"Huh?"
Kushida, who had been cheerfully pulling out her phone, froze when she heard U Amakusa's words.
Had he just rejected her? Had she heard him wrong?
"Hm? What's wrong, Kushida?" Seeing her frozen, U Amakusa waved a hand in front of her.
See? She must have heard him wrong.
She resumed what she'd been doing. They were exchanging contact information, after all, and Kushida was sure her charm hadn't failed her.
"Oh, it's nothing. My ID is..."
U Amakusa slowly entered the number Kushida gave him. When he was done, he tapped search.
A profile filled with all kinds of photos appeared on his phone. For the record, the profile picture was a selfie of Kushida.
"Your profile picture is really cute, Kushida."
At that, Kushida covered her cheeks with both hands, looking bashful and thoroughly pleased. Who wouldn't be charmed by that?
"Is it...? Thank you, Amakusa."
"No, it's just the truth."
"Ah—" Kushida suddenly remembered something and cried out.
"Amakusa, right now, Kamuro is..."
"Wait."
U Amakusa cut her off before she could continue. "Kushida, do you think I'm pursuing Kamuro?"
Kushida tilted her head and asked in confusion, "Aren't you?"
It was no wonder she thought that way. Most people did. Teenagers loved talking about romance more than anything.
At this rate, U Amakusa figured the second- and third-years would know about it soon, too.
But since it had already happened, U Amakusa wasn't the kind of person who'd do something and then deny it. He might as well admit it outright.
"Yeah, I am. But..."
"But what?"
U Amakusa slipped his phone into his pocket and looked Kushida squarely in the eye, his expression making it clear he wasn't joking.
"I already told you I'd take no for an answer. If Kamuro wants to avoid me, then fine. Romance is about making a bold move, but pestering someone isn't my style. I'll make Kamuro fall for me in my own way."
With that, U Amakusa adjusted the bag on his shoulder and pointed his thumb at himself.
"I may not look it, but I'm pretty confident in myself."
All right, very nice.
That was a pretty good line.
U Amakusa could barely suppress his smug grin, but to Kushida, it looked like a confident smile.
"...Ahaha, then I'll wish you the best of luck, Amakusa. You've got this!"
"Thanks, Kushida. If there's nothing else, I'll be going."
That was what he said, but U Amakusa didn't give Kushida a chance to say anything more. From her perspective, he was already walking away with his back to her, waving.
Damn it! I came all this way to help you, and you won't even appreciate it! Jerk!
I hope you never manage to get that girl named Kamuro to like you!
But... what he said just now was kind of cool. Just... a tiny bit.
U Amakasa had made his exit after putting on a show. He just wanted to get away from Kushida's pestering as soon as possible.
And yes, he had searched for Kushida's ID, but he hadn't sent her a friend request.
U Amakusa didn't think he was anything special. All he needed to do was live out his days at Advanced Nurturing High School.
He had never planned to graduate from Class A in the first place. With his ability to study, getting into Tokyo University through the standard entrance exams wasn't out of the question.
He didn't need Advanced Nurturing High School's so-called 100 percent employment rate.
Especially not with troublesome people like Kushida and Horikita around.
Still, even U Amakusa hadn't expected the walk back to the dorms to be quite so eventful.
Had he somehow gotten the protagonist's script?
Well, he really had gotten the protagonist's script.
A huge butt stuck out from the bushes. For some reason, U Amakusa had a strange feeling that it looked familiar.
No, wait, hold on... her panties were showing!
She was wearing a skirt and lying in the bushes. Fine, she could lie there, but why was she sticking her butt out?
See no evil, see no evil.
U Amakusa shook his head and rubbed his forehead. He hadn't expected high school girls these days to be so careless. Then again, it wasn't his problem.
If he said something, people might call him a pervert. Why invite trouble?
But... since he'd already seen them, U Amakusa figured it was all right to admire them—as long as he wasn't caught.
And... they were the classic blue-and-white stripes from anime, weren't they? Looked like the lucky kind that showed up naturally. Much appreciated.
After feasting his eyes, U Amakusa clasped his hands together, closed his eyes, and offered a brief prayer to the blue-and-white stripes. Then he prepared to leave this sacred place as quickly as possible.
Who would be the next lucky person, he wondered?
Just then, the girl in the blue-and-white stripes finally stood up from the bushes. She dusted off the bits of grass clinging to her clothes.
"Kamuro?"
He'd recognized her from behind alone. There was no other girl with such lovely purple hair.
"Hm? Huh?!"
There was hardly anyone else around, only the two of them. Kamuro noticed U Amakusa as she stood up.
The moment she saw him, an extremely disgusted expression appeared on her face.
Not wanting to say another word, Kamuro dusted off her hands and prepared to leave.
She didn't want to be around a pervert.
"Wait, Kamuro."
U Amakusa hurriedly called after her, but Kamuro didn't listen at all and kept walking.
"What are you trying to pull now, you stalker?"
"I haven't decided what I'm trying to do. I'm just curious about what you were doing back there."
Faced with U Amakusa sticking to her like glue, Kamuro felt rather helpless, even though she'd made her dislike perfectly clear.
The two walked side by side. When Kamuro sped up, U Amakusa kept pace. When she slowed down, he slowed down too.
Kamuro crossed her arms and said impatiently, "Why should I tell you?"
"That's so mean. I was trying to help." U Amakusa wiped at the corner of his eye as if tears were there, slowly closing the distance between them.
"Ugh, I don't need your help!"
Kamuro turned her head away, as if she didn't want to look at U Amakusa. But soon, she angrily turned toward him again as he edged closer and shoved him away in disgust.
"Stop coming closer! You pervert!"
The two had fallen into an easygoing conversation, and Kamuro herself hadn't noticed how comfortable she'd become around someone she'd known for less than four days.
With other people, even other girls, she still kept some distance and made a point of being polite.
It had only been four days. How well could you get to know someone in that time?
Who could open up to someone they'd known for only four days, when the fourth day wasn't even over yet?
From an outsider's perspective, U Amakusa and Kamuro looked like a boyfriend who'd made his girlfriend mad and was now trying to soothe her.
Kamuro knew she'd lost her temper and hit him last time, right under the surveillance cameras.
She'd been prepared for U Amakusa to report her to a teacher or use the fact that she'd hit him to blackmail her. But he hadn't done either.
Of course, Kamuro hadn't forgotten what happened that day. U Amakusa had deliberately teased her about hitting him and even let the whole class know.
No—by now, the whole first year probably knew.
During breaks, when Kamuro was talking with other girls, U Amakasa wouldn't come bother her.
But whenever Kamuro was alone, U Amakusa would shamelessly sidle up to her.
And now, U Amakusa was still grinning and shamelessly moving closer to her as usual.
Before you continue