The busy shopping street was crowded with people and filled with noise, but Kushida Kikyou felt like she had plunged into an ice cave.
She carefully observed the two people sitting in the coffee shop. The girl seemed to be contemplating something with her head down, while the boy across from her was holding a coffee cup, watching her with a gentle smile.
These two people...
Kushida Kikyou, still wearing her angelic smile, turned to the two classmates beside her who were browsing merchandise and said, "Hey, I think I just saw Horikita. Should we go say hello?"
"Oh, Horikita?"
"Where is she?"
Both girls were members of Class C, so they were naturally familiar with their classmate Horikita Suzune, though they didn't interact much with her. They only knew that Kushida seemed to have a decent relationship with her.
"She's in that coffee shop. Look, there's someone sitting across from her too."
Kushida really wanted to rush over and probe Hashima Hikaru, but she needed to maintain her image and couldn't just abandon her companions, so she had to inform them.
"Oh, isn't that... Hashima from Class A?"
They suddenly became excited as if discovering a new continent and exclaimed, "Those two are meeting alone? Could they be... dating?"
"But I thought Hashima was going out with Ichinose from his class?"
"That's just a rumor. I heard they're not actually together."
When it came to gossip about relationships, the two Class C girls chatted enthusiastically. After all, both Hashima Hikaru and Horikita Suzune were top-tier in terms of looks and were hot topics in their respective classes. Such a combination naturally made people curious.
"Maybe... hehe." Kushida smiled cooperatively, but inside she was already cursing.
Meanwhile, Hashima Hikaru, sitting across from Horikita Suzune, noticed a system prompt appear and felt quite satisfied.
[Kushida Kikyou witnessed your private meeting with Horikita Suzune, making her feel a loss of control. Kushida Kikyou stock price decreased by 20 points, current stock price: 80.]
"That really worked, as expected of Horikita's devoted fan."
After silently mocking in his heart, Hashima didn't continue looking outside but instead gazed at Horikita Suzune and asked, "So, Horikita-san, have you reached any conclusions?"
"I think we need to consider some other possibilities, such as whether they truly have evidence to characterize this fighting incident."
Horikita's thought process was quite smooth. Although she was somewhat proud, she wouldn't directly reject excellent ideas proposed by others, so she quickly came to a new conclusion.
"Is that so?" Seeing the contemplative expression on Horikita's face, Hashima spoke again: "I have another insight..."
But before he could finish, a surprised female voice interrupted.
"It really is you two, Horikita-san and Hashima-san?"
Kushida Kikyou with her stylish short hair suddenly appeared at their table, displaying an extremely surprised expression and said, "I thought I was seeing things."
"Good afternoon, Kushida-san."
After seeing her trying hard to maintain the smile on her face, Hashima laughed inwardly.
You're quite the actress.
However, he couldn't show any flaws, so he continued to greet her with a smile.
Horikita Suzune sitting across from him seemed very surprised, but after participating in several study sessions organized by Kushida Kikyou, she felt it best to remain polite, so she greeted her.
"Kushida-san, good afternoon."
After hearing their greetings, Kushida pretended to casually observe their expressions, then as if suddenly realizing something, she said, "Um... I'm not interrupting anything, am I?"
"I'm sorry, I got too excited when I saw familiar faces and just walked over. I really didn't mean to intrude."
The short-haired girl quickly assured them that she truly didn't intend to interrupt.
"It's fine, we're just discussing some simple matters. It's no interruption, right, Horikita-san?"
As he said this, Hashima deliberately gave Horikita a meaningful look. He didn't care if she understood—the important thing was making sure Kushida saw it.
The black-haired girl across from him naturally didn't understand his hint, since she wasn't very familiar with Hashima yet. She could only nod and say, "Yes, we're just having a simple conversation."
Witnessing this exchange, Kushida Kikyou was even more alarmed. She certainly caught Hashima's look and Horikita's cooperative response.
Could these two already be so familiar with each other?
[After noticing your little gesture, Kushida Kikyou believes there's a deeper connection between you and Horikita Suzune. Kushida Kikyou stock price decreased by 20 points, current stock price: 60 points.]
You're so easy to read, Kushida-san.
See? Your stock price has dropped again.
"I see. Hehehe, I thought I was interrupting. I'll get going then—please continue your chat." Kushida's face displayed a smile as she bowed in farewell and turned to leave.
But before leaving, she gave Hashima one last deep look. If the young man wasn't mistaken, she would probably visit his dorm tonight.
Come if you want. I'm prepared for whatever you bring. I'm not worried at all.
---
Meanwhile, Sakura Airi was in her dorm room sorting through a pile of letters on the floor. Letters of various colors were scattered messily, and each one wasn't signed with the girl's name, but with a single word—"Shizuku."
This was her stage name when she worked as a blog idol and model.
Since entering school, Sakura Airi had been receiving these strange letters regularly. They were filled with declarations of love, and the sender seemed to know her real identity, otherwise they wouldn't have been able to place them so accurately in her shoe locker.
Recently, the sender's messages had changed. Previously they said they wanted to admire her from afar, but now they were requesting to meet in person.
Sakura Airi could no longer tolerate this behavior. She remembered what the boy had told her—friends should be honest with each other.
The girl hoped to become good friends with Hashima, with nothing to hide between them. She didn't want to continue concealing this other side of herself from him. She had gained the courage to take the first step from him and planned to meet the sender directly to clearly express her wish for them to stop bothering her.
After resolving this matter, Sakura Airi intended to tell Hashima everything.
The girl silently gathered all the envelopes and began summoning courage in her heart.
Although difficult, I'll do my best.