READ WEBNOVEL Chapter 452: Fake
Chapter 452: Fake
Translator: Reflet
Editor: ryunakama
Back to school in the new year.
In the classroom, Taiyou felt like people were looking at him.
Well no, he didn’t just feel that way. They were actually looking at him.
His classmates were clearly sneaking glances at him, saying something.
“I remember this happening before.”
Taiyou recalled when summer vacation had ended.
Just as he had been then, he was the center of attention today.
Just in case, he concentrated and searched for any abnormalities.
He thought there might be an enemy lurking among the students, but there was no such thing.
So he let it be.
But he still felt someone watching him, and he still felt the same way after school.
“Natsuno-kun.”
“Hm?”
Someone spoke to him as he was getting ready to go home.
When he looked up, he saw one of his female classmates standing there.
She went by the name of Mogami Rina, one of the more sociable students.
“Are you free today? Let’s go out someplace.”
“Go out?”
Taiyou puzzled over why she invited him.
The gaze he’d felt since morning felt like it intensified.
When he casually looked around him, Taiyou could tell that most of the classmates in the area were paying attention to their conversation.
What in the world was happening? Taiyou wondered.
“Sure, fine by me.”
But he didn’t think about it any further.
Rather than overthink everything, just plunge on in. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.
“Nene.”
“””Yes.”””
The class began making some noise. He heard people ask “Nene?”.
Come to think of it, this might be the first time calling them this in public, thought Taiyou.
“I’m going to take a little detour today, so go ahead and go back with everyone.”
“””Understood.”””
He spoke to Nene before turning back to Rina.
In that instant, he could tell she was sullen.
That was only for an instant, and the next moment she was back to having her amiable smile.
“Kay, let’s go then.”
She said, linking her arm with Taiyou’s and walking out of the classroom with her taking the lead.
The hallway was filled with students returning home, and they looked at Taiyou and Rina with surprised expressions.
Taiyou questioned what exactly they were so surprised about.
He watched them before he and Rina exited the school.
Rina had a rather proud expression on her face as she walked with him, arms linked.
☆
After they hung around the station for a bit, the day was growing dim, so the two of them entered a cafe.
“Today was fun, huh?”
Rina said to Taiyou on the other side of the table. It was fairly enjoyable, so Taiyou agreed.
“Yeah, it was fun.”
“Natsuno-kun, what’d you do for New Years?”
“I went to the ocean.”
“Whaaat, why the ocean? It’s cold in winter.”
“I dunno, I think the ocean’s pretty fun in the winter too.”
He decided to leave out the part about going to an island under the equator, since it would have dragged things out.
“Wow, I’m jealous. I was just in my house and didn’t go anywhere. I mean, I did go visit a shrine for New Year’s but that’s it.”
“I see.”
As he talked with Rina, Taiyou kept on trying to figure out what her true intentions were.
He had never actually talked with her very much. They had always been classmates, but had only ever conversed once or twice, that was about it.
But today, she had suddenly invited him out and even linked arms with him.
Taiyou wasn’t about to naively assume that was all there was to it.
(Although maybe Kohaku-san’s had a bad influence on me.)
He thought as he continued their trifling conversation.
It really was just smalltalk.
What did you eat yesterday? What television programs do you like? Questions of that sort.
They were all harmless but pointless topics, and Taiyou found himself getting confused.
He couldn’t tell what her objective was.
“So Natsuno-kun, you called Hayakawa-san Nene earlier, right?”
“Yeah.”
Taiyou slightly poised himself. But at the same time he felt relieved.
Finally it had begun.
“Why Nene?”
“They all have ‘ne’ attached to their names, right? So I call them all Nene now.”
Explaining was a drag, so Taiyou referred to Nene as being ‘three people’.
“Wow, so you call them that.”
“Yeah.”
“Are you on good terms with the Hayakawas?”
“I’d say so.”
“What’s so good about them?”
Taiyou felt startled for a second.
He could feel some malice in the way Rina asked the question.
“That’s a hard one. I don’t think it’s something I can explain in one sentence.”
“So there’s nothing good about them?”
“I mean there are too many good things about them.”
“Whaaat, that’s gotta be a lie!”
Rina said as she cackled.
Taiyou felt himself becoming more uncomfortable.
He still couldn’t tell what she wanted, but that was becoming less of an issue.
(Y’know, I really don’t like Nene being dissed…)
“Hey Natsuno-kun, what do you think about me?”
“What do you mean?”
“Compared to Hayakawa-san.”
“…”
A lightbulb went off. Taiyou knew what was going on.
So that’s what she’s trying to do! He recognized it.
As he was wondering how to handle this…
“There you are.”
“How about we attach a transmitter to you from now on?”
Two girls came by.
One of them was an attractive blonde, and the other was a long-haired girl with a dignified attitude.
Both of them were wearing night dresses, clothing too unfitting for a cafe. They were now the center of attention.
“Leticia? And Juuroku—-Youran.”
Leticia, their instructor, and Juurokuya, Shingetsu’s shadow.
Neither of them were Taiyou’s brides.
“We looked all over for you. Wanna come with us for a bit?”
“I have prepared a car outside, as well as a change of clothing.”
“Okay, got it.”
There had to be a reason for these two to come together.
Something far more crucial than Rina.
“Sorry, I’ll see you tomorrow, kay?”
Taiyou said to Rina, who seemed stunned by the sudden appearance of Leticia and Juurokuya. Taiyou then exited the shop with the two of them.
The last he caught sight of Rina, she looked incredibly frustrated.