[Eighth Day of School] Shiina Went on the Offensive

A new week.

After a short weekend, the students welcomed the return of school days.

Student dormitory.

Shiina pressed her forehead against the cold mirror, the white mist from her breath leaving a hazy mark on the glass.

The memory of tossing and turning in bed last night, despite her deliberate attempt to sleep early, was still fresh in her mind.

Although she had prepared herself mentally, Shiina found it unexpectedly difficult when it came time to actually make a change.

Today is Monday, the weather is bright, and the temperature is moderate.

Shiina decided that she must speak to Kujo today!

Even if it were just a simple greeting, that would be enough.

She wanted to be friends with Kujo!

And to achieve this goal, Shiina was constantly trying to dress herself up.

The path from the dormitory to the school building.

Shiina walked toward the classroom with her schoolbag on her back, silently reciting opening lines for making friends among ordinary students.

However, since she left very early this time, Shiina rarely encountered students who had just finished their morning exercise on the way.

Among them, she remembered two students named Koenji Rokusuke and Ayanokoji Kiyotaka.

They were both students from Class D.

Shiina was good at remembering names.

So she was able to recognize the two of them as fellow first-years.

Subsequently.

Shiina's pace gradually quickened.

She wanted to know if she could accidentally run into Kujo if she arrived at the classroom earlier?

Shiina's mind was constantly occupied with thoughts about him.

Kujo was very tall and also very handsome; compared to other students in the class, well... he also belonged to the type with a deeper sense of cunning?

He didn't look like a student of the same age as everyone else at all.

The atmosphere around him was more like that of an adult man, similar to a teacher.

That was her intuition.

There was no basis for it, either.

Moreover, Shiina basically never saw Kujo during regular class hours; in her memory, she could only occasionally see him near the end of the school day.

For a moment, a terrifying guess suddenly popped into Shiina's mind.

What if he had something to do today and didn't come to class at all?

Or, what if he refused to talk to her?

Should she express her desire to be friends with him in a subtle way?

Hmm...

After all, they were classmates; it shouldn't be too much to exchange contact information, right?

It wouldn't be too much, would it?

Holding onto her nervous feelings, Shiina waited for the entire day.

Finally, during the last period, she successfully saw Kujo's figure sneaking into the classroom.

"Phew~"

Shiina let out a sigh of relief.

The school bell rang.

After answering a question posed by Ryuen Kakeru, Sagami finally announced the end of the school day.

Once Sagami left, Shiina noticed that the students in the class did not choose to leave the classroom immediately.

Everyone in the class seemed to tacitly accept the leadership position of the boy named Ryuen Kakeru within Class C.

And seeing that Ryuen and his group didn't move after the bell rang, the rest of Class C didn't dare to leave the classroom on their own, just waiting for them instead.

Throughout this week, the deterrent power Ryuen brought to his classmates had been just that great.

However, he seemed to be hiding from someone today?

How could that be?

It must be that she was overthinking things.

Even Ishizaki, who had acted the way he did a few days ago, had now become a lackey for the other side, following a group of people after school to carry Ryuen's bag.

By the time the students of Class C had left the classroom one after another.

Shiina had been keeping a close eye on Kujo's movements.

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He was in no rush to leave, standing alone by the window without moving, his gaze fixed on the outside.

Shiina couldn't help but become curious about what he usually did and what he usually thought about.

And, whether he liked girls of her type...

Before long.

Kujo's gaze naturally landed on her, the only one who hadn't left the classroom.

Shiina naturally noticed his gaze as well.

So, while trying hard to maintain her expression, she began to think about her next strategy.

After a while.

Shiina noticed that Kujo's gaze had been lingering on her.

Could it be that her lipstick had faded?

Or was her hair messy?

Could there be something strange on her face?

Oh my god!

Shiina looked up and met Kujo's gaze.

In her eyes, he dodged the eye contact at an incredibly fast speed.

Did Kujo intend to leave the classroom?

No!

How could he?

Shiina's left hand couldn't help but clench her skirt, and feeling Kujo's gaze shift toward the door, she couldn't help but start to feel nervous.

All the various phrases and sentences she had already prepared were cast to the back of her mind.

"Kujo-kun..."

The words she wanted to say were clearly so simple, yet she couldn't raise her voice at all.

Shiina's voice was very soft, and it also carried an imperceptible tremor.

And looking at the puzzled Kujo, Shiina summoned all the courage of her life to continue asking:

"Do you like books, Kujo-kun?"

Those so-called opening lines evaporated in an instant, and what slipped out was the question the girl most longed to ask from the bottom of her heart.

Even if it were just to lie to herself, if the other party could say the word "like."

Then everything would become natural.

And Shiina also knew that being asked such a question suddenly would be very strange.

Things would certainly not develop the way she imagined.

But before she could continue asking, Kujo, who was in front of her, replied straightforwardly:

"Shiina-san, I don't really read books. Rather than reading other people's stories, I prefer to work hard for life after graduation."

Kujo-kun is so mature.

Shiina blurted out her inner thoughts without realizing it.

But soon she felt that something was wrong.

Because Kujo's statement was undoubtedly expressing that "he doesn't like reading books."

Shiina began to feel afraid.

Because she had already anticipated that the other party would continue to reject her.

Shiina panicked:

"Does that mean, if I could make you like reading books, Kujo-kun, would that change your mind?"

As soon as she finished speaking, Shiina saw Kujo's expression change quickly.

His eyes revealed obvious awkwardness, as if he were thinking about how to refuse her tactfully.

That's right.

After all, she had never made friends before, so naturally, she didn't know how ordinary students went about making friends.

Failure was normal.

Since when does everything go smoothly right from the start?

If it doesn't work today, then tomorrow?

And if it doesn't work tomorrow?

The day after?

No!

Shiina did not like dragging important matters out indefinitely.

Once she had thought everything through, she could only force herself to smile as naturally as possible, whispering softly to the boy in front of her:

"I just like you, Kujo-kun."

After saying it, Shiina felt her cheeks burning.

These words were the absolute limit of what she could do, and she probably didn't even realize herself just how bold she had been.

But this was her true heart.

Shiina had laid her cards on the table.

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