Entertaining a Small Thought

3rd Arc Part 6: Fun Hobbies and Spectacular Shows

After speaking to Maki for a while longer, we went our separate ways. It's hard to tell with Maki, but I think I'm getting closer to her. I feel more confident saying we're friends now compared to a few days ago at least.

I pulled out my Monopad as I walked back into the library. Still plenty of time left to use before the day ends. And with no one else to bother me, I can get back to reading.

I grabbed the book I had before Kokichi pulled me out of the library and sat down at the table inside the library. I put on my headphones and turned on some relaxing music and started reading.

Aaah~. This is nice. I don't get to relax with a good book nowadays with the killing game. So it's nice to just take it slow today. Lord knows I need it today more than ever with how bad things are looking here in the Ultimate Academy, but let's not think about that right now. Let's just enjoy this book.

After reading for a few hours, I managed to finish the entire book. It was hefty, but it was a surprisingly fun read. The author's really something. Toko Fukawa, I think her name was. I wonder what could have inspired her to write such a beautiful story about overcoming pain, sorrow, and one-sided love. It probably was based on something she saw or experienced. If that's the case, I hope not everything in that story was based on reality. That serial killer persona was too creepy for me.

I closed the book and took off my headphones, taking a deep breath as I did. I then went up to get another book, only to jump from surprise when I saw who else was in the library now. Kaede was sitting across from me, deep in her own trance while reading a book of her own. And, to no one's surprise, it was a book about music. I stifled a chuckle as I moved towards Kaede and tapped her shoulder, making the girl jump in her skin as she turned to me.

"I never expected to see you reading here," I told her with a small laugh.

"O-Oh, Rin. You scared me."

"I should be saying that. I didn't even know you were here until now."

"Yeah, you had your headphones on. I came by to ask if you wanted to hang out, but you were busy reading, so I thought maybe I'd read something too, and I sort of got engrossed in this book." She said sheepishly.

"Yeah. A book about pianos and music." I chuckled. "So, do you still want to hang out? We can stay here and keep reading if you'd like."

"No, it's fine. I've just finished this book anyway." Kaede said as she got up and put the book away. "I also have an idea of what we can do!"

"Oh really? What's that?"

"This!" Kaede cheered as she pulled out a deck of Uno cards. "We were talking about hobbies we need to get into, and playing a card game seems like a fun hobby."

I chuckled at Kaede's enthusiasm and nodded.

"Sure. Sounds fun."

"Then let's go to the game room and get started."

With that, I followed Kaede out of the library and walked over to the game room. We sat down at one of the tables and began our little game. Uno is a card game that has a lot of luck involved, so you would think winning wouldn't be so easy. However, it didn't take long to realize Kaede might have a lot of trouble when playing.

"Blue 9." She said as she laid down one of her cards.

"Oh no. A blue 9. My only weakness." I said jokingly as I drew a card. "Just kidding. Reverse cards within reverse cards await you Kaede."

"What?!"

"Reverse blue!" I exclaimed as I placed down the card. "Now, reverse green and reverse red! But that's not all! Plus 2, baby! That means I have Uno!"