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Lunch break.
Sports warehouse.
Kitahara Makoto, holding a yakisoba bread and two bottles of juice, walked into the warehouse.
As expected, Kita Ikuyo had already arrived early.
Hearing the sound of the door opening, Kita Ikuyo still wanted to hide, but Kitahara Makoto spoke directly: "Kita, it's me."
Kita Ikuyo then stopped her movements, her pink cheeks puffed slightly, and she looked over with wide eyes: "You're so slow… Eh?"
After seeing Kitahara Makoto, who was walking against the light, Kita Ikuyo's eyes widened instantly.
Although he had changed into his school uniform, his hairstyle hadn't reverted. A suitable hairstyle could indeed elevate a boy's charm by several levels, and Kita Ikuyo couldn't help but stare in a daze.
Kitahara Makoto chuckled, "I only changed my hairstyle. Could it be that Kita-san doesn't recognize me?"
"Of course I recognize you." Kita Ikuyo's small face flushed slightly, and she averted her gaze, saying, "The sunlight was just too dazzling, and I couldn't see clearly!"
"Here."
Kitahara Makoto distorted open a bottle of fruit juice and handed it over.
"Thank you…"
Kita Ikuyo thanked him subconsciously.
Kitahara Makoto sat down next to her, tore open the bread packaging, and prepared to eat.
"Eh, wait." Kita Ikuyo quickly reacted, "Don't eat the bread yet. Quickly tell me Nijika and Yamada Ryo's secrets."
Kitahara Makoto was speechless: "It's not too late to talk after eating, is it?"
"No, absolutely not." Kita Ikuyo shook her head quickly, "I haven't eaten a single bite of my bento; I'm waiting for the secret to go with my meal."
Kitahara Makoto: "…"
Girls, this creature, truly have a special fondness for other people's secrets.
Kita Ikuyo tilted her head and looked over: "Kitahara-kun isn't trying to trick me, is he?"
Kitahara Makoto said expressionlessly:
"All this time, have I ever lied to Kita?"
"Hmm…" Kita Ikuyo blinked, "It seems not."
"Please remove 'it seems', thank you."
"Oh, hurry up and tell me." Kita Ikuyo held the drink with both hands, took a small sip, and urged, "If you don't tell me the secret, I won't even have the mind to eat my bento… The secret Kitahara-kun wants to tell should be related to Saturday, right?"
Kitahara Makoto was surprised: "You guessed it?"
"Mm-hmm~" Kita Ikuyo proudly lifted her small chin, revealing a slender neck, and said triumphantly, "I guessed it before lunch break. That day was originally the day the band was scheduled to perform together, but Nijika-senpai and Ryo-senpai suddenly said they had something to do, and when asked what it was, they wouldn't say. There must be something wrong."
Kita Ikuyo took another sip of her drink as she spoke: "Let's not even talk about Yamada Ryo… What Lord Aizen said is right, admiration is the furthest distance from understanding. I used to yearn for Yamada Ryo so much, but now, as I understand her more and more, I can't yearn for her at all."
"On the contrary, Nijika-senpai, who shines like the sun, is truly someone worth yearning for."
"Ryo-senpai might change plans whimsically without reason, but Nijika-senpai definitely wouldn't."
Kitahara Makoto gave a thumbs up, silently praising:
"Kita-san, are you interested in becoming a professional detective in the future?"
"No." Kita Ikuyo raised her small chin and snorted proudly, "My dream is to be a musician."
"…"
Taking a bite of bread, Kitahara Makoto began to talk about what happened on Saturday:
"On Saturday evening, Nijika-senpai, Ryo-senpai, and I entered the Otherworld together…"
"Eh eh eh?!" Kita Ikuyo's eyes widened instantly, and the cowlick on top of her head immediately stood up, her gossip radar officially activated, "Quick, tell me, tell me!"
"The source is still related to Nijika's cousin…"
Kitahara Makoto did not hide anything and recounted the adventure in the Otherworld.
"So many things happened…" Kita Ikuyo suddenly puffed out her rosy cheeks, like a little hamster with its mouth full of peanuts, "How unfair, why didn't you call Bocchi-chan and me to go together?"
Kitahara Makoto said softly:
"Because it was too dangerous, Nijika-senpai told me to keep it a secret and not tell you and Bocchi-chan."
Kita Ikuyo suddenly realized: "Then why is Kitahara-kun telling me now?"
"It's simple, it's Ryo-senpai."
Kitahara Makoto simply sold out his teammate.
In the classroom that morning, Kitahara Makoto received a message from Ryo—she wanted to pull Kita and Bocchi-chan into the team.
There were only two days left until Nijika's cousin's limit, and the rescue opportunity might be the last one, so full preparations had to be made.
The last time they entered the Otherworld, Ryo had already seen the irreplaceable importance of the answer book, so she decided to maximize the use of the answer book—the daily question limit for the answer book was five times, so the best choice was naturally a five-person team.
Kitahara Makoto, Nijika, Ryo, Kita, plus Bocchi-chan, made exactly five people.
Yamada Ryo knew very well that Nijika was unwilling to involve Kita and Bocchi-chan, and it would be impossible for Nijika to speak up, so Yamada Ryo chose to act secretly.
Of course, calling Kita and Bocchi-chan to form a five-person team now was not ignoring their safety. Hana-chan had the ability to 'open doors', allowing them to open the door at any time and enter and exit the Otherworld super conveniently, naturally greatly enhancing safety.
As expected, Kita Ikuyo quickly clenched her small fists:
"I want to go too!"
Kitahara Makoto nodded and said:
"Then let's meet at my house in the afternoon."
With Kita's personality, after she went back, she would definitely tell Bocchi-chan about this, and then they would be able to successfully form a five-person team…
As they spoke, footsteps and laughter suddenly came from outside the warehouse door.
"Someone else is coming… Should we hide today?"
Kitahara Makoto asked in a low voice.
"Of course we have to hide!"
If a boy and a girl were eating bento together in a warehouse, and it got out, people would definitely suspect they were dating, right?
Absolutely not that kind of thing!
Kita Ikuyo hurriedly got up, pulled Kitahara Makoto, and quickly hid behind the same shelf they had hidden behind last time.
As soon as they were hidden, a boy and a girl walked in hand in hand, clearly a couple.
Kitahara Makoto only glanced at them before withdrawing his gaze, quietly eating his bread, uninterested in the conversation of the young couple outside. Kita Ikuyo, however, occasionally stole a glance, then her small face flushed as she muttered:
"The sports warehouse is really that popular…"
After a long while, the couple outside finally left.
Kita Ikuyo quietly breathed a sigh of relief and whispered:
"Kitahara-kun, shall we go out?"
Kitahara Makoto nodded, his gaze falling on Kita's small face, and suddenly said:
"Wait a moment."
"Eh?"
Kitahara Makoto reached out his right hand towards Kita. When his fingers touched Kita's small face, Kita Ikuyo immediately panicked and quickly covered her mouth:
"N-no… you can't…"
"What can't I do?"
"I just ate bento, and I haven't brushed my teeth yet… You can't kiss me…"
"What are you talking about?" Kitahara Makoto spread his right hand in front of Kita, "You have a grain of rice on the corner of your mouth. I was just helping you get it off. Kita couldn't possibly think I was going to kiss her, could she?"
Kita Ikuyo: "…"
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