The clear blue sky was rolling with white clouds like a vast sea of waves, and the pink cherry blossoms were floating all over the streets and alleys like a heavy snowfall. Tokyo in April was just like a gorgeous watercolor painting. People's moods would unconsciously brighten up even with just a casual glance at it.
However, Shimizu Yu, who had lived here since childhood, was already tired of such a sight. And at this moment, her mood could be described as rather gloomy.
Walking on the way to school, Shimizu Yu let out a long sigh like a wilted little cabbage. Her request to her mother for an advance on her allowance had just been rejected at home, and there were only a few last coins left in her piggy bank, jingling feebly.
This left her, who had recently been addicted to "Spirit Detective Notes", without enough money to buy the latest issue of the novel.
Of course, she didn't mean to blame her mother. She just complained a little bit about why she hadn't been more frugal with her money before...
Fortunately, Shimizu Yu was an optimistic person by nature. After feeling sorry for herself for a short while, she immediately cheered up and began to think about ways to solve the problem.
For high school students, there were generally only a few ways to get money. Besides allowances, there were scholarships and part-time jobs. Shimizu Yu quickly ruled out the option of scholarships. She knew herself well. Although she had an extremely high appearance score of 95 points and was quite proficient in kendo with a level above 90 points, none of these could change the fact that she was actually a poor student academically.
So, in fact, there was only one option left in front of Shimizu Yu.
Clenching her fair little fist, Shimizu Yu raised her head with excitement. Her beautiful almond-shaped eyes were shining with a determined light. She made up her mind! She wouldn't participate in the club this semester and would go to work part-time after school!
The determination had just been made, but the wavering started the next second. Because at the moment when she looked up, a familiar thing appeared in Shimizu Yu's field of vision.
It was a book, and the cover she could vaguely see was also familiar. A flash of inspiration struck Shimizu Yu's mind. Ah... Wasn't that "Spirit Detective Notes"! Shimizu Yu quickly shifted her gaze to the person who was walking while reading the book.
The other person was wearing the school uniform of the same school as hers. He had a tall and straight figure. From the side and back, she could see a bit of his side face. His skin was fair and his profile was very handsome. The name of this person immediately popped up in Shimizu Yu's mind.
Hoshino Gen, her classmate!
Although it hadn't been long since the school started, Shimizu Yu had an extremely deep impression of this male classmate. It had nothing to do with this guy's behavior. After all, he usually sat quietly in his seat reading books alone in class, so quiet that Shimizu Yu had never even heard him speak!
Even though quite a few girls took the initiative to talk to him because of his mixed British and Japanese appearance that was really a bit too good-looking, he just stared at them with a smile until they left, a rather strange and low-key person.
But it was such a person who had an amazing twin sister—the popular idol, Hoshino Rin, who hadn't shown up at school except for the entrance ceremony but had always been the center of topics at school.
Yes, this guy had an extremely cute idol sister! It was really maddeningly enviable!
But that wasn't the important thing! The important thing was that this guy was also reading "Spirit Detective Notes". Was he a fellow fan?! Since that was the case, as his classmate, as long as she got on better terms with him, could she borrow his book to read for free? Then she could avoid the hardship of working part-time and could continue to participate in the kendo club with her good friend Suzuki Sawami, and go to the national competition during the summer vacation as they did in junior high school...
Thinking of this, Shimizu Yu's eyes had already become shiny. She took two quick steps and shouted loudly towards the front, "Hoshino-kun!"
The young man in front paused in his steps and slightly turned his head, fully revealing his exquisitely good-looking face like a doll in front of Shimizu Yu. Especially his left eye, which was like a clear sapphire set in the eye socket, seemed to outshine the blue sky at this moment.
Oh, this guy, like his idol sister, had a rather rare heterochromia. Shimizu Yu felt a bit sour in her heart. She also wanted to have such handsome eyes.
Facing the gaze of those heterochromatic eyes, Shimizu Yu pulled herself together and trotted vigorously to Hoshino Gen's side, and said very enthusiastically, "Hoshino-kun, so you also take this road to school. I've never seen you before!"
The young man smiled at her, showing no intention of speaking.
Shimizu Yu felt a bit nervous in her heart. Here it came. This expression that was called the "death smile" by the girls in the class made the person facing it feel extremely awkward and just wanted to get away quickly—However! In order to be able to read the book without having to work part-time, I must make you talk today!
Taking a light breath and suppressing the urge to curl her toes in embarrassment, Shimizu Yu walked side by side with Hoshino Gen, and at the same time, her smile became even more enthusiastic and familiar as she said, "Do you also live in the nearby neighborhood?"
The young man still just smiled, but he had already closed the book in his hand. And at this instant, Shimizu Yu had already clearly seen that the book in this guy's hand was the latest issue of "Spirit Detective Notes" that she had been longing for!
The expression on her face immediately turned into unnatural surprise, and the word "want" was almost written all over her face. Suppressing her excitement, Shimizu Yu said, "Ah! So you're also reading this book. I like it so much too! Eh—Have you already read the latest issue? I just finished the previous one. I wonder if the old woman in the Taisho era has waited for her husband..."
Before Shimizu Yu could finish her words, Hoshino Gen suddenly twitched his eyebrows. Then in a flash, he darted to the other side of Shimizu Yu who was walking side by side with him. He crouched down while pressing his hands on her shoulders and exerted a little force to make her turn her back to him to increase the shielding area. In the blink of an eye, a car sped by, and a large number of brown mud spots flew out from the puddles left by the heavy rain last night, splashing all over Shimizu Yu's body and face.
Shimizu Yu's expression became blank. She stiffly turned her body to look at Hoshino Gen behind her who was spotlessly clean.
Only to see Hoshino Gen calmly handed the "Spirit Detective Notes" in his hands to Shimizu Yu with both hands, looking very solemn as he said, "Thank you."
After saying that, Hoshino Gen had already quickly walked a few steps and got into a taxi parked not far away. Then in just a few blinks of an eye, both he and the taxi disappeared from Shimizu Yu's dazed and bewildered vision.
...
Shimizu Yu was almost driven mad with anger. It wasn't just because Hoshino Gen had used her to block the muddy water and dirt. What was more, after she went home to clean up and change her clothes, as expected, she was late! As a punishment, she had to run several laps around the 400-meter school playground. When she finished, she was almost out of breath!
During the break between the first classes, Shimizu Yu didn't even look at the latest issue of "Spirit Detective Notes" that she had been longing for. She just sat in her seat, glaring fiercely at a certain unscrupulous bastard in the front row by the window.
That guy pretended to be aloof at school every day, but in fact, he was a scoundrel who could even use a pretty girl to block the mud!
"Yu-chan, why were you so late today... Eh? What's wrong with you? Why do you look so fierce?"
The voice of her good friend Suzuki Sawami rang in Shimizu Yu's ear. Shimizu Yu shifted her gaze and saw a curvaceous and good-looking girl standing in front of her, looking very curious.
Being asked by her good friend like this, Shimizu Yu's expression immediately fell. She didn't really want to let her know about her embarrassing incident. Seeing this, Suzuki Sawami's eyes lit up and she followed the direction of Shimizu Yu's gaze just now. In an instant, a thoughtful look appeared on her pretty face. "Did he bully you?"
Shimizu Yu pursed her lips, indicating that she didn't want to talk.
However, Suzuki Sawami became excited as if she couldn't wait to stir up trouble. "What on earth happened? Tell me quickly." After saying that, she also lowered her voice and whispered, "If he's really done something terribly wrong, I happen to have a way to get revenge for you!"
Hearing this, Shimizu Yu, who didn't want to talk about it in the first place, became even more hesitant. She wrinkled her delicate eyebrows and whispered, "It's not that big of a deal. Let's forget about getting revenge..."
"Ah, well, if not revenge, then just teach him a little lesson. You can't just swallow your grievance and be a coward, right?" Suzuki Sawami didn't want to let it go. On one hand, it was to stand up for her good friend. On the other hand, it would be quite interesting to play a trick on that handsome and taciturn guy!
Being called a coward by her good friend, Shimizu Yu couldn't bear it a bit. She opened her mouth, but finally sighed and told the story of how Hoshino Gen used her to block the muddy water on the way to school this morning and caused her to be late.
After hearing this, Suzuki Sawami immediately slapped the table and said indignantly, "That's too much! Is he even a man?!"
She was full of righteousness and looked like she was willing to do anything for her friend. Of course, if her eyes hadn't been so bright and the corners of her mouth hadn't been raised so high, it would probably have been more convincing.
The commotion attracted the attention of quite a few classmates in the class, but Suzuki Sawami didn't care. She waved her small hand and patted Shimizu Yu on the shoulder and said, "Don't worry. I'll avenge you for this!"
"..." Shimizu Yu gave her a sidelong glance.