"Shirakawa, you seem to know me well." Hayakawa Kashi’s eyes twinkled with a hint of implication.
"Not at all." Shirakawa Sawahei denied flatly.
No wonder she’s the top student, far from a mere pretty face. With her keen observation and deduction, she devised such a trick to test him.
Indeed, intelligent women can be truly terrifying. In comparison, Tachibana Tomoku, also a naturally gifted student, handled these matters much better, never testing him in such ways.
Pretty, obedient, and well-behaved. That’s why Miss Tachibana gets special treatment from Shirakawa Sawahei, not without reason.
"Hayakawa, you’re also a campus celebrity. A lot of people know information like your birthday, right?"
"But you’re talking about my real birthday."
"You celebrate two birthdays?" Shirakawa Sawahei looked utterly confused.
"It must be a coincidence..."
Shirakawa Sawahei refused to admit anything. Hayakawa Kashi didn’t pursue further, perhaps her true intention was just to draw a conclusion. Whether Shirakawa Sawahei admitted or not didn’t really matter to her.
She put away the workbook and raised her chin slightly: "Shall we continue?"
Shirakawa Sawahei said begrudgingly, "No need. You win."
"Thank you." Hayakawa Kashi smiled with charming eyes, feeling very accomplished making Shirakawa Sawahei admit defeat.
"You probably won’t go abroad." Shirakawa Sawahei thought aloud.
"Why should I go abroad?" Hayakawa Kashi said matter-of-factly, "Even if I were, there’s no reason to apply to a music school."
"I don’t even like piano."
This line, coming from someone with level 4 piano skills like Hayakawa Kashi, sounded utterly unconvincing, more like bragging.
Shirakawa Sawahei felt relieved upon hearing this.
Good, she’s not going abroad. It’s fine to stay in Neon for a few years. Once I rise to prominence, I’ll release you from being a study partner.
By then, you can go wherever you want, and I won’t stop you.
"If you don’t like piano, why did you agree to play a piece for that professor?"
"I just didn’t like piano, I didn’t say I don’t like benefits."
"You really don’t take the sanctity of music seriously." Shirakawa Sawahei commented.
"Would Shirakawa dedicate himself to music for its own sake?"
The Scorpio Little Arrogant felt satisfied with that answer.
"If you don’t mind, could Shirakawa give me a bit of personal space to change clothes?" Hayakawa Kashi said, "This is my personal lounge, after all."
Shirakawa Sawahei awkwardly replied, "Oh," and turned to leave.
Just as he was about to say something, a female voice called from behind, "Hayakawa, are you in there?"
Shirakawa Sawahei found himself blocked at the door by a girl. After coming in, she first seemed surprised to see Shirakawa Sawahei, then quickly accepted it. She turned to Hayakawa and asked, "Hayakawa... The mirror has been brought over, where should it go?"
"Lean it over there for now." Hayakawa Kashi pointed to a spot.
Two boys carried in a full-length mirror at the girl’s call, and as Shirakawa Sawahei couldn’t leave for the time being, he casually helped them out.
Hmm, the mirror was quite heavy.
"Really sorry, Hayakawa, the previous mirror in this lounge broke and hasn’t been repaired yet... Sorry for delaying your makeup! Truly sorry!"
The ones who appeared to be the support staff seemed unbothered by Hayakawa Kashi, who simply smiled and said it was okay, there was plenty of time.
Shirakawa Sawahei, on the other hand, rolled his eyes internally. Hayakawa Kashi was clearly not one to care much for makeup, but given her looks, she certainly had the capital to be natural. A makeup mirror to her probably served more to try on the dress she’d wear on stage later.
The support staff bowed and backed out, with Hayakawa Kashi glancing at Shirakawa with a light laugh, "Shirakawa, do you want to see me change clothes?"
Are study partners nowadays all about giving others social death experiences?
With a head full of black lines, he exited, and after taking only a few steps, he heard a noise from behind. Shirakawa Sawahei instinctively turned back to look, realizing that the mirror that had been leaning against the wall seemed unstable, slightly tipping towards Hayakawa Kashi.
Without thinking, Shirakawa Sawahei lunged forward, tackling Hayakawa Kashi to the ground.
With level 4 fighting skills, his speed and strength were beyond ordinary, and this dive saved Hayakawa Kashi from beneath the mirror.
Hayakawa Kashi let out a muffled groan, followed by the mirror’s thunderous crash, shattering everywhere.
Of course, Shirakawa Sawahei wasn’t the kind of protagonist in a harem anime to end up in embarrassing situations from a single fall. In this rescue operation, he neither accidentally kissed Hayakawa Kashi nor touched anywhere inappropriate, earning him the title of a gentlemanly hero.
The sound of the mirror shattering alarmed the nearby support staff, but just as a girl peeked in and saw the scene, she quietly closed the door again, gazing wistfully at the sky, and sighed.
Is tricking the dog to be killed still a trend now?
If I learned such a big gossip secret, would Shirakawa kill me to silence me...
Shirakawa Sawahei didn’t linger in the Scorpion Little Arrogant’s soft embrace, in truth, there wasn’t much to linger over... He quickly stood up, brushed himself off.
"No need to thank me."
The study partner gave Shirakawa Sawahei a complicated look, with words left unsaid.
He thought Hayakawa Kashi was shocked, and reached out to help her up. Surprisingly, Hayakawa Kashi merely stared at his hand without speaking.
Feeling something was amiss, Shirakawa Sawahei tentatively asked, "Hayakawa... you?"
Hayakawa Kashi, expressionless: "It’s broken."
"...What’s broken..."
Shirakawa Sawahei looked utterly baffled, "Are you made of porcelain?"
"When you tackled me, you landed on my left hand." Hayakawa Kashi explained, expressionless.
Miss, can you not be so calm, it’s quite terrifying, why does it feel like I’m the one whose hand is broken!
"...Doesn’t it hurt?"
Shirakawa Sawahei explained, "I was trying to save you..."
"I figured." Hayakawa Kashi said quietly, "Two seconds before I saw the mirror slowly falling, I figured it out."
"...You noticed the danger?"
"Why couldn’t I?" Hayakawa Kashi’s expression was complicated, "I was watching the mirror the whole time."
Shirakawa Sawahei suddenly felt very awkward.
He recalled a clip he saw previously from a domestic TV series in Huaxia: a little boy chased a balloon onto the street, and a car was still hundreds of meters away, yet the female lead rushed to hug him tightly to "save him"...
The little boy’s inner thought: Let me go, I can still survive.
Hayakawa Kashi’s inner thought: Don’t save me, I can dodge.