Chapter 374: Chapter 371: Will You Hate Me?
At the moment when everyone held their breath, Shirakawa Sawahei had already locked eyes with the Little Arrogant. As his body slowly stood up, everyone gasped collectively, as if the temperature on the entire basketball court had dropped a few degrees.
The Black Hearted Lolita and the Slacking Girl clenched their little fists. Judging by the atmosphere, anyone could see that Shirakawa Sawahei was definitely going to end up in a Kiss Caream with Hayakawa Kashi. This was a situation neither the Little Lolita nor the Slacking Girl wanted to see.
Kiss someone else if you must! But to kiss the Black Hearted Woman! Am I invisible to you or what!
Everyone thought Shirakawa Sawahei would naturally wrap his arm around Hayakawa Kashi and complete this momentous Kiss Caream that could go down in school history. However, to everyone’s surprise, the male lead in the frame seemed to be held back by something, pausing for a moment.
Shirakawa Sawahei’s expression turned slightly surprised along with that pause. Fortunately, the Evil Little Arrogant didn’t stop with him and maintained her calm and aloof smile. She passed by Shirakawa Sawahei, went straight to the Black Hearted Little Girl, gently lifted Asano Nazuki’s chin, and bent down to leave a kiss.
The Black Hearted Lolita was stunned.
The entire audience was also stunned.
Miss Kaori gave a faint smile at the camera, then turned and left the area.
"Oh my~ Hayakawa and Asano... ahhhh... I’m shipping this couple!"
"So sweet, it turns out yuri is the real deal? How can such beautiful girls be left to two guys! The gods really listened to my daily prayers..."
"What nonsense are you praying for every day? But it really is a feast for the eyes... one is beautiful, the other is cute..."
"Then what about Hayakawa and Shirakawa? I still think this couple is worth shipping..."
"Then just ship them both, how about Shirakawa in a 1v2?!"
The Black Hearted Little Girl still had a blank expression on her face, seemingly unable to process the recent turn of events.
The Black Hearted Woman... wasn’t she going to kiss the pretty boy?
Why... did she suddenly come over and kiss me? Although I did mentally say to let go of that pretty boy... but I never said it was for me...
What exactly happened? Why did the pretty boy suddenly stop moving... I was planning to backstab them while they were kissing...
Slacking Girl: That was a false alarm... false alarm...
Whining Monster: +1...
Shirakawa Sawahei remained silent and expressionless, thanks to the Little Arrogant’s natural and smooth actions just now. No one, including the Black Hearted Lolita beside him, noticed anything unusual at that moment.
Outside the Kiss Caream’s frame, Little Transparent gently tugged on his sleeve.
This small gesture made Shirakawa Sawahei freeze momentarily, interrupting the original plan to perform an act with the Little Arrogant. The Little Arrogant went with the flow, using the Black Hearted Lolita as a scapegoat to end this Kiss Caream.
Tachibana Tomoku lowered her head, and even after Hayakawa Kashi left and the camera turned back to the game, she still hadn’t released Shirakawa Sawahei’s sleeve.
It was as if... she was holding onto some invisible thing, afraid that if she let go, it would disappear.
"I-I’m sorry... Shirakawa,"
The girl’s small apology was quickly drowned out by the surrounding noise. Shirakawa Sawahei, who had been paying attention to her, heard this sentence and remained silent for a moment, unsure of how to respond.
It seems... there’s nothing much to reply...
No big deal? From what position... can I reassure Tachibana that it’s no big deal?
The action of Little Transparent left him very surprised and puzzled, as he had thought that if anyone was going to hold him back from his staged kiss with Hayakawa Kashi, it would be Asano Nazuki... He didn’t expect it to be this usually well-behaved and cute study princess...
Tachibana... is she afraid of something?
Afraid... that I’m really going to be with Hayakawa Kashi?
After a while, it seemed like Little Transparent’s emotions gradually stabilized. She sneakily peeked at Shirakawa Sawahei’s face through her fingers, noticing that he didn’t seem angry or impatient, and she sighed in relief.
"Shira... Shirakawa?"
"Hmm?"
The girl’s pure and cute eyes were full of unease. Her little face blushed as she tentatively spoke, "Just now..."
"Indeed, Hayakawa kissed Asano just now, which was quite shocking... were you also scared..."
"Ah? I... I..."
Tachibana nervously blinked, seemingly wanting to say something, but hesitated. Shirakawa Sawahei saw the unease in her heart and comforted, "Is it okay? Are you not used to facing such a big camera shot?"
Little Transparent gently shook her head.
Not being used to the gazes of many people... is only part of it; the other part... the other part...
She instinctively wanted to avoid the situation, to let it pass, but then remembered the promise she silently made in her heart back when the flowers bloomed in the Calligraphy Club...
Tachibana bit her lip, lifted her eyes, and locked onto the gaze of a certain old player, softly saying, "Um..."
"What’s up?"
"Actually, I just secretly held onto Shirakawa."
"..."
Shirakawa Sawahei was momentarily at a loss for words. Given Little Transparent’s soft nature, he thought it best to let the matter pass without further stimulating her. He planned to ask her about it once she calmed down, but he didn’t expect her to bring it up herself.
Now, it seemed he couldn’t just pretend not to know and let it slide.
He thought for a bit, finding the development a bit unexpected but ultimately positive... at least it might answer his confusion... why did Tachibana suddenly hold onto me...
"I... I just..."
The girl took a moment to collect herself, eyelashes fluttering, and suddenly asked, "Shirakawa, do you hate me?"
"Do you think... I’m troublesome?"
Shirakawa Sawahei was caught off guard for a second: "No, I wouldn’t."
I’ve even managed the Black Hearted Lolita and the Slacking Girl? You’re the most well-behaved study princess, and you’re worried about being troublesome? Have you ever really considered the feelings of the other two genuinely troublesome study princesses?
"Really... not?"
He couldn’t help but sigh a bit amusedly, a gesture that made Little Transparent inexplicably anxious, afraid of the next words out of Shirakawa Sawahei’s mouth being something like ’annoying’.
"Have I ever lied to Tachibana?"
"Eh... no..."
"Then that’s settled," Shirakawa Sawahei said, "If Tachibana won’t change, then neither will I."
"I won’t change... and Shirakawa won’t either..."
So... no need to continue being anxious, afraid that Shirakawa will leave...
The girl softly repeated this sentence to herself, as if gaining some kind of strength, and then lifted her head to smile, "Just now..."
"Nothing happened, really."
"Really."
"Mm. Nothing at all."