The moment she caught sight of that guy — Shikime Natsu — stepping into her field of vision, Himeno Yuki's signature dead-fish eyes narrowed ever so slightly. An inexplicable sense of dread welled up inside her at once.
Tch...
She clicked her tongue inwardly.
Every instinct she had was screaming at her to spin around and walk away immediately.
But...
She knew this guy. She knew exactly what Shikime Natsu was capable of. If she just ignored him and walked off right now, there was a very real chance that, in the very next second, he would open his mouth right here in front of all these people and cheerfully bellow something insufferable like, "Oh, isn't that our dear wallflower, Himeno-san?" in that obnoxiously bright voice of his.
Just picturing that scene made her want to curl her toes up and disappear into the nearest crack in the pavement.
To prevent exactly that kind of social death from unfolding before her eyes, Himeno Yuki had no choice but to reluctantly stop walking, maintaining the same cold, do-not-approach expression she always wore.
Shikime Natsu closed the distance in a few easy strides, that signature, radiant smile plastered across his face — the kind of effortless sunshine grin that made introverts want to look away.
"What a coincidence, Himeno-san."
"Didn't expect to run into you here."
Himeno Yuki's response was an expression of undisguised contempt. She made absolutely no effort to be polite — and true to form, her words were just as blunt.
"Not a coincidence at all."
"So... what exactly did you track me down here for, Shiki-san?"
She was grumbling about it in the back of her mind.
This guy, Shikime Natsu... he really was a thoroughly strange creature.
That one time, he'd been so brazen about demanding her contact information.
And then what?
Ever since he'd gotten it, he hadn't sent her a single message. Not once. Not even one of those generic, mass-sent greeting texts that meant absolutely nothing.
Not that she was saying she'd been waiting for Shikime Natsu to contact her. Obviously.
She just thought... if you were going to go to the trouble of getting someone's contact details and then never use them, wasn't that behavior just inherently strange? What was the point?
Was this what they called the "social butterfly" approach? Cast a wide net, reel in as many fish as possible?
Or maybe... someone as perpetually busy as Shikime Natsu simply had so many people to keep in touch with that he'd completely forgotten about one unremarkable little loner like her?
The moment that thought crossed her mind, an inexplicable, faint irritation stirred somewhere deep inside Himeno Yuki.
Why does it feel like... I'm just some spare option he tacked on for no reason?
That feeling — the sensation of "I only added you because it was convenient, I never actually had you in mind" — was, just a tiny bit, infuriating.
"Nothing in particular."
Shikime Natsu shrugged, his tone perfectly relaxed.
"Just spotted a familiar face and thought I'd say hi. And maybe..." He glanced at her with a smile. "...borrow a bit of your time for a chat."
"Himeno-san should be free right now, shouldn't she?"
Himeno Yuki glanced up at him. Her gaze met those pale gold eyes of his — clear, bright, carrying that uncanny quality, as if they held the power to see through any lie.
Well. Given that he literally possessed the ability to read people like an open book, that power was entirely real, and it was completely unfair.
Under that gaze, Himeno Yuki felt as though even a casual, throwaway excuse — "I have to go study" or "Something came up" — would be seen through the instant it left her mouth.
That was deeply, profoundly annoying.
So she had no choice but to exhale in reluctant defeat and tell the truth.
"...I'm free."
"Perfect."
Shikime Natsu's smile brightened a few degrees.
"In that case... since you're free."
"Why don't we find somewhere to sit? There's that coffee shop over there, or we could find a dessert place and chat over something sweet."
"No."
Himeno Yuki turned it down without a moment's hesitation.
A place packed with loud, cheerful people and the constant noise of social interaction? That was her personal idea of hell.
And besides...
Walking around with someone as conspicuous as Shikime Natsu — one of the most well-known students in the whole school — was already drawing enough attention on its own.
If she sat down with him at some busy coffee shop for afternoon tea on top of that...
They would become the absolute center of attention. There might even be rumors. Weird ones.
Absolutely not. That kind of trouble had to be avoided at all costs.
"If you actually have something you want to talk about..."
Himeno Yuki tilted her head slightly, avoiding his gaze, her voice cool and indifferent.
"Let's go to the same place we talked last time."
"There are fewer people there."
Even when it came to having a conversation, she preferred to conduct it quietly, hidden away in some dim, out-of-the-way corner. That was the loner's code of survival.
"Sure."
Shikime Natsu agreed without complaint — though, honestly, the fact that she'd agreed at all was the more surprising part.
"I'll follow your lead, Himeno-san."
With that, he turned and walked directly toward a vending machine nearby.
"Want anything to drink?"
He glanced back at her over his shoulder.
"My treat."
Himeno Yuki cast a brief look at the array of drinks lining the machine and pointed at the most ordinary option available — a plain oolong tea.
"That one's fine."
"Got it."
Shikime Natsu inserted his points and pressed the button.
With two loud clunks, two bottles came rolling down.
He crouched to retrieve them, handing the oolong tea to Himeno Yuki, while he himself took a canned coffee.
"Let's go."
The two of them left the lively mall one after the other, making their way to the same secluded spot as before — it really was a nice place, come to think of it. Rarely a soul in sight. You could probably do all sorts of things here without anyone ever noticing.
Most people looking for somewhere to chat or have a date would never dream of choosing a place like this.
But for Himeno Yuki, the undisturbed quiet was exactly what put her at ease — apart from the minor inconvenience of Shikime Natsu himself being present, which felt like one element too many.
Shikime Natsu had no complaints. He picked a spot at random and sat down, patting the empty space beside him.
Himeno Yuki hesitated briefly.
In the end, she chose the far end of the bench instead.
There was easily enough room between them for two more people.
"So..."
Shikime Natsu cracked open his canned coffee, took a small sip, and broke the silence.
"How have things been lately, Himeno-san?"
Himeno Yuki held her oolong tea in both hands, making no move to open it. She tilted her head slightly and fixed him with a sideways glance from the corner of her eye, her voice cool and flat.
"What do you mean by that?"
"That question has no context whatsoever. I have no idea what you're asking."
"Obviously I mean..."
Shikime Natsu smiled at her.
"How you're being treated in your class."
"You mentioned it last time, didn't you?"
"You said you didn't like those overly frequent, almost coercive class social events — but because of pressure from Ichinose-san and the general class atmosphere, you felt like you had no choice but to show up."
"That it caused you a fair amount of stress and frustration."
"So I wanted to ask — has that situation improved at all recently?"
At those words, the fingers wrapped around the bottle tightened slightly.
Himeno Yuki turned her head. Those dead-fish eyes locked onto Shikime Natsu with a sharp edge of accusation.
"It was you, wasn't it?"
"You're the one who told Ichinose-san about my situation."
Ever since their conversation last time, Ichinose Honami had continued organizing all sorts of class activities as usual.
But... for some reason she couldn't quite pin down...
Whenever one of those group gatherings came around, Ichinose Honami always seemed to make a point of offering more options — making it clear that if someone chose not to attend, no one would think anything of it, no one would stare or whisper. She kept saying things like, "Everyone has their own life, and I hope these events never feel like they're getting in the way of that."
At first, Himeno Yuki had thought it was just a coincidence.
Now, though...
It was obviously the doing of this meddlesome guy sitting right in front of her.
Faced with her pointed accusation, Shikime Natsu didn't deny it.
Instead, he looked entirely unbothered as he turned the question back on her with a light laugh.
"Does Himeno-san really think her acting is that good?"
"Hah?"
Himeno Yuki frowned.
"Every single class event, you have 'I want to go home' and 'this is such a pain' written all over your face," he said.
"And every time, you spend the whole thing looking for the earliest possible excuse to leave."
"With behavior like that..."
Shikime Natsu spread his hands.
"It would be strange if nobody noticed, don't you think?"
"Does Himeno-san really think Ichinose-san is an idiot? Or that everyone in Class B is blind?"
"She's the class representative. Picking up on how her classmates are feeling is completely natural for her."
"All I did was... give things a gentle push in the right direction."
Shikime Natsu's argument was perhaps a little pushy in its logic — but it wasn't without merit.
Himeno Yuki found herself, for once, at a complete loss for a rebuttal.
Fair enough. Her own sullen, negative attitude was obvious to anyone who paid even the slightest attention.
She stayed quiet for a moment, then turned her face away and muttered in a slightly disgruntled tone:
"You really are... such a busybody."
For all that she said the words, there wasn't much genuine anger behind them.
A few seconds passed.
Then, in a voice so low it was barely audible, stiff and begrudging, she tacked on one more thing:
"But..."
"...Thank you. I suppose."
She had to admit — because of Shikime Natsu's meddling, things had genuinely gotten a little easier for her in Class B. The bothersome events she used to have no choice but to endure? She didn't have to go anymore.
Shikime Natsu blinked, raising an eyebrow in mild surprise.
He hadn't expected that — for the prickly Himeno Yuki to thank him this honestly, without any fuss.
The sun rising in the west would have been less surprising.
He smiled softly and said:
"Don't mention it."
"It was nothing, really."
The moment she heard those words, "don't mention it," Himeno Yuki immediately reassembled her cold expression and said flatly:
"Since you put it that way..."
"I'm taking that thanks back."
Shikime Natsu let out a speechless laugh.
She really was something else. The sheer nerve of it.
In some strange way, that contrarian personality of hers was almost kind of charming, wasn't it?
Himeno Yuki paid absolutely no attention to his amusement.
She looked up again, those eyes of hers drilling straight into him.
"There's one more thing."
"Hm?"
"Last time..."
Himeno Yuki pressed her lips together, deliberating for a moment before finally voicing the question that had been nagging at her.
"You asking for my contact info... what was that actually about?"
Shikime Natsu looked at her, blinking with an expression of perfect innocence.
"What do you mean, 'what was it about?'"
"I wanted to have Himeno-san's contact info. That's all."
"Is there a problem with that?"
Watching him look so utterly matter-of-fact about it, a sudden flare of irritation surged up inside Himeno Yuki.
What was this nonsense?
"Of course there's a problem!" she snapped, a touch more heated than she'd intended.
"You just wanted it, so you asked for it?"
"And then what was the point? You haven't messaged me a single time."
"If you weren't planning on contacting me, why go out of your way to add me as a contact in the first place?"
"Just to have one more name on your list?"
Faced with that rapid-fire barrage of questions, Shikime Natsu studied Himeno Yuki's face with great interest — the faint flush creeping across her cheeks not going unnoticed.
"Himeno-san."
"Could it be..."
"...that what you actually wanted was for me to message you right after I got your contact info?"
"Or maybe... to send you messages every day?"
The moment those words landed — blunt, completely shameless teasing — Himeno Yuki's cheeks went up in flames.
Like a cat that had just been stepped on its tail, she snapped back immediately.
"I — I never said that!"
"Who cares about getting messages from you?!"
"I just — I just thought it was strange! That's all!"
A lie. Shikime Natsu could see through it at a glance. She was just putting up a front.
He laughed quietly to himself.
Interesting.
So this was how it was. The Himeno Yuki who always looked so cold, so detached, like nothing in the world could touch her...
...apparently had these quietly tender, fussy little feelings after all.
After they'd parted ways last time, he had genuinely assumed she was the type who didn't like being bothered. Someone who guarded her personal space closely.
So he hadn't reached out — because bombarding her with messages would have been no different from the kind of relentless, obligatory class gatherings that Ichinose Honami organized and that drove Himeno Yuki up the wall, right?
Shikime Natsu had simply gotten her contact info for what it was — another beautiful girl's number in his hands was always a welcome thing, by any measure.
He hadn't considered that...
That kind of "not bothering you" thoughtfulness might, in its own roundabout way, have left the girl feeling quietly overlooked.
I see.
Shikime Natsu gave a thoughtful nod, the corner of his mouth curving into a knowing smirk.
"Understood."
"If Himeno Yuki-san cares about it that much..."
"Then I'll make sure to message Himeno-san often from now on."
"Th — that's..."
Himeno Yuki was thrown completely off-balance by the unexpected offensive.
She started waving her hands hurriedly, trying to correct the record.
"I already told you, I never said that!"
"I just meant — if you have someone's contact info but there's nothing to actually communicate about, then there's no logical reason to exchange it in the first place!"
"This is purely a matter of logic!"
"It has absolutely nothing to do with whether I want you to message me or not!"
"Right, right. Logic. Of course."
Shikime Natsu nodded along with great performative sincerity, the smile never leaving his face.
"I hear you. I completely understand."
"Don't worry — I'll send Himeno-san messages from now on."
"That way, the fact that I have your contact info can't be considered pointless anymore."
Himeno Yuki stared at that smile of his — the smile of a man who was saying, "I get it, you don't have to explain" — and glared at him with barely suppressed mortification.
"You...!"
"You're not taking a word I'm saying seriously, are you?!"
"Ugh..."
She bit her lip, face turned stubbornly aside, a storm of indignation trapped inside her chest.
No matter how she tried to explain herself, this guy had already made up his mind about what she meant. There was no winning.
The feeling of having a perfectly valid argument and nowhere to put it was absolutely awful.
If she couldn't reason her way through it, she might as well change the subject entirely.
Himeno Yuki took a measured breath and forcibly reined herself back in.
She turned to face him again, her voice carrying a note of pointed displeasure.
"Speaking of which..."
"Shiki-san really does seem to have a lot of free time on his hands."
"Aren't you supposed to be the leader of Class A, carrying the hopes of your entire class on your shoulders?"
"Yet you wander around aimlessly every day like you have nothing better to do."
"Not only do you have time to roam around outside, you apparently also have time to waste standing here chatting with a nobody loner like me."
"Don't you have a class to manage?"
Faced with that, Shikime Natsu responded with a perfectly relaxed chuckle, swirling the coffee can in his hand with idle ease.
"Well... fair enough."
"I do tend to have a bit more free time than most people."
"It's just that... I don't really need to stress about every little thing."
"Everyone in Class A is incredibly sharp and self-sufficient. I don't need to be breathing down their necks like a babysitter every single day."
"And besides..."
"Today, all the way through until tonight —"
"I'm completely free."
"Entirely at leisure."
Himeno Yuki raised an eyebrow.
"Is that so?"
"You certainly have nerve."
"Don't you need to be working on building better relationships with your classmates, the way Ichinose-san always does?"
"Solidifying your position as leader?"
"Not in the least."
Shikime Natsu gave a quiet, easy laugh — his tone carrying with it an effortless, almost overwhelming sense of confidence.
"That sort of thing... it's meaningless to me. Consolidating my standing? I took care of that at the start of the school year. It doesn't need to be repeated."
"All I need to do is build good relationships with the people I actually care about. That's enough."
At those words, Himeno Yuki went still.
For just a moment, her heart seemed to skip half a beat.
The people I actually care about... build a good relationship with them?
This guy...
He was clearly a busy person, and yet here he was, spending what little precious free time he had — actively coming to find her and strike up a conversation.
Even following her to this out-of-the-way, deserted corner just to chat.
Could it be...
That she was one of the people Shikime Natsu cared about?
The thought had barely surfaced before Himeno Yuki felt a sudden warmth spreading across her face.
But just as quickly, she shook her head firmly inside her own mind, shutting the idea down before it could take root.
As if.
Someone like her — gloomy, prickly, completely devoid of any charm, a thoroughgoing loner.
How could someone like her possibly be someone that a bright, radiant social butterfly like Shikime Natsu cared about?
He was obviously just saying something pleasant in passing. The kind of easy, throwaway line that rolled effortlessly off the tongue of someone like him.
That was all it was. That's what it meant to be a social butterfly — saying things like that without batting an eye, lines that were far too easy to misread, far too likely to make a person's heart do something it really shouldn't.
But she wasn't some ordinary loner. She wasn't the type to be swayed by something as simple as Shikime Natsu's words.
She refused to be affected. Not even slightly.
____
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