Sobu High School was not far from where Mori Shinra and Yukinoshita Yukino lived; it was only a ten-minute walk. Along the way, they would pass a large supermarket. Originally, Shinra had planned to go straight home and just have instant noodles for dinner, but since Yukinoshita had invited him to walk back together, he decided he might as well buy dinner on the way.
Before that, to avoid any misunderstandings from others at school, Shinra took the initiative to part ways with Yukinoshita, arranging to meet her at the street corner.
This gesture successfully won Yukinoshita's favor. Although she didn't care about others' opinions, she was more than happy to avoid trouble if possible.
However, this was something Yukinoshita couldn't have proposed herself. Since she was the one who invited him to walk home together, asking him to leave first just to avoid misunderstandings would have been far too rude, which clearly did not align with her just and proper character.
"S-sorry for making you wait."
At the intersection, Yukinoshita Yukino successfully found Mori Shinra playing on his phone under the traffic light. In order not to keep him waiting too long, she had jogged all the way there after leaving the school gate.
Although Yukinoshita was exceptionally talented in many areas, stamina was her weak point. The short jog had consumed a lot of her energy, so she was a little out of breath when she spoke to him.
It had to be said, setting aside her sharp tongue and cold personality, she was undoubtedly a rare and wonderful girl in this day and age. Excellent grades, upright character, outstanding appearance, a wealthy family background—even her sharp tongue and coldness could, in some ways, be seen as a cute quirk.
After all, what man could refuse a beautiful girl who is cold to others but gentle only to you?
Although Yukinoshita had not yet shown her unique gentleness towards Mori Shinra, the signs of her treating him differently were already beginning to emerge.
For reference, please see Hikigaya Hachiman.
"It's fine, no rush. We have to wait for the red light anyway," Shinra said, putting away his phone and comforting the girl who was panting from her jog.
Yukinoshita calmed her rapid breathing, then came to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with him.
"Why did you agree to let Hikigaya join the club today?" Yukinoshita Yukino got straight to the point.
Shinra couldn't possibly say it was because Hiratsuka-sensei's offer was too good, so he countered with a question of his own. "Then why didn't you want him to join, Yukinoshita-san? I recall that yesterday, you also seemed to want to accept new members."
Yukinoshita pursed her lips. It was true that she intended to accept new members, but there was one condition: the new member must not bring trouble to the Service Club.
Although Hikigaya had some personality issues, that wasn't the reason she refused his entry. The real reason was that Hikigaya was also one of the participants in that car accident. She felt that if Shinra found out about this, it would surely make things very troublesome for the club.
Therefore, faced with Shinra's counter-question, Yukinoshita could only find a random excuse. "That boy's eyes are evil and lewd. They make me feel very unsafe."
Hikigaya's dead-fish eyes were indeed a bit of a public nuisance, but they hadn't fallen to such a level, had they?
Shinra knew the real reason she didn't want Hikigaya in the club. Plus, since they would all be in the same club from now on, he decided to just be direct. "And also because he risked his life to save a dog, right?"
At these words, the girl fell silent. It was a long while before she slowly spoke. "You knew everything?"
"Well, I wasn't sure at first. I guessed most of it after seeing your reaction," Shinra said truthfully.
Initially, although he knew there was something up with Hikigaya and the pink-haired girl, he couldn't confirm it without concrete evidence.
It was only after Yukinoshita showed a clear aversion to Hikigaya that Shinra finally confirmed his identity.
"Then why did you still agree to let him join?" Yukinoshita couldn't help but ask.
"Well, we can't just turn someone away for a reason like that, can we? Besides, you can also see that apart from his vacant eyes, Hikigaya is not a bad person. The Service Club is in need of members right now; one more person means more strength. And it also saves face for Hiratsuka-sensei," Shinra replied.
In his mind, he added, and it also saves face for the Wish Points.
"I understand," Yukinoshita said, as if she understood everything.
"What do you understand?" Shinra was confused. What was there to understand?
Yukinoshita Yukino let out a long sigh and met his gaze. "You are a hopelessly nice guy."
"Hey, why are you giving me the nice guy card out of nowhere? And who's a nice guy? I'm just operating on the principle of not being wasteful. Free labor is free labor. I'm thinking about the Service Club here. Who's the president, anyway?" Shinra grumbled in dissatisfaction.
"That would be me, of course, Mori Shinra-san, who likes to make decisions on his own."
Yukinoshita was very smart. She understood that besides the reasons he had stated himself, there was another layer to why he did it: it was because of her.
Mori Shinra was telling her through his actions that he truly didn't care about the car accident, so she didn't need to feel guilty about it either.
Such an act, was that not the definition of a hopelessly nice guy?
Of course, Shinra didn't know what was going on in Yukinoshita's mind. If he did, he would have surely laughed out loud. He wasn't being magnanimous; he was just greedy for those Wish Points.
Then again, even if he did find out what she was thinking, he probably wouldn't clear up this misunderstanding.
This misunderstanding was good. This misunderstanding was absolutely fantastic.
With her doubts cleared up, Yukinoshita returned to her usual calm and composed self and began to seriously discuss matters concerning the Service Club with Shinra.
Passing by a hamburger shop, Shinra stopped to buy a meal set and casually asked if she wanted anything.
"No, thank you. I'll cook for myself when I get back." Yukinoshita's cooking skills were quite good; she handled all three of her daily meals herself.
"You cook for yourself? What about your family?"
"I moved out to live on my own."
"That's impressive."
Yukinoshita looked at Shinra, puzzled. What was so praiseworthy about that?
"Don't you live alone too?" she asked back.
She had learned from Hiratsuka-sensei that Mori Shinra was not a local, but had lived abroad for a long time. If he didn't live alone, his family certainly would not have let him do something as absurd as coming to school on a crippled leg the day after a car accident.
"That's different," Shinra said with a wave of his hand.
"How is it different?" Yukinoshita frowned. Was he about to spout some typical male chauvinist rhetoric about him being a boy and her being a girl?
"You still have parents. Mine died in a car accident a year ago."