Chapter 19

Naoko hid in the dark and eavesdropped. Because of her natural ordinariness, she had no sense of existence, so no one noticed her watching the show.

After about three to five minutes, the crowd automatically made way for her, and Amemiya with a sullen face walked out.

The back of his fair hand was red, and he must have hit someone with all his strength.

He spotted her in the corner at a glance. Amemiya moved his lips, wanting to say something but stopping himself. In the end, he said nothing, pulled her up and hurried away.

Yes, being able to spot Naoko in the crowd at a glance was a small skill of his.

She staggered when she was pulled, but fortunately she used his hand to steady herself, and couldn't help but complain in a low voice: "Hey, Amemiya-kun, you almost pulled me down."

"He didn't see anything." He suddenly said something irrelevant.

"...Huh?"

His face flushed with rage. He paused, turned, and glared at her. "Don't you have anything else to say besides that? Naoko, you're an idiot."

"I mean, is it okay for you to hit someone? No, you didn't get hit, did you?" She circled around the man in front of her.

Amemiya's facial muscles twitched erratically, his expression becoming ferocious and terrifying. He cursed under his breath, "I wish I could kill him!"

Well, not everyone could withstand this "succubus" aura.

There was nothing wrong with being an ordinary, ordinary person; at least no one would suddenly barge in and peek while she was changing.

Any normal person would feel uneasy about encountering such a thing.

But she couldn't offer much help, only a dry reassurance: "Stop saying such horrible things. At least you didn't get beaten, and he didn't get his way, did you?"

Amemiya paused, his eyes narrowed, and he reached out to pinch her face. He said coldly, "Naoko, can anyone live as dull as you? They say idiots are much happier than smart people, isn't that right?"

But meeting her glazed eyes, he was the first to admit defeat: "Talking to you is a complete waste of time. Let's hold hands."

The sun shone down on him, and Naoko realized that he had taken two steps forward, shielding her from the harsh sunlight.

"...Amemiya-kun, you're the idiot,"

he snorted, dragging her away down a side path.

During class time, the academy was as quiet as if they were alone. Amemiya's hand was dry and burning, causing her to instinctively lower her head uncomfortably.

The occasional rubbing of interlocked fingers left an unbearable itch, as if it were slowly sweeping across one's heart.

Amemiya paused in the shadows of a corner. Unaware for a moment, she nearly bumped into him, and he flicked her forehead.

A sudden thought struck him: "Let's skip class. I want to go on a date with you, Naoko."

It was class time.

She should have refused.

But meeting his rare, serious eyes, she nodded.

Skipping class.

You see, Naoko was a thoroughly good student, never even copying anyone else's homework in her entire life

—though that was entirely because she didn't know the other students. And Amemiya, he almost never did his homework.

"Homework? Is it necessary? You can tell the answer to something like that just by looking at it, right? Only an idiot like you, Naoko, would voluntarily accept such an oppressive labor," he commented blandly.

In otome games, skipping class between the heroine and hero usually goes something like this:

the hero leads her to a low wall, then helps her or even lifts her over, naturally with some minor friction that fosters a close bond.

But this didn't apply to Amemiya at all, because all he needed to do to skip class was show his face. In Kamikawa, practically no one could say no to his excessively beautiful face.

They exited through the main gate with remarkable ease.

The amusement park was deserted on weekdays. Looking around, apart from a few scattered university couples, the only people present were Naoko and Amemiya, tightly holding hands.

"Want some ice cream? Your hands are sweating," he said, his expression natural as he clenched his hand a little tighter.

This hypocritical fellow…

She complained irritably, “If you knew it was going to be hot, you shouldn’t have held on so tightly.”

“

It’s my treat.” “Two scoops, vanilla and chocolate.”

He seemed amused, gently shaking their clasped hands and saying, “You change your mind so quickly, Naoko. Sit here and wait for me. I’ll be back in a bit.”

With that, he started towards the ice cream stand. His ordinary school uniform, neatly dressed, made him look tall and slender, a respectable figure…

Just as Naoko was thinking this, she saw this uncultured fellow cut in line, carrying two ice cream scoops, each adorned with three or four scoops.

The surrounding tourists stared at him intently, leaving him a wide path to exit.

She turned away, covering her face, pretending she didn’t know him. But it was no use, as he walked right up to her and thrust one into her hand.

"Don't you want to eat?"

"..."

Never mind. It's been a while since Amamiya-kun's been known for his lack of manners

, hasn't he? Naoko hadn't been interested in amusement parks to begin with; she really didn't like crowded places.

But now, munching on her ice cream, watching the roller coaster whizz by overhead, her interest suddenly rekindled.

"Let's go ride this! It's going to be fun!"

As she spoke, a pair of slender hands reached out and placed something on her head.

Amamiya chuckled from above him. "It really looks good on you, Naoko."

"Huh? What?" She instinctively tried to remove the headband, but he grabbed her wrist.

"Demon," he said, his voice slow and soft, a half-hearted whisper. "Naoko, aren't you a terrifying demon?"

"Childish!" She grabbed another bunny ear from the stall and shouted, "Get down here. I can't reach you."

Amamiya paused, then obediently half-crouched down, letting her hand take over and placing the bunny ear headband on his own head. Just as she was about to withdraw her hand, he placed it against her lips and kissed her softly.

"I love Naoko the most, even when she's looking silly." He smiled and sighed softly, "Let's go ride the Ferris wheel first."

She rubbed her kissed hand against his waist with a look of disgust on her face, "I want to ride the roller coaster, not the Ferris wheel."

"I refuse."

"Huh, why?"

He said with ease and confidence, "Because I'm going to kiss you on the Ferris wheel."