The study session had lasted from four o'clock after school until well past six.
Quite a few students were starting to feel tired or hungry, and gradually, some got up to say goodbye to their companions.
Chihaya Rei and the others decided to call it a day.
[Current Torture progress: 66%. Reach 100% to unlock a reward.]
Another fruitful day.
Chihaya Rei was in a good mood.
"Want to walk back with us?"
Karuizawa Kei looked at Chihaya Rei and suddenly extended the invitation.
Normally, after Chihaya Rei finished putting her through training, she would run back to her dorm alone, looking utterly dejected, and take a shower.
Maybe having her two friends there had given her a rare boost of courage?
Matsushita Chiaki, however, seemed less willing to meet Chihaya Rei's eyes because of what had happened earlier.
What are you feeling guilty about? Nothing happened between us.
Chihaya Rei gave her a casual glance.
Karuizawa Kei could tell the two of them were hiding something from her! She might not be good at much else, but she was pretty observant.
"I won't intrude on the three of you."
Chihaya Rei shook his head and turned them down without hesitation. "I'm going to browse the library."
With that, he waved goodbye to the three of them.
As a seasoned torture expert, one had to know when to explore new areas, meet new NPCs, pick up side quests, and complete them to earn experience and level up.
Though not seeing a bunny-girl senpai in a Santa outfit made Chihaya Rei feel as if Mai were crawling all over him.
Still, he wouldn't mind running into a library NPC like Shiina Hiyori.
So he set off at a light pace toward the mystery section.
On the way, Chihaya Rei caught sight of Ichinose Honami surrounded by girls from Class B. Ichinose Honami was patiently helping them with their questions.
When would he get to enjoy that kind of treatment?
All he could say was, the succubus Honami was terrifying.
As he marveled inwardly at Ichinose Honami's personal charm, which was almost on par with a hypnosis app,
Chihaya Rei reached the mystery section.
The first thing that caught his eye was a petite figure with pale blue hair, seen from behind.
Its owner was Shiina Hiyori, an NPC guaranteed to spawn in the Advanced Nurturing High School library.
Shiina Hiyori was standing on tiptoe, her slender calves clad in light gray knee-high socks.
She tilted her head back at a 45-degree angle, stretching her arm as far as she could and reaching out with her fingertips toward a book on the upper shelf.
Her uniform sleeve had slipped down, revealing a stretch of snowy-white wrist.
The pale blue tips of her hair, falling down her back, swayed gently with her movements.
Chihaya Rei had to admit, it was a lovely scene.
Even though Shiina Hiyori was stretching herself as tall as she could, her fingertips were still a few centimeters short of the books on the upper shelf.
Normally, she should have looked for a small step stool.
Libraries usually had one.
But Shiina Hiyori seemed to think that if she just tried a little harder, she could reach the book. Her fingers had already touched its edge; she just couldn't pull it out.
So the next moment, Shiina Hiyori pushed off with her toes and jumped, trying to make up for those few centimeters.
By some stroke of luck, she managed to pull the book she wanted free.
A delighted smile appeared on Shiina Hiyori's face, but when her feet hit the ground, she suddenly realized she hadn't landed steadily. Her body immediately began tipping backward.
Thud!
Shiina Hiyori landed hard on the white tiled floor.
But the book that should have fallen with her and smacked her on the head hadn't come down. Instead, a hand had caught it firmly in midair.
Sitting on the floor, Shiina Hiyori looked up curiously at the person holding the book.
Chihaya Rei looked down at Shiina Hiyori, whose hair was mussed and whose slender legs were spread apart in a rather inelegant sitting position.
"You've had a bit of a rough landing, haven't you, avid reader?"
He chuckled without trying to hide it.
Shiina Hiyori blinked in confusion.
Then she looked down and noticed her awkward position.
A blush spread across her porcelain cheeks. She hurriedly drew her legs together and smoothed her skirt, her voice soft and apologetic.
"S-sorry you had to see that, classmate."
For one reason or another, Shiina Hiyori found herself feeling unusually nervous.
Just as she was about to get up, she heard the other person speak again.
"I could've caught you just now."
"Eh?"
Shiina Hiyori froze for a moment.
"But I wanted to see what you'd look like after you fell, so I only caught the book."
With a faint curve to his lips, Chihaya Rei took the book away from where he had held it above Shiina Hiyori's head and waved it in front of her.
Shiina Hiyori's purple eyes widened a little in surprise.
"That was a rather mean thing to do."
She murmured softly, but then a smile spread across her gentle face.
"But it's okay. I'm glad you protected the book."
Shiina Hiyori's answer was so innocent that Chihaya Rei looked surprised.
"And even though you didn't catch me, you caught the book, so I didn't get hit on the head."
"So I should still thank you."
Shiina Hiyori blinked, her smile sincere and warm.
"You really do love books."
Chihaya Rei sighed, giving up on teasing her. He held out his hand and helped Shiina Hiyori to her feet after she had spent quite a while sitting on the floor.
For now, he couldn't find any reason to torture Shiina Hiyori...
Shiina Hiyori had no obvious personality flaws, and she didn't seem to have any shameful past, either.
She was a literary girl with eyes only for books. She spent most of her time quietly reading in the library and didn't pay much attention to anything else.
She never took the initiative to get involved in class competition, either.
Perhaps once they knew each other better, he could tell her, "Look at Ryuen, working himself to the bone for Class C, while you, Shiina Hiyori, are leisurely reading here. Do you really think that's okay?"
"Thank you, somewhat mean classmate."
Shiina Hiyori gently released his hand. Since she didn't know his name, she could only describe him jokingly like that.
However, as she reached down to straighten her skirt, her gaze kept drifting toward Chihaya Rei.
She had noticed that the mean classmate had opened the book and started reading.
Was he interested in this book?!
And considering that he was the only person to come to this section in a while,
Shiina Hiyori couldn't help wondering: Could this classmate, who seemed mean but was actually a good person, be the book-loving friend she had been hoping to meet for so long?
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