The two soon arrived at the coffee shop in Keyaki Mall. It had to be said, the place was packed. With this many customers every day, they must be making a killing, right?
Shikime Natsu even had the thought of opening his own coffee shop here and making a fortune off these high school students.
"Eh? Shikime-san, Horikita-san, if you don't mind, there's still a spot here."
Kushida Kikyou acted "very surprised" as she noticed their arrival. A cup of coffee sat in front of her.
"There are no seats."
Then, as if ignoring Kushida Kikyou completely, Horikita Suzune spoke directly to Shikime Natsu, her expression returning to its usual cold and aloof state.
"Isn't there one right here? Kushida-san is being quite nice, inviting us over. I gave up my seat for Kushida-san yesterday, so she probably wants to return the favor now."
Shikime Natsu explained. Still, thinking about how he had come to the coffee shop every day except one since arriving at the school, he felt he had contributed a lot of money to this place. Shouldn't there be some kind of cashback event?
"Are you planning to talk about what just happened in front of her?"
Horikita Suzune frowned upon hearing Shikime Natsu's words, her wine-red eyes filled with dissatisfaction.
"No, of course not. Let's just have a quick coffee. After we're done, I'll send you your brother's contact info. How about that?"
Shikime Natsu looked at Horikita Suzune. Even if he gave her Horikita Manabu's contact information, whether she'd have the courage to actually go find him was another matter entirely.
Having said that, Horikita Suzune had no choice but to agree. For some reason, whenever she spoke with this guy, Shikime Natsu, she never seemed to gain the upper hand. In fact, she had almost had her reputation ruined.
"I'll have this coffee."
Shikime Natsu pointed to the coffee he usually ordered. If it's good, stick with it to avoid any unpleasant surprises.
"What a coincidence, Shikime-san, Horikita-san. Do you two come here often?"
Kushida Kikyou rested her face in her hands and looked at Horikita Suzune across from her. When choosing her seat just now, Horikita Suzune had subconsciously picked a spot far from Kushida Kikyou, but... it was still the same table. How far could she really get?
"It's so nice. I usually come here alone."
Hearing Kushida Kikyou's words, Shikime Natsu's expression couldn't help but change slightly. Could this girl really say that without blushing?
But, it was true. If you want to be friends with so many people, you have to know how to lie. After all, everyone is willing to listen to a beautiful lie.
"That's enough!"
Horikita Suzune frowned, quite displeased with Kushida Kikyou's comment.
"You had him bring me here, didn't you? What do you want? It's so annoying."
Horikita Suzune's small face was filled with impatience, as if she didn't want to stay here at all. If she weren't asking Shikime Natsu for a favor, she would have gotten up and left already.
Wow, Horikita Suzune is as direct as ever. If a normal person heard her say something like that, they'd definitely get angry, right?
But there was no trace of anger on Kushida Kikyou's face; instead, she looked quite awkward.
"Why would you say that?"
"Before we came in, you were staring outside, weren't you? Otherwise, you wouldn't have noticed us the moment we walked into this coffee shop. If it wasn't intentional, it's not easy to see people entering the shop from this position, past that other table."
"Also, your coffee is already cold."
Shikime Natsu glanced at Horikita Suzune with some surprise. Her observation skills in this regard were as sharp as ever, always noticing gazes directed at her, just like on the bus.
As for the detail about the coffee, there was nothing much to say. Kushida Kikyou really wasn't a detail-oriented person.
Well, that's that. Not only did she fail to make a friend, but she also managed to get on Horikita Suzune's bad side, making it even harder to befriend her in the future.
"This..."
Kushida Kikyou looked at Shikime Natsu with a pleading gaze. Hey now, isn't this entirely your fault?
I already brought her here for you; it's you who couldn't handle it. Of course, if Kushida Kikyou genuinely wanted to be friends with Horikita Suzune, Shikime Natsu might have helped. But Kushida Kikyou clearly wasn't being sincere.
"I just want to be friends with you."
Seeing that Shikime Natsu was just lowering his head and sipping his coffee with no intention of speaking, Kushida Kikyou couldn't help but put on a pitiful expression for Horikita Suzune again.
Sigh, I can only say she's still too naive. If she made that face at a boy, he might give in, but for a beautiful girl with an equally awful personality like Horikita Suzune, it would have no effect whatsoever.
"I hope you'll leave me alone. I won't cause any trouble for the class."
Hearing Kushida Kikyou's blunt words, Horikita Suzune still chose to refuse. Heh, what a cold woman.
Shikime Natsu remained uninvolved, watching the interaction between the two without feeling any sort of angst. On the contrary, he found it rather entertaining.
Two people who clearly didn't like each other, one putting on a facade and the other being blunt. This kind of interaction was actually not bad to watch.
"But... don't you get lonely being by yourself?"
Kushida Kikyou looked quite worried for Horikita Suzune, the expression on her face exceptionally genuine. If it weren't for the big word 'Fake' plastered all over it, Shikime Natsu might have believed her.
"Not at all. I've been like this for the past nine years. If you include kindergarten, it's been even longer."
Horikita Suzune's words were quite cold, but... for some reason, Shikime Natsu felt a hint of pride in her tone. Is being alone for so long something to be proud of?
This girl's thought process is seriously flawed.
When Kushida Kikyou heard this, she was stunned for a moment, not knowing what to say.
Suddenly, Kushida Kikyou's gaze fell upon Shikime Natsu.
"Isn't Shikime-san Horikita-san's friend? I heard you and Shikime-san came here for coffee on the day of the opening ceremony. You seemed to get along well~"
"We're just ordinary classmates. Having coffee together doesn't mean we get along well."
Horikita Suzune still spoke coldly, her face already filled with dissatisfaction. It seemed that interacting with Kushida Kikyou was a complete waste of time.
All she needed was her brother's contact information, yet this girl was just wasting her time here.
It really was a bit much.
"I see... I'm sorry for causing you trouble."
After hearing this, Kushida Kikyou fell silent for a moment, her tone slightly off, as if she might burst into tears at any moment.
"Just being here with you right now is troublesome enough for me."
Horikita Suzune 'subtly' gave the order to leave. Hmm... considering Kushida Kikyou was the one who claimed this spot, that was quite rude.
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