Chapter 291: Eh?
Chihiro read the moving application to Sakurasou before she looked at the girl in front of her. "Aoyama-san, do you want to move to Sakurasou?"
"Yes, Sensei." Nanami nodded without hesitation.
Chihiro looked at Nanami for a moment and asked, "Do you know what kind of place this is?"
"It's a special dorm with a lot of talented people, right?" Nanami asked.
Chihiro was a bit surprised, but then she nodded. "You're not wrong, but since you understand the situation of the Sakurasou, you should understand how hard it is to live in Sakurasou. You're in the same class as Kanda, right? You should ask him how he felt after he moved out from Sakurasou." She didn't really want to see someone hurt or move out in the middle because they realized the difference in talent and how cruel reality was.
"No, Sensei." Shaking her head, Nanami said, "I have made up my decision, and I..." Her face flushed when she thought about her agreement with Shishio. After all, she would become his maid, and then... Cough! Cough!
'No, Nanami! You can't think of something perverted!'
Chihiro looked at Nanami, who seemed to be preoccupied with strange things on her head. She then looked at Nanami's class and asked, "Say, Aoyama, do you know Shishio?"
"Eh?"
Looking at Nanami, whose face turned red, Chihiro rubbed her temple and felt she needed to talk with her nephew.
---
"Rui-nee?"
Rui, who was eating alone on her desk, turned around and was also surprised to see Shishio. "Shishio-kun?"
Shishio didn't hesitate to approach Rui, who was in the 2nd year class, and sat on the chair right in front of her desk. "Did you transfer to this school? Why didn't you tell me?"
Rui's bleak mood quickly turned into happiness, but she still maintained her blank expression and said, "Surprised."
"...It's the first time I've heard such a plain surprise in my life." Shishio was lost for words and looked at Rui's class curiously. He could see that almost all the students in this class were looking at both of them curiously, wondering about the relationship between the two, but he just ignored them.
"You're not happy?" Rui asked.
"I'm happy. I'm happy. I'm super happy to know that you have decided to transfer to this school," Shishio said plainly.
"Why can't I see that you're that happy, though?" Usually, Rui would see Shishio smiling, but this time, he didn't smile, which made her frown a bit.
"Well, there was a situation." Shishio didn't want to smile in Rui's class since it was troublesome and directly changed the conversation topic. "Still, there aren't any of your classmates who are curious about you, Rui-nee? Isn't the transfer student usually being surrounded and being asked a question?" Even though some of the questions that were asked to the transfer student by other students might be insensitive, it was normal since they were just teenagers. They didn't have enough interpersonal skills that could make anyone feel comfortable. Still, it was necessary to answer those questions since they didn't mean anything bad, and in the place where the transfer student knew no one, the classmates who came and asked them a question could be the first acquaintance on the school where they were transferred.
Still, if someone was a lone wolf and felt comfortable being alone, then it was their freedom to not engage in interpersonal matters inside the class.
However, the price of freedom was huge, and that price was being alone.
Shishio looked at Rui and could see that she wasn't ready for that, and she wanted to get along with her classmates.
"Well..." Rui lowered her head a bit and said, "There are some people on the first break before, but the crowd thin out..."
"Well, it isn't surprising since you often talk as if you're picking a fight with someone," Shishio said with a nod, showing his understanding.
"....." Rui stared at Shishio, and if stare could kill, then it would be her stare at this moment.
"Still, I'm a bit curious, how you mess up, can you tell me, Rui-nee?" Shishio asked curiously.
"..."
Rui rolled her eyes, but then she started to tell how she messed up her first conversation with her classmates.
Listening to Rui's story, Shishio had to admit that this girl was a little too blunt, and at the same time, this girl was also quite selfish. He looked at this girl and understood that this girl had a low EQ.
Being blunt was alright, and there was nothing bad about being truthful, but it wasn't good to hurt someone.
Rui had never considered the feeling of the other party that she talked with, thus resulting in her situation now.
Still, Shishio felt that this side of her was cute, but it didn't mean that other people, especially girls, understood this side of her. "Has it been this way?"
"Um." Rui was a bit depressed, but she nodded as she explained her difference with Hina.
Hina, who was Rui's older sister, had always been so good with people, and she had a lot of friends, considering how friendly she was.
On the other hand, Rui, who had always been so blunt and had never thought too much about the other's people's feelings, blindly mimicked her surroundings without thinking too much and caused a lot of mess here and there in her interpersonal relationship, especially toward friends and classmates.
"It can't be helped. But, seeing how messed up you are, let me put you under my special training, Rui-nee," Shishio said with a smug expression.
"...Ha?" Rui stared at Shishio with a blank expression.
"Okay, stop with that expression." Shishio pointed his finger at himself and said, "In other words, we'll try to practice how to talk with your classmates. I'll pretend to be your classmate and speak to you, and you'll answer me, okay? Let me see how you communicate with your classmates. I'll also tell you how to talk with your friends so this situation won't happen again."
"....." Rui stared at Shishio with a daze, and there was also a tint of blush on her cheeks.
"Got it?"
"Go for it!" Rui said with a blaze in her eyes.
Shishio coughed then tried to mimic a girl's voice. "Hey, hey, Rui-chan, what do you do on your holiday?"
"..." Rui was dumbfounded and said, "If you wear a wig, woman's clothes, and use that voice, no one can tell that you're a boy."
"...Can we not change the topic of our conversation?" Shishio was speechless.
Rui realized that she was in serious training, so she nodded. "On the holiday..." She thought for a moment and said, "...I guess I read books more often than not."
"Heh~ what kind of books?"
"I'm afraid that you wouldn't know even if I told you," Rui said with a blank expression.
"...." Shishio's expression was almost broken, but he still said, "Let's say that you ask the same question to someone and that someone answers the same question as you. What will you feel?"
"What will I feel?" Rui thought for a moment and said plainly, "I don't care much."
"..." Shishio looked at Rui's blank expression and wanted to knock this girl's head somehow. "Still, even if they don't know what kind of book that you read, it is necessary to continue the conversation, at least, don't stop in such an awkward situation."
Rui nodded, then said, "I like "gas, earth, and hope" by Tanaka Maijou."
Shishio rubbed the bridge of his nose and said, "Hmm... I can probably guess that the girls wouldn't know what reaction to take, but well, don't worry. Still, what's important is that you should try to smile." He then continued to act as Rui's female friend and said, "I see~ I love writers such as Kamimura Kiruha, and I often read his work."
"Ah..." Rui showed a forced smile and said, "Those half-assed literary novels where a highly educated riajuu agonizes over love..."
"You know... if I'm really your female friend, then I might flip your table directly," Shishio said with a sigh and thought that this girl was really bad at talking, but at least, this girl could still be saved.
"Is that bad?"
"It's quite bad, but not that bad."
"What's so bad about it? I'm just being blunt, right?"
Shishio looked at Rui and said, "Being blunt or truthful in conversation is good and all, and I don't tell you to be someone else or act so you can integrate with your classmates, but..."
"But...?"
"You should mind your words a bit so you won't hurt the feeling of the other party."
"I won't hurt the other party..." Rui murmured, then asked, "Like how a customer on cabaret shop talks?"
"Why are you mentioning a cabaret shop right now?" Shishio looked at Rui with a confused expression. Still, he didn't really understand what was so good about the cabaret shop and what he knew about that shop was only a place for someone to talk and a drink, which made him quite confused why someone needed to pay to talk with someone. Still, he knew that this girl was joking.
"I am trying hard to talk with you now. Can you at least give me a tip?" Rui asked.
"Why should I give you a tip?"
"Then I'll bring the man in black to beat the crap of you."
"Why did you bring the man in black? What am I? Alien?"
"Please pay up, sir. 100,000 yen."
"100,000 yen? Just to chat with you? Why don't you just sell my limbs?"
"What? Are you slandering my club?"
"Are we going to continue with this joke?"
"Hey, men in black, come over here!"
"Don't call them!" Shishio was wondering why there was such an uncute girl in this world, but...
"Hahaha...!!!"
"....." Rui turned her head and was confused when she saw a lot of her classmates were laughing hard. "Huh?"
Shishio nodded secretly and didn't feel that surprised by this situation.
"What's with you, Tachibana-san? You're so good at jokes."
"What was the short skit that you just had? The cabaret girl and her customer? That's hilarious!"
"What were you practicing, Oga-kun?"
Shishio looked at Rui's classmates and asked, "How do you know my name?"
"Ah, you're quite famous in the 1st grade, after all, so I call your name subconsciously. Is that not okay?" The girl asked shyly.
"...." Rui.
"I don't mind, Senpai," Shishio said politely.
"Then what were you practicing before?"
"No, she said that she wanted to make friends, so we were practicing how to talk," Shishio simply told the truth.
"Then it somehow turns into such a joke?"
"What~? Rui-chan, you wanted to talk?"
"We certainly thought you wanted to be all by yourself."
"Then let's hang out from now on since we also wanted to hang out with you."
"....." Rui looked at her classmates in a daze, showing a shy expression, before she lowered her head and said, "Ah... I don't mind."
They laughed and showed a happy smile when they knew Rui's true personality.
Looking at Rui's classmates who tried to talk with Rui, who was so shy at this moment, Shishio also didn't stay here any longer and walked out naturally without causing too much of a scene, but then, he was a bit dumbfounded when he saw Saki was there, staring at him.
"...."
Shishio didn't hesitate and approached Saki. "Sorry, I was late."
"Um, I can see that." Saki nodded, then looked at Rui. "She's cute."
"You're cuter, Saki," Shishio said with a smile.
Saki snorted and wanted to pull this bastard's ear somehow. "Let's go. I'm starving waiting for you, talking with a beautiful girl in a different class."
"What a coincidence, me too. Still, it's great that we're alike since we're getting hungry at the same time."
"If you say that, then you also do alike with all the girls in this school, right? Do you want to create a harem with all the girls in this school?" Saki asked.
"I have heard that the cafeteria has a new menu. How about we try it?" Shishio said with an awkward expression.
Looking at his awkward expression, Saki snorted, but she didn't say much.
Still, Saki's mood was better after she was coaxed by Shishio, and she forgot to ask who that girl was.
However, Shishio didn't realize that there was someone who had been watching when he had a conversation with Rui before and the expression of this someone was so complicated, but in the end, this someone didn't say anything and returned to his class. Still, this person felt as if he had lost something important somehow, even though he didn't know what it was.
When Shishio and Saki were walking away, Rui talked with her classmates and got used to their cheerfulness. Her expression returned to her usual deadpan expression until suddenly, one of the girls suddenly asked.
"Rui-chan, do you know Oga-kun?"
"I know him." Rui nodded and didn't think too much about this question. Still, she didn't expect that someone would suddenly drop a bomb on her.
"By the way, Rui-chan, do you know that Oga-kun has a girlfriend?"
"Eh?"