Chapter 16: Noon
That evening, during dinner, Kaede told his family about the weekend cherry blossom viewing trip.
"Is the club activity confirmed? Cherry blossom viewing and sketching sound really nice."
Asakura Reiko had no objection to her son participating in club activities and said with a smile, "Well then, do you need Mom to prepare some food for you to take? After all, you'll be having a picnic. How about sushi? And maybe some fried chicken?"
"That would be great," Kaede nodded. "Then I'll buy some snacks when I head out. Adding what others bring, that should be enough."
Asakura Kiichi, like his wife, looked at his son and asked, "There aren't only boys in your club, are there?"
"..."
Kaede was speechless regarding his parents. After swallowing the meat in his mouth, he said, "You two really don't give up, do you? Can't I just tell you? There are two girls."
Now that her son had revealed the information, Asakura Reiko immediately asked, "Are they cute?"
"...Yes, they're cute, alright? Mom, stop asking. I'm afraid if you ask any more, you'll start asking when I'm going to bring someone home."
"Hahaha, I won't do that. At least not for a few months, right?"
"..."
Kaede suddenly felt that the food in front of him had lost its appeal.
Thinking carefully, the two girls in the Art Club—not just Eriri, but Usami was also a very cute girl.
Well, except that her strength was strangely high; getting hit by her fist by accident would probably be quite painful.
After dinner, Kaede returned to his room and was about to start writing when a message from Eriri popped up.
[Get online, let's play!]
"..."
Looking at the message on his phone, Kaede scratched his head and sent a reply.
[Are you still playing even on school days?]
[I had less homework today, and I finished it!]
Kaede felt helpless. He glanced at the document he had just opened, then looked at Eriri, who was currently chatting with him on his phone.
How could this choice not be obvious?
Document, close. Game, start!
Someone might ask: Didn't he directly reject a girl's confession during the day? Why is he so happy to play games with Eriri now?
Nonsense, can they even be compared?
First, regarding their relationship, Eriri is a member of the same club, so it's normal for them to be close.
Furthermore, Eriri is much cuter than the girl who confessed to Kaede. Although it's not great to admit it, Kaede is also someone who cares about looks.
Moreover, while Kaede doesn't hesitate to reject girls, he's not a truly stone-cold straight man destined to be single.
Honestly, if their relationship improves in the future, Kaede would be quite happy to initiate a pursuit... "Haaah~~~"
After arriving at the classroom in the morning, Kaede sat in his chair and yawned lazily.
"Asakura, are you very sleepy?"
Takasu Ryuji turned around and asked Kaede, who was rubbing his eyes.
"Ah, I am a bit sleepy. I played games a little too late last night."
As he spoke, Kaede took out the coffee he had bought on the way to school, opened it, and gulped it down.
He originally intended to stop playing at 10 PM, but Eriri shamelessly dragged him along, forcing him to play until 1 AM, which resulted in him almost being unable to wake up this morning.
Takasu Ryuji said in surprise, "Wow, you really have a lot of free time. But don't keep staying up so late; it wouldn't be good if a teacher caught you yawning during class."
"Don't worry, don't worry. I'll be fine after I recover a bit."
Waving his hand, Kaede signaled to Takasu Ryuji not to worry, and then, under his gaze, finished the entire can of coffee.
Although he had developed the habit of going to bed around 11 PM, Kaede was not unfamiliar with staying up late. When he first started writing novels, he often wrote intermittently until late at night because he wasn't very skilled yet. Now that his body clock was adjusted, staying up once or twice occasionally wasn't a big issue.
The morning passed smoothly, and during lunchtime, Kaede received a message from Eriri.
"I feel like the frequency of chatting with her has increased these past few days."
Kaede put down his chopsticks, took out his phone, and opened Eriri's message.
[Are you in the classroom? Do you have time to come to the club room and open the door for me?]
Did she leave something behind in the club room?
Kaede tapped the screen and sent a reply.
[Sure, wait three minutes for me. I'll come over once I finish eating.]
[OK!]
After reading Eriri's reply, Kaede put his phone away, then looked up and saw Takasu Ryuji and Kitamura Yusaku staring intently at him.
"What are you two looking at?"
Kitamura Yusaku rubbed his chin, his glasses reflecting a glimmer of light, and said thoughtfully, "Takasu, did you notice? Asakura couldn't hide the smile on his face when he was replying to that message."
"???"
Takasu Ryuji nodded in agreement. "Yes, he had a very lecherous smile."
"Can you two stop talking nonsense?" Kaede looked at the two in front of him, speechless. He quickly shoveled down the remaining few bites of rice. "I know very well whether I was smiling or not, okay? I'm not talking to you anymore. Something came up at the club, so I'm going over to check. You guys entertain yourselves this afternoon."
Then, under the gaze of the two, he packed up his lunch box and left the classroom.
Takasu Ryuji looked at Kitamura Yusaku and asked, "What do you think he's really up to?"
"I don't know, but I think it involves a girl. Should we follow him and check?"
"Let's not. There's really no need." Takasu Ryuji shook his head, rejecting the suggestion. "But... do you really think it involves a girl? Didn't he just yesterday...?"
Kitamura Yusaku patted Takasu Ryuji's shoulder and said emotionally, "If you had a beautiful half-foreign girl nearby, would you care about a girl whose looks were much more ordinary?"
"Uh... your words leave me speechless. And judging by what you said, are you suggesting the person he was just chatting with was...?"
"Heh heh!" Kitamura Yusaku adjusted his glasses. "Asakura didn't even realize it, but I secretly peeked at his phone just now!"
"When Asakura gets back, I'm going to talk to him about this."
"Wait, don't, Takasu! How about I buy you a drink?"
"It's decided then!"
"..."
On the other side, after Kaede left the classroom, he went straight to the Art Club room and saw Eriri waiting outside.
Seeing Kaede approach, Eriri complained, "You're so slow!"
"Come on, I was still eating, okay?" After giving Eriri a look, Kaede finally took out the key and opened the door