They left the alley and reached the main street.
They found a restaurant, and as soon as they sat down, Kamuro Masumi began ordering. "I'll have a strawberry-mango yogurt parfait and a hot coffee."
After ordering her dessert and drink, she looked up at Kazami Saku, who was spacing out beside her. "What about you? What would you like?"
"Ah... let me think." Kazami Saku hesitated slightly as he looked at the menu.
Only then did he realize that he had never learned the name of the girl in front of him.
He took the initiative to ask, "Um, can I ask you something?"
"Hm? What is it?" Kamuro Masumi replied without looking up, idly flipping through the restaurant's menu.
"Could you tell me your name? Honestly, I haven't known what to call you this whole time. I can't just keep calling you 'hey,' can I?" Kazami Saku said frankly.
"I guess you have a point." Kamuro Masumi stopped what she was doing.
"What should I do? Do I have to give my name just because someone's treating me to tea?"
Faced with the girl withholding her answer, Kazami held up three fingers. "How about an equal exchange? Tell me your measurements and contact information, and I'll give you thirty thousand points."
Emotion Points from Kamuro Masumi +9.
Kamuro Masumi glared at him, both annoyed and amused, her voice full of disdain. "What kind of weird deal is that? I'm not agreeing to it."
"Then just tell me your name." Kazami Saku settled for less.
The strawberry-mango yogurt parfait was placed on the table. Kamuro Masumi gently poked the dessert with her little spoon and sighed, looking resigned.
"Oh, fine. I'll tell you my name for free. I'm Kamuro Masumi."
Actually, I already learned that just now. Come to think of it, I seem to have discovered a new use for this. From now on, I just have to annoy someone, and I won't need to go out of my way to ask their name. What a useless discovery, though.
After waiting a while and seeing that Kazami still had no intention of introducing himself, Kamuro had no choice but to ask.
"Seriously! You went out of your way to make me tell you my name, but you won't even introduce yourself?"
Kazami Saku straightened up, looking perfectly solemn and serious as he declared with conviction, "My mother told me that boys have to protect themselves when they're out in the world. They can't just give their names to bad women."
Kamuro Masumi: "..."
As she looked at the boy before her, so utterly convinced he was in the right, her earlier impression of him as even a little bit of a kindly pushover shattered completely. When he had first stopped her in the convenience store, she had thought he was a well-meaning, rule-abiding nice guy, but he turned out to be full of mischief. Why was everyone she met so devious? First Sakayanagi, and now Kazami. This school had to be her nemesis. Otherwise, why had she never been caught before, only to be discovered both times she had tried recently?
Emotion Points from Kamuro Masumi +8.
The system notification flashed through his mind, and Kazami nodded inwardly. The returns were steady. Apart from Yamauchi, Kamuro was the easiest person to collect points from. Ayanokoji was the hardest. After all this time at school, he had collected only eighteen points from him.
Kamuro folded her arms and pressed him further. "So when are you going to tell me your name?"
Kazami shook his head gently. "I don't want to tell you."
"Hey!" Kamuro raised her voice a little. It would have been one thing if she hadn't given him her name, but now that she had, this bastard was actually hiding his. She felt so shortchanged.
"But you can call me Big Brain." Kazami Saku's eyes brightened slightly as he offered his signature nickname.
Kamuro Masumi fell silent for two seconds, considering her words. "...Your tastes are even more niche than mine."
She had thought her own hobby was unusual enough. She had never imagined there was someone even more extreme.
She lowered her head in thought, her brows slightly furrowed. She felt as though she had heard that name somewhere before. After racking her brains for a while, it suddenly came to her.
"Ah, I remember! You're that famous guy from Class D!"
Am I that famous? Even people from other classes have heard of me. Kazami Saku could only marvel. "Looks like I'm even more famous than I thought."
"In a certain sense, yes," Kamuro agreed. He certainly was famous, just not in a positive way.
Kazami Saku ignored her jab and asked expectantly, "Um, could you call me Big Brain?"
Kamuro flatly refused. What kind of bizarre fetish was this? And he insisted on dragging her into it, too.
"No way. I refuse."
"Please." Kazami looked at her pleadingly.
Unable to withstand his pestering, Kamuro Masumi sighed helplessly and gave in. "Fine."
Kazami silently marveled that Kamuro might be even more of a tsundere than Horikita. I'll call you Miss Tsundere in my head from now on.
"Big Brain."
Randomly copying target's ability... Ability acquired: Drawing Lv3.
And the experience bar is already more than halfway full. Wow, they're all so talented. This school really is full of hidden talent. Everyone has their own specialty. No wonder the school has such a great system.
But on second thought, Kazami fell into self-doubt again.
Wait, then what got me admitted to Advanced Nurturing High School?
Could I just be here to fill a slot?
Thinking about it that way suddenly makes me feel so sad. Sure enough, once a place gets big enough, you'll find all sorts of people. I must be the husky that slipped into a pack of wolves, with nothing but clear, clueless eyes.
Kamuro Masumi watched his spirits suddenly sink, looking utterly baffled. She had no idea why he had suddenly gone all gloomy when he had been perfectly fine a moment ago.
After that brief bout of sadness, Kazami gathered his thoughts and remembered why he had invited Kamuro to tea-to help her break her bad habit of stealing. Since Kamuro was good at drawing, he might as well get her to practice drawing with him, using up all her excess energy so she wouldn't have time to get any ideas at convenience stores. Besides, picking up a few more useful abilities would be pretty nice, too.
Kazami Saku rallied his spirits and looked at the girl across from him.
"By the way, Kamuro, do you have any special skills?"
"I studied drawing for a few years," Kamuro answered casually, scooping up a spoonful and putting it in her mouth.
Kazami's eyes lit up, and he struck while the iron was hot. "Then teach me how to draw."
"No." Kamuro refused without even thinking, killing Kazami's plan before it could get off the ground.
Kazami sighed. Why do these people refuse without even hearing my reasons? Are all the girls at Advanced Nurturing High School this blunt?
"Aren't you going to ask me why?"
Kamuro nodded. "Oh, then why do you suddenly want to learn how to draw?"
Kazami: ...It's not like I can say I want to help you break your bad habit.
"I can pay you points as tuition."
Kamuro shook her head. "Not everything can be solved with points."
With his plan blocked again, Kazami could only bring out his trump card. "Please, I'm begging you. If you don't agree, I'll report you for planning to steal from the convenience store."
Before you continue