Even with chuunibyou, let's learn together!

Page 111

While carefully pouring hot olive oil over the fish, Nino Nakano picked up the kettle next to her to brew tea and introduced it to Hayakawa: "This is salted seaweed tea. It has a mild, slightly salty taste and is perfect for drinking after a hangover."

Hayakawa nodded and looked at him intently.

"Then add rice to the bowl, pan-fry the salmon until it's half-cooked, pour in some kelp tea, add seaweed and plum, and finally sprinkle some chopped green onions on top, and it's done."

Nino Nakano smiled and showed the bowl to Hayakawa: "It's called Nakano-ya Autumn Limited Salted Salmon Ochazuke. The slightly sour plum and mild saltiness are very appetizing."

Hayakawa looked down at the plain rice and tea in her bowl, her expression shifting slightly: "It looks pretty good, but this is only enough for one person, right? What about Yotsuba and the others?"

"Them? They're not a problem,"

Nino pouted and said, "Just heat up the leftover cake rice from last night, and then add some vegetarian curry."

"..."

Hayakawa remained silent, sensing that Nino seemed to treat her sisters rather poorly.

"Alright, you can take your food and go ahead."

Nino squinted at Hayakawa and chuckled, "If you don't have enough to eat, just tell me. There's still salmon and rice, and the tea is hot. With these three, it's actually quite easy to make something."

After saying that, she handed the bowl to Hayakawa.

"Ninai,"

Hayakawa took the bowl but didn't touch it. Instead, she looked at the pink-haired girl in front of her and said, "When I was in the living room just now, Yotsuba told me that you helped me take a bath last night. Now you've specially cooked for me. I really don't know how to thank you."

"No...it's nothing, I just cooked something on the side."

Nino Nakano subconsciously took a step back under Hayakawa's gaze, her earlobes slowly turning red. She hadn't expected Hayakawa to bring up the topic of bathing so casually; normally, they should have tacitly avoided mentioning it.

"I've really caused you a lot of trouble,"

Hayakawa remained calm as he reached for his wallet: "If possible..."

"It's really nothing,"

Nino thought Hayakawa was about to say something again, and waved her hand in a panic, saying, "Just reply to my LINE messages faster from now on."

Hayakawa stopped reaching for his wallet and said apologetically, "Sorry, I'm often studying at home, so I rarely check my phone. I'll pay attention to the message screen next time."

"It's alright, it's alright, studying is the most important thing."

Seeing this, Nino smiled slightly, then suddenly thought of something and said, "I do have something I need your help with. After you finish eating, could you come to my room?"

Hayakawa: "Huh?"

……

At the dinner table, the five sisters and Hayakawa enjoyed their lunch.

"Uh, Nino."

Nakano Ichika glanced at the omelet rice that was clearly leftover from yesterday in front of her, then at the delicate ochazuke in front of Hayakawa, and fell into deep thought. She couldn't help but look at Nino and ask, "Isn't something wrong?"

"Hmm? What's wrong?"

Nakano Nino ate her meal, her face expressionless.

"Why is Hayakawa-san eating different food than us? That's not fair!"

May, standing nearby, said somewhat resentfully that she couldn't accept others eating better than her.

"Hayakawa-san is a guest, and she has a headache. Do you all have headaches too?"

Nino retorted irritably, "Didn't I eat the same things as you guys?"

May fell silent, but her eyes remained fixed on the beautifully fried salmon in front of Hayakawa. She licked her lips slightly, the thought of taking it with her constantly swirling in her mind.

Hayakawa took in everything, and while the others were chatting and not paying attention, he quickly put the salmon piece on Satsuki's plate, then lowered his head and continued eating, pretending that nothing had happened.

Hayakawa never cared what he ate, whether it was liquid food or compressed rations, it was all the same to him. But he knew that the clothes he was wearing were May's, so if she wanted to eat them, then so be it. Anyway, he always refused to indulge his appetite.

"..."

Nakano Satsuki paused for a moment, then blushed slightly and wanted to return the food, but she was afraid of being discovered, so she could only lower her head and eat.

May's face flushed slightly, and she felt extremely ashamed. She felt no gratitude whatsoever towards Hayakawa, and even felt a little annoyed. She had only glanced at him "slightly," so why did he give it to her directly? Didn't that make her look like she was greedy?

Besides, if you use your own chopsticks to serve me food, isn't that an indirect kiss? I can't refuse, so it's completely not worth it.

"Well."

In May, she ate the fish with mixed feelings and didn't say another word during the entire lunch break.

Miku was also silent. Her mind had been replaying the morning's events like a movie since morning, making her feel dazed even while eating.

She secretly glanced at Hayakawa across the table, hoping he would come home soon.

……

After dinner, Miku went straight upstairs to her room, while the others rested on the sofa downstairs.

"Um…"

Nino nodded her chin at Hayakawa, gave him a wink, and then went upstairs.

Hayakawa thought for a moment, then followed Nino upstairs under the watchful eyes of the other girls.

"them…"

Yotsuba looked confused and asked blankly, "What are we going to do?"

"This... Ah!"

Seeing this, Ichika felt both anxious and heartbroken. She couldn't bear to see her younger sister so heartbroken, so she quickly said, "Something must have happened."

Something must have happened.

May suddenly leaned over and looked at Ichika and Yotsuba with a serious expression: "Ichika, Yotsuba, have you noticed something?"

Ichika's heart skipped a beat: "What is it?"

Did May discover something? That would be terrible.

"Didn't you notice..."

May looked serious and said in a deep voice, "Is Nino very good to Hayakawa?"

Upon hearing this, Ichika Nakano's expression vanished.

That's it? Anyone with eyesight can see that.

Chapter 155 I dare not forget

Ichika was speechless, but she pretended not to know and said, "No, Nino has always been like this, hasn't she?"

"No!"

Upon hearing this, May shook her head vigorously and said decisively, "Nino wasn't so gentle with others before. She didn't talk to boys at school. Unlike just now, she even made a separate dish for Hayakawa-san."

As May spoke, she couldn't help but show a hint of grievance. Making elaborate meals for boys and feeding leftovers to her girlfriends—is that something a human being should do? In the end, she even received pity from Hayakawa, which was utterly humiliating.

"That's because Hayakawa is handsome."

Ichika said expressionlessly, "Think about how Nino looked when she saw those popular male idols in TV dramas. Do you still find that strange?"

"...Hiss, that makes a lot of sense,"

Nakano Satsuki was momentarily stunned, muttering, "Does Nino really care that much about looks? Being a looks-obsessed person is not advisable. Personality is the most important thing. Only 10% of a person's good qualities are on the outside, while the remaining 90% are on the inside."

"Well, don't say that. Looks and personality are both important."

Ichika, with the air of someone who's been through it all, saw that May still looked unconvinced and gave an example: "If a very nice teacher, Hikawa Tsunasaka, suddenly pursued you, would you agree to date him?"

"Forgive me for refusing!"

May felt a chill run down her spine when she thought of the gorilla teacher. She said in a terrified voice, "Don't talk about such scary things. That teacher is terrifying. He often physically punishes his students."

"This is just to make you understand this principle. Appearance is also a part of a person. Whether you like someone's inner qualities or their appearance, these are both reasons to like that person."

Ichika said with a hint of smugness, "See, you just can't accept Hikawa-sensei."

"I suddenly realized how important appearance is. It seems that even when dating, you need to be at least presentable."

Nakano Satsuki nodded with lingering fear, then looked at Ichika resentfully and said, "Ichika, you told me something so scary that it frightened me. I might have nightmares tonight. Take responsibility for that!"

"Huh? Hahaha!"

Ichika was slightly taken aback, then laughed: "What responsibility do you mean by 'responsible for'?"

"You're responsible for putting me to sleep!"

"No way!"

……

"Your room seems a bit empty."

After Hayakawa entered Nino's room, he was stunned by the spotless walls and stared at them for a long time.

It wasn't that he disliked clean walls; in fact, his room had plain walls without any wallpaper. But Nino's emptiness gave him the feeling that something had been pasted on the walls and then torn off, which made it feel strange.

"I put up some decorations before, but I felt they weren't nice these past few days, so I took them off."

Nino Nakano was secretly glad that she had hidden those celebrity posters beforehand; otherwise, she might have been looked at strangely if they had been discovered.

"That's it,"

Hayakawa didn't pay much attention and said to Nino, who was sitting on the bed, "So why did you call me over? Is there something you want to say?"

"This...actually, it's me."

Nakano Nino looked at Hayakawa with a hesitant expression, as if she wanted to say something but stopped herself.

"Ah."

Hayakawa looked at Nino calmly, her gaze as clear as a spring, her pretty face innocent and pure. The morning breeze swept across the balcony, bringing a touch of autumn dampness. Hayakawa saw the community pond behind Nino ripple with shimmering water, like a firefly in the night.

After stammering for a long time, Nino finally took out an earring tool from the drawer: "Actually, I want to get my ears pierced, but I'm too scared to do it myself, so I'd like to ask you to help me."

Hayakawa frowned slightly, took the earring tool from Nino's hand, looked at the sharp round needle, and then glanced at Nino's fair and delicate earlobe. He felt a little uncomfortable and asked without thinking, "Are you going to get this?"

"Yes…"

Upon hearing this, Nino's heart, which had been racing due to being alone with Hayakawa, immediately calmed down. Instead, she felt an unprecedented sense of peace and said softly, "Because all my friends in class play this, I thought it would be nice for me to play it too."

Nino's voice was so faint it was almost a whisper. Hayakawa felt the girl's words were utterly weak, and he didn't understand this desire to please others.

At that moment, he thought of Riju Ogata. She was a child with very low emotional intelligence, often doing inappropriate things in inappropriate situations. However, she would never hurt or wrong herself to accommodate others. Even though Hayakawa harbored a thousand malices towards her, he still felt he could accept this.

No matter what, you must not lose yourself.

"Let's not fight anymore,"

Hayakawa thought for a moment, put down the earring tool in her hand, and suggested, "It might not look good, and it will definitely hurt a lot."

"I know that too."

Nino Nakano also looked hesitant. Seeing Hayakawa put down the earring tool, she seemed relieved and said with a sigh of relief, "Actually, I also think it definitely won't look good. Besides, if I get one earring, I'll have to get the other one too. And what if it bleeds and gets infected? So after thinking about it carefully, I think I'll postpone it for now and talk about it later."

Hayakawa: "...So you called me up here just to convince yourself through me."

"Don't say that."

Nino blushed instantly, then reached into the drawer again, pulled out two movie tickets, handed one to Hayakawa, and said shyly, "This... is for you."

"This is?"

Hayakawa glanced at it; it showed a scene of a man and a woman embracing, clearly a romantic movie.

"It's a newly released movie called 'White Vanilla,' and it's said to be very well-received."