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"...Wearing successful."
Kitahara Makoto satisfactorily flicked the piano keychain on his waist, pushed open the door, and walked out of the bathroom.
This thing was still a keychain, so wearing it was simple: just hang it with the keys.
Back in the hall.
The two girls were still chattering about some ingredients. Of course, it was mainly Chihaya Anon talking, while Takamatsu Tomori just listened silently beside her.
"Kitahara-kun, you're back?" Chihaya Anon looked up, her voice clear, "There are so many ingredients on the menu I don't recognize. Each one looks delicious, but we definitely can't eat that much. It's so hard to decide. Kitahara-kun, what do you think would be good?"
"Napa cabbage, tripe, sliced fatty beef, shrimp paste…"
Kitahara Makoto sat down opposite the two girls, casually ordering a few dishes, while subtly glancing under the table.
Good legs.
The two girls sat together, their legs neatly pressed together, both wearing the same style of black over-the-knee socks. They looked equally straight and slender, perfectly proportioned. It had to be said, high school girls' uniforms really looked good.
Although both girls were very cute, Kitahara Makoto's target was only Tomori-chan.
If items could be upgraded to gain powerful entries after optimization, then he would have to find a way to get his hands on the silk stockings on Tomori-chan's legs. It would be a huge waste to wear them out and throw them away!
As for Chihaya Anon… it was better to maintain a proper distance.
Although she was a bright and cheerful girl, he always felt she had a bit of an idol burden. In comparison, Kita was much cuter.
Speaking of which, Togawa, the scheming Soyo, Takamatsu Tomori, and Chihaya Anon, all seemed to be troubled girls… He hadn't seen a future where he was backstabbed, so perhaps their future interactions wouldn't be that extensive?
After ordering, various ingredients were quickly brought out.
Looking at the layer of red chilies floating in the pot, Chihaya Anon suddenly felt a little flustered, nervously saying:
"There are so many chilies! This is so different from the hot pot I usually eat, isn't it?"
"It should be different," Kitahara Makoto retorted, "If it were exactly the same, there would be no joy in challenging a new world."
Takamatsu Tomori nodded in agreement: "Kitahara-kun is right."
Chihaya Anon: "…Don't echo each other!"
"Let's eat."
Kitahara Makoto prepared the hot pot dipping sauce, and then conveniently got two glasses of iced water for the two girls. Next was the delightful hot pot time.
"So, so spicy…"
"Ugh… My mouth feels like it's going to break…"
"But it's so strange… Why can't my hand stop…"
Kitahara Makoto could still endure, but the two girls were already teary-eyed after just a few bites.
Especially Tomori-chan, though she was teary-eyed, her expression hadn't changed much. Only her eyes were wide open, looking quite adorable, like a small animal.
Then, not long after, Takamatsu Tomori couldn't hold on and deserted the battle under the pretext of going to the bathroom.
"So, so uncomfortable…!"
Kitahara Makoto was happily eating when he suddenly heard a muffled groan from across the table. He looked up and saw Chihaya Anon, teary-eyed and distressed, about to rub her eyes with her right hand.
Slap!
Kitahara Makoto's gaze sharpened, and he quickly grabbed Chihaya Anon's wrist, saying sternly: "Don't rub your eyes with your hands. You just got hot pot oil on your hand; it will be over if you touch your eyes."
If you try to wipe your eyes now, you'll immediately know what it means to be in agony!
"Then, what should I do?" Chihaya Anon closed her right eye, looking over with teary eyes, "Something suddenly flew into my eye, and it's so uncomfortable."
Kitahara Makoto said in a deep voice:
"If there's something dirty in your eye, just blow it out. Wait for Tomori-chan to come back and ask her to help blow your eye."
"I, I can't hold it anymore…" Chihaya Anon looked distressed, biting her lower lip tightly, "But my eye is so uncomfortable, and Tomori-chan doesn't know when she'll be back… P-please, Kitahara-kun, help me blow on my eye!"
Kitahara Makoto hesitated: "Me help?"
"Please, Kitahara-kun!" Chihaya Anon was teary-eyed, her face full of pleading, "It's really super uncomfortable, I can't last another second!"
Kitahara Makoto hesitated for a few seconds, then nodded in agreement:
"…Leave it to me."
The hot pot was in the middle of the table, so Kitahara Makoto directly got up and sat next to Anon. Then he extended his right hand, held open Chihaya Anon's eye, and leaned in to help blow her eye.
A moment later.
"I feel much better, not as uncomfortable as before…"
Chihaya Anon said softly, her eyes still teary.
"Then you're fine."
Kitahara Makoto straightened up, about to return to his seat, when his peripheral vision suddenly caught a flash of light outside the window.
"Eh?"
Kitahara Makoto subconsciously turned his head to look, and saw a girl in an unfamiliar school uniform outside, holding a phone and taking pictures, her face full of a gossipy expression.
"A girl I don't know."
Kitahara Makoto took a closer look and quickly confirmed that he had never seen the girl outside the window before.
"Finally survived…"
Chihaya Anon let out a long sigh, holding her cup and sipping iced water to calm herself, then thanked him gratefully: "Thanks to Kitahara-kun being here. If you hadn't helped me blow on my eye, I really feel like I would have died."
After speaking, a blush suddenly appeared on Chihaya Anon's pretty face. The scenes from just now rapidly flowed through her mind.
Too close!
It was really too close!
That posture just now would be super easy to misunderstand, wouldn't it!
Chihaya Anon nervously turned her head to look behind her, and couldn't help but sigh in relief:
"Thank goodness, Tomori-chan isn't back yet…"
However, the next second, Kitahara Makoto suddenly said softly:
"Just now, there was a girl outside the window taking pictures of us with her phone."
"Eh?" Chihaya Anon turned to look outside, but the girl had already disappeared. "Is it Kitahara-kun's friend?"
"I don't know her," Kitahara Makoto said truthfully, "It's a girl, maybe she's Chihaya's friend."
"My friend?" A premonition of something bad immediately surged in Chihaya Anon's heart, and she quickly asked, "What color and style was the school uniform that girl was wearing?"
Kitahara Makoto mused:
"It was a black dress, all one piece, looked quite dignified, and had a red bow tie at the chest."
"N-no way?"
Upon hearing the description, Chihaya Anon's eyes quickly widened, and the premonition of something bad in her heart grew even stronger.
"Why does it sound more and more like the style of my middle school uniform?"
"It couldn't really be that coincidental, could it?"
"…."
Chihaya Anon completely panicked.
During her middle school years, she was a popular figure at school, a highly sought-after Student Union president, and one of the top students in her grade. With all these halos, she eventually developed an inescapable idol burden.
Towards the end of her third year of middle school, she impulsively told her classmates that she would study abroad in high school. As a result, people believed her, and eventually, the entire grade knew about it.
So Chihaya Anon learned what it meant to be 'unable to get off the tiger's back.'
Words spoken are like water poured out; they cannot be taken back.
Was she supposed to tell everyone that she was just bragging and actually had no determination or plan to study abroad?
No, no, no!
That would be too embarrassing! Her persona absolutely could not collapse!
So Chihaya Anon gritted her teeth, studied desperately, and with her gifted student talent, successfully passed the exam and entered a high school in England.
She originally thought her study abroad life would still be glorious and limitless, but the self-introduction in the first class of school directly caused Chihaya Anon to break down.
Honestly, Chihaya Anon's English grades were actually not bad; otherwise, she wouldn't have been able to successfully get into a British high school. But as everyone knows, Japanese people's spoken English is really hard to describe, plus being in a foreign country, it's inevitable to be a bit nervous, and then there was acclimatization issues, insomnia, a cold… Her final self-introduction could only be described as a disaster.
Chihaya Anon still remembers it incredibly clearly: she stood on the podium at the time, and before she even finished her self-introduction, mocking laughter erupted from below the stage. Everyone's gaze clearly showed they were looking at a country bumpkin.
Amidst everyone's laughter, Chihaya Anon's mentality completely collapsed. She had always considered herself an idol girl, but now she had become a clown mocked by everyone. She simply couldn't accept reality.
So she didn't even attend the first class. Under the blow of her breakdown, she directly fled back to Japan.
The grand words she spoke back then hadn't come true, and Chihaya Anon was unwilling to return to her original school in disgrace, so she specifically transferred to another district in Tokyo, precisely because she was worried about encountering old friends.
"Stay calm."
"Don't panic."
"I've transferred to a school this far away, it couldn't be that coincidental to run into an old classmate, right?"
"Tokyo isn't that small!"
"…."
As they spoke, Takamatsu Tomori returned from the bathroom and quickly noticed Anon's abnormality, tilting her head and asking with concern:
"Anon, what's wrong?"
"I, I'm fine…" Chihaya Anon clenched her pink fists, forcing a smile, "Let's continue eating hot pot."
However, for the rest of the time, this pink-haired girl no longer had her previous cheerfulness. She was completely distracted, constantly looking at her phone, as if it wasn't a phone, but some kind of ticking time bomb.
Half an hour later.
The hot pot was finally finished.
Kitahara Makoto still hadn't found an opportunity to get his hands on the girl's silk stockings. It was already late; the sunset and afterglow were appearing outside the window. He could only wave goodbye to the two girls and leave first.
"Hoo…"
Chihaya Anon held her water cup, sipping iced water in small sips, and gently exhaling, her mood slowly relaxing.
"I haven't received any messages from old friends for so long, so I guess I don't have to worry…"
The next second.
The phone on the table suddenly vibrated.
Chihaya Anon was startled and quickly picked up her phone, then her expression instantly froze.
"Anon-chan, when did you return to Japan? Why didn't you tell us?"
"It was our junior high school junior who sent photos, otherwise, no one would have known Anon-chan was back."
"Eh, wasn't Anon-chan having afternoon tea in England a few days ago?"
"Is Anon-chan dating a boyfriend?"
"Boyfriend-kun is very handsome."
"…"
Oh, no!
I really ran into old friends!
Japan is too small!
Chihaya Anon bit her lower lip tightly and quickly replied: "For some reason, I did return to Japan, but you misunderstood. That boy just now wasn't my boyfriend. He and I are just ordinary friends…"
However, as soon as she sent the message, a photo popped up.
"Anon-chan, dating isn't embarrassing, you can openly admit it."
"Exactly, Anon-chan wouldn't kiss an ordinary friend, right?"
"…Kissing what?"
Chihaya Anon nervously tapped to open the picture and immediately felt her vision go black.
The two people in the photo were clearly her and Kitahara Makoto, and it was precisely when Kitahara Makoto was helping to blow on her eye.
The problem was that the angle of the photo was too bad, only showing the two people's profiles, making it look like they were kissing. If Chihaya Anon wasn't the person involved, she would also think the two were kissing.
But they didn't kiss!
This was clearly a common stand-in and offset shooting in TV dramas, you all saw it wrong!
"It's…it's over…"
Chihaya Anon felt her entire life turn gray.
"With how gossipy those girls are, no matter how much I explain, it'll be impossible to clear things up…"
Half an hour later.
Kitahara Makoto arrived at the music classroom of Tsukinomori Academy and saw Togawa sitting quietly at a table reading a book as he pushed the door open.
"Sorry, I'm late."
Kitahara Makoto walked into the music classroom and closed the door behind him.
"The timing is just right, evening hasn't passed yet." Togawa Sakiko closed the book in her hand, not looking angry, and stood up, saying softly, "I'll summon ghost Senpai first."
But after only two presses on the piano, Togawa Sakiko's slender eyebrows furrowed.
"Does your finger hurt?"
Kitahara Makoto asked softly from the side.
Several of Togawa's fingers were wrapped in bandages, and playing the piano would clearly touch the wounds.
"I'm fine." Togawa Sakiko bit her silver teeth lightly, preparing to endure the pain and start over, "I can hold on for a bit."
Kitahara Makoto pondered for two seconds, then suddenly said:
"How about I try?"
"Eh?" Togawa Sakiko looked up in surprise, "Kitahara-kun can play the piano?"
"No, but I can learn." Kitahara Makoto said confidently, "I'm very confident in my talent."
With the piano keychain's attribute bonus, Kitahara Makoto was very confident in his speed of mastering the piano.
Togawa Sakiko moved her pink lips slightly and couldn't help but retort:
"It's good that Kitahara-kun is confident, but confidence alone isn't enough to play the piano."
"There's still some time before dark, I'll try it first." Kitahara Makoto was full of confidence, "If I can't learn it, then I'll just have to trouble Togawa Sakiko."
"Alright…"
Togawa Sakiko covered her forehead with her right hand and reluctantly agreed: "Since Kitahara-kun wants to try, then try."
A moment later.
Togawa Sakiko was quite speechless to find that Kitahara Makoto hadn't lied; he really was a rookie beginner, his movements exactly like hers when she first started learning piano.
"Although I appreciate Kitahara-kun wanting to help, please don't push yourself…"
Togawa advised tactfully.
"Don't rush." Kitahara Makoto said calmly, "Let the bullets fly a little longer."
"…"
Time quietly passed.
As Kitahara Makoto began his third practice, the unmelodious music gradually turned into the sound of spring water trickling, flowing out of the piano, and at the same time, a look of incredible bewilderment gradually appeared on Togawa's pretty face.
"He actually completed the performance?"
"And it was quite good?"
"Could he be the one-in-a-million musical genius?"
join p atreon.com/KeyofStars and become a Sequence: 9 Reader for hundreds of additional chapters and over a dozen stories