Chapter 282 Birthday (1)
I thought the conversation that day ended there, but ten minutes before school was over, there was a knock on the door.
Thinking that it might be Keisuke Saito who was looking for him about the game again, Toru Watanabe stood up and walked over - taking into account Kujo Miki's mysophobia, he now tried his best not to let anyone enter the private human observation department.
I opened the sliding door and saw a petite and cute high school girl with short hair standing at the door.
"Senior, Watanabe-senpai!"
"If you have any questions about the oboe, please ask during the instruction time." Toru Watanabe pretended to close the door.
At that moment, Horikita Mai took advantage of her petite stature and slipped into the Human Observation Department.
Watanabe Toru could reach out to stop her, but after a slight hesitation between 'touching a girl's body' and 'allowing a girl to enter the Human Observation Department', he chose the latter.
"Good afternoon, Senior Kiyono." Horikita Mai greeted while looking around the club classroom curiously.
Bookshelves, refrigerators, televisions, game consoles, sofas, and hangers for maid uniforms were all too numerous to take in.
"Good afternoon." Qingye Rin responded calmly, as if to say, "Don't talk to me."
Watanabe Toru closed the door and brought a chair that Ikki Aoi and the others used to sit on to Horikita Mai.
"Thank you, senior."
"What's the matter?" Toru Watanabe sat down in his seat and casually opened "Persistence".
"Senior!" Horikita Mai put her hand on the cover of "Percussion Beats", "Go on a date with me after school!"
"Sorry, I'm not interested in girls younger than me." Watanabe Toru took out the book and added, "Except my K-san."
"What about Senior Qingye? Oh, Senior has the same birthday as you, so she's not younger than you."
"Horikita-san, there is one more thing I want to remind you of," said Qing Ye Lin, looking at the book in her hand, "He likes me more than his K-san."
Watanabe Toru turned his head and looked at her: "What are you talking about?"
"Did I say anything wrong?" Qingye Rin raised her head and asked with her head slightly tilted.
"…It's true that I'm wrong, but it's only temporary. Soon I'll love K-san even more."
Qing Ye Lin lost interest, his eyes returned to the book, and he said, "It's completely impossible. You can't do it. Give up."
Without arguing with her, Watanabe Toru looked at Horikita Mai who looked curious: "It's over now, you can go back."
"Hmm - why are you more indifferent than before, Senior?"
"I'm afraid you'll fall in love with me."
"Because of this?" Horikita Mai said in surprise, "But I've fallen in love with you, Senpai!"
"Then give up as soon as possible. By the way, I will not guide you from today on."
"Hate it, I was just joking, you're so heartless, senior! Humph!" Horikita Mai pouted, "Senior Kiyono, let's go on a date after school, I give up on you, senior!"
"I'm busy." Qingye Rin refused without thinking.
"Ah——" Horikita Mai wailed in frustration, "Senior Kiyono is just as ruthless as I thought."
After saying that, she immediately covered her mouth and looked at Qingye Rin in fear.
"Senior, Watanabe-senpai," she lowered her already petite body and whispered, "Senior Kiyono won't be angry, right?"
"You can rest assured about that. She never gets angry." Watanabe Toru said with confidence.
"Is that so? That's great." Horikita Mai patted her chest, "Phew, I was so scared. I almost thought that the senior would hate me."
"Even though she's not angry, she will get upset. Once she gets upset..."
"Is it scary?" Horikita Mai stared at Watanabe Toru with her round eyes like a small animal.
"Terrible? She's always been terrible. It has nothing to do with whether she's being weird or not."
Horikita Mai nodded in agreement, then quickly shook her head.
She skipped this already scary topic and asked, " What happens if ?"
"How should I put it——" Toru Watanabe tapped his fingers on "Heartbeat", "She's cute, very cute, super cute, I just want to make people angry all the time and make her upset all the time."
"Um," the schoolgirl raised her hand, "Senior, I have always had a question, are you a masochist?"
"yes."
"..." Watanabe Toru, who was about to answer, turned his head to look at Kiyono Rin who was reading a book.
After giving the warning, he retracted his gaze and said to Horikita Mai:
"This is not a question of being a masochist or not. For the people you like and the people who like you, you have to change yourself."
"Senior!" Horikita Mai opened her eyes wide in admiration, "You must have experienced many Shuras, you are really good at making excuses!"
Watanabe Toru turned to Kiyono Rin and said, "Can this child speak?"
"Watanabe-san," said Rin Kiyono, "if you want to become great, you must get used to and take the initiative to listen to the truth that you don't like."
"You really can't talk, I mean you two!"
"Hehehe~" Horikita Mai gave a unique Gengar giggle.
"I'm not complimenting you."
"I know, but being scolded together with Seino-senpai here shows that I am close to you."
"School is about to end, go home if you have nothing to do." Toru Watanabe started to chase people away.
"Actually, I invited you to go out with me because I wanted to buy you a birthday present. I also wanted to ask you for advice on what you like."
"A birthday present?"
"Yeah." Horikita Mai placed her hands between her pleated skirt and the chair, "No one, including me, knows anything about what Kiyono-senpai likes. Only Watanabe-senpai can find out something from her. Others can't do it at all. It's hard to even start a conversation with her."
"I see." Watanabe Toru nodded, "I can help you, but..."
"No need." Qingye Rin suddenly said, "I won't accept your gifts."
"But everyone is preparing to give gifts to the seniors, and some seniors have even bought them."
"Then please tell them that I don't need it." Qingye Rin answered .
Horikita Mai secretly tugged at Watanabe Toru's sleeve and said, "Senior, please persuade this senior. This will turn her from being popular to being hated."
"By the way, I won't accept it either." Watanabe Toru pulled back his sleeves, "I wonder if anyone has given me a gift. If so, please help pass it on."
"Eh——Why?! Didn't you receive chocolates on Valentine's Day, senpai?"
"How do you know?" Valentine's Day was in February, when Toru Watanabe was still a freshman in high school.
"Everyone knows about your story, senior. By the way, senior, I heard that you spent hundreds of thousands of yen on the return gift for the White Festival. Is that true?" Horikita Mai asked curiously.
"Really." Watanabe Toru said, "So I don't accept gifts. The cost of return gifts is too high. Got it?"
"So that's how it is. I thought that Senior was worried that Senior would be isolated and hated if she didn't accept him, so he didn't accept him himself to share the pressure for Senior."
"What does it have to do with me if she is hated and isolated? I only care about my money," said Toru Watanabe.
"Okay, what about me? You can always accept the gift from me, right? You have been teaching me the oboe." Horikita Mai blinked pitifully.
"We treat everyone equally and don't accept any."
At this time, the school bell rang, and Horikita Mai had to give up acting like a spoiled child and quickly ran back to the brass band to convey the news to the members who were preparing to buy gifts.
"You don't have to do this." Qingye Rin closed the book and put it in her schoolbag.
"It's not all for you." Watanabe Toru made the same gesture, "I know my own charm. Sometimes, when I just smile casually, people will misunderstand me. So, it's better for me to be unpopular like you."
"Unwelcome?" Qingye Rin put the schoolbag over her shoulder.
"As long as you understand what I want to express, the wording doesn't matter."
"Coward." She walked out of the club room.
"Coward?" Toru Watanabe followed behind.
"You don't dare to scold me directly, but just want to take this opportunity to tease me. What a coward. The door is locked."
Watanabe Toru took the key and locked the door: "I said that it was just a loose wording, and I swore that I would never curse or say a single dirty word in my life."
"Heh, the oath of Tokyo Handsome."
"If you continue to look down on "Tokyo Handsome Guys", I will really scold you."
After locking the door, Kiyono Rin spread out her white palm and Watanabe Toru placed the key on it.
The two walked towards the stairs, stepping into June. The sunset outside the window was no longer the setting sun as it was after school, but the sky was still bright.
"Scold me? I'm a little curious. Tokyo Handsome is a coward, okay, curse me and hear me say it."
"You let me scold you? Who are you to me?"
"You are indeed a coward."
"You are a woman who has nothing good except being cute, smart, honest, having nice hair, a nice voice, beautiful legs, a thin waist, and understanding of my accidents."
Qing Ye Lin put her hand on her chin and said with a smile: "Why don't you just say 'I love you' instead of saying so much?"
"…I was scolding you, Kiyono-san, and that word is not used between friends."
"If you insist, then just scold your friends." Qingye Rin put down his hand nonchalantly.
"It was originally just to scold and be friends."
The two walked out of the school building and came to the road leading to the oak tree and the school gate. To the right was the dusty baseball field.
Toru Watanabe saw Kunii Osamu and a group of people standing in a row, facing the setting sun. When the coach blew the whistle, they swung their bats hard.
"Fortunately, I'm just a figurehead," said Toru Watanabe.
“If you really plan to go into politics in the future, understanding baseball and building up a reputation in Koshien might provide a little help in unexpected places.”
"Good idea. This year's Hagar champion must be me. I will start working hard tomorrow."
"lie."
"But I can't just go in and play. I have to wait until they are in a tough fight. For example, when the team is in the eighth inning and is about to be eliminated early, I can go in as the fourth batter and hit a home run to turn the tide. Or as a pitcher, I can pitch for the entire season until I win the championship."
"I don't know much about Koshien. Tell me more about it."
"I don't understand either," said Toru Watanabe. "This is the scene that Kunii has been dreaming about all day. I'm just repeating what he said."
"It turned out to be a dream." Qingye Rin nodded.
"Of course, there is no such passionate personal heroism story in real life."
"If it's you, I'll believe it." Qingye Rin said, "Although I'm not interested in sports, I'm suddenly looking forward to such a scene now. I want to see you turn the tide."
"Take it back now!"
"Um?"
"You are a divine girl. Whatever you say will definitely happen. I don't want to be popular anymore."
"I'm looking forward to it."
When they arrived at Yotsuya Station, the two separated.
Toru Watanabe did not take the Chuo Line that ended at Shinano-machi, but instead left the platform and took a taxi to Takeshita-dori.
"Takeshita-dori" is a shopping street. If you can't find the right item, you can also go to the adjacent "Omotesando", which is where Kiyono Rin often shops.
He is preparing a birthday present for Kiyono Rin tomorrow.
I thought about giving him a [Lucky Pendant], but I had a feeling that once I gave it away, his resolute determination would collapse.
There were not too many people on Takeshita Street at dusk.
The Tokyo girls walking towards us have already put on light skirts, some sexy, some fashionable, some long, and some as short as they can be.
There were three girls dressed as idols, filming a show, and someone was pointing a camera at them.
They said "delicious" and "very delicious" with exaggerated expressions, and they were eating something in their mouths, which looked like fried skewers or candied haws.
When Toru Watanabe walked into the hat shop next to them, the idol girl on the far left looked at him several times, and only paid attention to her gaze when the other two reminded her that they were on a live broadcast.
After coming out of the hat shop with nothing, he turned into a jewelry store.
One by one, as the sky darkened and the street lights on Takeshita Street came on, he gave up.
There are of course many good-looking styles, but the prices are too cheap. Although Qingye Rin doesn't care about money, that's because she is very rich. No matter what, it is not appropriate to give such cheap things to a young lady.
This is not a pretentious TV series. Miss Kiyono Rin would not feel happy because he treated her to udon noodles on the roadside - she did this in Nagoya and the lady had no feelings about it.
I decided not to go to Omotesando and headed straight to Ginza.
Considering her lovely long hair, Toru Watanabe was at a fairly high-end hair accessories store and saw a blue hair band.
On the white price tag, it was written in black letters: 150,000 yen.
The price is very cheap, but considering that it is just a hairband, it is barely acceptable as a gift to Kiyono Rin.
"Please wrap it for me," Toru Watanabe said to the clerk, "It's a birthday present for someone."
"Okay, please follow me."
Three minutes later, I walked out of the store with the packaged hairbands, thinking that it was a rare opportunity to come here, so I went to the fruit store to buy some high-end fruits for Asuka Mai and Koizumi Aona. When I went downstairs, I saw a familiar figure.
It's Kiyono Rin.
She did not go home, but walked straight into a men's jewelry store in her school uniform.
Toru Watanabe followed quietly.
When he peeked in from outside, he saw Kiyono Rin standing in front of the cufflink cabinet, her hand on her chin, pondering, while the clerk introduced something to her.
After a while, Qingye Rin stretched out her slender white fingers and pointed at a model in the glass cabinet.
The clerk handed it to her. She took a look at it, tried it on the suit jacket of Shenchuan's school uniform, shook her head, and asked the clerk to get her another one.
The people around him had already noticed his peeping behavior, so Watanabe Toru had no choice but to leave.
'Cufflinks, I don't wear a coat in the summer, why not buy something that can be used ? I win in the birthday present!'
