers against it.

"I... I actually wanted... wanted to ask you something."

"Oh? Go ahead. I'll tell you everything I can."

(As long as it's something I can tell you, I'll tell you everything.)

Karuizawa took a long, deep breath.

"During swimming class, I saw that you seemed to have a really bad injury on your chest... So..."

Shinjo Katsuya's pupils contracted ever so slightly, though he showed no outward reaction. They weren't that close, so why had she come all the way to his room alone to ask him about this?

Even if she was curious or concerned, she could have asked during swimming class or in the classroom tomorrow...

Something was off. Nine out of ten things about this were off...

"Ah... You mean that..."

Shinjo hadn't figured out how to answer yet. He could always use the same excuse he'd given Ayanokōji, saying he'd been burned by hot oil, but...

In Karuizawa's eyes, however, his evasiveness had a different meaning. She thought it was clearly a painful memory he didn't want to talk about!

So she tested the waters tactfully, disguising it as a joke.

"I'm not the type to pry into other people's business... I was just a little curious. But then I saw you competing against Kōenji in the pool and realized I'd probably read too much into it. I mean, you're so impressive, Shinjo. You don't seem like someone who's ever been bullied, haha... Sorry, that was a weird thing to say..."

After saying that, Karuizawa laughed awkwardly, though her laugh was awkward to begin with...

Still, Shinjo had picked up on a key point in what she'd said. He pretended to pour himself a glass of water too, took a couple of sips, then said, "So... Karuizawa... You suspect I was bullied before?"

"Huh? No, no, I... I mean... I..."

"Well, you've got a good eye. To be precise, that's exactly what happened."

There was nothing wrong with what Shinjo had said. He really had been bullied. It just hadn't been anything on the level of school bullying...

At that, Karuizawa's eyebrows shot up, and her smile slowly froze on her face.

So... that was it, after all?

"Then... when did that happen?"

"Let's see... I think it was two years ago. I don't really want to think about that time, though."

After saying that, Shinjo picked up his glass again and sneaked a glance at Karuizawa's expression.

A hint of unease crossed her face. If he had to put numbers to it, there were about three parts fear, one part resentment, and six parts blankness.

"You... You're such an impressive guy. You can still be bullied?"

"Being bullied has nothing to do with how impressive you are, or whether you're a boy or a girl. For that matter, whether someone is strong or weak has nothing to do with their gender or build, either."

"Why not?"

"Because I've always believed that a strong person's power comes from within, never from without."

"So that's why you..."

Karuizawa looked thoughtful, as if she wanted to say something else, but Shinjo cut her off.

"But you really do have a good eye. Ayanokōji and the others actually believed that I'd been burned by hot oil. I'm impressed you could tell I'd been bullied... Karuizawa, you seem to have a lot of experience with this sort of thing?"