They couldn't study together.
At least, Nanao Akane thought so.
Shigen Ryouka was still asking Hayato questions, using the tricks Nanao Akane had taught her.
Watching the two of them, almost half-pressed against each other, Nanao Akane puffed out her cheeks.
It really was a case of teaching the apprentice and starving the master.
And Shigen Ryouka smelled so good. Nanao Akane only just noticed that Shigen Ryouka had even carefully prepared the "Killer! Sexy Perfume" she had mentioned.
In contrast, she herself—
From Nanao Akane's position, she could see the television.
Her plain, drab figure was reflected on the screen of the unlit LCD TV.
The clown, it was me!?
For a moment, Nanao Akane couldn't accept it.
She stood up with a sudden, forceful "thump."
Immediately attracting the attention of Hayato and Shigen Ryouka.
"What's wrong?" Shigen Ryouka asked.
"Gulp…" Nanao Akane's momentum instantly vanished. Her restless hands once again clutched the hem of her shirt: "Th-that… are you thirsty? I'll go pour some tea."
"Oh right, I forgot to serve tea. How rude, I'll do it."
As Shigen Ryouka was about to stand up, Nanao Akane quickly pressed down on her wrist: "You stay seated, I know where your family's tea leaves are."
Saying so, she also winked at Shigen Ryouka.
Shigen Ryouka was slow to catch on, then paused before understanding.
So she wanted to provide them with private space; truly a good best friend—
She nodded, while Nanao Akane headed towards the kitchen.
Not long after, Nanao Akane's voice came from the kitchen:
"Um—Xiao Lin, could you come here for a moment? The tea leaves are too high, I can't reach them."
Shigen Ryouka immediately gave a "?", she didn't remember her family putting the tea leaves on a very high cabinet again.
Just as she was about to go and check the situation, she suddenly remembered what Nanao Akane had talked about with her on the phone before they gathered:
"Give me some alone time then, I'll probe what kind of image you have in his mind."
Nanao Akane referred to her actions as "wingman."
Shigen Ryouka then sat back down, feeling both nervous and touched.
It seemed Akane was going to act as her escort.
"Then I'll leave it to Xiao Lin," Shigen Ryouka nodded slightly, signaling Hayato to go.
Hayato touched his cold neck and walked towards the kitchen.
The kitchen was not far from the living room.
Shigen Ryouka's house had the structure of:
Living Room
Wall Door Wall Wall Wall Wall Wall Wall
Dining Room Cabinet Kitchen
You first walk out the door, pass through the dining room, and then you can see the open-plan kitchen.
And between the kitchen and the dining room, there was a row of cabinets acting as a divider.
The cabinets were about 1.2 meters high, reaching precisely to Nanao Akane's upper abdomen when she stood in the kitchen.
"What are you doing?" Hayato asked.
Nanao Akane just stared straight at him.
She wasn't on her tiptoes looking for anything in the suspended cabinets above.
Nanao Akane immediately put her index finger to her lips: "Shhh—come here."
Hayato walked over, and Nanao Akane immediately pulled him to the sink.
Then she turned her back to the dining room.
Even if someone came over, at a glance, the two would just look like they were standing side-by-side, washing something.
"Why didn't you tell me you knew Shigen Ryouka!?" Nanao Akane demanded.
Hayato glanced at her indifferently: "You didn't say either."
"I've known her much longer than you have!" Nanao Akane said.
"I'm about the same," Hayato said.
"Eh." Nanao Akane's blue eyes trembled: "You... knew Shigen Ryouka first?"
"Mm."
"Earlier than I did?"
"Mm."
When Hayato came to this world, the first girl he met was Shigen Ryouka.
Next was Miyajima Sakura.
And only then came Nanao Akane.
In fact, Nanao Akane was a relatively late arrival.
Nanao Akane's beautiful eyes, hidden beneath her black-rimmed glasses, trembled and trembled.
—Eh!?
Wait, wait, wait.
Her chest was full of surging emotions, and even her mind began to feel as sticky as paste.
She had originally wanted to say, "Why are you so intimate with her? I was here first!" but she hadn't expected… she was the one who came later?
In other words, was she the one who stole Shigen Ryouka's beloved boy?
No, no, no, there's no such thing as first come, first served in matters of the heart!
But—
From the late-night phone calls every day recently, and their conversations at school during the day, Nanao Akane could clearly feel Shigen Ryouka's yearning for the boy she spoke of. Precisely because she was the one by her side every day, Nanao Akane could particularly understand such feelings, and—they liked the same boy.
If she were Shigen Ryouka, and she heard that Xiao Lin was actually involved with her best friend… Thinking of this, Nanao Akane's heart tightened.
Nanao Akane looked up at Hayato again.
Damn it, this guy was too handsome. Precisely because Nanao Akane liked him, she could understand that it was perfectly normal for girls to adore him.
"How did you meet?" Nanao Akane asked.
"Similar to you," Hayato said.
"How far have you and Shigen Ryouka gone?"
"Huh?"
Hayato was a bit confused.
At this moment, Nanao Akane truly stood on her tiptoes, but she wasn't reaching for something high up; she wanted to press her lips against Hayato's mouth.
Then, just as Hayato subconsciously wanted to embrace Nanao Akane's delicate body—
Nanao Akane seemed to anticipate his movement, immediately supporting herself on his shoulders with both hands, separating herself from him.
The corner of her mouth quirked playfully:
"I want to be the first to leave my mark on you… Have you noticed anything different about me from just now?"
Hayato tilted his head.
"Idiot—" Nanao Akane licked her tender lips.
Her lip color was more vibrant than before; she must have hastily reapplied her makeup when she went to the kitchen.
Carrying lipstick with them is a consistent good habit of girls.
"This time, I'll definitely win against you," Nanao Akane said again.
At least in this regard, she wanted to win against that girl Shigen Ryouka first. She absolutely wanted to seize the initiative in this matter.
Thinking this, Nanao Akane squatted down in one go.
As she squatted, she casually pulled the elastic waistband of Hayato's casual pants.
Train soldiers for a thousand days, use them for one hour.
The knowledge she had acquired from websites over many days… was finally going to be put to use today.
...
Time passed bit by bit.
Shigen Ryouka was enveloped in a joyous atmosphere; even the exercises in front of her seemed friendly, and those unsolvable math problems finally yielded results after her repeated calculations.
But, even the math problems were done… Shigen Ryouka felt that a considerable amount of time had passed.
Why hadn't Akane and Xiao Lin returned yet?
She stood up, a little puzzled, and slowly walked towards the kitchen.
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