manga artist Kirito

Page 162

Or are you saying that one time isn't enough for you to torture my taste buds, and you want to do it twice more?

"Well... I'm planning to stay at Yukino-chan's place tonight, so how about we go to school together tomorrow?"

"What's wrong with you? Does the school festival need your help?"

Seeing Haruno's expectant look, Kiritani-kun pouted. Why is she acting like a high school girl? Can't she be a little more mature?

"Yes, and it's not just a little bit."

Yang Nai, without any modesty, picked up a chicken wing and put it in Kiritani's bowl, then said, "You know, I usually have to help my family, and this year's Soubu High School Festival... you could say it's a cultural festival, so it's necessary to pay attention to it. Plus, there's the student council president's invitation and Shizuka's phone call, so I'll have to spend a little time here."

"Of course, it's also important to see Yukino-chan!"

...Can I interpret this as Yukino-chan's observation diary requiring you to gather material up close?

In any case, the daily routine that followed was clearly not as easy as imagined, especially with the arrival of Haruno.

Let's feel sorry for Yukino-chan first!

P.S.: Without any updates, I feel completely drained...

I miss her, our little corner.

359

[NO.355 Asuna had already seen through everything]

The main classroom at Soubu High School is where the school festival executive committee holds meetings.

Sitting next to the chairperson, a lonely girl with a cool and aloof expression, she typed rapidly on the keyboard. Various project proposals were displayed on the laptop screen. For the girl, these were not difficult things to understand, but if the actual chairperson were to look at them... she probably wouldn't even be able to understand them.

Moreover, the position of Executive Committee Chairman is currently vacant.

Yes, the woman who serves as the executive committee chairperson is not here.

She supposedly went to participate in the class's preparatory activities, and with the title of executive committee chairperson, she acted arrogantly, even taking it for granted that she would completely hand over the school festival affairs to Yukino Yukinoshita, whom she had given the title of vice committee chairperson.

Seemingly exhausted, the girl took a deep breath, tilted her head slightly to look at the place where the executive committee chairman's nameplate was placed, and her clear, cold eyes became even colder.

A cool autumn breeze blew, lifting a few strands of the girl's hair, making the large classroom, which was not crowded, seem somewhat deserted.

In the same large classroom, near the back, Kirito stared blankly at the pile of documents beside him. His slender fingers tapped incessantly on the keyboard, producing a series of characters, but his mood grew increasingly agitated.

It's a very normal emotional reaction. People just can't stand seeing others have more free time than them.

Kiritani-kun naturally felt the same way, but he just couldn't understand why... no one said anything?

Sagami Minami, the executive committee chairperson, has only come to the meeting room once since this morning... Ha!

"I'm so frustrated right now!"

Eriri pushed aside the pile of documents, turned her head and squinted at Kiritani-kun, her displeasure completely evident.

"Don't do that. I'm also annoyed by being dragged into doing this for no reason."

Kiritani-kun can understand Eriri's feelings, after all... he's too easy to see through.

"Well, perhaps the executive committee chairman has other matters to attend to."

Asuna remained as gentle as ever, her smile unchanged, but a slight languor crept into her eyes. "But the workload is really heavy. I really want to turn down this kind of work..."

"Why don't you go back first, Mingnina? Leave the rest to me."

"No."

Asuna shook her head slightly, propping her chin up with one hand. "There's nothing to do at home now except write. After all, I have to help out at school with Hito and Mashiro—though I do really want to slack off, I'll do as much as I can. Yukinoshita... looks very tired."

Asuna sighed slightly as her gaze lingered on Yukino, who was sitting next to the main seat.

With her eyes slightly raised, Asuna gazed at Kiritani-kun. "Hina-senpai, you're at Soubu today, right?"

Yang should be here today.

Kiritani calmly replied that Haruno left before Asuna and Shiina Mashiro returned to the apartment yesterday. Although she put the messy kitchen and the used knives back in their places, it was still easy to find her... Well, there's nothing to be ashamed of.

However, it seems that Haruno didn't stay at Yukino-chan's place last night, but instead took a taxi to accompany a single, older woman living alone. They should have come together today.

"Eh, you mean Yukino Yukinoshita, Yukino-senpai?"

The sudden sound stopped the petite figure in front, whose gaze was fixed on Kiritani-kun with a hint of eagerness.

"...Ah, um."

Cheng Huixun, the student council president, is good-looking, but unfortunately not very bright. However, he seems to admire Yang Nai a lot.

"That's exactly what I was looking for! Hey... um, Kiritani-san, do you know where Haru-senpai is right now?"

"I don't know, but they'll probably come."

"That's it..."

His fair fingers touched his chin as Cheng Huixun fell into deep thought.

...Could this guy have feelings for Haruno?

It's not strange for admiration to turn into love, and besides, there are a lot of yuri fans these days.

"Over there, the one with the same surname, Xue, is her younger sister."

With a blank expression, Kiritani pointed to Yukino's location, immediately drawing the attention of the pensive Shiroko-kun back to the present.

"Oh! So she's Senior Yang's younger sister! ... Hmm, if I had known, I would have let Senior Yang's younger sister be the executive committee chairperson. She would definitely be able to handle it!"

So you knew Sagami Minami couldn't do anything?

But seriously, you're so slow to realize things. Just because Haruno once successfully hosted the school festival and you still remember it so vividly, does that mean you can't clearly see the abilities of the person currently hosting the school festival? —I'm talking about Yukinoshita.

Ah, if Yukinoshita heard this, she'd probably be very unhappy, right?

Well, although she won't show it, she'll definitely make a lot of parallel sentences in her mind, and then the shadow that Hino casts over her will become more and more profound.

"Oh right, Kirigaya-kun!"

As if remembering something, Shiroko clasped his hands together and looked at Kirigaya-kun expectantly, "Hey, I can..."

"but!"

"Please help me..."

"I reject!"

Ugh! I'm so annoyed!

With wide eyes and puffed-out cheeks, Cheng Huixun looked at Kiritani-kun with great dissatisfaction and pouted, "It really is just like what Yang-senpai said, so annoying."

"Kirito-kun!"

Smiling, Asuna Yuuki reached out and patted his shoulder, her eyes conveying a meaningful look.

...Generally speaking, Asuna would not address Kirito-san in this way, unless her mood was extremely complicated.

What's going on with this inexplicable feeling of guilt?

Mr. Kiritani tried to appear calm, but the corner of his mouth twitched slightly. "Asuna, trust me!"

"Hehe, hehehe..."

Asuna nodded with a light laugh, though the laugh was a little too terrifying.

Eriri, standing next to him, grinned. It was a rare sight indeed. Kirito was completely under her thumb and almost burst out laughing.

Sigh, be elegant!

Perhaps due to his naive nature, Cheng Huixun seemed not to understand the current situation, blinking his eyes innocently, "Eh, how about..."

"President, can the Executive Committee Chairman be changed?"

This might be a little unfair to Yukinoshita, who has been helping so far, but if Sagami Minami can be replaced, the success rate of the school festival can still be increased.

"Huh? Why are you suddenly asking this?"

Looking puzzled, Shiro pursed his lips. "Well, I don't know either—by the way, is Kirigaya asking this because she wants to be the executive committee chairperson? Come to think of it, Kirigaya and most of the other executive committee members didn't show up for the election..."

"..."

Can we please not over-interpret this?

360

[NO.356 An Unpleasant Entity]

"Hey! What do you want from asking that?"

The conference room door opened, and a middle-aged woman in a white lab coat strode in, slamming her hand on the table in front of Kiritani-kun. She lowered her body, her narrowed eyes conveying hostility, and said, "I don't think you'd be so bored as to want to be the executive committee chairperson."

Ah, I don't know if I mentioned it before, but the teacher in charge of this school festival is actually Hiratsuka Shizuka, this "young person". So there are many things she knows best. If you don't understand something, asking her... is probably useless.

"Hey! That's incredibly rude of you. Don't you want your eyes anymore?"

"That's not true. I'm just confused... about whether anyone can become the chairman of the executive committee these days."

Looking at the two fingers that Hiratsuka Shizuka extended, Kiritani indifferently took out his glasses and put them on, his heart unmoved.

Furthermore, although Shizuka is currently bending over and supporting herself on the table with one hand, staring intently at Kiritani-kun, her posture is beautiful from both the front and back, but... Shizuka is very conservative, and she won't receive any of the fan service.

Could it be that this woman was eavesdropping outside just now?

Otherwise, with the door closed, how could she, who had just arrived, have overheard our previous conversation?

Keep in mind that even Yukino-chan, who wasn't far away, didn't hear those words...

With a suspicious look in his eyes, Kiritani pushed up his glasses and stared intently at Hiratsuka Shizuka.

"...Hey, why...why are you looking at me like that?"

With a strange expression, Hiratsuka Shizuka straightened up, her eyes slightly darting away, trying to avoid Kiritani-kun's gaze, while a strange sense of guilt rose in her heart... What was causing this strange emotion?

"You've been listening outside for at least twenty minutes, haven't you?"

Kiritani shook his head slightly. "Aren't you tired of standing like this? Or do you have this particular fetish?"

"Yes, yes, Xiaojing does have this special fetish!"

The moment Kiritani-kun finished speaking, an elegant figure walked in from outside the door and casually pointed out something that was enough to make Shizuka turn into an iron fist and make a judgment.

"Yonai, shut up!"

Hiratsuka Shizuka glared at him. "Nobody has more weird fetishes than you, right? Don't think I don't know about Yukinoshita's affairs..."

"Hiratsuka-sensei, the Yukinoshita you mentioned must be me, right? So, Hiratsuka-sensei, could you tell me what you're referring to?"

Yukino-chan, who had appeared out of nowhere, stared coldly at Hiratsuka Shizuka, whose expression had turned terrible.

"what……"

With one hand covering the back of her head, Hiratsuka Shizuka, who looked imposing in her white coat, stared in astonishment at the girl standing beside her. The dissatisfaction on her face instantly crumbled, replaced by—Oh no, I said something I shouldn't have!

...Youth is made up of all sorts of mistakes, and I firmly believe that!

If it weren't for the question I asked about the city patrol, Ms. Shizuka would have come in much earlier, and then Haruno wouldn't have complained to Ms. Shizuka. Therefore, Ms. Shizuka would not have almost revealed Haruno's stalking tendencies... It seems like it would have been revealed much earlier, right?

But the key question is, what should I do at this moment? Smile? I guess I should smile, right?

It's really laughable. You'll probably sell Yang Nai out one day!

While feeling a pang of sympathy for Haruno Yuuki, who has such a lovely friend, Kiritani pretended to be calm, and then...

"Ah, um... In short... that's about it... Kirigaya, you tell me."

Given the informative remarks just now, it's unlikely that one can simply brush it off, especially for someone like Yukinoshita who is determined to know the answer. Therefore... Shizuka doesn't hesitate to shift the blame, placing the responsibility on Kiritani-kun's forehead.

"what?"

With a bewildered expression, Kiritani-kun once again questioned Hiratsuka Shizuka's intelligence. Was this really someone who had been a teacher for so many years? To actually drag his dearest student into the mess just to shift the blame? — Well, given Hiratsuka Shizuka's intelligence and passionate personality, it would undoubtedly be extremely difficult for her to lie or cover it up. Seriously… she can't even hide her own Achilles' heel; she's the worst teammate ever!

By the way, isn't Yang Nai right next to us?

"Kiritani-kun knows about this too? About it? Then, what exactly are you hiding from me?"

Yukino Yukinoshita was not so easily distracted and continued to stare at Shizuka Hiratsuka. Although Shizuka Hiratsuka's words would cause her to unconsciously glance over, she kept her eyes fixed on Kirito.

"Since it concerns me, I have the right to know, right? After all, this matter seems quite significant, doesn't it?"

"...Hmm, why don't you ask your sister?"

Asuna stroked her hair and spoke slowly, her gaze towards Haruno carrying a hint of meaning.

"Well, let me tell you."