Chapter 96: I Was Definitely NOT Here Just to See You First Thing!
Chapter 96: I Was Definitely NOT Here Just to See You First Thing!
The next day, something truly terrifying happened. For the first time in a year, Eriri came to the Himekoji house again to… wake him up!
Hmm… That just means she came to wake Himekoji in the morning so they could go to school together.
…
“Good morning!” Eriri’s golden Twin Tails swayed perkily from side to side as she shook her head.
“Morning… morning.” Himekoji, forced awake so early, rubbed his head, looking completely worn out.
“Uh… listen,” the girl mumbled, twisting her body slightly and lowering her face a little.
“Y-you better not get the wrong idea! I… I definitely didn’t come here first thing just to wake you up!”
Ah, a textbook Tsundere, straight off the production line…
Himekoji sighed silently and stifled a yawn, replying offhandedly.
“Yeah, yeah, of course, Lady Eriri was just passing by.”
“Exactly! I was just passing by!” Eriri immediately nodded her head vigorously, looking like this was the undeniable truth.
“Same difference,” Himekoji muttered under his breath, curling his lip slightly.
Unexpectedly, Eriri’s ears were surprisingly sharp. She instantly exclaimed:
“It’s totally different! Waking you up to go to school together? That’s a ‘flag-raising event’! Passing by is just coincidental, that’s an ‘accidental event’. So, these two things are completely different and can never be confused!”
Besides being Tsundere, the girl’s otaku nature was also completely exposed.
Himekoji could only pat his forehead helplessly—
Do not randomly apply galgame logic to real life, okay?!
…
Nearing the school gate.
Himekoji figured they were about to enter the danger zone. He smoothly took the lead:
“You go on ahead; I need to get a couple of notebooks at the stationery shop.”
A mixed-race ojou-sama, ace of the art club, and campus idol – that was Eriri’s identity at school. If she were seen walking with the infamous Pervert… it was foreseeable that it would cause disastrous panic at school.
Playing strangers at school was something Himekoji had agreed to with Eriri a whole year ago.
“L… let’s go together.” However, Eriri, twisting her hands together awkwardly, gave an answer that surprised, even shocked, Himekoji.
“Huh? What? Together?”
Wait, did she somehow miss the point of what he just said?
“You’re so annoying! I said let’s go together, so let’s go! Hurry up! I need to buy a couple of pens anyway.”
The blonde Twin Tailed girl suddenly flew into a flustered rage for no good reason, even raising her foot as if trying to kick Himekoji. Luckily, Himekoji was quick and dodged nimbly, escaping an “unwarranted disaster” first thing in the morning.
But now that he thought about it, her violent tendencies seemed to be getting worse since last night!
Right?
…
Stepping into the stationery shop, Himekoji first scanned the room —
Sure enough, there were quite a few students in Toyonoshi Academy Uniforms. It was a shop near the school, after all.
He subtly increased the distance between himself and Eriri by a couple of steps.
But, to Himekoji’s surprise, Eriri seemed unusually clueless today and pressed right back up beside him.
Hey, wasn’t her usual MO seeing him at school or nearby to run away?
“Students… there are students…” Himekoji whispered a reminder.
“Just hurry up and get your notebooks!” Eriri rolled her eyes at him.
And then…
Had she moved the wrong way?
Not only did she not create distance, she got even closer to Himekoji.
However, she seemed to have her own method. She slightly lowered her head, hiding behind Himekoji, using his not-especially-broad back to block the surrounding gazes.
But… BUT! Your trademark golden Twin Tails totally give you away!
Plus, doesn’t this make you look even more intimate?
As expected, the hushed whispers rushed onto the scene like cavalry the very next moment.
…
“W-wait, if I’m not seeing things, isn’t that Eriri Sawamura behind that pervert?”
“Sawamura? Which Sawamura? Do you mean..?”
“Duh! Who else? The golden-haired mixed-race beauty everyone talks about!”
“Why is she with Himekoji?”
“And they look so close too…”
“Woah! Could she be being threatened? Doesn’t Himekoji do stuff like that all the time? Stealing people’s Underwear… blackmailing them with it…”
“No way! Lord Himekoji would never! Eriri isn’t even a Loli!”
“But judging by her… chest size… she could totally be called a Loli, right?”
“Do you know the actual definition of a Loli?”
“‘An underdeveloped body where secondary sexual characteristics haven’t appeared yet’?”
“Bingo!”
…
Hey, who was the jerk who brought up “Loli” first? Totally derailed the conversation!
Seeing more and more people looking their way, Himekoji quickly grabbed two notebooks, paid, then turned around, grabbed Eriri’s hand, and practically ran out of the shop.
…
“Hand holding?! They’re holding hands!”
“Oh no! Sawamura must be under duress! That Pervert Himekoji! I’ll kill him!”
“Heavens, Himekoji betrayed the Lolis…”
“No! From now on, Sawamura is a Loli!”
Even crazier believers corrected him with serious nods.
…
“Oh no, rumors will start flying everywhere again.”
Himekoji let go of Eriri’s hand he’d grabbed in panic earlier and slumped his shoulders with a sigh.
“Better brace yourself.”
Eriri stared at her own hand for a moment before answering distractedly,
“I-it’s fine… as long as I say you threatened me.”
“That’s way worse! When did I threaten you? How could I even threaten you?”
Hearing Himekoji complain, the girl snapped out of her daze and immediately started throwing a tantrum, swinging her Twin Tails.
“Yeah you did! Yeah you did!”
She shouted loudly.
Wow, so this was Eriri’s unreasonable side.
“You… you threatened me with… with that thing…”
The girl’s face turned red as her voice trailed off.
That thing?
So… what was that thing exactly?
…
The rush hour crowd grew thicker.
Eriri, who usually treasured her reputation at school, was walking openly alongside the infamous pervert Himekoji that day for the first time ever.
Facing the bewildered, strange glances from all around and the murmurs swirling nearby, Eriri suddenly tightened her arms and spoke up—
“You… you… Now that I’ve agreed to be friends with you… can you give those things back to me?”
Her voice was just loud enough for everyone nearby to hear.
…
“Ah! I knew it! Himekoji was threatening her!”
“So gentle… Sawamura-sama, even so, is willing to befriend that pervert.”
“The Cult Leader-sama is too noble! For the Lolita way, she’ll throw aside her dignity!”
“Enough! Eriri isn’t a lolita—”
“Shut up! From now on, she is! Any woman the Cult Leader-sama likes is a lolita!”
“Bastard! Using such methods to force Sawamura-sama! Unforgivable! Take down Himekoji! Rescue Eriri!”
Suddenly, a group of burly men charged toward Himekoji.
“Take down Himekoji!”
“Give Sawamura-sama back to me!”
“Back off, Sawamura-sama is mine!”
“Fine! Since you’re all fighting over Sawamura, Himekoji’s mine then!”
“Nonsense! Himekoji is mine!”
…
You two at the end… are you serious?! That must be a joke… right?! Right?!
“Why are you just standing there? Run!”
Eriri grabbed Himekoji’s hand and pulled him into a desperate, headlong rush.
Small hand clutching a big hand.
…
“Eriri, you set me up!”
Himekoji was furious.
“Hmph! Serves you right for making me cry yesterday!”
“Oh? So you finally admit you cried yesterday? Let me tell you, seeing you cry was utterly embarrassing.”
“I didn’t cry! You cried!”
They argued as they fled.
…
“So… now… you’re my friend at school too.”
“Friends, huh…”
Eriri ran ahead. Himekoji raised his head and saw the girl’s golden ponytail swaying above his palm.
He noticed she was different now.
Not like before—not like the Eriri who looked at him with disgust and told him to stay far away.
So… was this another trap of the Evil God?
…
If you don’t change, nothing will.
Himekoji only realized now that this sentence was wrong.
Because… everything was changing.
Would he be the next to change?
While running, he looked towards the petite figure rushing ahead of him.
“Eriri.”
“Hmm?”
Her Twin Tails arced through the air as she turned her head.
Their gazes clashed in that instant. Everything seemed to freeze.
After a brief pause, as if gathering his thoughts, Himekoji spoke—
“You’re something else, Eriri! I absolutely respect how shamelessly you can screw me over while calling me your ‘friend’!”
…
“Himekoji’s right ahead!”
“Everyone, let’s go! Cut down Himekoji and get the underwear!”
“Charge!”
The pursuers were relentless.
…
After finally shaking off the chasers and escaping, an annoyed Himekoji parted ways with Eriri and slipped back into his Classroom.
He started thinking and suddenly realized his days at school seemed to be getting harder and harder.
First, he had angered the Miura Queen Faction. Second, today he’d been targeted by the Biracial Eriri Faction.
On top of that, there was an even stranger group, mostly made up of burly men and effeminate guys. Their motives were unclear. Himekoji didn’t even remember how or when he’d offended them.
But that wasn’t the main point. The key was—
Whenever a bounty hunt against Himekoji started, they would always be in the chasing crowd…
One couldn’t say he hadn’t made enemies everywhere. And after a year of accumulation, the number of “enemies” was starting to form a big mob.
He shook his head, pushing those annoying trivialities aside.
Himekoji turned his thoughts to a crucial matter of life and death—
How was he going to help Rikka survive next week’s test?