Someone was humming softly in the bath.
Someone was sneaking snacks in the living room.
The evening breeze was quiet, the lights warm and dear.
Everyone had a bright future.
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Chapter 244: Was It On Purpose or By Accident
[Friday, Shuka Private Academy]
It was still an ordinary, unremarkable day. If anything had to be mentioned, there were two things worth noting.
First, the cooking class teacher who had been on leave for a long time returned today to her loyal cooking classroom, and the first lesson's content was simple, making tamagoyaki.
This is a traditional Japanese dish, with main ingredients including eggs, milk, salt, mirin, and bonito soy sauce.
The preparation wasn't difficult either. It was basically at the level of "as long as you have hands," very suitable for beginners to learn.
The only problem was... even such a "just need hands" dish was as hard as climbing the heavens for Yumiko, who was terrible at cooking.
She couldn't even crack an egg properly. During the step of mixing the egg liquid, she basically performed a live show of wrestling her own limbs. She even nearly flung the pan from her hand.
Truly unbearable to watch.
After all, she was his girlfriend. Even though she was a bit clumsy, he couldn't just leave her be.
Kaito had no choice but to step forward personally and teach her hand-in-hand how to crack eggs, how to oil the pan, and how to roll the egg sheet.
This time went fairly smoothly. Although the finished product wasn't exquisite, at least it had a basic form. But this scene seemed to have inspired the others.
The originally orderly cooking classroom suddenly became full of mistakes and mishaps.
Some girls dropped eggs all over the floor, some girls burned their hands while pouring oil, and there were even some girls who got splashed all over by milk, their soaked uniforms clinging tightly to their skin, faintly revealing blurred curves.
The cooking class teacher was an ordinary-looking thirty-year-old married woman, and was left speechless by the scene.
'You guys, can your acting be any more exaggerated?'
Kaito also remained silent for a moment.
He was just a bit wooden, not stupid. One girl making a mistake was still understandable, two girl too was within reason.
'But this many girl messing up at once, are you doing it on purpose, or is it really an accident?'
In the end, he only helped Bocchi, who also didn't know much about cooking, and the clumsy Chihaya Anon complete their cooking assignments.
Leaving the surrounding crowd unable to hide their looks of disappointment.
With the crisp sound of the dismissal bell, another day at Shuka came to an end.
Students who had joined clubs needed to head together to participate in club activities, while the remaining go-home club members were free to spend their after-school time however they pleased.
Today was Friday.
Previously, he had already promised Chihaya that he would accompany her to attend a junior high class reunion, and also act as her fake boyfriend.
When entrusted with something, fulfill it with loyalty.
Kaito's life creed was simple, either don't agree, or if you do, do it properly.
Before heading out, he went alone to the empty club activity room and changed into an outfit that Anon had bought for him a few days ago.
It was a very minimalist-style baseball jacket, with a white T-shirt underneath, paired with khaki casual pants, like a sunny youth straight out of a Japanese drama.
Clean and fresh enough, and carried a certain inexplicable lazy vibe.
To sum it up So dreamy.
Anon's throat unconsciously swallowed, very much wanting to jump on him like in manga and plant her own mark on his neck.
But she didn't dare.
In the end, she could only force herself to remain calm, walk forward, and instead hold Kaito's hand, seriously declaring, "Ahem, it looks passable."
"Now, let's go!"
The agreed dinner gathering location was a family restaurant.
The place was a bit remote, but was said to have great taste and reasonable prices, a rare hidden gem.
Under the shop sign, three beautiful girls were already standing.
One had short hair, one was a black long straight girl in a long skirt, and the last one was a ponytailed gyaru, her golden hair shining brightly in the sunlight.
"Is President Chihaya really bringing a boyfriend?", The first to speak was the blonde gyaru, the girl chewing on a strawberry-flavored lollipop as she looked at her friend beside her with suspicion.
"Don't tell me it was you, Mashiro, making things up? I've never heard anything about President Chihaya having a boyfriend."
"There are tons of things you haven't heard of, okay?"
The short-haired Kurata Mashiro rolled her eyes, "If it weren't for me, you wouldn't even know the president had come back to Japan."
Kirigaya Touka choked for a moment, and then came a string of incomprehensible things like "momentary slip-ups are normal!" "You're too arrogant!" "Don't underestimate my intel network!", making the air lively and fun.
"You two, could you please quiet down a bit, even just for five minutes?", The long-skirted black long straight girl who looked the most gentle sighed and rubbed her forehead helplessly.
'Mashiro and Touka, these two idiots are just destined to clash.'
No matter what they talked about, it would always turn into a bickering session.
Their arguments didn't even pack any punch. One would say "you're an inexperienced bumpkin," and the other would shoot back with "like you've ever been in a relationship."
Immature like elementary schoolers pulling each other's hair.
Normally it would be fine, a way to pass time, but today, they had invited President Chihaya. What if she ended up watching a joke?
"For the sake of Rui", Kirigaya Touka snorted, "I won't argue with an inexperienced bumpkin like you."
"You say that like you've ever been in a relationship! You virgin fake gyaru!", Kurata Mashiro didn't back down at all.
'See? These two idiots are at it again.'
Yashio Rui sighed and had no choice but to step in and pull the derailed topic back on track.
"Speaking of which, Mashiro, did you find out anything about President Chihaya's boyfriend? What kind of person is he?"
Kurata Mashiro shook her head.
"President didn't say much But if she likes him, he must be an excellent guy, right?"
Kirigaya Touka also joined in the discussion enthusiastically, "Maybe he's a super handsome guy! The kind that could debut on the spot!"
Even Kurata Mashiro didn't go against her on that, her face also showed anticipation.
Girls in puberty always fantasize about good-looking guys.
Only Yashio Rui's expression seemed a little lost.
She was President Chihaya's ultimate fangirl, an obsessive single-fan devotee, crazy for her, mad for her, willing to bang into walls for her.
At first it was purely admiration, but after being exposed to certain yuri works, the feeling slightly shifted.
In this world, the gender ratio was already skewed, it wasn't strange at all for close female friends to end up living together.
But before Rui could take action, President Chihaya had gone overseas to study.
She thought her feelings would die there, but unexpectedly, things took a turn, and the president came back.
Only, she now had a boyfriend Rui had never heard of.
Amidst her disappointment, Rui also felt unconvinced.
She wasn't bad herself, pretty looks, well-off family, conditions enough to outmatch 90% of her peers.
She really wanted to see what kind of guy was worthy of their perfect president.
If he was just relying on smooth talk to deceive Chihaya, she would definitely let the president know that she was the one more suitable for her.
"Mashiro! Touka! And Rui!"
A sudden voice interrupted the girl's thoughts.
She followed the voice, and in the warm orange glow of the sunset, she saw a certain pink-haired girl she missed dearly, waving excitedly at them.
And beside her, hand in hand with her, was that radiant-as-a-god figure.
Just one look, and it was as if the whole world was lit up in a daze.
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Joining Patreon keeps me motivated and eager to work diligently, so please consider joining. You can access upto 20 advance chapter through Patreon.
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Chapter 245: Appraisal: Doesnt Seem Like Acting
For the hundredth time, Chihaya Anon felt that inviting Kaito to pretend to be her boyfriend was the most correct decision she had ever made.
Looking at her three junior high school friends who had turned into statues, the girl's lips curved slightly, undoubtedly a proud arc.
'Stunned, aren't you?'
Kirigaya Touka, dressed like a blonde gyaru, even forgot to lick the lollipop in her mouth. It fell to the ground, and she didn't even notice.
The energetic Kurata Mashiro now had her mouth wide open, showing no signs of her usual cheerful personality, only drooling with an "aba aba."
Even the calmest among the three, Yashio Rui, forgot to blink, her long eyelashes trembled slightly, her entire being as if frozen.
"Everyone, long time no see."
Chihaya Anon clapped her hands, trying her best to appear calm and breezy, though the smile on her lips was like catkins stuck on a branch, no wind could blow it off, "Sorry, the traffic was a little heavy on the way Kaito and I didn't arrive late, right?"
"President Ch-Ch-Ch-Ch-Chihaya!"
The first to snap out of it was Kurata Mashiro, the short-haired, sweet-looking girl snapped to attention with a swoosh and stammered without daring to look at her, "N-N-N-No not late at all!"
Kirigaya Touka beside her also came back to her senses. Though dressed like a gyaru, it was actually just to better blend into her class's social circles. She was a born-single fake gyaru, she didn't even dare approach handsome guys on the street.
But now, faced with the fantastically handsome boy who was even more stunning than she imagined, she couldn't help probing for information, "This is President Chihaya, your boyfriend?"
"Ahem, that's right," Anon lightly coughed, "His name is Kaito, my boyfriend. You can just call him Kaito."
She then turned to Kaito and introduced them in turn, "This is Kurata Mashiro, Kirigaya Touka, and Yashio Rui, all good friends from my junior high days."
"Good afternoon, Mashiro-san, Touka-san, and Rui-san."
Kaito gave a slight nod, then thought for a moment and offered a polite smile, "It's nice to meet you all. First time meeting, please take care of me."
"H-Hey hey", Kurata Mashiro, like a newspaper zombie who had eaten a charm mushroom, extended her hand with a silly grin, "Kaito-kun, you're too polite. Just call me Mahsiro"
Since she was a good friend of Anon's, Kaito didn't refuse and lightly shook her hand.
Kirigaya Touka was a little envious and squeezed the silly Mashiro aside, also extending her hand with a serious tone, "Calling me 'Touka-san' and such sounds too distant. Just call me Touka, all my friends do."
Kaito shook hands with her as well, brief touches and releases.
Finally, only Yashio Rui remained.
This black long straight girl in a long skirt looked quite like a refined young lady and was the quietest of the three.
She was silent for a while before extending her soft, fair fingers, reporting her name calmly, "Rui."
She paused, then said, "Anyway, let's go into the restaurant first and talk."
The family restaurant wasn't big, but looked lively enough, most guests were groups of female students, with a few couples mixed in.
They chose a quiet, inconspicuous corner to avoid outside disturbance.
Mashiro, Touka, and Rui naturally took one side of the sofa booth, while Anon and Kaito sat on the other.
The restaurant's menu had plenty of variety. Their specialties were creamy mushroom pasta and omurice, not expensive, but very tasty.
Kaito never forgot today's purpose: to play the role of Anon's boyfriend.
During the meal, he would naturally share dishes with the girl, and occasionally even pulled out a tissue to wipe the oil and crumbs from Anon's mouth corner. Considerate to the extreme, yet so dazzlingly handsome, he could easily melt the heart of any woman.
Anon's little face turned red.
She had never experienced such attentive service from Kaito before. Even though it was all pretend, it made her heart thump wildly, 'If only this was real...'
Her little hand under the table couldn't help lightly grasping her boyfriend's hand, wanting this warmth to last a bit longer, and longer. If this were a dream, may it never end.
Kurata Mashiro and Kirigaya Touka had originally saved up a stomach full of questions, but upon seeing this scene, they turned sour like lemons, even the omurice on their plates lost its flavor.
Being single was bad enough, but watching your friend in a relationship was worse.
Especially when the one your president friend was dating was such a leg-weakeningly handsome boy.
Even the usually calm Yashio Rui had a very complicated mood.
After personally seeing President Chihaya's boyfriend, she no longer suspected that he had deceived the president with sweet talk.
On the contrary, she developed new doubts.
'Could it be that President Chihaya has something on this Kaito-kun?'
'Or perhaps they aren't actually a real couple, but something like a rental boyfriend arrangement?'
After all, plots where someone rents a boyfriend via an app to fool friends were very common in novels and anime.
Unwilling to give up, Rui had been secretly observing the interactions between the two throughout dinner, trying to find a crack.
But from beginning to end, she found no sign of strain on Kaito's face.
Hawk-eye + pinhead combo: appraisal complete, doesn't seem like acting.
'Which means'
'They're really in love?'
Realizing this fact, the girl's heart sank, with a tinge of bitterness.
But even she herself couldn't tell if this bitterness was because the president's heart had been taken by another boy, or for some other reason.
Dinner ended, and it was just six o'clock in the evening.
Tomorrow was the weekend, no need to wake up early for school, so Kurata Mashiro suggested going to karaoke together.
Kirigaya Touka immediately agreed. She didn't want to part with President Chihaya so soon either. Although she couldn't do anything to the president's boyfriend, she could still enjoy the eye candy.
