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Chapter 11: Nice Guys Rank Behind Dogs
Good news: Miyamoto Rei had finally found someone to vent to.
Bad news: The person listening seemed to be a heartless android in human skin.
Miyamoto Rei was essentially speechless.
I'm already this pitiful, she thought. Under normal circumstances, shouldn't you be comforting me properly?
Suyan couldn't read minds, but one look at Miyamoto Rei's expression told him exactly what she was thinking.
As for comforting her?
Suyan thought she was dreaming.
He wasn't her father, and they weren't close, so why should he comfort her?
If a woman he actually cared about—like Marikawa Shizuka or Busujima Saeko—were feeling down, he would certainly offer comfort. But as for someone like Miyamoto Rei, a woman he had no feelings for and didn't know well, Suyan felt that spending effort on her was a waste of time better spent cultivating his Nen.
Nice guys could go get in line behind the dogs for all he cared.
Miyamoto Rei grit her teeth and snapped, "No!"
"Is that so? That's a shame," Suyan said with regret.
With that, he slid the extra bento box toward Miyamoto Rei. Clasping his hands behind his head, he lay back, closed his eyes, and entered a state of cultivation.
Although Miyamoto Rei knew she had no reason to accuse him, she was still so angry!
Thus, she could only secretly curse Suyan in her heart: With an attitude like that, you'll never find a partner!
Thinking this made Miyamoto Rei feel instantly better.
After a brief moment of mental gymnastics to claim a spiritual victory, the girl grabbed the bento box Suyan had pushed over. She decided to channel her grief and indignation into her appetite.
"By the way, Miyamoto-san, remember to wash the bento box clean before returning it to me after you finish."
Just as she was about to open the lid, Suyan's annoying voice grated on her ears again.
"I don't need you to remind me!"
Blue veins bulged on the back of her hand as she gripped the chopsticks tightly. Miyamoto Rei took a deep breath and opened the lid. The food inside was already cold. Aside from the pork, the vegetables in the bento looked completely unfamiliar.
I'll just make do and eat a few bites.
She absentmindedly picked up a clump of rice and side dishes and put them in her mouth.
Instantly, her eyes lit up.
Eh? What is this?
This wonderful sensation, like food exploding on her taste buds—what was this magical flavor?
Even though the dish had already cooled down, it was unexpectedly delicious.
Weren't these sliced green peppers, the vegetable Japanese people hated the most? How could green peppers possibly be made into such a delicious dish? And this other thing, looking like shriveled, hearty beans—what kind of vegetable was this?
It was all so delicious.
Miyamoto Rei abandoned her reserved eating manners. Bringing her pink lips close to the edge of the box, she used her chopsticks to shovel large mouthfuls of rice.
While wolfing down the food, she couldn't help but look up at Suyan's face, with features so perfect they looked computer-generated.
Does this annoying guy usually eat this well?
Before long, Miyamoto Rei had finished the entire bento.
She rubbed her round belly with a difficult expression.
I'm finished. I ate so much all at once; now I'll have to increase my exercise later.
Because both Suyan and Marikawa Shizuka were Nen Users, their appetites were significantly larger than average people. Therefore, the bento Suyan prepared for Marikawa Shizuka was actually a portion meant for two normal people.
In other words, Miyamoto Rei had unwittingly eaten more than double her usual lunch portion.
Forget it. Just let me get fat and die. No one cares about me anyway. Miyamoto Rei resigned herself to self-destruction.
Mimicking Suyan, she found a suitable spot nearby and lay down to rest.
Just like that, staring at the azure sky, Miyamoto Rei let her mind go blank and soon fell asleep.
After a while.
Suyan, who was cultivating, suddenly felt a weight on his shoulder.
Opening his eyes, he saw Miyamoto Rei's flaxen-colored head entering his view.
What the hell? Are you using me as a stand-in?
Suyan immediately spoke up. "Miyamoto-san."
Miyamoto Rei shuddered, waking from her deep sleep. Seeing Suyan close at hand, she hurriedly retreated to put some distance between them.
A red flush spread across her cheeks. Miyamoto Rei felt her face burning as if it had just been fished out of magma.
She stole a glance at Suyan's position.
He hadn't moved at all; he was in the exact same spot as before she fell asleep.
Which meant... she was the one who had unconsciously snuggled up to him in her sleep.
But how could that be?
Usually, physical contact—even with her childhood friend Komuro Takashi—was limited to innocent touches. Something like resting her head on a boy's shoulder was something she wouldn't even do in her dreams.
But for some reason, that sensation while she slept had been truly comfortable!
It was like entering her mother's embrace—so warm and full of a sense of security. The negative emotions she had accumulated over the past few days seemed to have been swept away during that nap.
The more Rei thought about it, the stranger it felt.
However, even if Miyamoto Rei thought until her head hurt, she wouldn't figure out that this was actually because Suyan was cultivating his Nen.
Living beings naturally radiate a trace amount of life energy as time passes. This is something the vast majority of people cannot control.
The so-called Nen refers to the technique of controlling this overflowing life energy—Aura—through cultivation.
The act of keeping Aura within the body leads the Nen User to have a body that is generally healthier and stronger than an ordinary person. Simultaneously, the quality of life continuously improves, maintaining youth.
In the Chimera Ant arc of Hunter x Hunter, the Chimera Ants reached a hellish conclusion: The nutritional value of a single Nen User is equivalent to that of 2,000 ordinary humans.
So, Miyamoto Rei's unconscious movement toward Suyan while sleeping was essentially a biological instinct craving the evolution of life essence.
"I know I'm handsome enough to make you lose control, but isn't this a bit much?"
Suyan said with a strange expression, "Let me state this upfront: if you want to sleep with me, it's not like I can't agree. But if you expect me to fall in love with you, you're still far off."
"Being friends with benefits to handle physical needs is fine—after all, you look decent enough—but being a couple? Sorry, I'm not that kind of person."
"I do not! And who wants to sleep with you?! Bastard! Go to hell!!" Miyamoto Rei was furious. Upon hearing Suyan's words, she finally couldn't hold back and raised her leg to stomp on him hard.
Although Miyamoto Rei's strength couldn't hurt him, Suyan didn't have a humiliation fetish, nor did he enjoy being stepped on. How could he let Miyamoto Rei stomp on him?
He raised his hand, grabbed the foot coming toward him, and gave a light push.
Thud.
With her center of gravity lost, the girl immediately sat down on the ground on her butt.
"Ouch."
Miyamoto Rei stood up, rubbing her bottom.
This man was simply heartless.
The girl gave him a resentful look. Seeing she couldn't gain any advantage over Suyan, she picked up the bento box, turned her head, and stormed off.
Suyan ignored her and continued his cultivation.
In the blink of an eye, the school day ended.
It was time for him to go to the Kendo Club to find Busujima Saeko.
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