With a loud roar, the delicate looking girl punches the con artist and sends him flying to who knows where.
◆◇◆
"Mitsuri-san!"
Shinobu is visibly surprised at the arrival of the pink haired girl whose name seems to be Mitsuri. Ignoring her incredibly great strenght she had just showcased earlier-her bright, round eyes and her pretty and gentle face makes her seem really young but her clothes being casual but stylish in a weekday gives the impression that she is older than Kamado and the others.
"Mitsuri-san, what are you doing here? I thought you were still at your college!"
"They gave us an assignment so I went for a walk to get some inspiration. I started to feel hungry and I remembered there's a bread cafe around here. But I found you getting harassed by that man instead. Regarding that, are you okay?? Are you hurt? What did that man do to you?!"
With teary eyes, Mitsuri checks on Shinobu here and there as she kept asking her a lot of questions. You can easily see how much the girl cares for Shinobu.
"Mitsuri-san. . ." Shinobu lights up, touched with how worried Mitsuri is for her. "Calm down. I'm fine. The man you just, erm, punched offered me to join his 'gathering'. I- No, he said I was perfect for it since I looked pitiful apparently. He blabbered a bunch of nonsense so I rejected his offer. But he was more than enough persistent. That aside. . ."
Shinobu turns to Kamado and the others.
"What are you guys doing here. . ?"
Shinobu stares at them, her eyes clearly questioning whether they followed her or not. Before she manages to get any more wild ideas, Agatsuma puts a stop to her nervously. He raises his hand, "No," then points at Inosuke. "Look closely, does he seem familiar at all to you?"
Shinobu squints her eyes. What is there to look at when she already knows who Inosuke is and what he looks like?
Nevertheless, she examined Inosuke's physical appearance closely. With shoulder-lenght black hair that fades to a blue at the tip, a girl-like face that is prettier than most girls, and beautiful green eyes. . .
Right when she was about to question Agatsuma's intentions, something hit her and she immediately looked back into the cafe's glass window. She let out a small "Oh!" after realizing the similarities between Inosuke and the lady who owns the bread cafe. Agatsuma let out a breath of relief.
Mitsuri pouts and starts pinching Shinobu's cheek, "Shinobu-chan, I gotta get back now but. . . you know you can always talk to me, alright?"
Shinobu averted her eyes for a second, seemingly contemplating something, then looked back at Mitsuri and held the hand that was on her cheek with both of her hands, "I know, Mitsuri-san."
Mitsuri smiled sheepishly at Shinobu then finally greeted the trio properly, "Hello!! Whoaa, so you guys are Shinobu-chan's underclassmen?? You guys are so cutee~", she squeals.
Inosuke was the first one to retort, "I don't like being called cute". Kamado laughs lightly in response meanwhile Agatsuma is frozen due to his first compliment from a girl.
They parted with each other and waved goodbye. Although Mitsuri didn't leave without asking Shinobu to buy some bread for her.
Shinobu and the trio decided to sit in a four-seat round table near the corner of the cafe. They ordered some light snacks and various drinks to accompany them as they talk.
"Um, so. . . what's actually going on with you and Tomioka-sensei?"
"My, I didn't know you were one to hold grudges, Agatsuma-kun." Shinobu said sarcastically with her hand covering her mouth politely. "Well, let me think for a bit."
Despite her aggressive reply, she still decided to answer them honestly. "I don't want him to die. . .," Shinobu uttered her intention.
Kamado was touched with how solemn she looked. Agatsuma started blushing as he thought of a potential forbidden love between a teacher and student. Meanwhile, Inosuke stopped paying attention seconds ago.
What Shinobu did after surprised them completely as she leans down to the table and crumples the money she had brought out to pay Inosuke's mother,
". . .Because he hasn't paid me back!!"
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Not Inosuke though as he was still spacing out, looking at a fly flapping their wings gracefully instead.
Shinobu continued ranting, "I mean, seriously. Sure, I did approach him first since Mitsuri-san said he offers 'good counseling'. I think what she meant was he's extremely good at lending an ear as he had not much to say to anything that I say. Not that I wanted someone to try to fix my problems anyway because let's be real here, they don't know what the FUCK they are talking about but it still irritates me that he just nods then ends it with a—", Shinobu deepens her voice to try and mimick her teacher's monotone voice, "Oh, that's rough. YEAH!! NO SHIT SHERLOCK!! THEN HE JUST ENDED THE COUNSELING THERE?? WHAT!?!"
Shinobu pants heavily as she poured her heart out. But maybe she poured a little bit too much. When she glances at the trio, they were shaking with both fear and concern. Mostly fear. But let's ignore that part.
"Hhh. . . Sorry, I went too far. So much for being the senior," Shinobu sighs.
Kamado gently shoves Shinobu's drink closer towards her, hinting she should drink. Shinobu smiles, "Thank you, Kamado-san."
"Anyway, I try to befriend everyone but Tomioka-san is the only one I have yet to befriend. He doesn't have friends because he keeps pushing people away. I bet he doesn't even realize it. And. . . he just reminded me of someone in the past. So it just became a challenge midway through. I'm sure he finds me annoying and can't wait for me to graduate," Shinobu scoffs.
"You're lying."
Shinobu looks at Kamado, surprised. After Agatsuma nudged Kamado slightly, Kamado realized what he had said. He apologized immediately, "No, no! Sorry, that's not what I meant to say. What I wanted to say is that. . . I think Tomioka-san appreciates your presence. Like you said, he keeps pushing people away but on that day, he came with you to the swimming park. That says something, don't you think so?"
Shinobu sits still and seem to ponder something deeply. She then stands up and grabs her bag, "Kamado-san, I'm glad I talked to you."
With that, she parted ways with the trio. Kamado and Agatsuma figured it's best they head back home too and so they did.
The next day as they walk together towards school, a hand tapped Kamado's back lightly. They both turn around to see, "Shinobu-san!"
Shinobu waves her hand at them, "Good morning, Kamado-san. Agatsuma-san. Have a good day in school!", then she joyfully hopped to bother a certain messily black-haired low ponytail-ed man in gym clothes that was reprimanding students with bad manners near the school gate.
Agatsuma could only stare at Kamado as he thought Kamado is so sharp when it comes to other people's feelings but never when it's directed to himself. That's part of his charm though.
I hope one day you'll realize my feelings towards you too.
