She is Reading My Thoughts Again Today - Chapter 24

Class Match Day

“So this is where you’ve been.”

That familiar voice made my shoulders trembled. Ignoring the fact that the person in front of me is about to beat me, I take a quick glance at the direction of the voice.

“Is it over?”

“I left because I couldn’t be any help. What about you?”

The owner of the voice slowly approached me and sit down next to me.

“I’m losing.”

“So, what are you doing?”

“Playing Othello.”

(Othello is a board game)

“Yeah, I can see that.”

“I just won the game, now let’s play some board games or trump. Which one do you prefer Nao-san?”

(Trump is a card game)

Kisaragi’s eyes lits up at the word ‘trump’. At this situation, my thoughts are being read and because of me she can’t read Mikinori’s thoughts. So I’m at a really great disadvantage.

“It’s not fair to win the game and run like that. Let’s play another round.”

“No matter how many games we play it won’t change the outcome.”

“I don’t know if I should be the one to tell you this, but do you know what’s going on today?”

“Class match.”

My voice and Mikinori’s voice are in unison. She looks at us as if she is trying to say ‘you know what I’m trying to say don’t you?’ Of course, I know what she is trying to say.

“Why are you playing table games in the classroom at a time like this?”

“Because I’m an introverted person. Besides, if you look hard enough, you’ll see people like us all over the place.”

I saw there were some people doing their home works and playing some games in the gym storage area.

“Only people who are good at sports can enjoy themselves at these kinds of events. So, people like us who are in the shadows kill our time like this.”

“I think You’re athletic and I don’t think you’re an introverted person.”

“Nope, all I do for exercise is working part time jobs.”

“You’re a liar. You are physically weak.”

I kept telling Mikinori to go and participate at the event, but in the end, he chose to play board games instead. I think he is a really cool person, but I’m not going to say anything because I don’t want him to get cocky because of it.

“So which one do you prefer Nao-san?”

Mikinori asked as he puts away the Othello game which he had won. Her eyes seemed to light up again when she was asked which game she want to play.

“Ah, I think it’s a little bit awkward to call you Nao-san, can I call you Nao-chan instead?”

“Yeah, that would be fine. Umm, then what about you?”

“Mikinori Hatano. You can call me Mikinori.”

“Mi-Mikinori.”

“Mm-hmm.”

Her eyes began to shine even more brightly. So, it isn’t my imagination apparently.

“Why are your eyes shining so brightly?”

Both of them turned around and looked at me, but my attention is turned to Kisaragi’s expression. She is smiling happily, Mikinori is looking at Kisaragi as if he is trying to say ‘why is she so happy?’

“I was touched by the way we called each other, it’s like we’re close friends.”

“You guys sure sound like one.”

“Wait. What does Hokuto usually call you?”

“Kisaragi.”

“…what about Nao-chan?”

“I usually call him Hokuto-san.”

“You’re acting like complete strangers. I can’t believe Nao-chan calls you with honorifics as well.”

He looked me with an expression as if he is trying to say ‘I can’t believe it’. Thinking back, Mikinori has called Kisaragi by her first name from the very beginning. For someone like him who have a lot of friends, I don’t think it is impossible.

“You’ve been together for so long, I thought you guys would call each other by first names.”

“The way you call someone and the tone of your voice reflects your personality. I don’t think it is good to play around with it too much.”

“I don’t know what to say about that.”

Then, a set of board game and a pack of cards are taken out from Mikinori’s bag. She takes the pack of card and started shuffling them. Don’t decide things on your own. I’ll be in a disadvantageous position if we play trump, so I start preparing the board game.

“No! Wait a minute! Why don’t you at least call her by her first name?”

“Do you want me to call you by your first name?”

“Nope.”

“See?”

“What do you mean by ‘see?’ Well, how about calling each other without using honorifics?”

“If she wants it that way then it’s fine by me.”

“I see.”

Mikinori who seemed to not understand the situation, picks up the pack of cards that had been given to him.

“Well, people have different relationships.”

Kisaragi laughs at Mikinori’s reaction.

“At least decide what you’re going to do before you hand out the cards.”

“Well, can I be a millionaire then?”

“That’s fine by me.”

Well, it seemed that my plan to persuade them to play board games instead of trump is futile. So, I silently put away the board game that I had prepared.