The next day, Hayato, as usual, greeted his family like a Pervert, then happily skipped his way to school.
If you ask why he was so happy.
The answer was, the manuscript fee had arrived!
Although the soft rice from a fair-skinned, big-chested, pink-haired beautiful girl was fragrant, eating it all the time wasn't ideal.
Along with the manuscript fee came some letters, which were from readers after he had informed the editor of his decision to stop writing and the news was published.
He had squeezed in time to read the other letters last night, and some had already been replied to, ready to be sent out later.
However, there was still one in his backpack, and seeing the handwriting on the envelope, he probably knew who it was from.
It was truly strange to think that in this day and age, someone would still use handwritten letters, though it might also be because he had never left any of his social media accounts.
On the road near the school, amidst the gathering crowd of students.
He looked around.
Unfortunately, he couldn't find a girl wearing a tracksuit over a skirt, or a fiery, active red-haired girl.
So he simply blended into the crowd, moving forward, like standing on an automatic walkway, being pushed along by the tide of people just like everyone else.
At this moment, Hayato remembered his conversation with his father last night.
Jinpei: "Compared to writing books, your part-time job takes longer and pays less per hour, why don't you continue writing?"
Hayato: "There's a complex, interesting reason for this, and this reason frequently appears in our conversations, wrapped in spices, sugar, and adorable things."
Jinpei: "Speak like a normal person."
Hayato: "Wai Bi Ba Bu."
Walking through the school gate, then to the shoe lockers at the entrance, he greeted many friends he knew within the school while walking towards the classroom.
Pushing open the classroom door.
Hayato greeted his classmates.
"Good morning!"
He received an enthusiastic response, which made him even happier.
While replying to his classmates' greetings, he walked back to his seat.
Before sitting down, Hayato noticed Kita-chan two seats to his right.
She was smiling and chatting with her friends, already so happy early in the morning; girls were truly formidable.
Just as he was thinking, Kita-chan turned her head and looked over. Seeing Hayato noticing her, she gave a polite smile.
Hayato also responded with a shallow smile and sat down.
However, the next moment, their interaction was noticed by Kita-chan's friends, and the four girls all looked at Hayato.
The girls' eyes, filled with various emotions, were extremely bright. Several pairs of gazes fixed on him, giving him the feeling of being illuminated by a spotlight.
To their curious stares, Hayato calmly made a peace sign by his face and responded with a grin.
The girls paused, then smiled faintly and withdrew their gazes.
Only Kita-chan glared fiercely at Hayato with an indignant look that said, 'What are you doing?!'
However, her annoyance had just begun when it was noticed by her friends nearby.
The girls laughed and teased Kita-chan.
A Pervert naturally possesses superior five senses, and Hayato didn't even need to consciously listen to hear the conversation over there.
Kita-chan's friends jokingly said to her.
"It's really lovelove."
"Kita-chan's angry gaze is so cute, I've never seen it before."
"Kita-chan, I'm sorry, we dragged you into this."
The voice didn't sound apologetic at all, but rather teasing.
"It's like this first thing in the morning, I'm really envious."
"Wait..."
Before Kita-chan could finish her words of protest, one of the girls, as if inferring something from Kita-chan's hesitant expression, stepped forward and took Kita-chan's hand.
She pulled Kita-chan over, even before Kita-chan could react.
"Don't mind us, Kita-chan, come on~"
Hayato didn't need to listen anymore; a girl was already smiling and pulling Kita over.
"Ishikawa-kun, Kita-chan is all yours."
Her words drew giggles from a few friends behind her. They always held anticipation and curiosity about romance, and when one of their friends started a relationship, they couldn't help but nudge her to speed things up.
Curious, wanting to understand, wanting to give their friend's romance a boost.
No one thought this was malicious.
After all, Kita had said it herself yesterday.
However, Hayato looked at the hesitant Kita and stood up.
"Thanks."
He said casually to that classmate, then took Kita's wrist, and amidst her friends' surprised exclamations, walked out... On the rooftop, in the cool morning breeze of early May, everything here was refreshing and clean, so clean that one wouldn't imagine anyone being there.
Stepping out from the doorway, Hayato stopped, released Kita's hand, and with his back to Kita, said,
"Sorry, this happened again."
"No... it was my fault for not paying attention."
Kita's voice was a little low. After pausing twice behind him, she walked out.
"Besides, didn't Hayato-kun help me out of a difficult situation?"
She quickly adjusted her emotions, smiled, and walked lightly to stand in front of Hayato, looking at him.
"No matter what, Kita sought my help, so how could I ignore her?"
Hearing Hayato's words, Kita blinked in surprise, then dismissed what she had noticed.
Because if she went back now, she would probably be bombarded with questions, and Kita wasn't in a hurry to leave.
Although being with Hayato, with whom she intended to keep her distance, felt strange.
"Hayato-kun..."
She walked to the protective netting, looking at the varying heights of the buildings that blocked the view. As she gazed, a gust of wind blew, and she quickly pressed down on the back of her skirt.
But no matter how fast she was, she only reached out to press after feeling the wind. Realizing she might have exposed herself, she turned to look at Hayato.
Seeing his gaze fixed on her skirt, Kita's voice deepened slightly.
"Hayato-kun, you don't bring me to the rooftop every time just for this, do you?"
Stared at accusingly by Kita, Hayato's expression became a little more serious. Looking at her face, he said earnestly,
"Misunderstanding, this is a misunderstanding. I just like open... spacious places."
Kita bit her lip in annoyance.
She had originally planned to just leave, but looking at Hayato in front of her, something in her heart inexplicably seemed to be persuading her to calm down.
Keeping her hand on her skirt also felt ungraceful. She looked at the tabletop, hesitating whether to sit down.
Hayato pointed to the corner of the wall.
"The sunlight over there seems nice."
Kita looked over. Indeed, there was a small patch of slanted sunlight in the corner.
And by the wall, she wouldn't have to worry as much about exposure.
She nodded and followed Hayato.
But just as she felt Hayato was quite gentle, she heard him say,
"I've failed as a Pervert. From now on, I'll always keep a handkerchief in my pocket."
Although Kita understood what a handkerchief was for, adding the word Pervert made her completely confused, and she immediately asked anxiously,
"What are you planning to do?!"
Hayato leaned against the corner of the wall, looking at her with a frivolous, elegant smile. That gentlemanly, mysterious smile, obliquely illuminated by the sun, was enough to make everyone turn their heads.
But now, only he and Kita were on the rooftop.
Seeing him like this, Kita became even more flustered and called out loudly,
"Answer me!"
...Kita leaned against the wall, quickly relaxing under the warm sunlight. Just as she was slowly letting out a breath,
Hayato glanced at her and said,
"Sorry, things turned out this way."
Kita chuckled softly, looked into the distance, and said playfully,
"It's good that Hayato-kun knows."
And as if seeing that Kita's mood had become calm again, the Pervert gazed at her face and said with a smile,
"It's just that teasing Kita is so much fun. Seeing your adorable appearance, crying out when bullied, I can't help but want you to show that expression more often."
"Hey..."
Kita looked at Hayato in dissatisfaction, but when her gaze met his teasing eyes, she panicked internally and immediately looked away.
She even shifted her feet sideways a bit.
But while her emotions were stirred, Hayato started speaking seriously again.
"Is it really okay?"
Kita didn't follow his words, but felt she was still being teased, and called out angrily,
"Hayato-kun!"
Then, with the unchanging faint smile of the person beside her, her resentment subsided a bit, and she returned to his topic.
"It's okay."
"Is that so?"
"Mm."
"But you were just held captive by the atmosphere?"
"That's because Hayato-kun, you made that strange face!"
"But isn't the main reason that Kita, you reacted so strongly?"
"But ultimately, wasn't it because Hayato-kun, you deliberately acted intimately yesterday!"
"No, no, no, I didn't expect Kita, you would say that."
The two suddenly began to quickly shift responsibility, but in the end, Hayato clearly won.
Kita was speechless.
But Hayato didn't seem proud of his victory; his voice softened.
"Then let's consider this a trial, your first trial to become the kind of person Kita wants to be."
Kita looked at Hayato in surprise.
She wasn't puzzled by Hayato's mention of a trial, but by his words about 'the kind of person she wanted to become.'
She had thought about it, but had never told anyone.
After a moment of hesitation, another thought came to mind, and a sudden worry emerged.
She put on a cunning, inscrutable smile and asked,
"The person I want to become? What kind?"
"Like Ryo, perhaps?"
Hayato deliberately spoke in an uncertain tone.
Kita maintained her smile.
"Ryo-senpai is my idol, after all."
Hayato continued, following her words,
"That's right, you even chose Ryo's style for your bass."
Kita's heart tightened, and she chuckled, lightly pressing her hand to her lips.
"Ah, I've been found out."
Realizing that Hayato understood her better than she had imagined, her gaze flitted away for a moment. She wanted to ask something she was curious about but dared not.
But at that moment, the school's warning bell rang, interrupting her thoughts. She came back to her senses, let out a relaxed sigh, and stood up straight.
"Hayato-kun, let's go back."
But Hayato suddenly asked,
"Kita, you wanted to ask me if I knew..."
Kita jumped in fright. She crossed her hands over her chest and said emphatically,
"I didn't think anything, I didn't ask anything!"
Her resistant demeanor successfully made Hayato shut his mouth.
Seeing Hayato's silence, she quickly walked to the door and headed down the stairs.
Hayato followed her.
Watching Hayato's silence again at that moment, Kita murmured softly,
"Hayato-kun, you're so cunning."
"Because I'm a Pervert."
On the stairs, where only the sound of indoor shoes meeting the ground could be heard, after a long delay, a girl's voice sounded.
"Mm... Pervert."
The two walked down the stairs and headed to the classroom together.