Seeing Anon's angry expression, Kamiyama Rikuo almost choked on his bread.
"Huh? No, you must have misunderstood."
"Then why did Tomori pick up stones yesterday, and why did she stand in front of you during her free time?"
Rikuo opened his mouth, momentarily speechless.
'Yeah, why? I'm looking for the answer too.'
"Chihaya-san, you've misunderstood. Actually, collecting stones is my hobby."
Tomori, seeing Anon's small face flushed with excitement (a girl's blush surpasses everything), quickly explained.
"Tomori, don't be afraid. If you encounter a threat, you can tell me. Both I and the teacher will help you."
Anon gently patted Tomori's shoulder, trying to give her the courage to speak the truth, even though what Tomori said was already the truth.
"Ugh…"
Tomori also didn't know how to explain. Her helpless rose-gold eyes looked at Rikuo, her ash brown short hair gently swaying, expressing the girl's helplessness.
To this, Rikuo spread his hands.
"The opposing jungler went into my jungle. Why did he go under the tower? The bot lane kept telling me to go, but how could I go? Others kept invading my jungle."
"Huh? What are you talking about?"
Anon's anger was paused; she couldn't understand Rikuo's words.
"Don't understand? That's right, don't understand. Calm down first; there must be a misunderstanding."
Rikuo replied softly. He knew that when people are emotional, it's difficult for them to listen to others. So he chose to be a joker first, at least to ease the situation. (Don't learn this; you're not dealing with Anon.)
At this moment, the traffic light trio came over.
"What's wrong, Anon-chan? Why are you so angry?"
"I saw Tomori being bossed around by this guy, and I felt like Tomori must have been threatened by him."
Anon's emotions had stabilized by half, but she still felt that something was off. Anon had zero tolerance for school bullying.
"Chihaya-san, actually, I saw my friend chatting with Rikuo-kun this morning, so I wanted to ask, but I didn't know how to start."
Tomori, seeing Anon's emotions calm down, although a little scared, still slowly stated the reason.
"Picking up stones really is my hobby. I like collecting them."
Tomori scurried back to her desk and took out her collection from a file box.
"This one was found in the school flowerbed, this one from the riverside pond, this one from Ryoura Park…"
"Yes, Tomori has always collected these. Anon-chan, you must have misunderstood something, right?"
Seeing the full story, the traffic light trio also began to persuade Anon.
Although Anon had just had a big outburst, she was essentially a very kind girl and only chose to step forward because she suspected Tomori was being bullied, even if the result was a bit of a misunderstanding.
Anon slowly lowered her head, glanced at the stones in Tomori's pencil case, then looked up at the innocent-faced Rikuo, and finally.
"I'm sorry!!!"
Anon suddenly bowed, her voice almost echoing throughout the classroom.
"I was too rash!!!"
After confirming the situation, Anon immediately apologized.
Rikuo scratched his head, giving two dry laughs.
"It's okay, it's good that the misunderstanding is cleared up."
Anon picked up the pen from the floor, wiped it with her sleeve, and handed it to Rikuo with both hands.
'One shouldn't judge people by first impressions. Hearing Kamiyama-san's "Yoroshiku" made me instinctively think of him as a delinquent or something. How rude of me. And it caused such a big scene, making all the classmates resting during lunch break aware of it. I need to find a way to make it up to him.'
Rikuo took the pen and subconsciously checked the cards on the desk. Rikuo had planned to buy a storage box after eating his bento during lunch break; he was afraid that if he kept them in his pocket, they might get crumpled, leading to an incident like the one at the old apartment last time. If they exploded now, it wouldn't be a small, confined space like last time.
Seeing that everything was fine, he slowly let out a sigh of relief.
"Thank you, Chihaya-san. This pen is quite important to me."
Anon's grey eyes glanced over, seeing the cards on the desk.
'So boys like these kinds of things?'
Anon had always attended all-girls schools (Haneoka High School was also an all-girls school, which specially opened admissions to male students in this enrollment period). She had never interacted with boys and didn't know what boys her age liked.
"Rikuo-kun, you can just call me Anon from now on! I'll call you Rikuo-kun too. Do you like collecting these kinds of cards, Rikuo-kun? Speaking of which, it's quite similar to Tomori."
"Yes, if you see similar cards, please sell them to me. I will kneel down and lick your shoes."
Rikuo chose to use the same phrasing as Sakiko.
"Got it! No need to be so exaggerated! If I find similar cards, I'll give them to you as an apology for this incident."
Because of the small friction between Anon and Rikuo, the entire class also learned that Rikuo was collecting certain types of cards and that they were exchanged for compensation.
'This way, it might actually protect quite a few people. As expected of Saint Anon. Anon must have her own intentions in doing this.'
Rikuo looked at Anon's slightly embarrassed, tiger-toothed smile, feeling admiration in his heart.
"Then Tomori, you talk to Rikuo-kun about your matters. I'm going to eat first."
Anon chose to leave the awkward atmosphere first.
'Still not used to getting along with strange children, especially strange boys.'
...
"Tomori, did you see me talking with Sakiko on the way to school?"
As Anon left, Rikuo began the topic Tomori had brought up earlier.
"Yes, yes. This morning I saw Saki-chan talking to you, and she looked very happy. I haven't seen Saki-chan smile in a long time."
"Hmm, Sakiko might just be going through a small issue, but she can't resolve it right now. Can you give Sakiko a little more time? Sakiko should come to apologize herself soon."
After two "telepathic" conversations, Rikuo dared not let himself go wild again and chose to treat Little Penguin with normal human communication.
"Oh, is that so? But Saki-chan doesn't need to apologize. It's all because I didn't try hard enough that…"
Little Penguin was like a deflated ball, slowly lowering her head. Her once round eyes now looked dim and lifeless, seemingly shrouded in an invisible sadness, and her ash brown hair also drooped down. Little Penguin stood there quietly, motionless, as if time itself had frozen at that moment.
"Don't worry, Tomori. Sakiko has always told me that your singing is a cry from the soul. Your self-negation, isn't that also a disapproval of Sakiko's judgment? At that time, Sakiko was probably just like Anon just now."
Rikuo used Anon's example to persuade Little Penguin, although he knew that Sakiko's decision was not due to excitement, but rather a result of careful consideration.
'Wanting to bear the infamy alone? Sakiko-sensei, you are truly high and mighty.'
"Is that so? So Saki-chan also acted that way because of emotional issues… Speaking of which, Anon-chan, who seems so gentle, also has moments of emotional impulsiveness."
Hearing Rikuo's words, Little Penguin reverted to Takamatsu Tomori; one could see her hair seemed to regain its spirit.
"Rikuo-kun, you are also a very gentle person."
"Huh? Me?"
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
To Read Advanced Chapters, and support this novel, please join me on [email protected]/geats2000