Before even reaching the family restaurant called cono, Kyousuke spotted the girl waiting by the signboard.
She wore Toyogasaki's sailor-style uniform.
The neckline wasn't particularly low, but with her fair, delicate skin, it sohow gave the illusion of seeing sothing dazzlingly beautiful.
Her slender neck, the smooth line of her collarbone, and that fragile, youthful thinness unique to teenage girls—it all ca at him in one overwhelming rush.
Her long legs stretched out beneath the black pleated skirt, unadorned, yet the healthy glow of her skin and their perfect shape alone could make anyone cheer.
Black leather loafers, a chestnut schoolbag—simple, yet striking.
No wonder won in their thirties still longed to wear a uniform again.
This was the kind of charm no one could easily resist.
Kato gumi—an ordinary seventeen-year-old girl in an ordinary school uniform. And yet, there she stood, unnoticed by the restaurant staff despite her presence.
As Kyousuke looked over, gumi brushed her bangs aside with one hand.
For girls, taming their bangs was apparently a lifelong battle.
With his keen senses, he could clearly see her little pink lips purse in faint dissatisfaction.
He chuckled.
Catching these small, unguarded monts—when a girl fretted over her appearance—always amused him.
But when it was gumi, it felt doubly cute.
She always claid her looks were plain, yet here she was secretly fussing over them.
This was the real gumi—girlish, adorable, and impossibly charming.
More importantly, this was her before eting him.
Anyone would feel happy knowing their date had taken the ti to prepare.
Perhaps because she stood there too still, too noticeable against the flow of passersby, gumi's hand froze mid-motion.
Her dark, bright eyes lifted, scanning forward—
Across the small plaza before the restaurant, across the crosswalk, across the bustling crowd, gumi saw Hojou Kyousuke.
Saw those smiling eyes focused solely on her.
'Uwah…'
A tremor ran through her.
It was like a current arcing from her heart, surging through her body, or maybe like his gaze flowed straight into her chest.
The feeling of being the only one in soone's eyes set her cheeks afla, her palms hot.
'There it is again…'
Her life usually felt transparent, unnoticed.
Yet Kyousuke's gaze was different.
Even in a busy crowd, he could find her instantly, and always with that unwavering focus.
It was as if she weren't ordinary at all—as if sothing about her shone in a way that only he could see.
'Geez…'
How should she put it? Being looked at this way made her embarrassed… but it also felt really, really nice.
Though her heart fluttered, gumi's face only showed a brief pause before softening into her usual calm smile.
She lifted a hand in greeting.
Kyousuke smiled back and walked over.
"Good afternoon, Katou-san. Sorry—did I keep you waiting long?" he said gently.
"Good afternoon, Hojou-kun."
gumi shook her head, her movents graceful as she glanced up and down at him, then smiled.
"Not at all. This place is closer to Toyogasaki, so I just got here early. Shall we go in?"
She couldn't help but think, Hojou-kun really stands out.
She had been standing there unnoticed for quite so ti, but the mont he arrived, the waitress by the door practically leapt to open it for him.
"Mm." Kyousuke smiled, stepping forward to hold the door himself.
"Welco, sir, ma'am!" the waitress greeted brightly. To gumi's relief, she didn't only look at Kyousuke but smiled at both of them.
"How many today?"
gumi held up a peace sign. "Two."
"Right this way. Here are your nus."
They were led to a window seat.
Kyousuke, who could eat the sa set al for years without complaint, had little interest in the nu.
Instead, he slid it across to gumi like a gentleman and took in the restaurant.
Brown walls with simple patterns, a cheerful and airy atmosphere, and impressively spacious booths—though labeled for four people, they could easily fit six.
The cushions were soft enough, and everything felt clean to the touch.
'No wonder business is booming,' Kyousuke thought.
For a student-friendly place, affordable food was important, but comfortable booths perfect for group hangouts were the real draw.
It was still club activity ti, yet plenty of students in uniforms already filled the seats around them.
Naturally, they weren't diligent types like him and gumi—they were couples.
He turned back to her.
gumi sat with her head slightly bowed, her hair falling to hide part of her face.
From his angle, Kyousuke could see her long lashes, focused eyes, and that cute nose.
Wait.
Sothing was different.
Her lashes looked thicker than before, curling upward more dramatically.
Her nose tip glowed too naturally—sure, her skin was good, but not that flawless. And her cheeks carried a soft blush that perfectly suited her face.
Her eyes… was that eyeshadow? Faint, but enough to make them seem larger.
"Hojou-kun, if you keep staring at like that, I'll get embarrassed~"
Her lighthearted voice snapped him from his thoughts.
He realized now why he could study her so clearly—she had tilted her face up, openly letting him look.
Though she teased him, her expression remained calm as ever.
Three responses ca to mind:
Because you're too cute, I couldn't help but stare.
The lighting here really brings out your makeup—you look even prettier.
Ah, I was just looking at the nu, honest.
Kyousuke chose—
"Katou-san, I didn't know you were this good at makeup," he said admiringly.
Her hand rose to brush her cheek. "Does it look weird?"
"Not at all. If I didn't rember what your lashes looked like before, I wouldn't even know you were wearing any." He gave a firm nod.
"Really? Thanks, that's a relief. But this is nothing special. In Japan, girls don't leave the house without makeup~"
gumi lowered her head again, leaving even Hojou Kyousuke unable to read what was on her mind.
'Hojou-kun actually rembered my makeup from last ti?'
'He even rembered what my eyelashes looked like?'
She tried to think it through, but at best she could narrow down which mascara she'd used last ti to three possibilities.
'So even the version of that I'd already forgotten… still exists in Hojou-kun's mory?'
The realization made her grip on the nu tighten ever so slightly.
Then a new question popped into her head—Next ti, should I go with last ti's look, or today's? The thought left her faintly troubled.
"By the way, Hojou-kun, did you shower at school before coming here? Your body wash slls different from the one at the dorm," she asked, her clear eyes lifting toward him.
When gumi said this, she wasn't trying to prove she rembered how he was before, or to show off her powers of observation.
She wasn't even trying to say he cared about the date more than she did.
What she wanted to express was simple: you must've gone to a lot of trouble, showering and still making it here so quickly.
"Haha, I couldn't just show up with a whole day's worth of dust on . That'd be way too sloppy," Kyousuke replied with a laugh.
He didn't call out her little act of feigned nonchalance.
As soone who loved baths, he could easily shower twice a day even while lazing around at ho.
In school, he had no shortage of options: the kendo club's advisor room, the baseball team's showers, even Yukari's help sneaking into the teachers' lounge.
The faint chill of their first monts together lted away after just a few words.
They shared a glance—and both broke into quiet smiles.
Just then, the waitress returned with ice water and hot towels.
"Thank you for waiting."
gumi shifted to her bag, pulling out a cute pink wallet. From it, she produced a brightly colored voucher.
"Excuse , I'd like to use this," she said, handing it over.
"Of course, one Couple's Set nu. Let confirm: it includes these items… For the staple, would you prefer rice or bread?" the waitress asked, jotting notes.
'…Couple's set?'
Kyousuke blinked.
'Didn't she call it a two-person set when we talked about it?'
He sneaked a glance at her, but she sat there calmly confirming details with the waitress, looking perfectly composed.
That only made him wonder if he was overthinking it.
After all, the word "couple" wasn't restricted—man and woman, two n, two won, even elderly pairs could call themselves couples.
And of course, a "couple's set" simply ant a set for two people.
It's not like there'd ever be a "couple's set for three or four," right? …Right?
He almost wanted to grab the voucher himself to check if it said "limited to one man and one woman."
"What's wrong, Hojou-kun?"
gumi turned back once the order was placed, her serene face showing no clue that she knew what was running through his mind.
"…Nothing. Absolutely nothing," Kyousuke replied.
Now it finally made sense why every table around them had pairs of couples.
Clearly, this restaurant had gone all-in on distributing couple's al vouchers.
"The set nu's mains are a little small, so I ordered two extra hamburg steaks for you. We can add more later if needed. Is that okay?" gumi asked.
"Sure," Kyousuke answered casually.
He already knew why the portions were small.
That was the gimmick of a couple's set—plenty of pretty little side dishes that weren't filling, but not enough main course.
The whole point was to encourage ordering extras.
Easy money.
He sipped from the brown water glass, ready to start tutoring before the food ca.
But to his surprise, gumi pulled out a packet of wet wipes and began wiping down the table.
"Hm? What's this about?"
"I noticed you're particular about cleanliness, Hojou-kun. If our books got dirty, it'd bother you, wouldn't it?" she said lightly, glancing up at him.
'Oof—Katou, don't say sothing that heart-lting with such a calm face…'
Kyousuke blinked, then accepted a wipe from her and joined in.
anwhile, the waitress had just passed the order to the kitchen and was about to return to check on the handso boy's needs.
But when she turned, she froze.
The pair were bent over the table, seriously wiping it down themselves.
Her eye twitched.
'Wait, do they… hate my cleaning?'
The thought struck like lightning, leaving her short of breath.
She quickly fetched a clean towel and hurried over.
"I'm terribly sorry! It's my fault for not wiping the table properly. Please, let do it again." She bowed deeply, already crouching to reach the table.
"Eh?"
gumi hadn't expected that.
Her usual serenity cracked, and she blinked in surprise.
Seeing the waitress crouch down, she quickly spoke up:
"No, not at all! The table was already very clean. Sorry, I didn't an it like that."
The waitress paused, puzzled.
"I just… wanted to wipe it again for him," gumi explained sincerely.
"…?"
The waitress froze.
She'd seen countless couples in her ti: sharing a drink with two straws, feeding each other bites, wiping each other's mouths—even mouth-to-mouth feeding once or twice.
But this—this quiet, natural thoughtfulness—hit her harder than anything.
It wasn't the boy's devastating good looks. It wasn't so flashy, showy way of flirting.
It was simply the girl's genuine, unforced kindness.
"I'm so sorry for the trouble," gumi apologized again.
"No, no, it's on ," the waitress said quickly, waving her hands.
She made a silent vow to personally wipe the bottom of their plates later so this sweet, considerate girl wouldn't have to worry.
Only after the waitress left did gumi let out a long sigh of relief.
"You got us noticed, you know. Guess studying really does pay off," Kyousuke teased.
"Yeah. If I took my workbook out to the restaurant entrance, I'd probably draw even more attention," gumi deadpanned.
"Hahaha!"
With the table spotless, they began unpacking their study materials.
"…Wait, these are all problem sets?"
gumi's voice, usually so calm, cracked as she stared at the mountain of books Kyousuke had stacked up—thicker than an encyclopedia.
"Yup." He nodded with a grin.
Her eyes went wide in shock, making her look impossibly cute.
"Um, Hojou-kun… I don't think I'm doing that badly. And honestly, my goals don't require that much effort, you know~?"
She spoke carefully, torn between not wanting to waste his kindness and not being able to endure that avalanche of problem sets.
Kyousuke chuckled inwardly at her pained expression, enjoying it for a mont before splitting the stack in two. Find the newest release on novel⁂fire
"Hahaha, relax—I'm teasing you. These are the ones I've already finished. I just brought them so you can look through when you have ti. I've written down detailed solution steps in all of them. This one is the only book I prepared for you."
"…"
gumi's face briefly showed a fleeting look of disappointnt and quiet resentnt before she softly spoke:
"I thought Hojou-kun's plan was to make collapse from overwork just so I'd finally get noticed."
"Hm? So you figured it out? If improving your grades still isn't enough to draw attention, that was my backup plan."
Watching him get carried away with his own mischief, gumi wrinkled her nose ever so slightly, then replied calmly:
"My only worry is that no one would notice if I fainted. Looks like I should start practicing how to fall tonight—sothing that makes a big enough sound to draw attention, but without actually hurting myself."
"Oh? If you really manage that, maybe you could even release a tutorial video online. I bet people who need to fake heatstroke would find it super useful."
"Since you've accepted the job of making stand out, shouldn't this 'falling technique' research also fall on you? I'll just handle applying dicine to your bruises and doing your laundry afterward."
"Hah, fair enough. In that case…"
Between their banter, the two of them had already spread their books out.
gumi studied the liberal arts, so Kyousuke could really only help her with foreign languages, Japanese, and math.
For everything else, morization was still the main approach.
Naturally, the practice sheets he'd prepared for her were focused on those three subjects.
Now gumi was bent over the exercises he had just passed to her, while he was checking the howork he'd given her last ti.
Huh? She got all of them right?
As he read through, Kyousuke let out a soft sound of surprise.
Her handwriting was neat and elegant, pleasant to look at.
More importantly, gumi hadn't just solved the problems—she had corrected her own mistakes, carefully writing out the proper steps beside them.
With Kyousuke's level, it was obvious she hadn't just copied answers.
She had genuinely reflected on her errors and absorbed the thods he'd taught her.
That much was clear from the way she handled the later exercises.
"gumi, how much ti did you spend on all this?" he asked in astonishnt. This wasn't sothing that could be done half-heartedly.
"Hmm how long did I spend? I don't really rember anymore"
gumi tapped her cheek with the end of her pencil, a faint smile flickering in her eyes.
"I just felt I couldn't dump everything onto you, Hojou-kun… so I tried my best."
"That's all."
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