Anon was drooling, a silly smile on her face as she mumbled incomprehensibly in her sleep.
"Hehe... Anon Tokyo..."
Chihaya Kaiser smirked, a mischievous grin spreading across his face as he reached out and pinched Anon's nose.
Half a minute later, Anon's eyes flew open. Puffed up with anger, she hammered at him with her small fists.
"Are you trying to kill me?"
"You're not dead, are you?" Chihaya Kaiser laughed, letting go and hopping backward.
"I almost suffocated."
Anon yawned and threw off the covers, revealing a camisole and shorts. Her thighs were round and fair.
She grabbed Chihaya Kaiser's wrist. "Pull me up, big brother."
Chihaya Kaiser pulled, and she used the momentum to fall into his arms, pushing off his shoulders to stand up.
"So rough. Tomorrow, I'll be the one to wake you up and show you the right way to do it."
"You'll have to get up early, then. I started getting up at 5:30 today." Chihaya Kaiser let go, setting her down on the floor.
"Five-thirty?"
She looked a little shocked, her pupils trembling as she gave him a strange look.
"You got up at 5:30 today?"
"Yeah, I've already finished my morning run." Chihaya Kaiser felt a little tired, slightly sleep-deprived. He figured he could just sleep in class.
"You're lying, right?"
She went downstairs with Chihaya Kaiser, sat at the dining table, and confirmed it with their mom.
Chihaya Kaiser shrugged and started on his breakfast of bacon, fried eggs, and a bowl of rice.
His appetite was definitely better after the run. It wasn't enough, so he had one more fried egg than usual.
Anon, however, just poked at her fried egg with her chopsticks. After their mom left the dining room, she looked at Chihaya Kaiser's face and asked in a low voice.
"Kai, tell me secretly... is there a girl you like?"
"No. Why the sudden question?"
He downed his sweet milk, looking at her with confusion.
"If you don't like a girl, why would you suddenly start jogging? Isn't it because you want to..."
Before Anon could finish, she received a flick on the forehead from his index finger.
It was light, but she still pretended it hurt.
Chihaya Kaiser stood up. "Stop imagining things. I have no interest in romance. Time for school."
"Aww—"
He ignored her and left for school.
He didn't have work today, but he had an appointment with Kurisu Makise at her lab, so he had to make a trip out there.
The train swayed, the cool air soothing.
By the time he got to school, Chihaya Kaiser had already replied to the love letters, and no one had given him any in the past two days.
He went to his desk, preparing to catch up on sleep.
Before he could even put his head down, it was as if a special effect had appeared before his eyes—especially in the space slightly above his desk. From a photographer's perspective...
This was definitely the perfect scenic shot.
A beautiful girl who seemed to have a passive ability just like him appeared. It was Karen Himemiya, the transfer student who had arrived over a month ago and stolen Yanami Anna's childhood friend.
She sat in the empty seat in front of him, her face tilted up.
"Chihaya-kun, do you have a moment to step outside with me? There's something I'd like to ask you, if that's okay?"
"No."
"Eh?" Karen Himemiya's standard fake smile froze. She hadn't expected him to refuse so directly.
Chihaya Kaiser was in a hurry to sleep. He didn't know her at all, so why should he go outside? If she had something to say, she could say it right here.
He laid his head on his desk, ready to sleep.
Karen Himemiya furrowed her brow and whispered, "I want to talk about Anna. Can we please not talk about it out here?"
"..." Chihaya Kaiser sighed and stood up. "I want to be back within ten minutes."
"Thank you."
The two of them found a deserted spot behind the school building, in a large patch of shadow.
Their walk there had attracted quite a few stares.
He was getting genuinely annoyed. He threw up his hands. "Just say what you have to say."
"I just wanted to ask, did you really reject Anna?" Karen Himemiya stared at him intently, remembering how dejected Anna had been yesterday.
"Huh?" Chihaya Kaiser took a moment to process, frowning as if he was grasping something.
He felt something was off and met her gaze. "You guys think I'm dating Yanami?"
"No, it's not..."
She realized she had misspoken and probably shouldn't have called him out here.
"Sorry, can you just pretend I never asked?"
"No, Yanami and I have no relationship whatsoever. We're just ordinary classmates."
Chihaya Kaiser stated it plainly. "You've probably misunderstood something. Please don't spread weird rumors."
"No, I didn't."
She bit her lower lip. "But you've been going out with Anna a lot recently, and she looked so down yesterday. Didn't you make her cry?"
"Me?" Chihaya Kaiser pointed at himself, so speechless he almost laughed, then shook his head.
"I barely know her."
"Barely know her..." Karen Himemiya looked down, covering her face with her hands. "Sorry. I'm really, really sorry. I misunderstood. I'll find a chance to help clear things up."
"Just try not to make it worse." Chihaya Kaiser rubbed his head and waved a hand dismissively. "If there's nothing else, I'm going back."
Watching his retreating back, Karen Himemiya fell into deep self-doubt. It seemed she really had made things worse.
She went to a vending machine, bought two drinks, and on the way back to the classroom, happened to run into Yanami Anna.
"Karen! Buying two drinks this early? Is one for Sousuke?" Although she was always complaining in private, whenever she ran into Karen Himemiya and Sousuke, she couldn't help but go up to them.
"Um... no."
Karen Himemiya couldn't look her in the eye. As they walked back to the classroom together, she was absent-minded, merely replying with "uh-huh" as Yanami Anna chattered on about various topics.
The moment she entered the classroom, she saw the boy with the eye-catching, choppy pink hair lying on his desk.
She placed a drink on Chihaya Kaiser's desk, half-squatted, and put her hands together as if in prayer.
"Sorry, I'm so sorry. Please take this."
"Eh?"
A short distance away, Yanami Anna couldn't hear what they were saying. She only saw Karen Himemiya squat down and give him a drink she had bought.
Chihaya Kaiser lifted his head slightly and accepted the drink. He felt perfectly justified in taking it as compensation.
He put his head back down to sleep, completely unaware of the stares from other students or the gossip behind his back.
From the row behind, Nukumizu glanced over, his expression a complicated mix of what might have been envy or just weary annoyance.
He was truly caught in the crossfire of public opinion without realizing it.
Chihaya Kaiser couldn't care less about the school gossip. It's not like he had any friends anyway.
During lunch break, he finished his bento. The drink from Karen Himemiya saved him the money he would've spent on water.
After sleeping all morning, he wasn't tired anymore.
Chihaya Kaiser was strolling around campus. As he passed through a corridor, a hand suddenly grabbed his wrist.
"...Save me..."
The voice was weak, intermittent, and feeble. He turned toward the speaker, who fit the voice perfectly—her face was pale, and her grip on his wrist was so light he could easily break free.
Her top button was undone, revealing a flash of white skin. Her jacket was tied around her waist, and her pink nails were coated in what looked like clear polish. She was dressed like a gyaru, but moved like a zombie.
Chihaya Kaiser racked his brain for a moment. He confirmed he didn't know her, though he felt like he'd seen her a few times. Was she from the student council?
"Um, can I help you with something?"
"Buy me something to eat... I have no energy... can't move." After speaking, she slumped down against the wall as if she'd just died.
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