Mascot Girl

"First of all, please don't use such misleading terminology." Toru Hasegawa paused, then carefully took his phone out of his pocket and handed it to Ran Morishita. "Secondly, my use of the phone ends here. You shouldn't have any reason to keep staying here, right?"

"I see. In that case, let's part ways here."

Ran Morishita took the phone and stepped back a few paces, but she had absolutely no intention of leaving.

Toru Hasegawa couldn't help but ask in confusion, "What are you doing?"

"As you can see, I'm going on an adventure." Ran Morishita kept a straight face. It seemed her moral compass was quite low—or perhaps, did she even have one to begin with?

Toru Hasegawa had no way to deal with this kind of persistent pestering.

Just like how Miyabi Nagumo monitored Manabu Horikita, as long as one explained it as a "coincidence" or "happenstance," the other party had no way to refute it.

Even though, generally speaking, no one would want their actions to be monitored.

"Whatever." Ignoring Ran Morishita, who was beyond reason, and not bothering with the hesitant Suzune Horikita nearby, Toru Hasegawa turned the topic to Airi Sakura. "Do you have any plans for what's next?"

"No, none." Airi Sakura's eyes darted away; she was clearly not telling the truth.

"Since that's the case, could you accompany me somewhere?" Toru Hasegawa thought about the state of his own body. "Of course, as compensation, I can cover today's expenses."

"Covering expenses or whatever... that's not necessary. Anyway, I've already..." Airi Sakura's voice grew lower and lower until it became barely audible.

"Let's go." Although he didn't hear her clearly, Toru Hasegawa could understand the girl's meaning.

He deliberately ignored Suzune Horikita and Ran Morishita entirely and stepped outside.

Suzune Horikita did not continue to follow, but Ran Morishita stuck to him like a plaster.

Regarding this, Toru Hasegawa could only choose to turn a blind eye.

He selected a sports watch from the school store, which could monitor real-time heart rate and blood oxygen levels; it even displayed abstract things like stress levels.

As for its actual effectiveness, he wasn't entirely sure.

"Do you want to buy one too? It might be surprisingly effective for motivating yourself to exercise." Toru Hasegawa used his student ID to pay, and the receipt printed the remaining balance of his private points.

But Airi Sakura clearly wouldn't notice that; a battle was raging within her heart at this moment.

Buy? Or not buy?

No, that was never the real question.

It was the word "date" contained in what Ran Morishita had said earlier.

A, a date?!

Is what we are doing right now really a date?

Could it be that... Toru-kun actually feels that way about me too...

Airi Sakura completely tuned out what Toru Hasegawa was saying, her expression full of agitation.

"Hey? Hello?" Toru Hasegawa waved his hand in front of Airi Sakura's eyes, finally bringing her attention back to reality. "Anyway, I was just asking if you wanted to buy one too, and I wanted to hear your thoughts."

He didn't wait for her apology and dragged the topic back on track on his own.

"I'll buy one too." Airi Sakura snuck a glance at the style of the watch in Toru Hasegawa's hand, then chose the same one and paid for it.

Toru Hasegawa took a slight note of the receipt the clerk printed; the remaining private points displayed on it were highly unusual for Airi Sakura.

I see, so this is the final piece of the puzzle?

Even though the result was already laid out before him, the pleasure of having the process solved undoubtedly made one feel refreshed.

"Could you help me put it on?"

"Eh?" Airi Sakura was flustered by the sudden request. "Why, why do you want me to help?"

"Are you unwilling?" Without answering her confusion, Toru Hasegawa launched an attack from a different angle.

Airi Sakura surrendered immediately: "I, I'm very willing."

As she spoke, her slender, onion-like fingers reached for the beautifully crafted packaging. Airi Sakura carefully dismantled the casing, lacking any of the intensity one usually has when opening a package.

Toru Hasegawa watched Airi Sakura's current posture with great interest.

Truly, she is just like a mascot; it makes one want to tease her a little.

It's a pity...

Although his body reacted to this, it didn't seem to be what he was truly seeking.

What exactly is missing?

Toru Hasegawa silently felt the unique skin texture of a girl against his wrist, thinking quietly in his heart.

"Toru-kun's hands... are very beautiful..."

"Eh?"

He hadn't expected Airi Sakura to say something like that on her own, and Toru Hasegawa's train of thought was interrupted for a moment.

"Did I say something wrong?" Airi Sakura waited for his reply, looking extremely nervous.

However, the point Toru Hasegawa was focusing on was not that, but rather...

She was actually looking at him properly while she spoke.

"No, I felt comfortable hearing that too. It's common sense to feel happy when you receive affirmation from others, right?" Toru Hasegawa smiled.

Seeing her flushed face, Toru Hasegawa couldn't help but lose his composure.

This girl, just how innocent is she...

Glancing imperceptibly at Ran Morishita, who had entered the store with them not far away, Toru Hasegawa gave up on continuing his advances here and said:

"It's getting late, we should think about dinner... By the way, Airi Sakura, can you cook?"

"...I can."

"That's great, would you let me taste your cooking?"

Aggressively invading her personal space, Toru Hasegawa was very curious to see how Airi Sakura would respond under these circumstances.

"Is... is it at the dormitory?"

"Yeah, though which dormitory might be a question. Where would you prefer, Airi Sakura?"

Advancing the topic under the premise that she had already accepted, Toru Hasegawa was like a ferocious wolf devouring the young girl before him.

"Toru-kun's room... I guess."

Compared to a girl's own dormitory, the boys' dormitory was perhaps unexpectedly acceptable.

"In that case, let's hurry to the supermarket and buy some ingredients."

It was very difficult to get Airi Sakura to take the initiative in the conversation, so Toru Hasegawa had no choice but to proceed in this awkward manner. Fortunately, she didn't feel dissatisfied because of it, otherwise, he would have felt embarrassed as well.

No, it wasn't "fortunately."

I should have known this all along.

This was my goal.

With the "ghost" named Ran Morishita trailing behind them, the two bought an appropriate amount of ingredients at the supermarket.

As for vegetables, they could get them for free, but meat had to be purchased using personal points.

Toru Hasegawa carried two large plastic bags back to Dormitory 301 with ease. Even though Ran Morishita wanted to follow, she was shut out by the quick-witted Toru Hasegawa.

She even wanted to come into the dormitory? Eat a closed door!

"Is that okay?" Airi Sakura asked, feeling a bit worried.

Toru Hasegawa shook his head: "It's fine. Sometimes learning to say no makes things much easier. Besides, a dormitory is a private space; wouldn't it be troublesome if someone just barged in without permission?"

"Th-that's true."

"Oh right, do you usually bring a bento or eat at the cafeteria?"

"Because I'm not very good with crowded environments, I do the former..." Airi Sakura felt embarrassed and twirled a strand of hair by her ear.

Toru Hasegawa said earnestly: "In that case, I'll leave these things to you."

He pointed to one of the plastic bags. Although Airi Sakura had already guessed it, she still panicked for a moment.

"Why are you being so good to me?" She couldn't help but ask the question she wanted to understand the most.

In this state of a man and a woman alone in a room, this question was extremely dangerous.