"Guh-ga-ga-ga-ga-ga-ga~"
Just as Hayakawa Haku was letting out a dark, twisted laugh, looking like he was about to mutate, a cute girl with a long side-fringe, wearing headphones around her neck and black stockings, who looked somewhat gloomy, walked by. She immediately saw Hayakawa Haku's grotesque expression and heard his eerie laughter.
I sense human malice…
Nakano Miku thought silently, then called out, "Excuse me, classmate?"
"Hah?" Hayakawa Haku snapped his head around, his black-hole eyes landing on Miku, startling her. Her delicate body trembled, and a look of fear appeared on her pretty face.
N-no good, what is this? So scary!!
Nakano Miku looked at Hayakawa Haku with dread, her chest rising and falling rapidly. Being naturally timid and shy, meeting such a "monster" made her instantly want to flee.
However, just a second before she could turn to run, the "monster" spoke.
"You…" Hayakawa Haku looked at Miku's face, paused slightly, frowned in thought, and said, "Are you Two, or Three?"
"You know me?" Nakano Miku instantly calmed down, puzzled, then immediately realized. "No, you've met my sisters."
"Something like that." Hayakawa Haku nodded noncommittally. "I am Hayakawa Haku."
"I am Nakano Miku from Class C." Nakano Miku also nodded slightly and introduced herself.
"Mhm, hello." Hayakawa Haku replied calmly, pulling his gaze away from the girl.
Why are these five sisters popping up one after another? It feels like I'm collecting some kind of rare card set. I'm about to complete the quintuplets collection.
However, upon closer inspection, while the five sisters had identical faces, their temperaments differed greatly. For example, Yotsuba—a single glance was enough to see annotations like "youth" and "vitality" on her; in short, the sporty girl. In contrast, Itsuki was more serious in character. As for Ichika, Hayakawa Haku had no comment; he always maintained that attitude toward people who were keen on romance.
As for the girl in front of him, the feeling Hayakawa got was one of gloom, frailty, and fragility. She clearly lacked firm conviction and was definitely not material for a student.
Well, let's give her a Learning Index of 45.
Hayakawa Haku made a rude internal assessment, then asked, "What are you here for?"
"Mr. Yamamoto from Class C asked me to come here," Nakano Miku whispered. "We don't have enough round logs to build the cooking platform for tonight, so he sent me to ask your class for a few logs."
"Is that so? Then I'll take you." Hayakawa Haku thought for a moment and stood up. Afraid the rice would burn if he left, he motioned to a nearby classmate and asked him to keep an eye on it.
"OK, but hurry back. I have things to do, too." The classmate glanced curiously at Nakano Miku next to Hayakawa, agreed, and sat down in Hayakawa's original spot.
"Got it, thanks." Hayakawa Haku nodded and walked away with Miku.
Nakano Miku watched this scene with a deep hint of envy in her eyes.
"They're right here." Hayakawa pointed to the stacked pile of wood. "Go ahead and take them."
"..." Nakano Miku walked over in silence. After hesitating, she wrapped her arms around one end of a log. Taking a deep breath, she pulled with all her might, managing only to lift one end; the other remained on the ground. She couldn't lift it at all.
"Uh…" Hayakawa Haku was slightly taken aback, realizing something was wrong.
The logs weren't so big that they couldn't be carried by one person, but they definitely weren't light enough for one person to carry comfortably. Normally, at least two people should be sent to carry them. Why was only one girl sent, and why did they need several?
"Did they only send you alone to get them?" Hayakawa Haku looked at Miku's struggle, feeling a little speechless. "What is Mr. Yamamoto doing?"
"It has nothing to do with the teacher," Miku managed to drag the log two steps with difficulty. Hearing Hayakawa's question, she whispered, "Actually, Mr. Yamamoto asked Furuhara-kun to come with me, but that boy suddenly said he had something to do and ran off on the way, asking me to go by myself. So…"
"And you agreed?" Hayakawa Haku's mouth curled up in a mocking sneer.
Nakano Miku slowly lowered her head upon hearing this, then nodded. She silently continued to drag the log, portraying the perfect image of an easily bullied, honest person.
Ah, so this kind of person exists.
The quiet, invisible classroom member. Even when openly bullied, they only dare to nod and acquiesce. They are practically born to be bullied. She has a weak personality but, unfortunately, was born with a desirable body. I can almost see her future pathetic state: weak and helpless, being forcefully stripped by a few people, filmed, and used for entertainment.
Hayakawa Haku looked at Miku in front of him with a touch of melancholy. The five sisters really do have completely different personalities. This girl is entirely unlike Ichika, Yotsuba, and Itsuki.
Truly pathetic~ It's precisely because of this personality that she is the scum-bug of human society.
Hayakawa Haku's expression became one of pity.
"How many do you need to move?" Hayakawa asked indifferently, his hands in his pockets, making no move to help.
After all, temperamentally, he was ruthless, the type to stop at nothing to achieve his goals. Helping others was completely unrelated to him. On the contrary, he currently wanted to treat Miku as a source of amusement to ridicule—that would be truly enjoyable.
Nakano Miku was silent for a moment, then whispered, "Five…"
Hayakawa Haku stopped talking because he realized he was about to have more trouble.
Looking at Miku's slow, struggling pace, and recalling that Class C's base was quite far from here, moving five logs back and forth would probably take an hour, if not more. And given her state, her arms would definitely be sore, and her hands would surely blister.
"Sigh… fine." Hayakawa stepped forward expressionlessly, placing the other end of the log on his shoulder. "I'll help you move them. It won't take long."
"Ah… thank you…" Nakano Miku was slightly surprised, then looked up, her eyes subtly shimmering. She spoke softly, "Thank you, Hayakawa-kun."
She had truly been disheartened just now. Just lifting the log, Miku instantly realized she absolutely didn't have the male strength to carry it on her shoulder; she could only drag it with her hands. Dragging five logs would not only take forever, but her hands would likely be shredded.
Luckily, someone offered to help…
Miku looked up and secretly glanced at Hayakawa. The face that had been so frightening a moment ago suddenly seemed gentle, as if he had transformed into a friendly, respectable hero from the Sengoku period, eager to help others.
"..." Hayakawa Haku was internally displeased, but his face remained calm. "It's nothing."
Damn it, I really didn't want to get involved in this chore.