"Good morning, Ruri" Shiraishi greeted Ruri as usual. However, this time Ruri turned her head to look at him, nodded, and responded.
Shiraishi's face showed a slight surprise. He thought that Ruri would ignore his greetings just like before...
Could it be that she acknowledged his strength and that's why she responded?
After all, when Ruri introduced herself, she made it clear that she didn't plan to associate with weaklings. In other words, Ruri only acknowledges powerful individuals and probably doesn't care about greeting the weak.
It's such a simplistic and rude code of conduct.
"Well, about what happened last night, can you..."
Shiraishi looked a little embarrassed but continued talking to Ruri with a pleasing smile.
Ruri glanced at Shiraishi and said, "I see. I won't say anything. I'll keep this secret for you. But on the other hand, if I have a training requirement, you can't postpone it."
Shiraishi breathed a sigh of relief and smiled. "Of course, I'd be happy to help."
Soon, Hyuga Ayane, who sat at the same table on the other side, arrived. After greeting Shiraishi, she sat down and started talking to the girl at the front table.
The class bell rang. The first class of the day was a MLM brainwashing class.
This class aimed to spread the so-called "Will of Fire."
Shiraishi took out the book "The First Hokage and the Will of Fire." He felt that this kind of class was pure torture for him, but he had to make an effort to listen.
He had to conceal his true thoughts in order to be politically correct.
Not long after, Shiraishi felt a finger poking his right arm.
He turned his head and saw Ruri pretending to listen attentively.
Then he lowered his head and saw a piece of paper with writing on it. It said, 'Do you hate this course?'.
Shiraishi took out a note, thought for a moment, and replied to Ruri—
——No, I think Fujimura-sensei explained it very well. I also aspire to inherit the Will of Fire from the First Homage-sama and become a great Konoha Ninja.
Ruri turned her head and glared at Shiraishi in dissatisfaction. She immediately saw through Shiraishi's lie.
——When you opened the book "The First Hokage and the Will of Fire" on the first day of the academy, I noticed that your expression was off. Are you scared or worried about something?
——I had a stomachache that day because I ate expired bread, so my face didn't look good.
--- --- Liar. i remember on that day of the academy, didn't you tell Ayane that you had a stomachache after drinking expired milk?
"…"
Shiraishi felt embarrassed. He didn't even remember that, but Ruri did.
—It's true, I never lie.
—You are someone i recognize, so I will keep your secret.
The two continued passing notes back and forth, and Shiraishi found that chatting with Ruri was more interesting than listening to this MLM class.
At that moment, his left arm was lightly poked by a finger.
Shiraishi turned his head and found that it was Ayane. Like Ruri, she pretended to listen attentively and handed him a small note.
-What are you talking about?
It seemed that she was very interested in joining the conversation between Shiraishi and Ruri.
Shiraishi thought for a moment, then tore off a piece of paper and replied—
——We were talking about the newly opened Ichiraku Ramen shop in the village. The ramen there is delicious.
After Ayane received the note, she wrote another sentence in response.
——Is it about ramen? I also know about it. The ramen there is really good, even though it's a new shop. Shiraishi-kun, let's eat there together after class.
---OK.
Shiraishi didn't think too much about it. He wrote the words on a note and passed it to Ruri.
—Ruri-san, let's go to the ramen shop together after class this afternoon. The ramen there is delicious, and Ayane-san will be joining us.
-- ---Sure, why not?
Casually agreeing. Shiraishi nodded.
Meanwhile, their homeroom teacher, Fujimura Taiga, who was giving a serious lecture at the podium, looked at Shiraishi and the other two gurls with a hint of helplessness.
Did they think he was blind? Seeing them passing notes and whispering happily, Fujimura Taiga reached his limit.
"Hey, you three, stop passing notes secretly and go stand outside while you listen to the teaching!"
He didn't want the top students to think they could do whatever they wanted in class. Fujimura Taiga felt the need to assert his authority as their teacher.
These kids these days are too arrogant. He has to discipline them.
The three of them didn't resist and went outside to stand.
"I thought I was being discreet, thinking Fujimura-sensei wouldn't notice, but I didn't expect to be caught," Ayane said with a helpless smile, realizing her earlier naive mindset.
Ruri commented nonchalantly, "I thought he wouldn't care when he saw us. He's just a chunin in his twenties. It makes me question the quality of education at the academy."
In Ruri's eyes, the three "geniuses" could do as they pleased in class. It was the unique privilege of being a genius.
Shiraishi: "…"
'Come on, you two, that's enough. Do you really think Fujimura-sensei couldn't hear you outside?'
He didn't anticipate that Ayane, who was usually honest and quiet, had a mischievous side as well.
....
Ichiraku Ramen shop.
This was a recently opened ramen shop in Konoha.
Although the business didn't seem to be very popular yet, Shiraishi was deeply drawn to the delicious ramen he had tried there. It was only a matter of time before it became popular.
"I'll treat you all tonight. Eat as much as you want."
After class in the afternoon, Shiraishi took Ayane and Ruri to the ramen shop and proudly made his announcement.
But how much could two small eaters like them really consume? At most three or four large bowls of ramen. He had enough money for that.
Before Ruri could finish speaking, Ayane hesitated and said, "Well, Shiraishi-kun, it's better if we each pay for ourselves."
"It's fine, Ayane. Don't worry about my wallet. I can afford a few bowls of ramen."
Shiraishi smiled nonchalantly. Ayane couldn't refuse after hearing his words.
"Well then, if your wallet can't handle it, let me know. I'll eat in moderation."
"?"
Shiraishi looked at Ayane suspiciously, not understanding what she meant.
"Anyway, just eat to your heart's content. I'll pay for all the ramen tonight."
After Shiraishi said this, he started ordering food and asked the owner to bring the ramen as soon as possible.
The owner of Ichiraku Ramen was a man in his thirties, accompanied by his son, a handsome young man named Shouda.
It had to be said that Ichiraku's ramen was truly delicious, and Shiraishi devoured two large bowls in no time.
Then he glanced at Ruri and noticed that she had only ordered one bowl. After all, girls tended to have smaller appetites.
Next, Shiraishi turned his attention to Ayane. He opened his mouth but couldn't utter a word. What were those tall stacks in front of her? How much had Ayane eaten?
One... four... seven... nine... thirteen...
The number of empty bowls kept increasing.
Shiraishi felt his heart ache.
Ayane noticed the dumbfounded looks from Shiraishi and Ruri and blushed a little. She stopped eating and muttered in a barely audible voice, "Actually, I only eat slightly more than others..."
If it weren't for the towering stacks of bowls in front of Ayane, Shiraishi and Ruri might have believed her.
She used to eat like this when she was young, but was it still acceptable now that she had grown up?
Shiraishi couldn't help but worry about Ayane's future husband. Eating like this every day would be difficult for most people to afford.