Good morning, Ruri."
He greeted Ruri as usual, and Ruri turned to look at him, then nodded, which counted as a response.
Shiraishi's face froze slightly. He had expected Ruri to ignore his greeting as she always did… Was her response to his greeting because his strength had been acknowledged?
After all, Ruri had said during her initial self-introduction that she didn't intend to share things with weaklings… This meant that Ruri only acknowledged strong people, and probably couldn't be bothered to respond to the greetings of the weak.
What a simple and crude code of conduct.
"Um, about what happened last night, could you…"
Shiraishi's face was a bit awkward as he continued to speak to Ruri with a ingratiating smile.
Ruri glanced at Shiraishi and said, "I know. I won't say anything. I'll keep that secret for you. But in return, if I have any training requests, you're not allowed to refuse."
Shiraishi finally breathed a sigh of relief and said with a smile, "Of course, I'd be happy to."
Soon, Hinata Ayane, his deskmate on the other side, arrived. After greeting Shiraishi, she sat down and chatted with the girl in front of her.
The class bell rang. Today's first class was a brainwashing session, a pyramid scheme.
It was the so-called 'Will of Fire' propagation.
Pulling out the book "The First Hokage and the Will of Fire," Shiraishi felt that this kind of class was pure torture for him, but he had to pretend to listen attentively.
Political correctness had to be perfectly maintained.
Not long after, Shiraishi felt his right arm being poked by a finger.
Shiraishi turned his head and saw Ruri pretending to listen intently.
Then, he looked down and saw a note with the words 'You hate this kind of class?' written on it.
Shiraishi decisively took out a note, thought for a moment, and wrote a reply to Ruri—
—No, I think Teacher Fujimura teaches very well. I also want to inherit the Will of Fire of the First Hokage and become an outstanding Leaf ninja in the future.
Ruri turned her head and glared at Shiraishi, clearly dissatisfied. She could tell immediately that Shiraishi was lying to her.
—When you opened "The First Hokage and the Will of Fire" on the first day of school, I saw that your expression was off. You were scared and worried about something, weren't you?
—I had a stomachache from eating expired bread that day, so my face wasn't good.
—Liar. I remember at the beginning of school, didn't you tell Ayane that you had a stomachache from drinking expired milk?
"…"
Shiraishi was embarrassed.
He didn't even remember that, but Ruri did.
—It's true, I never lie.
—You are the man I acknowledge. I will keep your secret.
The two passed notes back and forth. Shiraishi found chatting with Ruri much more interesting than listening to this pyramid scheme class.
Just then, his left arm was gently poked by a finger.
Shiraishi turned his head and saw Ayane. Like Ruri, she was pretending to listen attentively and handed him a small note.
—What are you two talking about?
She seemed very interested in joining Shiraishi and Ruri's conversation.
Women's gossip, huh.
Shiraishi paused to think, then tore off a note and replied—
—We're talking about the newly opened Ichiraku Ramen shop in the village. Their ramen is delicious.
After receiving it, Ayane wrote another sentence back.
—Ichiraku Ramen? I know it too! Although it's newly opened, their ramen is indeed very tasty. Shiraishi-kun, let's go eat together after school.
—Okay.
Shiraishi didn't think much of it, wrote on the note, and passed it to Ruri.
—Ruri, let's go to Ichiraku Ramen after school this afternoon. Their ramen is delicious, and Ayane will be joining us too.
—Whatever.
"Whatever" meant she agreed.
Shiraishi nodded.
Meanwhile, the homeroom teacher, Fujimura Taiga, who was earnestly lecturing at the podium, looked at the three of them making constant small movements with a slightly helpless gaze.
Do you think I, your homeroom teacher, am blind?
Then, seeing the three of them still happily passing notes and whispering, Fujimura Taiga realized he had reached his limit.
"Hey, you three! Stop secretly passing notes in class! Go stand outside and listen!"
Don't think that just because you're honor students, you can do whatever you want in class. Fujimura Taiga felt he needed to act like a homeroom teacher.
These kids are too arrogant this year; they need to be taught a lesson.
The three of them didn't resist and went to stand outside as punishment.
"I thought I was being very discreet, and Teacher Fujimura wouldn't see us, but I guess I was wrong," Ayane said with a helpless smile, having held onto a glimmer of hope.
Ruri, on the other hand, said flatly, "I thought he wouldn't bother with us even if he saw us. He's in his twenties and still a Chunin. To have a Chunin of this level teach us ninja knowledge, I'm deeply concerned about the quality of teaching at the Ninja Academy right now."
In Ruri's eyes, the three of them, as 'geniuses,' could do whatever they wanted in class.
This was a special privilege for geniuses.
Shiraishi: "…"
Hey, hey, you two geniuses, that's enough!
Do you really think Teacher Fujimura can't hear you outside?
He just didn't expect that even the usually quiet and well-behaved Ayane had a mischievous side.
◎
Ichiraku Ramen.
This was a newly opened ramen shop in Konoha Village.
Although the business didn't seem very booming right now, Shiraishi had been deeply attracted by the delicious ramen after eating it once. It was only a matter of time before it became popular.
"Tonight, I'm treating. Eat as much as you want, as much as you can."
After school, Shiraishi took Ayane and Ruri to Ichiraku Ramen, sat down, and said with great generosity.
Mainly, how much could two little sprouts eat?
At most, three people would eat four or five large bowls of ramen.
Shiraishi still had that much money.
Ruri didn't say anything, while Ayane hesitated and said, "Um, Shiraishi-kun, it's better if we each pay for ourselves."
"It's fine, Ayane, don't worry about my wallet. I can still afford a few bowls of ramen," Shiraishi said with an indifferent smile.
Hearing Shiraishi say that, Ayane couldn't refuse anymore.
"Alright then, if your wallet can't handle it, please let me know, and I'll stop," she said.
"?"
Shiraishi looked at Ayane with a bit of confusion, not understanding what she meant by that.
"Anyway, just eat your fill. I'll cover all the ramen tonight."
After saying that, Shiraishi started ordering, asking the owner to bring the ramen quickly.
The owner of Ichiraku Ramen was a man in his thirties, accompanied by his son, a handsome young man named Teuchi.
It had to be said that the ramen at Ichiraku Ramen was indeed excellent. Shiraishi had already eaten two large bowls.
Then he looked over at Ruri and saw that she had only ordered one bowl. After all, she was a girl, so her appetite was smaller.
Next, Shiraishi looked over at Ayane.
He opened his mouth, unable to utter a single word.
What was that tall stack?
How much had Ayane eaten?
One… four… seven… nine… thirteen… The number of bowls was still increasing.
Shiraishi felt an immense heartache.
My wallet!
Ayane noticed that both Shiraishi and Ruri were looking at her with stunned expressions, so she blushed shyly, stopped eating ramen, and said in an almost inaudible voice:
"Actually, my appetite is just a little bit bigger than others…"
If it weren't for the stacked bowls in front of Ayane, Shiraishi and Ruri would have actually believed her.
She's like this when she's little, what will she be like when she grows up?
Shiraishi couldn't help but worry about Ayane's future husband.
If she ate like this every meal, every day, most people really wouldn't be able to afford it.