The Neat and Pretty Girl at My New School Is a Childhood Friend of Mine Who I Thought Was a Boy

Afternoon class.

“The Heijo-kyo Capital was built back in 710, to imitate Chang’an in Tang Dynasty China, in what is now Nara Prefecture.”

It was the time of Japanese history class, with a somewhat relaxed atmosphere peculiar to the late afternoon.

However, from the seat next to Hayato, a disturbing air was emanating.

“….Hii!~!” [PRN: screeching]

“Haa~…”

He tried to look to the side to see what was going on, but when he noticed Haruki’s gaze, he immediately turned her face away.

Apparently, it made Haruki disgusted and looked at him like he was some thrash in the street.

(…I’m in big trouble.)

The cause is obvious.

++++++++++

It was because Hayato had his eyes glued on the sweat-stained uniform of Minamo Mitake, a peculiar undergarment for girls.

Of course, it’s instinctive for boys of his age to be drawn on to such things, and Hayato hopes she’ll somehow understand and forgive him, but apparently it’s something Haruki can’t tolerate.

“In addition, various systems were reformed, including the taxation system… …This is interesting to compare with the Asuka period that we had last month. The printout I handed over…”

“…Ah.”

It was a print that Hayato didn’t have.

It’s been half a month since Hayato transferred to the new school, and although he’s starting to get used to the class and the lessons, there are still times when he needs help from Haruki, who sits next to him.

“Ah, um, N-Nikaido-san…?”

“…Hmm?”

Haruki, who is in the midst of navel-gazing, exhales a big sigh and gives the printout toward Hayato and pulls the desk closer to him.

(Well, something similar happened to me when I first transferred to this school.)

Hayato is sure that she was in a bad mood right now, but she still helped him for some reason.

“Thank you.”

“…Mou~.”

He remembered that they were somehow the same, and a small laugh escaped from his lips.

But Haruki didn’t like Hayato’s attitude, which made her act like that.

“Here’s the print, but please don’t look at it in the same s*xually suggestive way to that girl.”

“Wha!?”

Haruki’s small but bell-rolling voice echoes well in the classroom as she frowns and turns her head away.

After a moment of silence, there was a burst of laughter.

“Hey, hey, what’s that Kirishima guy doing?”

“Hey, what kind of eyes are those?”

“Kirishima, you know that sexual harassment is bad and not allowed in this school right? C’mon, let’s go back to class.”

“You b*stard….”

While the heat of the laughter didn’t quite cool down, Hayato’s face also heated up in shame and he shrunk back.

Haruki, who was sitting next to him, still turned away and sniffled.

◇◇◇

As soon as the class ended, Hayato was surrounded by boys.

“Hey Kirishima, what kind of eyes did you give Nikaido-san?”

“Isn’t that the girl from your home town and also your childhood friend there?”

“Did you see something so extreme that you couldn’t help but look at her like that?”

“No guys, wait, I’m…”

Their eyes reflected the same color of curiosity, signaling that they would not let him go until they heard something interesting.

The reason for this was Haruki’s attitude earlier.

She is innocent and pretty, even in both literary and athletics she’s good at it, and is kind to everyone.

This was the first time she had spoken as if she was blaming someone.

It would be more difficult not to be interested.

“Well, Kirishima, what exactly did you see in her erotic eyes of hers that flip some switch in you? Did it expose some kind of weird fetish since Nikaido was the one who said that?”

“Even Mori too…”

Suddenly, Mori said something like that, as if to agitate Hayato and the people around him.

“I see. Well, If that’s the case… Actually. I like armpits!”

“I’m actually worried about the line around the ankles.”

“…Collarbones!”

“I don’t care what kind of fetishes you guys have, I’m not…!”

And the topic immediately went to discussing the girls’ body proportions when the boys gathered themselves.

More and more, the conversation went into such strange directions, without the girls’ attention.

The fetish discussion that had started to take place around Hayato’s seat was suddenly getting more lively, when more fuel was added from the person that was sitting next to him.

“It’s boobs, boobs. Kirishima-kun loves boobs.”

“Hey, Haru– Nikaido!

“Hmph.”

It was almost a half-shout.

From the boys, there are voices that are close to cheers, such as “Oh, wow!”, “Well, that’s obvious!”, “The word “boobs” coming from Nikaido-san’s mouth…!”

The girls whispered to each other, “Uwaa~, boys are gross”, “I know Kirishima-kun looks innocent, but… the girl in the photo is… Oh, so that’s his hobby.” Haruki is also among those girls.

The situation became as chaotic as it had been this morning, and Hayato was still at the center of it, again. Becoming the center of attention.

“Give me a break…”

Hayato plops down at his desk with his head in his hands.

The commotion soon developed into a sterile argument between the boys and girls, and they decided to ignore it.

But in the midst of all this, he could hear Mori’s voice, a mixture of surprise and confusion.

“…So Nikaido has that kind of face like that too.”

“Mori…?”

“Oh, Kirishima. No, it’s nothing.”

“……”

When Hayato looked for Haruki to see what was going on, he found her turning a dumbfounded face to the girls.

Her eyes contained a little bit of the mischievous color that Hayato was used to seeing.

(…What is it?)

He felt somewhat uncomfortable.

Is it really just him being the center of the conversation? Or it’s just Haruki that stared at Hayato, scratching her head with one hand, trying to deceive something.

“-Fufu!”

“…Tsk, you b*tch…!”

She showed the tip of her tongue with a somewhat triumphant look, as only Hayato could see.

Strangely enough, seeing it made him feel not so bad.