Chapter 169: Not Cohabitation but Kidnapping?
Chapter 169: Not Cohabitation but Kidnapping?
“How is Hikari?”
Unexpectedly, after holding it in for a long time, what Nanami wanted to ask was that exact thing.
“He’s very well, and his buttocks have developed quite nicely.”
Himekoji froze slightly at first, then answered softly with a sigh.
He had known the white cat Hikari for almost a year.
That year, from being a normal person to becoming a Pervert, was only made bearable by Hikari sticking with him without giving up.
No matter if he was a Pervert or not, Hikari’s attitude toward him stayed the same as ever.
After all, it was truly a lucky thing for Himekoji that this Pervert System didn’t have cat-sex settings.
……
He remembered meeting Hikari around mid-May last year.
It was after school then, and baby cat Hikari was abandoned in a cardboard box at the school gate. Dozens of students crowded around, saying how cute and pitiful it was, but not one offered help.
Himekoji happened to be passing by, and Nanami was with him that time too.
An abandoned cat being treated like a spectacle didn’t feel pleasant.
With her soft heart overflowing, Nanami didn’t hesitate at all and scooped the kitten into her arms, deciding to adopt it.
Sadly, the dorm aunt found out later and forbade bringing it back to the dorm, so the girl had to ask Himekoji, who didn’t live there, to take care of it.
In the end, that one time of looking after turned into a full year.
……
“Wait a moment.”
Himekoji thought of something, pulled out his phone, and shared with Nanami a photo of Hikari he’d taken a few days ago.
“It feels like he’s gotten a lot bigger.”
Nanami’s little head moved in close, next to Himekoji.
The latter noticed this and awkwardly moved back a bit.
After that, he smiled and couldn’t help but show off proudly:
“Of course he has—just look who’s taken care of him all this time, feeding him yummy food every day.”
“Is this a black-and-white photo? Hold on, this isn’t even a photo at all!”
Nanami stared at the phone screen for two seconds, then suddenly gasped softly as she realized something was wrong.
“What do you mean it’s not a photo?”
Himekoji frowned in confusion, so he naturally looked back at his phone.
What he saw instead was—
Clear, smooth lines that were both strong and soft, along with deep shadows and layers showing space…
It definitely wasn’t a photo!
This was actually a sketch Mashiro had drawn of Hikari just yesterday!
Because it looked so amazing, Himekoji couldn’t stop his hands then and planned to take a photo to save it. But carelessly, he’d mixed it up with a real photo later…
What kind of mess was this?
“Ah, it’s this one, this one!”
Himekoji quickly switched the picture.
“See, Hikari’s butt really has developed well…”
Himekoji scratched his head with an embarrassed laugh, trying to use the topic to skip past that little awkward moment.
“Butt development? Why do you always focus on such strange places? Hey, wait! Could it be… could it be you’ve already struck at Hikari too?”
“No, no! After school today, I must go to your house and take him away! Leaving such a cute Hikari in the care of a Pervert just isn’t safe enough!”
“What are you even saying… I haven’t lost my mind to that level, have I? Plus, Hikari is male, male!”
Himekoji was practically covered in sweat from exasperation.
“Even if you say that, I won’t let my guard down around you—everyone knows you’re a big liar!”
Nanami shot a somewhat complaining look at Himekoji.
“Anyway, give this to me first!”
Without Himekoji’s permission, Nanami grabbed his phone right away and mess around with it. She used infrared to transfer Hikari’s photo to her own storage, then set it as her lock screen.
“So, what do you think?”
Nanami showed off her phone screen smugly to Himekoji.
“Ah, it suits really well as a wallpaper.”
Himekoji agreed.
Nanami looked away like there was something else she wanted to say.
“Also…”
The girl paused, seeming a bit too shy to speak.
Maybe, the cat talk was just a way to start off the real topic.
“Huh?”
“That new student.”
Nanami talked haltingly, not sounding like herself at all.
“You mean Shiina-san?”
“She started going to school?”
“Yeah.”
“How is she?”
“……”
Himekoji didn’t know how to respond.
Should he tell the truth?
Without a doubt, the answer was one word—”disaster”!
“Why aren’t you talking?”
“I don’t know what to say.”
“She’s really cute though, right?”
“She is, I guess.”
He couldn’t argue about that.
“She’s super, super cute! Yesterday, I caught a little glimpse of you eating with her in the cafeteria.”
“Usually, that would be right…”
As he said this, Himekoji seemed to sense the air getting a bit tense.
“What about from Himekoji Akito’s viewpoint?”
“This… I really don’t know how to describe it.”
“Oh, I see.”
Not getting the answer she wanted to know, Nanami turned her face away with boredom.
“Actually, what I meant is it was a bit troublesome and awful.”
Himekoji finally decided to be honest and added this line.
“Why did you still explain it?”
Nanami tilted her head aside and stared toward outside, in the direction of the hallway. She saw something unknown that made a flash of surprise flicker in her eyes for a moment.
Himekoji followed the girl’s gaze outside—
Yuigahama, who was about to leave the Classroom, paused at the door and looked this way with strange expressions.
“Hey, Akito, someone’s here to see you.”
As the words died down, Mashiro’s figure emerged from behind Yuigahama.
“How did this guy even come here?”
Muttering this to himself, Himekoji felt a headache coming on and stood up.
Just as Himekoji had expected, the moment Mashiro stepped into the Classroom, the air around changed.
A stir gathered and swept back and forth between Himekoji and Mashiro.
People who didn’t understand what was going on just thought Mashiro was a transfer student who looked very cute.
From yesterday on, Mashiro’s existence had become a rumor all over the school year. Not only did she have the background of a young genius painter, but she also had a vibe no one had ever seen before, so anyone would find her interesting.
It wasn’t clear how those gossipy boring guys got their news, but it was super quick.
Himekoji only learned that Mashiro was a genius painter from Hiratsuka-sensei’s words, while those guys seemed to know it right away the moment Mashiro transferred to the school.
“To think she came looking for Himekoji, that Pervert?”
“No way, what is their relationship? I heard yesterday that someone saw them eating together!”
“Ah, I can’t believe the Pervert’s evil grasp has reached the transfer student so soon! Even though she’s such a cute girl!”
…
The sound of everyone talking about Mashiro all around, but the girl ignored it all, as if she couldn’t hear any of it.
“Akito, I’m hungry.”
“Huh? What did you say?”
She came all the way from the Fine Arts Class to find him, just for this?
“I wanna eat Baumkuchen.”
“Why are you telling me that?”
“Don’t you have any?”
“Of course not! Besides, I did get you a Bento!”
…
“Huh, Bento?”
“Wait, preparing a Bento? Himekoji that Pervert can make Bento? That doesn’t suit his vibe at all!”
“Must not eat it! That must be a fake Bento! I bet it’s poisoned!”
“Himekoji didn’t go to the Fine Arts Class this morning, so based on that, the Bento was something he gave Shiina-san before school… Doesn’t that mean…”
“Living together?!”
Playing off each other, another reliable side character made a gasp at just the right moment with a creepy look.
“Living together? Pfft! It must be kidnapping!”
Another voice chimed in to correct that.
…
Darn it, words really led to trouble!
Anyway, the first thing was to get Mashiro out of there quickly, or else the gossip might spiral even more!
“Bento?”
Mashiro tilted her head and thought for quite a bit,
“But I just wanna eat Baumkuchen.”
You only wanna eat cake? Then what was the point of him waking up early and putting in so much effort!
“No!”
“What a pity…”
Mashiro’s stomach let out a cute ‘grr-grr’ sound, and she turned to leave the Classroom.
At the door, the girl paused, stopped walking, and looked back at Himekoji as if longing for something.
“I trusted you, and now this.”
Right after she spoke, the stares from other classmates came like needle pricks, angry and piercing.
That Pervert, how could he treat the cute transfer student like that!
She just wanted to eat a piece of cake, that’s all!
They even wished they could take Himekoji’s place, run to buy the cake and bring it to Mashiro.
After seeing Mashiro walking off dejectedly, Himekoji hesitated for a short time, gritted his teeth, and ran out after her.
“I get it, I get it, it’s my fault.”
Himekoji rushed out of the Classroom and grabbed Mashiro.
His figure brushed past Yuigahama who was standing by the door.
“Wait, Akito, the fourth class is about to start!”
As Yuigahama reminded him, the bell for class rang just on time.
Along with it, came the sound of Mashiro’s stomach.
“Grr—”
“I can’t care about that now. Just make up some excuse for me!”
“Don’t ask me to do something like that!”
But before she could finish, Himekoji had already pulled Mashiro away, vanishing from sight.
“Akito, you… Ah, seriously!”
Yuigahama bit her lip, like she wanted to say more but didn’t.
…
Large white clouds floated in the blue sky.
During class time, on the school building’s top Rooftop, only Himekoji and Mashiro were there.
Himekoji lay on a bench, Mashiro sat beside him, slowly peeling off slices of Baumkuchen that he’d run to buy just now, eating it in tiny bites.
Himekoji rested his hands behind his head and looked up at the sky in silence.
Actually, he was thinking deeply about one problem—
What on earth was he doing here, skipping class to hang out with Mashiro doing nothing?!
…
…