Honami Ichinose: "I'm Really No Good at Sports!" (Continued)

There's no way to avoid hurting others. Sometimes, hesitation is less effective than a decisive, swift action from the start.

"Ichinose- san, who is he?"

Shiranami Chihiro seemed quite surprised.

Even Nakano himself would be surprised. He was in Ichinose's class when they were on the island, so how could he not remember him at all?

This also shows that Shiranami Chihiro is serious about Ichinose. A lovestruck idiot sees no one but the person they love.

The thought of what was to come made his stomach ache.

"Sorry, Chihiro, but you should have seen him before. This is Nakano-kun from Class D. Back on the island, he was the one who sold us the information about our base. And... actually, Nakano-kun is mine..."

Ichinose seemed hesitant, or perhaps a little embarrassed, but her true intentions were clear.

She probably wants to introduce Nakano-kun as her boyfriend.

Shiranami Chihiro seemed to understand as well; she placed one hand on her chest, tears streaming down her face.

"Could it be that he's your boyfriend...?"

Before he had even said a word, a girl was already crying.

Noticing her friend's expression, Ichinose lowered her head as well. "Nakano-kun, he's mine..."

Boyfriend.

"Just ordinary friends."

At this moment, Nakano took the initiative to say, "Ichinose, it's not easy to muster up the courage to confess to someone you like. You feel down every day, wanting to say it, but the words 'I like you' just won't come out. And because you're the same sex, the difficulty is doubled. So, shouldn't you respond to her courage in confessing to you despite her desperate situation?"

"This..."

Ichinose was probably talking to someone about this for the first time, so she didn't know how to handle it. Or perhaps she never expected Nakano Yuu to expose her for pretending to be her boyfriend.

"Anyway, just tell her the proper thing to do."

"That's what Nakano added," he said, before leaving the room on his own.

Because the results are already in.

Ichinose's attitude towards Shiranami Chihiro is negative; it's impossible for them to develop a romantic relationship. Otherwise, she wouldn't have come to the agreed-upon location to reject her.

But this also indirectly shows that Ichinose Honami is really amazing.

Pretty.

Good personality.

High academic ability.

And smart.

Indeed, it's not just men who can easily become infatuated with her; women can too.

The top-ranked girl in her grade is no joke.

Ichinose may have been hoping that Nakano Yuu would pretend to be her boyfriend to politely reject Shiranami. In the end, she probably was able to refuse, but this fake boyfriend relationship is not what Nakano Yu needs.

His words just now, while seemingly a withdrawal, were actually meant to force Ichinose to make a decision immediately and stop hesitating.

So, sitting on the bench outside, Nakano waited for a while before seeing Shiranami Chihiro run away crying.

As expected, I was rejected.

"Nakano-kun..."

Ichinose gradually emerged from the shadows and discovered that Nakano was still sitting there.

"It seems you've made things clear."

Otherwise, Shiranami Chihiro wouldn't have run away crying.

"Yes, my thinking about how not to hurt Chihiro and then running away was definitely wrong. I also let her down."

Ichinose's fingers were interlaced, a sign of her dejection. "I told her we could be friends again tomorrow, like before. But... I don't know if I can do that."

That's why some emotions, once exposed, will be viewed with prejudice, even in the face of certain actions.

Girls can hold hands, for example, but what if they discover the other girl likes them? Would that still be considered normal hand-holding?

That definitely won't work.

"That depends on yourselves. You need to adjust your mindset."

Nakano stood up from his chair. "If you lack confidence, then you can take a test."

"Test?"

Ichinose lifted her downcast face.

But Nakano suddenly grabbed her hand, as if he had been expecting it.

Ichinose's hands were quite soft, completely different from when she held Kamuro's.

"Look, if you can feel calm shaking hands with someone of the opposite sex like this, then you and Shiranami can also regain your calm."

"Nakano Yuu said seriously."

Ichinose, however, was quite shocked.

Because.

Did you just hold her hand like that?

Can she find peace within herself?

No.

Ichinose felt her heart pounding faster and faster.

Because.

When a boy holds your hand, no matter if you like him or not, any girl's heart will race.

"Nakano-kun is such a bad person."

After waiting for ten seconds, Ichinose withdrew her hand.

"But your mood has calmed down a bit, hasn't it?"

Nakano-kun said.

Ichinose realized it was just a joke.

She gently raised her hand, gazing at Nakano's calm profile, but her heart still didn't seem to be racing; something about it didn't feel like a joke.

"Just..."

She quickly lowered her head again, "Why did you refuse to pretend to be my boyfriend?"

Oh.

That's what she meant. She met him and then thought that Shiranami Chihiro would come and confess her feelings later, so she suggested that he pretend to be her boyfriend so that Shiranami would back off on her own.

But.

"They probably feel that if one lie is told, another lie is needed to cover it up."

"Nakano Yuu said."

I don't like troublesome things.

Although that's what I said, I actually felt that I might have guessed wrong.

He and Sakayanagi had a past relationship, and he thought he and Ichinose had a past, official relationship, but now it seems... that's not the case.

He and Ichinose probably never officially dated.

That's why she's so bothered by it.

So, what exactly happened between him and Ichinose over the past year? And what is their relationship?

Unrequited love, but full of friends? But it doesn't seem that simple.

Nakano Yuu was completely baffled.

Nevertheless, Nakano Yuu still let Ichinose go.

They held hands, but touching her thigh was still too difficult. Or rather, the purpose was too obvious.

However, Ichinose started moving from the experimental building and eventually arrived at the cafeteria.

"As expected, suddenly taking the initiative is not suitable for me."

Ichinose seemed to be muttering to herself, and her tone was somewhat disappointed.

"Yo, Ichinose."

However, when Ichinose arrived at the cafeteria entrance, she noticed a boy with red, center-parted hair standing there. He immediately stood up when she looked at him.

He is Ryuen Kakeru, the class monitor of Class 1-C.

"Ryuen."

Ichinose looked at the other person with some wariness.

"They're actually quite wary."

Ryuuen said.

"But don't worry, I'm not interested in women. Especially not the type like you who throws herself at me. I prefer the rebellious type."

"..."

Ichinose.

I always felt that Ryuen was particularly sharp-tongued, and as for the "gold digger" type, she wouldn't just throw herself at anyone.

It's just that they wouldn't accept my advances today.

There were some minor setbacks, to be exact.

"You should say you were actually meeting with Nakano Yuu just now, right?"

However, Ryuuen immediately added.

Huh?

Ichinose then showed a surprised expression.

"Don't worry, I wasn't there. I was just searching for Nakano Yuu's location while searching for you, and I found you were in the same place, the lab building, right? Damn, this location is definitely unreliable."

Ryuuen said.

Ryuuen seemed to have some reservations about the location. He was reminded of the incident where Sudo assaulted someone, when Nakano Yuu came forward as a witness. Ryuuen had found it disgusting that the man happened to be in that spot, and now he realized that these people probably all went to that place.

After all, there aren't that many places without cameras.

"So, Ryuen, is there something you want to discuss with me here today?"

Ichinose then looked at Ryuen Kakeru with a serious expression.

"As fellow members of the Red Group, my meeting with Nakano-kun isn't for anything that violates the exam rules."

She didn't think Ryuuen was the type to be interested in anyone's love life.

Or rather, Kanzaki classmate, also analyzed Ryuen and concluded that Ryuen was the kind of person who was very ambitious and wanted to climb the social ladder.

Even though their class has now become Class A, and they need to worry about Class B's counterattack, they also need to be wary of Class C's counterattack.

It can be said that the vice class monitor Kanzaki, gave Ryuen a very high evaluation.

"I don't care about that."

But Ryuuen said...

"Or rather, even if you go to him, it will be useless."

"However, you should prepare your class's entry form."

Ryuuen said.

"Why?"

Ichinose frowned slightly.