Hachisuka Hidemichi felt great.
After the question-and-answer session with Kurashiki Reina, he felt a sense of exhilaration, as if he and Reina had joined hands to defeat the enemy.
They won a great victory.
And the defeated general was undoubtedly this seemingly calm young man in front of him.
Hachisuka Hidemichi even began to fantasize that the girl accompanying the young man might be the "substitute" he found for Reina.
After this battle, he would realize that the substitute was far inferior to the "original," and he would completely break up with her, falling into a pitiful situation where he didn't even have a "substitute."
However,
Hachisuka Hidemichi felt something was a bit off.
"...Huh?"
He had seen Hayato's female companion before; in terms of looks alone, she was indeed not much worse than Reina. Hachisuka Hidemichi's fantasy was merely based on the theory that "what you can't get is the best."... That was a sharp-tongued beautiful girl, and Hachisuka Hidemichi had suffered from her verbal attacks. Why was she just watching silently today?
Upon closer inspection...
Hachisuka Hidemichi's eyes widened.
...How did he change to a different one!?
And the quality is still so high? Her demeanor is still not inferior to Reina's!
At this, Hachisuka Hidemichi felt a blow, and even began to think, oh no... Could it be that this kid is really not interested in Reina anymore? Then wasn't his victory just a "spiritual victory"?
If one plan fails, try another.
He smiled sinisterly, "Your luck with women is good, kid, but let it... turn into a romantic disaster!"
"Hayato-kun," he said in a forced innocent tone, "Are you taking your sister out shopping this time?"
This was a retaliation for Kobayashi Ayaka's remark last time, "Are you going shopping with your uncle?"
Nanao Akane was indeed particularly sensitive to the term "sister." She immediately clutched Hayato's arm, then looked at him eagerly for his answer.
"No, my girlfriend," Hayato said, shaking his head.
Only then did Nanao Akane's foolish grin reappear. "You have good sense, hmph hmph."
Kurashiki Reina, on the other hand, annoyedly turned her head away.
The bigger the chest, the shallower the insight... Is there anything to be proud of being the girlfriend of such a guy? She scoffed.
Seeing Nanao Akane's happy smile, Hachisuka Hidemichi became even more elated. Be happy, but unfortunately, you're happy too soon.
"Ah, I thought the one from last time was...…" Hachisuka Hidemichi blurted out, then, as if realizing he had said something wrong, he shut up, and then hypocritically added, "No, nothing..."
Follower Number One looked at Follower Number Two. "Wow, how sneaky," her eyes said.
Follower Number Two looked at Follower Number One. "And the acting is terrible," her eyes said.
But despite the terrible acting, Nanao Akane still keenly caught the key phrase.
"...'Last time,' refers to?"
"Haha, it's nothing," Hachisuka Hidemichi wanted to explain something, but Nanao Akane wasn't asking him; she stared directly at Hayato.
"Who was 'last time'? Sakura-senpai!?" Nanao Akane asked.
"No," Hayato said.
"It wasn't Shigen Ryouka, was it!?" Nanao Akane asked again.
"She's busy studying hard every night; how would she have time to hang out with me?" Hayato said.
"Hmm? Yayoi-sensei?" Nanao Akane still asked.
"Not her either," Hayato said.
"Miss Tsubaki, Miss Tsubaki!? Kobayashi-chan, you!" Nanao Akane continued to ask.
"What are you thinking?" Hayato said, tapping Nanao Akane's head with his knuckle.
Are you two listing off names here?! This string of names made Hachisuka Hidemichi numb; did he poke a hornet's nest!?
The most crucial thing is... this string didn't even hit the mark!?
"It was Ayaka-senpai," Hayato confessed.
"...Oh, Ayaka-senpai, huh."
What made Hachisuka Hidemichi even more anxious was that after hitting the mark, Nanao Akane wasn't angry or upset; she just nodded and said, "Then tell me earlier next time."
"Someone invited me to eat," Hayato said patiently, "I was afraid you'd come to freeload."
"Am I that kind of person!?" Nanao Akane was displeased.
But this "point" of displeasure left Hachisuka Hidemichi feeling a bit lost.
Your relationship... seems quite harmonious.
"Mainly, what we ate was a bit luxurious; you might not be able to resist if you heard," Hayato said.
"I, I wouldn't. What did you eat? Tell, tell me," As she said this, Nanao Akane's mouth was already salivating.
"lanzhou ramen," Hayato said.
"How is that luxurious?"—Nanao Akane originally wanted to say this, but then she thought that Ayaka-senpai had invited Kobayashi-chan to eat it, and if she said such a thing, it would be somewhat disrespectful to Ayaka-senpai, so she didn't say it aloud.
"Lanzhou!?"
Instead, Hachisuka Hidemichi was shocked.
He remembered that he had previously spoken confidently about going to "Bao Ge Li Restaurant." Although that restaurant couldn't be called "top-tier," it was still considered "high-end."
He couldn't say anything else, but it was definitely vastly different from "lanzhou ramen."
It was also because Hayato went to Bao Ge Li Restaurant that Hachisuka Hidemichi wanted to one-up him by choosing to go to the higher-class Tokyo Grand Hotel. If he had known he went to Lanzhou... then Hachisuka Hidemichi could have saved a lot of money by choosing Bao Ge Li Restaurant.
Dining at the Tokyo Grand Hotel with Hachisuka Hidemichi's wealth, while not painful, certainly felt not worth it.
Especially with Kurashiki Reina and two followers...…
Moreover, two days ago, he also discovered that there was a small accident with Snake Mound George's business. The seller actually died.
Compared to this, Hachisuka Hidemichi felt even more that his luck was bad.
Then Hachisuka Hidemichi discovered something even more infuriating. Hayato looked at him in surprise, as if reading his thoughts:
"I was just joking with you, Fengshi-kun. How could commoners like us go to Bao Ge Li Restaurant? You didn't believe it, did you? No way, no way?"
Hachisuka Hidemichi could only swallow his broken teeth. "But someone like you, Fengshi-kun, must have taken Kurashiki to the Tokyo Grand Hotel for dinner, right? Fengshi-kun really likes Kurashiki." Hayato continued to chat.
And praised himself... Hachisuka Hidemichi also smiled along.
His smile was a bit dry. "You, you're actually quite nice!"
Hachisuka Hidemichi guessed that this guy was 90%, no, 100% doing it on purpose. "Damn it, how could this happen? He was actually treated like a chump!?"
If Kurashiki Reina hadn't been by his side, Hachisuka Hidemichi would have loved to give this pretty boy in front of him a big slap.
It could only be said that Kurashiki Reina saved his life.
—But Hachisuka Hidemichi didn't know that the "he" above referred to him.
"Oh, right."
Hayato, as if remembering something, said to Kurashiki Reina, "I met Miss Reika at school earlier."
Because he was afraid that calling both of them "Kurashiki" would be confusing, Hayato called Kurashiki by her given name, "Reika."
Kurashiki Reina's emerald-like cold eyes subtly flickered.
Hayato's deep pupils, however, inadvertently swept across Hachisuka Hidemichi's face.
----------------------------------
I've already posted 70 new chapters on Patreon!
If you like the story and want to reaad more, please visit my patreon. Every support is very meaningful!
[patreon.com/Kazenova223]
Thank you very much!
"And If you're enjoying it, drop a Power Stone for me!"