Looking up at the broad-chested girl, Kageya Shinjitsu smiled too.
He didn't tactlessly tell her that they had only just met on the train and were practically strangers.
That kind of boy wasn't popular.
"Kageya."
His answer made Kushida Kikyo's expression stiffen. Then she looked at him reproachfully.
She even gave Kageya Shinjitsu a light smack.
"Honestly, you said you forgot my name again—and you came up with a different one this time. Do you really remember my name, or are you just teasing me?"
"Making jokes like that is so mean. You're awful."
Is it really okay to casually get this physically close to a guy? I don't think I've ever met a girl like this. Is this what high school girls are like? Wow, that's amazing.
Though a thousand thoughts raced through his mind, Kageya Shinjitsu kept a blank expression and carefully tried to remember the girl's name as he apologized.
"Huh? Did I get it wrong? Sorry, my memory isn't very good. Let me think... Shibata? No, don't give me any hints. I'll figure it out. Oda?"
"Taguchi? Yamashita? Matsushita?"
Kageya Shinjitsu refused Kushida Kikyo's attempt to give him a hint and kept guessing. His words had already attracted the attention of the others.
After all, forgetting someone's name like that was downright awful—especially when he got to Matsushita.
A girl with smooth, long brown hair, sitting a few seats behind Kikyo, looked over in surprise and watched them. Her name was Matsushita, and the sudden call had startled her.
One strange name after another came out of his mouth. At last, Kushida Kikyo couldn't take it anymore.
"Kageya, you'd better remember this. My name is Kushida Kikyo—not Oda or Shibata."
"Got it?"
Kushida Kikyo took Kageya Shinjitsu's hand and stared at him with watery eyes, as though she might cry if he didn't promise.
More touching. What are you trying to do? Hanada, it's just a name. Do you really have to care that much???
Kageya Shinjitsu grumbled to himself.
"Oh, sorry. I understand, Kushida."
"I'll remember this time. I promise."
With her soft hand wrapped around his, Kageya Shinjitsu sincerely made his promise.
Reassured by his promise, Kushida believed him again.
Then Kushida Kikyo noticed Kageya Shinjitsu's hand.
"Kageya, your hand feels pretty strong. Do you work out often?"
As she spoke, she demonstrated, lacing her fingers through his and holding his hand in a tight clasp.
It seemed she was testing the strength of his grip.
That could easily give someone the wrong idea~~~
The sensation sent all sorts of thoughts through Kageya Shinjitsu's mind.
Sure enough, this was why he could never remember Hanada's name. It was all her fault.
Kageya Shinjitsu didn't put on a lecherous face just because a girl was playing with his hand. He calmly explained.
"More or less. I'm a little interested in sports, but I'm only average. You know, the kind of guy who's bad at it but still loves playing."
"Then I can ask you to work out with me sometime, Kageya."
Kushida Kikyo gave him a sweet smile and said adorably.
Only she knew whether she meant it.
Their conversation had already caught the attention of quite a few classmates.
They'd only just met on the first day, yet they were already talking so much. They were even chatting openly in the classroom, holding hands and all.
They were both good-looking, too, drawing even more attention—a classic popular-guy-and-girl pairing. Some of the boys were already watching Kageya Shinjitsu with envy, wishing they could take his place, especially the boys sitting behind him.
They looked eager, as though they were ready to jump in and join the conversation.
[New writer, new book. This is the second update. If you're enjoying it, please show your support and leave a comment. "Please subscribe," "please send flowers," "please tip," "please bookmark," and "please vote!"]
Chapter Three: Yamauchi Haruki's Confidence, Homeroom Teacher (Third Update)
And as it turned out, someone did just that.
While they were talking, a plain-looking boy with a baffling amount of confidence sauntered over and jumped right in.
"Kushida, Kushida, if you want to work out, you can ask me too! I'm Yamauchi Haruki. I made it to the national table tennis tournament, and I was the ace pitcher on the baseball team. But I got injured during the high school league, so I'm recovering now. Nice to meet you."
He acted like they were old friends, clearly having overheard their conversation.
As he spoke, he fussed with his hair, as though that made him look cool.
He gazed at Kushida Kikyo expectantly and even seemed about to hold out his hand, hoping she would take it too.
"Ooh~~~ Yamauchi, that's amazing!"
When she heard someone approach and start talking, Kushida clapped her hands and spun around dramatically.
Before turning, she shot Kageya Shinjitsu a sidelong glance. But his expression didn't change at all, so Kushida Kikyo turned to Yamauchi Haruki and looked at him admiringly.
She didn't offer to shake his hand, though.
"I'm just average. A little better than the 'bad at it but still loves playing' level."
"Hahahaha..."
Yamauchi Haruki probably hadn't expected his approach to work so well.
Encouraged by Kushida's admiration, he got carried away and said something boastful.
As soon as he said it, the atmosphere in the class clearly changed. Some of the people who had been talking turned to look over.
Yamauchi Haruki hadn't exactly been quiet.
It looked like something interesting was about to happen.
Even the two people near the windows at the back, who hadn't paid any attention to them until now, looked over.
Normally, there wouldn't have been anything wrong with what he said. But after Kageya Shinjitsu had just said something similar, it was clearly a problem.
Is he picking a fight?
"Eek~~ That's a really mean thing to say."
"Yamauchi, are you picking on Kageya?"
Kushida Kikyo asked in surprise.
She shrank back, furrowing her brow and putting on a helpless expression.
Her gaze kept shifting between the two boys.
"I'm just telling the truth."
With her watching him and all their classmates' attention on him, Yamauchi Haruki stood his ground.
He also glanced at Kageya Shinjitsu.
He looked soft and delicate, with black hair down to his ears and a neat, handsome, honor-student look. He was around 175 centimeters tall, with no especially intimidating height or muscles.
Yamauchi Haruki felt like he had the advantage.
With his honor-student look, Kageya definitely didn't seem like the type to cause trouble.
And that was exactly how things seemed to go.
Kageya Shinjitsu looked "scared" and didn't dare say a word.
He didn't even "dare" to look at Yamauchi.
"See? Kageya doesn't even have a problem with it."
"He was just telling the truth. It really was only for fun."
"If you're actually interested, Kushida, you should ask me."
Yamauchi Haruki spoke smugly.
In reality, he didn't know anything either, but that didn't stop him from cramming a little beforehand.
Then it'd be easy to fool some innocent girl who knew nothing.
And just like that, he'd find himself a girlfriend.
"Ehh~~ Is that so?"
"Kageya?"
Kushida Kikyo drawled, looking at Kageya Shinjitsu.
"That's right. Just like Yamashita said, I'm a beginner."
"So Oda and Yamashita are better at it than I am."
Kageya Shinjitsu didn't care about the provocation or the soft little hand leaving his. He spoke calmly.
But with those two sentences, he offended two people.
"Hey, I just told you very clearly that my name is Yamauchi Haruki. Are your ears bad or something??"
Yamauchi Haruki spoke first, sounding hostile as he tried to put Kageya Shinjitsu in his place.
That made Kageya Shinjitsu very happy.
He couldn't wait for Yamauchi to take a swing at him.
His eyes showed his anticipation.
Even Yamauchi Haruki sensed something strange.
"And what about me? Didn't you say you remembered my name? I'm Kushida Kikyo."
Kushida Kikyo added her own complaint.
She was beginning to wonder if Kageya Shinjitsu liked boys.
She'd been talking to him for ages, and he'd seemed completely indifferent. But now a guy had shown up, and his eyes seemed to be burning as he looked at him—like he was gazing at a beautiful girl. He wasn't even angry about being bullied.
"Okay, Yamauchi. Kushida. I'll definitely remember next time."
Kageya Shinjitsu looked at the two of them with sincere eyes, completely unaware that they now thought he was into guys. They both began to wonder if he was just messing with them.
"It's fine if you don't remember. You don't just seem bad at sports—you probably aren't too bright either. Hanging out with you would probably make me dumber."
"Then it's a date. Let's hang out sometime, Kushida Kikyo."
After mocking Kageya Shinjitsu, he turned to Kushida Kikyo, no longer interested in him.
This time, Yamauchi Haruki even called her by her full name.
By now, he was already thinking about when he could start calling her by her first name.
He'd even come up with names for their future children.
When they got married, they'd have to invite that idiot Kageya Shinjitsu.
So what if he was handsome? He didn't even want a girl who was practically throwing herself at him. These days, a guy needed to use his brain if he wanted to pick up girls.
Yamauchi Haruki congratulated himself on how clever he was.
Seeing how things stood between them—
"Sure."
Kushida Kikyo smiled at him.
That only spurred Yamauchi Haruki on further.
As Yamauchi Haruki was thinking of asking for her contact information so they could flirt over messages later,
Before you continue