She is Reading My Thoughts Again Today - Chapter 71

No, not there☆0

“Hey, I have something to talk about with you.”

“I refuse.”

“Immediately?”

He is having a mysterious look on his face. My gut tells me that he is going to say something that will only trouble me. So, I immediately shook my head. He purposely took me to a place far away from the classroom. His tone is joking, but his eyes are serious. This is not going to be a good conversation.

“Just listen to me.”

“Usually, once I hear of these kinds of things, there will be no turning back.”

“Well, I guess so. I was wondering if I can borrow Nao-chan for the upcoming exhibition.”

“No, why?”

Mikinori smirks when I ask him back about it. Damn it, I shouldn’t have asked him. I should’ve stopped talking when I hear the word ‘exhibition’.

“I want Nao-chan to be a costume salesgirl in my sales booth.”

“I knew it.”

“Do you understand what I mean?”

“Why are you asking my permission for it?”

“I asked Nao-chan about it and she said, ‘only if Hokuto-san is okay with it’.”

“You already asked Kisaragi about it?”

“Yeah.”

“Then I…”

…won’t allow it. I want to say so, but I can’t. Mikinori’s sales booth will be crowded with people. It will drain a lot of her mental strength just to be there. Kisaragi must have anticipated this and told Mikinori to ask me about it so that I’ll be there with her, inhibiting her ability. It will be very troublesome. I would refuse it without any second thoughts, but there is one thing that I really want to know.

“What are you going to make her dress up as?”

“Like this.”

Mikinori shows me an illustration of a character that he recently began to draw on his smartphone. The red coloured outfit that the character is wearing would definitely look very good on Kisargi.

“So how are you going to get that outfit?”

“I’ll make it.”

“You’ll make it?”

“Look.”

After intense scrolling, he shows me a picture of an outfit. It is indeed the same outfit that the character was wearing earlier.

“When will you start making it?”

“Keep it down.”

“…what about the expenses?”

“I’ll pay for our transportation expenses and everything.”

“Looks like you’re very well prepared.”

“Not really, so what do you think? Are you down for it?”

“No.”

“You bastard!”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It’s lunch break, we are just talking casually while eating our bento.

“You are not being honest with me, are you Hokuto-san?”

My hand that was about to take a piece of eggroll suddenly stopped at his words. My thoughts also stopped thinking for a moment. It took me a few seconds to finally understand his words, then it also took me a few seconds to start talking.

“I’m going to be honest with you.”

His eyes are looking at me as if to say, ‘you’re going to lie to me again, aren’t you?’. It’s not surprising that he would react this way. Looking back, I had lied to Mikinori many times before. So, it’s not surprising if he thinks that I’ll lie to him again this time. I’m not even sure if he considers me as his friend.

“Okay then.”

“Okay?”

“…I’m sorry I’ve always been so rough with you.”

“…yeah.”

“I really appreciate Mikinori talking to me.”

“I know.”

“…do you really know it?”

“Yeah, I do.”

“Well, thank you for everything.”

“You’re welcome.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

”I want to borrow this book.”

“Yeah… sure.”

“Geez.”

“Stop it.”

When I look up from the book, I see a familiar face looking at me rudely. I actually want to tell him to stop looking at me like that, but if I go further than that, I will only get abusive words from him. When I look at the book he is borrowing, I notice that he wants to borrow a book about strawberries.

“…strawberries?”

I asked so because I’m really curious of his choice of book.

“Is it that bad?”

He seems embarrassed of my question. I think it’s a bad idea to ask her about it and shook my head.

“No, it’s not bad. I was just surprised that it isn’t about tangerines.”

“That’s Kisaragi-san’s preference, and I have my own preferences.”

I’m surprised that he likes strawberries.

“Can you please hurry up?”

He even told me to hurry up without hiding his irritation.

“Sorry.”

I take his student ID card, scan the barcode and process his book quickly.

“Thankyou.”

While processing his book, I recall a web novel I recently read about a strawberry farmer.

“What, you’re still talking about it?”

Apparently, the word ‘strawberry’ slipped out of my mouth. He snatches the book away from me and glares at me.

“No, I wasn’t talking about your book. I was thinking about a character in the web novel I recently read who is a strawberry farmer.”

“…a web novel?”

His glare softens. He seems surprised at my answer.

“…what’s the story about?”

He is also interested in web novels? I heard that he reads light novels, so it won’t be a surprise if he is interested in web novels as well.

“It’s a story about an instrumentalist who is proposed by a strawberry farmer. The story is quite unusual, but the dialogue is very funny, and that’s what makes the novel interesting. Of all of the web novels I read, this is the one I look forward the most.”

“…hmmm.”

That is a very long ‘hmmm.’ He is not focused and seems a little different from usual. Perhaps my explanation doesn’t interest him? He has to read it himself to know how good the web novel is. As I’m looking at him, I remembered how hard it is to recommend a book to someone.

“…you know what.”

Eventually, he says something with a bewildered tone.

“Yeah?”

“You should do a proper review on that. Your explanation just now is so bad.”

I know. I know that, but it’s really hard to explain a book.

“You’re right, but I’m not sure my explanation can convey it’s expression and feelings properly.”

Hoshikawa stares at my eyes as I smile wryly at my words.

“If you don’t speak up, your words won’t reach anyone but Kisaragi.”

I just shook my head without saying anything back at his serious words. His words reminded me of how sincere and serious person he is. I guess because I know his words are sincere, I can forgive him even his tone is a little rough.

“Okay. When I get home, I’ll think about it and do a proper review at it.”

“…hey, you know I won’t be happy to get a review from you!”

He turns away and walk out the library with a slightly angry blush on his cheeks.

“What a difficult guy…”

I think so as I look at the closing door.