[Warning 15+]
Part One~She Only Acts Like Her Old Self When She's with Me... Wait, Hold Up!~Chapter 3It's a Secret, Got It?
As expected, being surrounded by people since morning had totally drained Hayato's social battery.
(I mean, there's as many people in this one classroom as you'd see at a whole festival back home in the countryside.)
Some boys invited Hayato to grab lunch, but he turned them down, saying he wanted to scout the place and find the School Cafeteria, then he slipped out of the room.
"...Ugh."
By the time Hayato made it to the School Cafeteria, he was a little behind the crowd, and it was already peak rush hour. The sheer noise and chaos there made the classroom look quiet, and he totally flinched.
(I’m definitely gonna need to start packing a lunchbox from now on...)
Hayato let out a sigh, staring at the margarine-slathered bun he'd barely managed to snag. It looked pretty bland, but hey, at least it was huge — perfect for a growing boy, I guess.
Hayato just wanted to eat his lunch in peace somewhere away from the crowd. With that in mind, he wandered around the school grounds, looking for a spot where he could be alone.
But finding a quiet place was way harder than it looked.
Hayato even checked behind the school buildings, but there was already some girl he didn't know hanging out there.
"Wait, is that...?"
Hayato was about to bail, but then he spotted something incredibly familiar. It was the kind of thing you never really see in the city, so it totally grabbed his attention.
In front of all that, there was a petite girl with wavy hair hopping around, and something about her reminded Hayato of a certain something.
That’s why, even though it wasn't like him at all, Hayato found himself drawn toward her like a magnet.
"Ugh, they're just not growing right... Is the fertilizer bad? Or maybe—"
"Are those zucchinis?"
"Gyah!!"
"Whoops, my bad. Didn't mean to scare you. But that yellow flowers are zucchinis, right? And the purple ones next to it are eggplants, the white ones' shishito peppers... ...wait, are those corns too?"
"Wha?! Y-Yeah, you’re totally spot on!"
The place was supposed to be a flower bed.
It was lined with bricks, but for some reason, the soil in the middle was hilled up into rows, and it was packed with veggies instead of flowers.
Normally, Hayato isn't the kind of boy to just hit on a girl he's never met.
He's usually more the "I have no idea what to say" type, and unless he absolutely had to talk—like with Nikaidō—he would've just kept walking.
But Hayato just couldn't help himself this time.
"You pollinating those? Zucchinis won't grow big unless you get some pollen on the female flowers."
"Wait... ...oh!"
"Also, you should prune the extra flowers off the eggplants. And if you trim some branches off those peppers, you'll get a way better harvest."
"Hau..."
After hearing Hayato's advice, the girl scrambled to pull a notebook out of her skirt pocket, flipping through the pages like crazy. She kept glancing back and forth between her notes and the flower bed, her face turning bright red.
Just so we're clear, Hayato's "expertise" was basically common knowledge for any kid in the countryside who'd spent time in a field. It wasn't exactly something to brag about.
"W-Wow, you really know your stuff."
"Well, I spent a lot of time helping out in the fields back home in the countryside... ...Is this for the Gardening Club or something?"
"Y-Yeah, I'm in the Gardening Club."
"Wait, the Gardening Club grows veggies?"
"Does... ...Does that seem weird?"
"Nah, I think it's cool. I mean, they say tomatoes were originally just for decoration anyway. Plus, I've always liked veggie flowers."
"…!"
To be honest, Hayato actually preferred the veggie flowers—the ones that meant harvest time was coming—way more than the fancy stuff you'd find at a florist.
(Helping out in the fields meant I'd score some extra pocket money, too.)
When Hayato answered with a grin, thinking about the cash, the girl seemed totally caught off guard. She just blinked at him, looking completely flustered.
The girl acted just like a little animal, which made Hayato think of that certain something even more, and he couldn't help but crack a smile.
"…What do you think you're doing?"
A voice as clear as a ringing bell came from behind Hayato.
But the tone was laced with a hint of "Are you serious right now?"
"Oh... ...Nikaidō-san."
"Mitsutake-san, the fertilizer you requested for the Club Building just arrived."
"Wait, really? Okay, I’m on it! Thanks so much, Nikaidō-san!"
The one who'd called out to them was the beauty from the seat next to Hayato's—Nikaidō.
As soon as she heard Nikaidō's news, the girl from the Gardening Club dashed off like a startled rabbit.
After both of them watched the girl disappear, Nikaidō put her hands on her hips, gave Hayato a major side-eye, and leaned in way too close to his face.
"Hmph. Hitting on girls on your very first day, huh? Wow. So, is Mitsutake-san your type, Kirishima-kun?"
"W-Wait, no, that's not it!"
Having that drop-dead gorgeous face so close to his made Hayato's heart skip a beat. But more than that, Nikaidō had this weirdly intense aura that made him instinctively back up.
Nikaidō'd completely dropped the "polite act" and started acting way too familiar. This sudden shift in her attitude only made Hayato more confused.
"It wasn't like I hit on her, it's just... she looked familiar."
"Familiar? Like who, exactly?"
"…Old Man Gen's sheep."
"Oh, those sheep! The ones he got to trim the weeds, but they just kept getting in trouble for eating the veggie sprouts instead."
"Yeah, exactly! That curly hair of hers and the way she was hovering over the veggies just reminded me... wait―"
"Pfftt... Hahaha! Ahahahaha!!"
Out of nowhere, Nikaidou burst into a fit of uncontrollable laughter.
Then Nikaidou started whaling on Hayato's back, slapping him hard.
"Man, you're awful! You actually approached a girl just 'cause she reminded you of Old Man Gen's sheep? You're the worst, Hayato…"
"Ow, ow! Take it easy on the hitting, Haru…ki…?"
For some reason, that name just slipped out. It was a total question mark at the end.
Hayato had no idea why he'd even said it.
Hayato just stood there, staring at Nikaidō intensely.
"Oh, Nikaidō-san! There you are! Got a sec?"
"Yeah, of course. What's up?"
"Wait—hey!"
But the moment someone called out to her, Nikaidou flipped the switch and went right back to her "perfect student" act.
"Shh!"
As she walked away, Nikaidō glanced back at Hayato, pressed a finger to her lips like it was their little secret, and gave him a mischievous wink.
"…What the heck is even going on?"
A ton of realizations flashed through his mind all at once, leaving Hayato's head spinning and his heart in total chaos.
TL: Reeze27
ED: Reeze27
PR: Reeze27
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