"…So?"
Miyajima Tsubaki's sweet breath impacted Hayato's skin.
The two of them were in the same room… To be precise, after entering the same room, they were still extremely close.
"Then, come on," Hayato said flatly.
He sat on the tatami where he was.
The mountain morning was refreshing.
Moreover, the room still retained the cool temperature from last night's air conditioning.
Miyajima Tsubaki could still feel the anxious, unbearable, burning hot sensation rising from her lower abdomen.
She tremblingly reached out her hand, her slender, jade-like fingertips trembling as they reached towards the young man.
Until she grasped that dark, long, and quite thick…
A lock of hair.
"I'm counting on you."
Hayato handed the purple hair tie back to Miyajima Tsubaki, who was standing behind him.
"…"
Ha… Miyajima Tsubaki took the hair tie and couldn't help but let out a breath.
Hayato certainly knew how to tie his own hair, but he was not a girl after all, and did not possess overly professional techniques; the hairstyle he tied in Chapter 63 was even mocked by Nanao Akane. Therefore, these days, his hair has always been styled by a… girl (?).
The reason for the question mark is that while Nanao Akane is certainly a 'girl,' if Yayoi were to be strictly called a 'child,' it would be somewhat misleading.
"Why don't you cut your hair?" Miyajima Tsubaki asked, having somewhat calmed herself, and lectured him in an elder's tone: "Trying to look cool?"
Her gaze slid down slightly.
First, she could see the boy's slender, fair neck, and as her gaze moved forward, past his shoulders, she saw his distinct collarbones.
The boy was wearing a bathrobe now.
When girls—and this included Miyajima Tsubaki—wore bathrobes, they would usually tighten the collar somewhat to prevent accidental exposure. But the boy clearly had no such awareness, so her eyes almost fell into his chest through the slightly open collar.
"...Ouch," the boy gasped, taking a cold breath.
Miyajima Tsubaki reacted then, quickly loosening her fingertips, then covering her crimson fingertips with one hand.
Oh dear, for a middle-aged obasan, this was a bit too stimulating~?
"Sorry..." Her tone, however, remained dignified.
Her eyes, though, still uncontrollably looked at the boy's exposed chest. *Hiss, hiss*~
This time, however, she paid attention to the pressure, not causing the boy any discomfort.
"In Tokyo, getting a haircut means you have to get a membership card, and getting a card means they recommend various hair stylists. It's too much trouble," Hayato said indifferently.
Besides, if a male lion went to a barber and told Teacher Tony to trim his hair slightly shorter, Teacher Tony could turn him into a kitten. Anyway, Baiqiu High School doesn't care about hairstyles; he just relies on a hair tie to get by.
Miyajima Tsubaki showed no reaction.
"Trying to look cool" was a false premise on this boy.
Handsome people look good with long hair, and even look good with a shaved head. The boy was such a person.
"...From now on, don't mention the name 'Sawamura' anymore," Miyajima Tsubaki said softly, as if pleading.
"Why?"
"...You're asking despite knowing."
"This is the mess you made by lying to me." Hayato's tone sounded indifferent, but his words showed that he was exceptionally vengeful: "Who told you to lie to me."
"...I was..." Miyajima Tsubaki wanted to explain.
But there was no way to explain, because the boy had experienced the entire 'incident'; he knew her intentions.
In other words, even a full explanation wouldn't change the boy's mind.
"Moreover," Hayato said coldly and calmly, "you don't reply to my messages instantly."
"..."
How to put it, it was such an emotionless way of expressing himself.
Yet, Miyajima Tsubaki somehow heard a feeling of 'resentment.' Or perhaps it could be said that compared to 'lying,' 'not replying instantly' seemed to anger the boy more.
Miyajima Tsubaki's lips trembled, and she couldn't help but blurt out:
"Are you a child!?!"
"A flourishing seventeen-year-old." Hayato made a peace sign with a blank expression: "I'm more than twenty years younger than you, junior. Envious?"
It was false to say she wasn't envious.
Miyajima Tsubaki, who had never cared about her age, had recently been feeling anxious about this issue. Twenty years younger... even ten years would be good. She often had such empty thoughts.
Miyajima Tsubaki bit her lip, truly wanting to viciously pull his hair and make him howl.
But, considering the outcome, she still compromised and said:
"Then I'll reply to your messages right away from now on, okay?"
But the key was that they hadn't had much communication recently. He really was a child, so vengeful.
Annoying child.
Miyajima Tsubaki lingered, looking at the boy's exposed chest several more times, attempting to calm her anger in this way.
She suddenly thought, if it were an equivalent exchange, then her current actions... wouldn't they be like an old man molesting a high school girl?
The boy smiled.
"Miss Tsubaki, you really don't understand anything," Hayato said.
"...Huh?" Miyajima Tsubaki indeed didn't quite understand. "Is that... not okay?"
Hayato sighed leisurely but didn't answer.
Listen up.
Pay attention, Teacher Lin's lecture has begun. In such a situation, you certainly can't answer like Miss Tsubaki.
That kind of answer would only be met with the counterattack: "Later? You still want a later!?
At this time, you should go a step further.
—"Then how about I actively message you from now on?"
↑, that is the perfect answer, worth a hundred points.
"...Ah, that feels good."
Miyajima Sakura's sweet sigh came from the doorway: "...Oh, is Nanao-san still sleeping?"
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