"Kuroda Hikari. You can call me Hikari," Kuroda Hikari's words carried a bit of overfamiliarity, but her tone remained calm and cold throughout.
"Hikari?", Hikari was taken aback for a moment. This form of address was usually only used by Miss Mira when calling him, so having to call someone else by it felt especially awkward to him.
He immediately decided, "I'll just call you Kuroda-chan."
"You can call me whatever you want, or if you want to hear me call you something, that's fine too, so… can I go to your house to read manga?", Kuroda Hikari spoke again, still deadpan and expressionless.
"…", Looking at this black-long-straight gyaru before him who, just to read manga, had gone to the trouble of following him the whole way, Hikari was somewhat impressed by her perseverance.
In the end, Hikari still relented and agreed to let Kuroda Hikari into his home, "Come in."
Opening the door and returning to the familiar room, Hikari ignored Kuroda Hikari, and went about changing his shoes, brewing tea, and organizing his schoolbag on his own.
And as soon as Kuroda Hikari entered the room, she curiously looked around, a bit of freshness in her eyes.
"This is my first time at a boy's house. I heard that boys living alone are all very sloppy, with the room full of that weird stamen smell after self-release. I didn't expect your place to be pretty clean, and it smells nice too," Kuroda Hikari took a few deep breaths, and found she quite liked the smell in the room.
"I don't need your commentary," Hikari casually replied. Turning his head, he saw Kuroda Hikari, this gyaru, properly taking off her small leather shoes and changing into the clean slippers at the entrance before entering, so he didn't say anything more.
"Where are the manga books?", After walking into the living room, Kuroda Hikari asked without any pretense.
Hikari roughly understood this black-long-straight gyaru's expressionless personality, and couldn't be bothered to quibble with her.
He casually pointed toward the direction of the room, "The manga are all in the bookshelf against the wall in the bedroom. Take whatever you want to read, just don't get them dirty or tear them."
"Okay, thanks," After Kuroda Hikari thanked him in a cold but polite tone.
She unceremoniously walked to the bookshelf, and took out from it the "The Titan's Counterattack" she had been looking forward to for so long.
Then she directly flopped onto Hikari's bed, and started flipping through it with gusto.
She was clearly in a strange man's home.
But as a girl, Kuroda Hikari didn't care about her image in the slightest, and even seemed to have no sense of danger at all.
Not only did she lie her whole body directly on Hikari's bedroom bed, she even raised her legs at a ninety-degree angle, gently swaying them.
That posture, completely unworthy of being called ladylike or elegant, paid no heed to her flipped-up skirt, and the blue-and-white bowl panties fully exposed to the outside.
Hikari only needed a casual glance to take in this scene that would make most adolescent boys' blood boil.
But the well-experienced him felt no fluctuation at all, so he quickly withdrew his gaze.
Toward this black-long-straight gyaru Kuroda Hikari's behavior, Hikari couldn't be bothered to pretend to remind her, nor did he show any drooling reaction.
After finishing organizing his schoolbag, Hikari got up and walked to the snack cabinet, taking out a few packs of snacks and a can of soda.
Then he came to the bedroom, and casually placed them beside the table.
"Eat whatever you want, open it yourself. But keep it clean, if you make a mess, clean it up for me."
"Thanks," Toward Hikari's polite feeding, Kuroda Hikari also politely expressed her gratitude.
But her face still showed no expression whatsoever, still the same dead-eyed face.
But after thanking him, she suddenly spoke up and said to Hikari, "Thank you very much for letting me come to your house to read manga. To express my thanks, you can do whatever you want to me."
Hearing these words, Hikari raised an eyebrow, "Really? I can do whatever I want?"
Kuroda Hikari at this moment was wholly absorbed in the manga, somewhat too lazy to pay attention to Hikari, and only nodded without looking away, faintly giving a response, "Mm."
"What about you? Is that okay too?", Hikari asked bluntly.
But what was unexpected was that Kuroda Hikari still faintly responded with an "Mm."
It had to be said, this was a very tempting answer.
Even though Hikari had anticipated it beforehand, recalling Kuroda Hikari's personality and character setup, and having a certain understanding of her.
But hearing her personally agree at this moment that he could do whatever he wanted to her, he was still somewhat surprised.
After all, whether in terms of looks or figure.
Kuroda Hikari could be called a quite top-tier gyaru.
A beautiful face, a slender figure, yet with a very full chest, and legs that were straight and long.
As long as he let her read manga, he could do whatever he wanted to her.
Probably only in the underworld would such a thing exist.
But looking at Kuroda Hikari's full blue-and-white bowl, Hikari was actually somewhat lacking in interest.
He waved his hand and said, "Once you finish reading this manga, hurry up and leave. I'm not interested in you casual gyarus."
Hearing these words from Hikari, Kuroda Hikari's eyes widened slightly.
She rarely put down the manga, turned her head, and still expressionless but with a serious tone, explained to Hikari, "Although I'm a gyaru, I'm not actually that casual."
"Mm-hmm? You're different?", Hikari looked at her dead-eyed face with interest, waiting for her explanation.
And Kuroda Hikari met Hikari's gaze without flinching, then explained, "First of all, I am not a casual woman."
"Although I do normally entertain myself, and quite a lot of times at that, I still haven't had a boyfriend. And also, I haven't had relations with anyone, I'm still a genuine virgin."
"Really?", Hikari looked at the expressionless Kuroda Hikari, somewhat surprised, though he couldn't tell from her expression whether she was lying.
And Kuroda Hikari seemed to see through Hikari's thoughts, and spoke again, "I don't like lying. What I just said is all true. And, you can come up later to verify whether it's true or not."
After Kuroda Hikari finished explaining this in a flat tone, she turned her gaze back to the manga.
Continuing to cross her fair, slender legs and gently sway them, not caring in the slightest about the spring scenery flashing beneath her skirt.
"I believe you. But, since this is your first time, why do you act so casually?", Kuroda Hikari's expressionless face and cold words sounded quite convincing, so Hikari immediately curiously asked about another matter.
Toward Hikari's somewhat offensive words, Kuroda Hikari didn't mind at all, instead pondering for a moment, then seriously answering, "Because I really like a line from "Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood", 'Without sacrifice, you cannot gain anything. To obtain something, you must pay an equal price.' So, I adhere to the principle of equivalent exchange."
Kuroda Hikari rarely said so many words at once.
Hearing this, Hikari smiled, "Oh? You mean, your first time, and me letting you read manga at my house once, are an equivalent exchange?"
Kuroda Hikari calmly nodded, "Mm. My body is a first time, and coming to your house to read manga is also a first time. Both are first times, is there anything wrong with calling it equivalent exchange?"
"Also, you got one thing wrong just now. I don't just want to come to your house to read manga once, but for you to agree to let me come to your house to read manga every day after school from now on."
"Of course, I will also pay an equivalent price for this. Every time after I come to your house, you can do whatever you want to me, as long as you don't disturb me reading manga."
This speech was probably something Kuroda Hikari had thought out long ago. While saying it she was even still reading the manga, not looking away, not even turning her head.
"Wow! That's a tempting deal," Hikari first exclaimed in an exaggerated tone.
But seeing Kuroda Hikari still expressionless, as if she had expected it all along, he really found it somewhat funny, "Kuroda-san, have you ever considered changing your name to Sayu?"
Kuroda Hikari glanced at him, "Although I don't know who this Sayu you're talking about is, combined with your tone, it gives me the feeling that this name is very cheap."
"Although I don't really care whether you misunderstand, in order not to devalue my bargaining chip in this exchange, I'll still explain to you."
"I really am quite 'pure.' From head to toe, I've never let any man touch me.