Shiina Hiyori's Feelings

"By the way, I heard Morishita gave you a lot of my chess records. Let's have a match next time we meet."

"I will lose."

"Oh? I don't dislike that kind of honesty, but playing against me personally would clearly improve your level more, wouldn't it?"

After agreeing to have a match the next time they met, Kujo and Hiyori said their goodbyes to Sakayanagi.

The wind was very strong today, and Kujo was even a little worried that if he let her leave alone, he didn't know if some kind of accident might happen on the way.

But knowing Sakayanagi, she had likely already arranged for Class A students to be on standby nearby to pick her up.

She was just that kind of person.

Watching the girl's retreating figure, Kujo reached into his pocket and touched the gift he had prepared for Hiyori, then he tried his best to push thoughts about Sakayanagi out of his mind.

He had more important things to do now.

The seaside promenade.

Hiyori and Kujo strolled along the edge of the school.

The sea breeze was strong.

Hiyori held down her beret, which was being lifted by the wind, and the hydrangeas on the hem of her coat swayed in the breeze, looking particularly eye-catching.

Since they started dating during the first week of school, Hiyori had been trying out different outfits for Kujo to see.

For a class with enough points, the quality of student life was naturally not bad.

The different types of outfits made the already cute Hiyori even more dazzling.

As for Hiyori today, in addition to her outfit, there was a touch of playfulness in her words and actions.

"Kujo-kun and Sakayanagi are truly amazing. Even though you're only first-years, have you already considered such a distant future?"

Kujo knew Hiyori was talking about the things he and Sakayanagi had discussed regarding life after graduation.

Since this school offered the privilege of guaranteed employment upon graduating from Class A.

Then thinking about the future was only logical.

Looking at Hiyori, Kujo always maintained a distance between them.

Three steps of distance allowed this shy girl to feel less nervous.

Then, Kujo said to the girl:

"After all, once we graduate, we officially enter society. If I don't have a stable job by then, how could I buy a library for a certain bookworm?"

Hearing this, Hiyori pouted playfully:

"Then I'll buy lots and lots of things for Kujo, too."

Kujo didn't take it to heart.

But he also felt that the unyielding Hiyori was very cute.

It was just a short sentence, yet it could make him so happy.

A little while later.

Kujo felt the atmosphere between them was good, so he proposed to Hiyori:

"Although there were some small interruptions earlier, today I am Princess Hiyori's knight. I will stay by Hiyori's side, and no one will disturb us. Does Her Highness the Princess have anywhere she would like to go?"

Hiyori felt the gentle sea breeze. She didn't answer Kujo's question, but simply reached out her fair, small hand toward Kujo without saying a word.

Kujo looked puzzled.

But seeing Hiyori full of expectation, he suddenly felt like playing a prank.

So, Kujo knelt on one knee and offered a hand-kissing gesture to Hiyori.

Hiyori was clearly startled by his sudden action.

When Kujo looked at Hiyori again, her whole body was trembling, and she was covering her face with one hand, appearing to be struggling to maintain her composure.

Ugh.

Hiyori stammered, not knowing what she was saying.

However, Kujo had long since learned how to deal with a girl in a state of extreme shyness.

He turned around, avoiding the girl's gaze.

At times like this, he should let the girl calm down by herself for a while.

He just didn't expect it to take such a long time for Hiyori to recover her composure this time.

Kujo began to regret it.

Should he have said a few jokes first to make the atmosphere less awkward?

And just as he was thinking, Hiyori looked at her toes, took a step to circle around, and finally walked slowly in front of Kujo, then reached out her hand again.

This time it wasn't the back of the hand, but the palm.

The blush on Hiyori's face had yet to fade, and she still commanded the boy:

"Reach out your hand."

Faced with the girl's request, Kujo was stunned for a moment, then tentatively extended his hand toward her.

Hiyori took the initiative to grab the hand Kujo had reached out.

Hiyori's hand was very small.

Even more so when compared to Kujo's hand.

Kujo gently held Hiyori's hand, then tried to shift one step to the side.

Hiyori, not daring to look at Kujo at all, followed him with a single step.

Kujo tried to take a step forward, and Hiyori, maintaining the distance, followed with a step of her own.

Hiyori's steps were very small, so Kujo tried to slow his pace.

And so, Hiyori and Kujo walked along the seaside.

Birds glided in the distance.

Waves swallowed small fish.

A falling leaf in the air was still choosing where to land.

"What do you plan to do after graduation, Kujo-kun?"

Kujo was taken aback, thought for a long while, and then replied:

"I had some ideas before, but now I'm actually feeling lost. I'll just take it one step at a time. If possible, I'd still like to continue my studies with Hiyori and attend the same school."

Hiyori blinked and asked Kujo:

"But didn't you say you wanted to go abroad, Kujo-kun?"

"You still remember that."

"So, is it because you care about me... ugh."

Don't keep going.

Kujo took off Hiyori's hat and patted her head, wanting to interrupt whatever she was about to say next.

"Relax, it's not because of you, you silly girl."

Kujo was used to lying.

So, he now wanted to weave a lie to divert the girl's attention.

He couldn't let her keep overthinking in that direction.

Kujo recalled the content of the original work he had read in his past life, then said:

"You will grow slowly at this school. Ryuen has great ability and will choose to protect his class in his own way. Later on, we will graduate as non-recommended students and spend our time at this school peacefully. In the end, Hiyori, you will most likely choose to get into a prestigious university."

Hearing this, Hiyori looked at Kujo and said dotingly:

"You have to study hard, Kujo-kun, otherwise you won't be able to keep up with me."

Kujo's hand kept stroking Hiyori's head.

The girl shrank her neck, shaking her head like a small animal.

It wasn't until Kujo let go that Hiyori realized what was happening, still shaking her head.

Only when she heard Kujo's laughter did Hiyori react, quickly running a few steps away.

It seemed she was shy again.

Facing the easily embarrassed girl.

Kujo took out the accessory he had prepared long ago from his uniform pocket, walked up, and held it out in front of Hiyori.

It was a pale blue hairpin.

Hiyori took it with both hands, then asked Kujo, who didn't dare to look at her:

"What is it that you like about me, Kujo-kun?"

Kujo only dared to look at the passersby in the distance now; he was trying hard to calm his own emotions.

He had clearly intended to make Hiyori happy, but in the end, Kujo had made himself lose his composure.

After all, when he thought about it, giving a hairpin was just too cliché.

There were clearly many more and better choices, weren't there?

"Because you're cute?"

The two fell into a successive silence.

"Kujo-kun, I've prepared a gift for you, too."

Hiyori said, taking advantage of the moment Kujo dared not look at her to perform a simple magic trick.

By the time Kujo turned his head back, a bouquet of flowers had appeared in Hiyori's hands out of nowhere.

"Kujo-kun, I may not be able to keep up with your pace, but I will always face in your direction."

Having just finished saying the romantic line she had prepared, Hiyori looked at the equally blushing Kujo and buried her face directly behind the gift.

Kujo fell silent once again.

He understood that his girlfriend had always viewed him as too upright, too noble.

But Kujo was not a good person.

If anything, it was quite the opposite.

That was true in his past life, and it was true in this one as well.

So, Kujo gathered his courage and tried to confess his true feelings to Hiyori:

"Hiyori, I like you."

"I also like everyone in the first year just the same."

"If I hadn't been placed in Class C from the start, I would have taken action for my own sake, choosing to hurt others to avoid being hurt in this school. The ideal Ryuen planned for the whole class to graduate from Class A, or the idea Sakayanagi mentioned about abolishing the Class A graduation privilege, are both quite impressive, but my wish is actually just to be able to graduate from this school with you."

Hiyori listened quietly.

Kujo kept on talking.

"Whether it's Ryuen, Ichinose, or Sakayanagi, they are undoubtedly excellent people. Even if I hadn't given the school rules to Ryuen at the start of the term, they would still have had a bright future after graduation."

"Regardless of whether they graduate from Class A, they still have the experience of being classmates with such excellent people for three years. In the future, that will surely become quite a valuable network of connections."

"Even if some classmates drop out for various reasons, that is just the kind of 'survival of the fittest' social competition that exists in this world every day, and I won't go out of my way to care about everyone's feelings."

"So, Hiyori, what is your wish?"

After saying all that, Kujo couldn't even remember what he had said.

Regardless, he just wanted Hiyori to know that he wasn't a good person.

After a moment of silence, Hiyori replied to Kujo:

"I don't know everyone in the first year as well as Kujo-kun does, but Kujo-kun must have misunderstood something."

"Kujo-kun is also an excellent person, otherwise, everyone wouldn't have appeared by your side one after another."

"As for my wish? I hope to make more friends over the next three years. And if I could graduate together with my friends, that would be even better!"

Hearing this, Kujo gradually leaned his forehead toward Hiyori.

Then he said to her:

"Mm. I will help you make your wish come true. It's just that..."

Hiyori interrupted Kujo:

"There is no 'just that'... No matter how Kujo-kun might fail to live up to others' expectations in the future, it will never affect the fact that your Hiyori likes you the most. Do you understand?"

The shadow of a seabird swept across the girl's crimson cheeks.

The two's date came to an end as they gradually approached the school building.

Right until the moment they parted, Kujo still had one question in his heart.

"By the way, where did your flowers come from?"

"This is my new magic outfit; as long as I turn it upside down, the flowers in the hem of the garment can gather together to form a bouquet."

"Impressive. And where did this prop come from?"

"The old man at the flower shop gave it to me."

"He really is quite bored."