After deciding to give up, I became popular

“Mmm… mmm…” A muffled sound came from inside the blanket.

Natsukawa Kanade was immediately puzzled, thinking that the other party hadn't heard him clearly, so he simply reached out and lifted the blanket.

“Don't!” Shiina Mahiru exclaimed, reaching out to grab the blanket, but she was a step too late.

So, from Natsukawa Kanade's perspective, the angel was like a mischievous child, acting spoiled and seeking a hug after having her blanket snatched away.

Natsukawa Kanade blinked, then chuckled softly, “Do you want me to help you up?”

When they were at home, Mahiru would occasionally doze off on the sofa, and when he called her awake, she would be in this state, looking at him with hazy eyes and reaching out her hands, looking really cute in her dazed state.

“No, don't look at me…” The angel's eyes were hazy, as if dyed with mist.

The weather had warmed up, and even wearing the summer uniform, she would occasionally feel a little hot. Now it was midday, and being trapped in the blanket had caused her to sweat slightly, but that wasn't the main issue. The most crucial thing was that just now—in a moment of nervousness, she had hidden in the blanket, and her whole body was enveloped in Kanade's scent, which had stirred her heart.

In short, to sum it up—the angel, who was always pure and lovely, now had a charming and seductive appearance.

Making one's appetite stir.

This was a bit bad, Natsukawa Kanade thought, especially since this was in the boys' dormitory, which couldn't help but lead to wild thoughts.

“Cough, then… get up yourself…” Natsukawa Kanade quickly stood up, then took a deep breath, slightly bent over, and walked towards the bathroom, “I, I'll go wash up first…”

He needed to cool down a bit.

1. Feelings

By the time Natsukawa Kanade came out of the bathroom, Shiina Mahiru seemed to have returned to her original dignified appearance, but her cheeks were still a little flushed, making her particularly lovely.

“I'm ready, shall we go to the cafeteria?” Natsukawa Kanade suggested.

Shiina Mahiru looked hesitant, “But, we might run into other people on the way…”

She was naturally a little hesitant, after all, this was in the boys' dormitory. She had originally thought that no one would return to their dorm during lunch break, as it was too troublesome to run back and forth, but she had just encountered someone, and now she couldn't help but worry.

It wouldn't be good if someone saw them, it was fine if she came alone, it wouldn't matter if she was discovered, but if she was seen walking with Kanade, it might spread bad rumors about him again, right?

She naturally hoped to be with him, the closer they appeared in the eyes of others, the better, but she didn't agree with it being forced by some scandal or rumor, because she yearned for a more genuine and heartfelt love.

But the most crucial thing was—

“J-Just here… t-together… eat…” Shiina Mahiru said weakly, she had her own little thoughts, but if they went to the cafeteria, wouldn't her plan fall through?

“Then I'll do as you wish.” Natsukawa Kanade didn't think too much, and didn't notice the word “together” that she had said, after all, the bento box in his hand looked like it was only for one person.

However, he was surprised for a moment after opening it, “It's so full?”

Normally, it would only be about two-thirds full, but today's portion was particularly large, it could be said that it was completely filled, which caused a lot of sauce to stick to the opening lid, and the entire rice-filled area was a mess, only vaguely showing what seemed to be a pattern.

“Ah, it's all messed up…” Shiina Mahiru couldn't help but feel a little frustrated, it was the first time she had mustered the courage to draw a pattern on the bento box, although she originally wanted to get away with it by saying that it wasn't a homemade bento, but now the pattern was completely messed up, making the bento look very rough.

Even if it wasn't made by her, it still looked very unsightly!

“It's okay, it's good even if it's messed up, anyway, it's going to be eaten.” Natsukawa Kanade comforted, then casually picked up a squid sausage with his chopsticks and stuffed it into his mouth.

The taste was not bad, but he always felt that it was a little different from the usual bento, the taste was lighter.

“Did you make it?” Natsukawa Kanade asked doubtfully.

Shiina Mahiru shook her head, “Of course not, where would I have the time to make a bento?”

The facilities here were not as convenient as at home, not to mention that the lunch break was only an hour, how could she have the time to make a bento by hand and bring it over.

“Uh…” Natsukawa Kanade then recalled his situation, and then suddenly realized something, “What about you? Have you had lunch yet?”

“Not yet.” Shiina Mahiru shook her head again.

“…”

Really, Natsukawa Kanade thought.

Mahiru was still too concerned about him, she was so anxious to bring him lunch before she had even eaten lunch herself.

“Let's go to the cafeteria, I can't let you go hungry.” Natsukawa Kanade frowned, “We can eat together at the cafeteria.”

“No, no need!” Shiina Mahiru quickly waved her hand to refuse, “M-Moreover, the bento has already been opened! If we go to the cafeteria, it might get cold, and eating cold food is not good for the stomach…”

Eating with Kanade was of course good, and it would be under everyone's attention, but she obviously wanted another kind of treatment.

“I-If you really feel bad… then…”

“Then?”

“Just… feed me a little something.” Shiina Mahiru mustered her courage to say.

She had finally said it, this was her ultimate goal, and she had even only brought one pair of chopsticks for this.

“Uh…” Natsukawa Kanade was stunned, then a strange feeling suddenly surged in his heart.

He looked carefully at the chopsticks in his hand that he had just used, and suddenly hesitated.

“If… you don't mind…”

He thought it would be better to wash the chopsticks first and let her use them first, but Mahiru had already said so, if he refused, wouldn't it seem like he cared too much? What if she misunderstood that he disliked her?

“Then…”

He carefully picked up a fried meatball and brought it to the angel's mouth.

“Ah—”

“…” Shiina Mahiru's delicate body trembled slightly, and her eyes felt like they were starting to become misty again.

So she quickly closed her eyes “Ah—”

“Aww” She gently bit off the food that was brought to her mouth, swallowed it, and then stuck out her small tongue, slightly licking the oil stain on the corner of her lips.

Then she reacted and let out an embarrassed wail, “Guu…”

“…” Natsukawa Kanade's mood finally became more subtle, and then he unhesitatingly picked up another side dish.

“A-Another one?”

“Mm…” The angel lowered her head slightly, making a faint sound.

“…”

“…”

After repeating this for a while, the angel finally got used to it a little, her cheeks weren't so red, and she dared to look directly at the other party with her head slightly raised, but what she saw was Natsukawa Kanade's enthusiastic appearance, looking at her with anticipation in his eyes.

“!”

She finally couldn't help it, she felt like her head was suddenly disconnected, and she became at a loss.

“I, I… I'm going back!”

She couldn't stay any longer, and she knew very well that if it continued like this, something might happen, but she didn't want to embarrass herself in front of the person she liked.

So she ran out as if fleeing.

“Ah…” Natsukawa Kanade subconsciously stretched out his hand, but still couldn't hold her back.

“She ran away…” he murmured.

Looking at the bento box in his hand, he suddenly felt like he wasn't so hungry anymore, but after staring at the chopsticks in his hand for a few more times, he felt very hungry again, so he picked up a squid sausage again, and then put it in his mouth without much hesitation.

It was clearly the same thing, but tasting it at this moment had an imperceptible sweetness, which was fascinating.

So, he started to taste it bite by bite.

“…”

The taste was really good, he wondered when he would taste it next time.

Natsukawa Kanade had a faint expectation in his heart.

It's hard to hold back in various senses. jpg

196. Encounter with Senior (Don't order, literal meaning)

Natsukawa Kanade naturally did not miss the outdoor class in the afternoon.

When he arrived at the classroom, many people greeted him, and occasionally a few active people specifically asked him about the courage test event last night, but he smiled and perfunctorily brushed it off.

Because he was concerned about what happened at noon, Natsukawa Kanade consciously began searching for the angel's figure, but he didn't expect that she had been avoiding him, and even ran into her several times, but she ignored his eye contact by chatting with the people next to her.

Seeing this situation, Natsukawa Kanade could only sigh helplessly and chose not to bother her anymore, giving each other some time to calm down.

Of course, the most important reason was that after today, the forest school activity that had lasted for nearly a week would be completely over, they would embark on the journey home, and then there would be a relaxing weekend, and as neighbors, they had such and such close relationships, even if she wanted to hide, the angel couldn't hide anywhere.

As expected, the afternoon class ended quickly, and the students of the entire grade returned to Shuuchin Academy one after another on the bus, and then dispersed after the grade director's speech, either in groups or alone, and embarked on the road home.

So Natsukawa Kanade simply took out his mobile phone and sent Shiina Mahiru an invitation to go home together, but he received a refusal reply in the next second.

“I'm going out with friends today, let's go together next time!”

“…” Looking at the message in front of him, Natsukawa Kanade fell into deep thought.

In order to take care of Mahiru's idea of not wanting to expose that they were neighbors, he rarely invited her to go home together, but she would never refuse every time he invited her, only this time she refused very quickly, so quickly that he couldn't help but start to reflect on whether he had done too much at noon?

But at noon, Mahiru also looked like she was eating very happily...

Anyway, he himself was feeding her very happily, because the angel was really super cute, and her body was also small, and when she was being fed, she was like a soft and cute squirrel, making people want to put her in the palm of their hand and play with her.

Although it seemed like he was being "hated" now, Natsukawa Kanade believed that this should just be because Mahiru felt a little embarrassed, so she couldn't face him for a while, and maybe it would be fine after a while.

And thinking about it from another perspective, he could completely treat the time when Mahiru was hiding from him as a reward for his solo time, after all, he hadn't acted alone for a long time, of course, this sentence was not saying that Mahiru was annoying and clingy, but just that boys, no matter what, occasionally need some days to act alone.

Today—at least tonight is a great opportunity!

First of all, go to the bookstore! Because he has been too busy during this time, he has missed several issues of various new publications, light novels, manga, etc., and various magazines... maybe this should be skipped, after all, Mahiru doesn't know when she will check again, and he doesn't want to embarrass himself, and besides, magazines are no longer popular now, it is better to use a mobile phone.

Secondly, there is food, it seems that many new stores have opened around, and he and Mahiru have basically not eaten out since they made up, now is the right time to explore the stores.

Then there are various kinds...

Natsukawa Kanade thought for a while, feeling that it didn't make sense for him to think about plans temporarily, it would be better to just take action, after all, it was still early now, there were still several hours before dinner time, he didn't need to start thinking about what to eat at night, maybe he would suddenly get interested on the way, and after figuring this out, he picked up his luggage and bag, first went back to his house, changed into some lighter casual clothes, and then went out again.

The school dismissal time in Japan is quite early, even high school students can usually go home before 4 o'clock, but most students will choose to participate in some clubs or something, or more motivated students will choose to stay at school to study or participate in various tutoring classes, in general, what kind of life you choose completely depends on yourself, and you are also responsible for the consequences.

For Natsukawa Kanade, since he met the "heroines", he had never experienced being active outside of school at this time, and he felt a little novel at this moment, until he came to the bookstore he used to go to, and his relaxed mood suddenly became melancholy again.

On the brightly polished glass window, appeared an eye-catching and beautiful girl.

Fair and smooth forehead, skin that could be broken by a blow, a delicate and upturned nose, cherry blossom-like pink lips, and a pair of gorgeous wine-red eyes and that lazy but not lacking in a cold temperament that keeps people away... who else could it be but Kasumigaoka Utaha?!

Natsukawa Kanade suddenly felt a burst of trouble, then quietly took another step, wanting to leave here silently while the other party's attention was all focused on the book, who knew that the other party seemed to sense something and looked up, then stared at her blankly.

“Uh… hello?” Natsuki Kawa stiffened and greeted her. He understood that he was now being targeted by a hunter and had no way to escape.

“……” Utaha Kasumigaoka didn't say anything, but propped her cheek with one hand, staring at him with a smile that was not quite a smile, her mouth silently forming words:

“Come in, junior-kun~”

“……” So Natsuki Kawa resigned himself to walking into the store, casually picking up a light novel titled "XX Senpai, Please Don't Tease Me," before sitting down next to Utaha Kasumigaoka amidst envious glances from the people in the store.

However, after sitting down, the two of them didn't exchange a word, each engrossed in flipping through the books in their hands, as if they didn't know each other at all.

After quite a while, Utaha Kasumigaoka took a deep breath, slowly closed her book, and stretched languidly, revealing her impressive figure.

However, Natsuki Kawa didn't react at all, as if his attention was completely focused on the book in his hand.

Utaha Kasumigaoka wasn't annoyed, and even simply changed her posture, leaning sideways with her cheek propped up, to observe him in a more convenient position.

She was very patient, thinking that since she had run into him by chance, she should properly repay him for his coldness towards her these past few days.