Blue and White Striped Underpants

"Huh?"

Kushida, who had been happily taking out her phone, froze upon hearing U Amakusa's words.

Had this guy just rejected her? Did she mishear him?

"Hm? What's wrong, Kushida?" Seeing her dazed, U Amakusa waved his hand in front of her face.

See, I must have misheard.

She resumed her movements, intending to exchange contact information; Kushida felt her charm couldn't possibly have failed.

"Oh, it's nothing. My ID is..."

U Amakusa slowly typed in the number Kushida recited, paused, and tapped search.

The phone displayed an account filled with various photos, and incidentally, the profile picture was a selfie of Kushida herself.

"It's very cute, Kushida, your profile picture."

Hearing this, Kushida covered her cheeks with both hands, looking shy and clearly pleased—who wouldn't be charmed by that?

"Really...? Thank you, Amakusa."

"No, it's just the truth."

"Ah—" Kushida suddenly exclaimed, as if remembering something.

"Amakusa, right now Kamuro is..."

"Wait."

U Amakusa spoke up to stop her, not letting Kushida continue. "Kushida, are you assuming that I'm pursuing Kamuro?"

Kushida tilted her head and asked in confusion, "Isn't that the case?"

It wasn't strange for her to think so; most people assumed the same. Adolescents were always most fond of such topics.

At this rate of gossip, U Amakusa estimated that the second and third-year students would know about it soon.

However, since it had already happened, U Amakusa wasn't the type to shirk responsibility; he might as well just admit it boldly.

"Well, that is true, but..."

"But what?"

U Amakusa took the opportunity to shove his phone into his pocket and looked at Kushida calmly, his expression suggesting he wasn't joking.

"I said before that I was rejected. If Kamuro wants to avoid me, then so be it. Love requires bold advances, but pestering someone isn't my style. I will make Kamuro like me in my own way."

With that, U Amakusa adjusted the bag on his shoulder and pointed at himself with his thumb.

"Don't look at me like that; I'm actually very confident in myself."

Yosh, very good.

That was a pretty good flex.

U Amakusa, feeling wildly smug inside, couldn't suppress the corners of his mouth from curling upward, though in Kushida's eyes, it looked like a confident smile.

"...Ahaha, then I wish you success, Amakusa. Ganbatte~"

"Thank you, Kushida. If there's nothing else, I'll be heading off."

Saying so, U Amakusa didn't give Kushida a chance to say anything more; from her perspective, he was already walking away with his back turned, waving his hand.

Hmph! I went out of my way to help you, and you don't even appreciate it! Damn it!

I hope you never manage to win over that girl named Kamuro!

Though... that speech just now was actually a little cool. Just... a tiny bit.

U Amakusa, having run off after his flex, simply wanted to shake off Kushida's entanglement as quickly as possible.

As for the ID he searched, he hadn't actually sent a friend request.

U Amakusa didn't think he had any great destiny; he just wanted to live his life in Advanced Nurturing peacefully.

From the very beginning, he hadn't intended to graduate from Class A. With his own academic ability, it wasn't impossible to get into Tokyo University on his own.

He didn't need the so-called one-hundred-percent employment rate of Advanced Nurturing.

Especially not with people like Kushida and Horikita, who were walking bundles of trouble.

However, U Amakusa hadn't expected that the walk back to the dormitory wouldn't be quite so simple.

Could it be that U Amakusa was holding the protagonist's script?

Well, he was indeed holding the protagonist's script.

A large pair of buttocks was exposed in the bushes nearby, and for some reason, U Amakusa felt a strange sense of familiarity with them.

No, oi oi... the panties are showing, hey.

To be crouching in the bushes while wearing a skirt—and even if you are crouching, why stick your butt out like that?

Must not look, must not look.

U Amakusa shook his head while supporting his forehead; he hadn't expected high school girls these days to be so unguarded. After a moment's thought, he decided this wasn't his business.

Saying it out loud might get me called a pervert, so why ask for trouble?

But... since I've already seen it, U Amakusa figured it was fine to view it from an appreciative perspective, as long as he wasn't caught.

Still... it really is the classic blue-and-white striped anime style, and it looks like a standard-issue type. Thanks for the treat.

Having feasted his eyes, U Amakusa pressed his palms together and offered a silent prayer to the blue-and-white stripes before planning to make a quick exit from this sacred place.

I wonder who the next lucky person will be?

However, just at that moment, the blue-and-white striped girl in the bushes finally stood up, shaking off the scattered weeds clinging to her.

"Kamuro?"

He identified the girl's identity based solely on her back; there was no other reason, as only she had that beautiful purple hair.

"Hm? Huh?!"

In such a vast space with only two people present, Kamuro noticed U Amakusa the moment she stood up.

The instant she spotted U Amakusa, an expression of extreme disgust appeared on Kamuro's face.

Not wanting to say another word, Kamuro clapped her hands together and prepared to leave immediately.

She didn't want to stay in the same place as a pervert.

"Wait, Kamuro."

U Amakusa hurriedly called out to her, but Kamuro didn't listen at all, showing no signs of stopping.

"What are you trying to do now? You stalker!"

"I'm not trying to do anything, I was just curious what you were doing just now?"

Faced with U Amakusa sticking to him like a piece of adhesive plaster, Kamuro felt quite helpless, even though she had already shown her extreme resistance.

The two walked in a line; when Kamuro sped up, U Amakusa followed, and when Kamuro slowed down, U Amakusa slowed down too.

Kamuro crossed her arms and said impatiently, "Why should I tell you!"

"That's so mean, when I clearly wanted to help." U Amakusa wiped away non-existent tears from the corner of his eye, slowly closing the distance between them.

"Tch, I don't need it!"

Kamuro turned her head away, looking as if she didn't want to see U Amakusa, but soon glared at him as he drew closer, pushing him away in disgust.

"Stop coming closer! You pervert!"

The two of them were communicating so naturally that even Kamuro hadn't realized she was already able to act so at ease with someone she had known for less than four days.

When interacting with others, even those of the same gender, she always maintained a certain distance and spoke with polite formalities.

After all, it had only been four days; to what extent could one really know someone?

Who could truly open their heart to someone they had only known for four days, with the fourth day not even over yet?

From an outsider's perspective, U Amakusa and Kamuro looked like a boyfriend trying to coax his girlfriend after making her angry.

Kamuro knew she hadn't been able to hold back and had resorted to violence last time, right under the surveillance cameras.

She had been prepared for U Amakusa to report her to the teachers or blackmail her over the assault, but he hadn't done so.

Of course, Kamuro hadn't forgotten that day; U Amakusa had deliberately teased her about the incident and let the whole class know.

No, by now, the entire first year probably knew.

During breaks, when Kamuro was interacting with other girls, U Amakusa wouldn't come to harass her.

But every time Kamuro was alone, U Amakusa would shamelessly stick to her.

And right now, U Amakusa was still grinning, shamelessly leaning toward her as always.