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The two queued up and boarded the train.
Because it was a workday and they were a bit late, the train was already full, packed with people.
(So scary, so scary, so scary…)
Looking at the carriage full of strangers, Gotō Hitori's social anxiety flared up again, making her palms sweat from nervousness.
(The train now is like the stomach of a giant beast, about to digest all the people inside…)
(What if I bump into someone?)
(What if I accidentally step on someone and can't apologize?)
(I-If only I had woken up earlier, it's all my fault…)
Gotō Hitori felt herself being pushed and shoved, not knowing where to go. In her panic, a hand suddenly reached out and grasped her right hand, followed by a familiar voice entering her ears:
"Come here, don't space out."
Kitahara Makoto stood in the corner, gently pulling Bocchi-chan in front of him, and said in a low voice:
"Stand inside."
"Oh…"
Gotō Hitori obediently listened, her small face flushed as she walked into the innermost corner that Kitahara Makoto had created by pushing with his body. She suddenly felt at ease, but not long after, Little Miss Anxiety's heart suddenly started racing, her eyes panicked, and two little figures in her mind began to argue fiercely.
(W-Wait… Kitahara-kun just held my hand?)
(Don't be nervous, you've held hands before.)
(B-But that was for ghost Senpai, and ghost Senpai isn't possessing me now…)
(It's just holding hands, it's okay, right?)
(H-How could it be okay? That kind of thing definitely isn't allowed, right…)
(So, as long as you're dating, it's fine, right?)
(D-D-Dating…!)
Startled by the thought in her mind, Gotō Hitori's small face quickly flushed, and white steam soon billowed from the top of her head.
"Hitori-chan, what's wrong?"
Kitahara Makoto asked softly.
"N-Nothing…"
Gotō Hitori frantically avoided his gaze, covering her chest with her right hand, feeling as if her heart was about to jump out of her throat. She didn't dare to look Kitahara Makoto in the eye.
Although Bocchi-chan was a bit dazed, she wasn't stupid. In fact, the more insecure and introverted a person was, the more delicate and sensitive their inner world was. Coupled with Kitahara Makoto's undisguised preferential treatment, Gotō Hitori naturally sensed that Kitahara Makoto seemed, probably, possibly had a good impression of her…
(N-No way!)
(I'm so clumsy, bad at studies, bad at sports, and I've never had a single friend since I was little. How could Kitahara-kun l-like…)
(Illusion! It must be my imagination!)
(Someone like me, no one would ever like, right?)
Gotō Hitori quickly denied herself in her mind.
There's a line in "No Longer Human": A coward is afraid even of happiness, and gets hurt when touched by cotton.
Bocchi-chan was exactly like that. Even if she sensed Kitahara Makoto's affection, she didn't dare to bravely admit it, only turning into an ostrich, burying her head and hiding.
Kitahara Makoto's voice echoed in her ears again:
"Since you're fine, let's get ready to get off."
"Eh?"
Gotō Hitori looked up blankly.
Kitahara Makoto pointed out the window: "While Hitori-chan was spacing out, the train has already reached near the school."
Gotō Hitori: "…"
The two got off the train.
Bocchi-chan, hugging her backpack and carrying her guitar, her small face flushed with embarrassment, ran away frantically and shyly.
Kitahara Makoto didn't go after her, because there was still a daily task that needed someone else's help to complete.
"Tomori-chan, do you have club activities today?"
Kitahara Makoto took out his phone and sent a message to Takamatsu Tomori.
Takamatsu Tomori quickly replied: "No club activities."
Kitahara Makoto: "That won't do, we must have one."
Takamatsu Tomori: "Eh?"
Kitahara Makoto: "A club without activities is an incomplete club."
Takamatsu Tomori: "Since Kitahara-kun said so... then let's have one."
Kitahara Makoto waited for a while, and Takamatsu quickly sent a message:
"Kitahara-kun, could you come to the backyard?"
Kitahara Makoto: "Just a moment, I'll be right there."
A few minutes later.
Kitahara Makoto arrived at the backyard and soon saw a young girl with short brown hair squatting beside a flower bush, her bottom sticking out, head down, seemingly looking for something.
"Tomori-chan, good morning." Kitahara Makoto stepped forward and greeted her.
Takamatsu Tomori looked up, expressionless like Yamada Ryo: "Kitahara-kun, good morning."
Kitahara Makoto asked curiously:
"What are you looking for, Tomori-chan?"
Takamatsu Tomori calmly said: "Bugs."
"Wait." Kitahara Makoto felt a bad premonition welling up in his heart, "Why are you looking for bugs?"
"The video Kitahara-kun sent last time was very interesting." Takamatsu Tomori was expressionless. "So I want to try it. Today's club activity is to catch bugs and fry them ourselves."
Kitahara Makoto: "..."
As expected, I guessed it right, you're still thinking about fried bug skewers!
If it were an ordinary girl, she would definitely avoid bugs and wouldn't even think about eating them, but Takamatsu Tomori was different.
As an eccentric girl, Takamatsu Tomori's interests and hobbies have always been out of sync with her peers since childhood. As a child, she even had a Hobbies for collecting pill bugs, scaring other elementary school students into screaming.
Now, saying she wants to eat fried bug dishes doesn't make it seem unacceptable...
Kitahara Makoto coughed twice: "How about we change the club activity?"
"Can't we?" Takamatsu Tomori's eyes dimmed slightly. "Then we won't have club activities..."
"No, club activities cannot stop." Kitahara Makoto took a deep breath. "Frying bugs, right? I'll eat them!"
"Are you really sure?"
Takamatsu Tomori's eyes brightened again.
"Yes, but let's skip catching the bugs ourselves." Kitahara Makoto nodded, unable to help but complain, "The fried bugs in the video are all specially selected and screened types, 'delicacies' that have been verified by countless people. Bugs you catch yourself are most likely inedible, and even if they're not poisonous, they'll definitely taste terrible, otherwise, they would have been on the dinner table long ago... First, throw away the bugs you've caught."
"Oh."
Takamatsu Tomori obediently threw away the bugs in her hand and then stood up quietly.
"Let me think..."
Kitahara Makoto began to think about how to manage today's club activity.
He originally thought that attaching the chest button was the most difficult task today, but he didn't expect the real challenge to be right in front of him.
Do Japan people eat bugs?
Of course, they do.
However, this kind of thing is like freshwater fish, it only appears on the menu of a small number of people, and most Japan people don't eat it. For example, Nagano Prefecture in Japan has launched vending machines that sell insect foods, selling common insects like crickets, grasshoppers, and silkworm pupae, but outside of Nagano, you basically won't see them.
"To eat fried bug skewers in Tokyo..." Kitahara Makoto pondered for a moment, took out his phone and searched, and soon his eyes lit up. "Got it, Tomori-chan, do you have time after school this afternoon?"
Takamatsu Tomori nodded: "I have time."
Kitahara Makoto snapped his fingers: "If you want to know where to find authentic insect cuisine, it must be Ikebukuro."
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