Although it was a strong suspicion, it wasn't yet at the point where he absolutely had to search her suitcase.
I should try to probe first.
Thinking this, Hayakawa Haku said to Ogata, "Ogata, I've finished tidying up your room. If anything isn't to your liking, change it yourself. If you notice anything missing in the room, tell me, and I'll get it for you."
"Okay." Ogata Rizu nodded.
Hayakawa said, "Then I'll go help Furuhashi unpack."
Ogata, of course, didn't object and continued inspecting her room. Hayakawa then left the room.
Furuhashi was standing in the corridor. Hayakawa walked up to her in a few steps.
"Let's go, Furuhashi. I'll take you to your room."
Hayakawa Haku led the way for Furuhashi and then casually reached out a hand towards the suitcase Furuhashi was holding. "That suitcase looks heavy. You must be tired carrying it all this way. I'll help you with it."
Furuhashi Fumino jerked the suitcase away as if electrocuted, avoiding Hayakawa's hand.
"N-no... no need," Furuhashi Fumino said, stammering with a blush. "I'm just dragging it. It's not tiring."
Hayakawa Haku: "..."
That reaction is too suspicious.
What kind of "contraband" is inside that makes Furuhashi make that expression?
Could it be that... that absolutely unacceptable thing?
High school Japanese literature textbooks.
The thought instantly made Hayakawa Haku's face turn as black as if it had been smeared with charcoal.
No, I can't jump to conclusions just yet.
Hayakawa Haku frowned tightly, deciding to trust Furuhashi one more time.
"This is your room." Hayakawa Haku led Furuhashi into a room.
"Hmm..." Furuhashi walked into the room with some surprise, looking around.
The simple, solid-colored walls had no unnecessary decorations. Thick red curtains hung over the large window, and when drawn, they would block all sunlight, maintaining privacy well. In the corner of the room was a clean, tidy blue large bed, with the quilt and pillows neatly arranged, making one feel comfortable just looking at them. Beside the bed was a solid wood red nightstand with a pot of purple Phalaenopsis orchid on it, the fragrance pleasant but not overwhelming.
Looking at the rest of the room, there was a wardrobe, a desk and chair, and air conditioning—everything one could need. Furuhashi even felt it was no different from her own bedroom, not at all like a typical guest room, and the size wasn't small either.
Furuhashi couldn't help but feel confused. She had looked at Ogata Rizu's room, and although the layout was different, the size was quite similar—both were large bedrooms. Coupled with Hayakawa's own bedroom, the house seemed quite spacious.
"Hayakawa-kun," Furuhashi Fumino couldn't help but glance at Hayakawa. "Your house is quite big."
"Is it?" Hayakawa looked around. "I think it's just alright."
"Then this must be your parents' room... or is Rizu's the one?" Furuhashi Fumino remembered that Hayakawa's parents were out of town, so she naturally assumed one of the two guest rooms must belong to them.
"My parents?" Hayakawa Haku was surprised and said without hesitation, "They don't live here."
"Huh?" Furuhashi Fumino looked confused. "What do you mean?"
"I'm not from here; I just came here for school," Hayakawa Haku explained. "My hometown is in Tokyo. My mother is there. I came here by myself."
"Eh?" Furuhashi Fumino's eyes widened. She was puzzled. "Then why didn't you attend school in Tokyo? Why did you specifically come here? Isn't Tokyo good? It's the biggest city."
"Because I heard the exams at this high school were difficult, so I came." Hayakawa Haku said expressionlessly. Enrolling in this high school was the biggest regret of his life. Aiming for the top spot on both lists only to suffer a crushing defeat. Leaving now would be deserting the battle, which would shatter his fighting spirit. I should have gone to another high school. Nearby Toyosaki Academy or Suimei High School would have been fine. There definitely wouldn't have been literature and science geniuses to torment me.
"That reason..." Furuhashi Fumino was speechless. "Hayakawa-kun is really dedicated to studying."
"Hmph, of course." Hayakawa pursed his lips and smiled smugly.
"Renting an apartment and coming all the way from Tokyo for school," Furuhashi Fumino said with great emotion, looking at Hayakawa with a touch of admiration. "Hayakawa-kun, that's amazing. I definitely couldn't do that."
"It's nothing. You get used to living alone after two days," Hayakawa Haku shook his head. "Also, this house isn't rented; it's owned."
Furuhashi Fumino: "Hmm? Hmm? Hmm?"
"I'm not used to renting. It feels like living in someone else's house, which is uncomfortable," Hayakawa Haku explained while surveying the room to see if anything else needed tidying. "So, I bought this apartment. It was already renovated, so I moved in right after buying it. It's very convenient. I'll sell it after I graduate from high school."
Furuhashi Fumino: "..."
There it is—a completely different set of values from mine.
He bought an entire apartment just because renting felt uncomfortable? Since when did the housing prices in this city become so cheap?
A child from Tokyo... rich people indeed. Furuhashi Fumino felt a little emotional, but she wasn't overly envious. After all, her father was a university professor, and her family was quite wealthy, owning a two-story villa in a very prosperous neighborhood. The comfortable life she had growing up meant she didn't need to envy others' living conditions.
"I've talked too much," Hayakawa Haku glanced at Furuhashi and reached out again, casually trying to grab her suitcase. "I'll help you unpack your room."
"No need." Furuhashi Fumino was instantly alarmed. She snatched the suitcase away from Hayakawa's hand, blushing as she said, "How can I trouble you, Hayakawa-kun? I'll unpack it myself."
"But..." Hayakawa Haku's heart sank. He forced a smile, as if clutching the last straw. "At least give me your toiletries. I'll put them in the bathroom for you."
"I'll go put them there myself later!" Furuhashi Fumino urged Hayakawa to leave the room with her hand. "Alright, Hayakawa-kun, please go out now. I need to unpack my room."
Bang! The door was tightly shut, and the sound of the lock clicking followed.
Hayakawa Haku stood outside the door: "..."
In that instant, his face was pale, with disappointment, unwillingness, shock, and anger all displayed simultaneously.
Sh-She... she betrayed me!
Such a strong reaction of refusal—she doesn't want me to see what's in her suitcase.
Undoubtedly, that woman—Furuhashi Fumino—is hiding a repulsive evil in her suitcase.
That incorrigible wicked girl!
Hayakawa Haku's expression became extremely grim, even bordering on hatred.
Do you know how hard I've been trying to teach you science?! Don't you know how hopeless your brain is when it comes to science?! Don't you know how difficult it is to teach you just a few formulas?!
I've worked so hard, hoping for just a tiny bit of reward. Is that too much to ask? Yet you still couldn't resist secretly studying humanities! Isn't that a betrayal of me?!
"Gugagagagaga~" Hayakawa Haku let out a dark, twisted laugh. His eyelids were lowered, and his squinted eyes showed a dangerous gleam.
It looks like I must expose you.
In the living room, the three of them sat together at the study table. It looked no different from their daily after-school study sessions in the library. However, while Hayakawa Haku seemed to be earnestly studying problems, his mind was miles away.
How should I expose her...? Hayakawa Haku pursed his lips, deep in thought.
Inner Theatre initiated.
"Among you," Hayakawa Haku said casually, lowering his head and clasping his hands together at the center of the study table, "someone has betrayed me."
Instantly, the girls' expressions varied. Ogata Rizu was full of confusion and indignation, while Furuhashi Fumino gasped and leaned back in panic, almost falling to the ground. In the hand hidden under the table, she tightly gripped a humanities textbook, symbolizing sin and betrayal.
Hayakawa Haku: "..."
Let's scrap that one. First, it's too ridiculous. Second, the ending is bad. I don't want to be crucified.
I guess I'll have to sneak into her room in the middle of the night to check her suitcase—a so-called night raid.
Although it sounded incredibly embarrassing, Hayakawa Haku was resolute. He had to go and look.
But tonight was definitely out. Since Furuhashi and Ogata had only just arrived, they would be full of vigilance and unease. Hayakawa knew this common sense: raiding on the first night would almost certainly get him caught.
Anyway, we're staying for two weeks, so there's no rush for a day or two. And with me in the house, it's impossible for her to sneak in any humanities study.
As long as I check her room every now and then, she won't be able to look at any humanities material.
Hayakawa Haku smiled slightly. Ogata Rizu leaned closer. "Hayakawa-kun, can you help me with this problem?"
"Where, where?" Hayakawa smiled and lowered his head to look. "Let me see. It's like this, look at this question: why did the old man save so much money..."
Just after explaining a reading comprehension problem to Ogata Rizu, Furuhashi Fumino immediately clung to him.
"Hayakawa-kun!" Furuhashi Fumino was panic-stricken and incoherent, showing the horrified expression of someone seeing something terrifying. She shoved her notebook in front of Hayakawa. "Look at this problem quickly! There's no way this kind of problem can have an answer! How can you prove two completely unrelated lines in such a simple figure are parallel?!"
"I'm here, I'm here," Hayakawa quickly comforted Furuhashi Fumino, who was terrified by the math problem. He glanced at the problem and said without hesitation, "It only looks difficult. You just need to draw an auxiliary line between these two points."
"Auxiliary line?" Furuhashi Fumino was instantly full of question marks. "What is that?"
"Huh? You don't know what an auxiliary line is? Seriously?" Hayakawa Haku looked at Furuhashi Fumino with horror. It was hard for his good-student self to imagine that someone who didn't know what an auxiliary line was could be a 16-year-old high school student, and even a "talented" student in the eyes of the teachers.
"Uh... that," Furuhashi Fumino said guiltily, "Is that something absolutely necessary to know?"
"Learning high school math without knowing auxiliary lines is like taking a language test without knowing how to write an essay," Hayakawa Haku said with a pained expression, looking at Furuhashi in disappointment. "What do you do in math class? Your math teacher definitely covered this."
"I... I," Furuhashi Fumino felt her heart was pierced by Hayakawa Haku's disappointed gaze. Her heart was instantly filled with a sour emotion. She immediately covered her head and huddled onto the desk. "Aahhh! I'm so terribly sorry! Someone like me who can't control her drowsiness during math class probably doesn't deserve to pursue astronomy! I might as well be buried in the Eurasian steppes and eaten by cattle and sheep!"
Furuhashi Fumino shrieked and covered her head in self-reproach, gradually shrinking in on herself.
Hayakawa Haku: "..." There she goes again.
Every time he criticized her, she acted as if she were about to die, so he had to comfort her, or he felt she would hang herself the next second.
"Uh... it's okay. Learning it now is the same," Hayakawa Haku hesitated for a long time before coming up with an excuse for Furuhashi. "Maybe your teacher didn't cover it much, or you were just drowsy and missed it. Listening to me explain it now is the same."
Furuhashi Fumino's head moved slightly from where it was buried in the desk, revealing a pair of uneasy eyes, like a timid squirrel hiding in a tree hole.
Hayakawa Haku hesitated, reached out and gently rubbed Furuhashi's head to comfort her, then urged, "Don't just lie there. Come and look at the problem you gave me..."
Furuhashi Fumino then lifted her head and cautiously moved closer to Hayakawa to listen to his explanation on how to draw an auxiliary line.
"The number of auxiliary lines is usually small. Ninety percent of the time, one is enough to solve the problem, and rarely is it two. Problems requiring three or more are basically nonexistent, as they would be too complicated..." Hayakawa Haku finished the problem and then gave Furuhashi a quick lesson on the application of auxiliary lines. "All in all, less is more. Auxiliary lines must directly lead to the answer for the problem."
"I never thought something like that existed..." Furuhashi Fumino nodded, dizzy. "Math is so hard."
"It's like this when you first encounter it. After seeing a few problems, you'll find it normal," Hayakawa Haku encouraged Furuhashi Fumino. "I believe you can definitely learn it."
I have to encourage her. If you don't learn it, I'll be in trouble.
Furuhashi Fumino looked at Hayakawa with some surprise. She turned her head and whispered, "I can't believe Hayakawa-kun would comfort someone... that's incredible..."
"Rude?" Hayakawa Haku glanced at Furuhashi and ignored her comment, intending to look at the next problem. However, he suddenly faintly sensed someone looking at him from behind and immediately turned around.
Ogata Rizu was doing problems with her head down, looking as if nothing had happened.
Was it my imagination?
Hayakawa Haku scratched his head and continued studying.
It soon came time for dinner.
"Let's take a break." Hayakawa Haku saw that both of them looked exhausted and had clearly reached their limit. He took the lead and put down his pen. "We'll continue after dinner."
"Oh, oh, okay." Furuhashi Fumino put down her pen with a look of immense relief. She looked at Hayakawa and asked, "Hayakawa-kun, what are we having for dinner?"
"You two decide." Hayakawa Haku leaned on the sofa, stretching lazily. "We can order takeout or go out to eat. I've been busy all day, so I'm a bit lazy to cook. Let's take it easy."
"How about our Udon noodles?" Ogata Rizu suddenly suggested, then looked up at Hayakawa with an expectant, cute face. "Our Udon noodles are delicious."
"Hmm?" Hayakawa Haku was surprised. He said casually, "Sounds good."
"Stop!!!" Furuhashi Fumino nearly fainted from being angered by their back-and-forth. "What are you two doing?!"
"What's wrong, Fumino?" Ogata Rizu puffed out her rosy cheeks. "Don't you like my family's Udon?"
"You don't even like this national food?" Hayakawa Haku looked at Furuhashi with some surprise. "You're quite a picky eater."
I really want to bite this man.
Furuhashi Fumino showed a kind smile, then said to Ogata Rizu, "That won't work, little Rizu. That's your family's Udon! What if your father comes to deliver it? If he does and finds you here, wouldn't that be a huge problem? That's why I said no. It's not because I don't think your Udon is delicious."
"Oh, right, that's true." Ogata Rizu immediately understood and quickly lowered her head to apologize. "Sorry, Fumino. I didn't think of that."
"Oh, right." Hayakawa Haku also realized it. "I didn't think of that either, haha."
Furuhashi Fumino: "..."
"Then let's go out to eat." Hayakawa Haku thought for a moment. "There's a good BBQ place nearby. If you want to eat there, I can take you."
Furuhashi Fumino and Ogata Rizu exchanged glances, both looking unenthusiastic. Clearly, neither girl wanted to eat greasy BBQ at night.
"Then let's just order something random. Just not Ogata's Udon," Hayakawa Haku opened his phone app. "Come over and take a look."
Furuhashi Fumino and Ogata Rizu leaned in from the left and right, looking at the dazzling array of food on the takeout app.
"There are quite a few food options near my house, since there's a gourmet street nearby," Hayakawa Haku said. "Ogata's Udon shop is there too."
"It's a shame we can't eat our Udon," Ogata Rizu whispered, a hint of slight disappointment and loss in her tone. "It's really delicious and affordable."
"Uh..." Hayakawa Haku looked at the dejected little face of the science loli. "I can go eat it another time. You can treat me then, Ogata."
"O-okay." Ogata Rizu nodded repeatedly at the thought, grabbing Hayakawa's arm with anticipation in her eyes. "I'll treat you, Hayakawa-kun. When you do, you can just..."
"This shop looks pretty good." Furuhashi Fumino suddenly touched Hayakawa's arm, pointing to a shop.
"Where?" Hayakawa looked at the name of the shop Furuhashi pointed to on his phone, and his face instantly became odd. "Maid Café & Delicious Omelet Rice with Delicious Magic Cast (Maid Delivery and Personal Spell Casting)."
"You..." Hayakawa Haku couldn't help but look at Furuhashi, asking expressionlessly, "Omelet rice, maid, delicious magic. Which one did you have your eye on?"
"Mgh..." Furuhashi Fumino's face was beet red. She quickly lowered her head and whispered, "I was just a little curious what the delicious magic looked like. Don't look at me like that..."
Saying this, the literary girl covered her face in shame. In reality, that wasn't it at all. She had just panicked and randomly clicked on a shop without noticing what kind of shop it was, and it turned out to be something this bizarre.