Seeing this, Shikime Natsu came to a halt.
He did not immediately step forward to intervene, but rather casually leaned against the edge of a nearby wall, intending to observe a bit further how Karuizawa Kei would handle things from here.
After all, Shikime Natsu was perfectly aware of Karuizawa Kei's past.
Faced with this kind of sudden collision, would Karuizawa Kei — for the sake of maintaining her own disguise — choose to keep up that unreasonable gyaru posture of hers, putting on a domineering front, and not even offer up the most basic of apologies?
Or would Karuizawa Kei make a different sort of choice altogether?
A flicker of light passed through Shikime Natsu's pale-gold eyes.
He very much wanted to use this opportunity to find out whether this faux-gyaru Karuizawa Kei — who had wrapped herself in a thorny shell purely to protect herself — had truly taken the advice he had once given her to heart.
Ahead of him.
Karuizawa Kei looked at the girl she had inadvertently knocked to the ground, standing frozen on the spot for the briefest of moments.
The girl who had been bumped over was Morofuji Rika of Class C.
At this moment Morofuji Rika sat slumped on the ground. She wore a rather plain-looking pair of glasses, and her hair was tied up into a somewhat childish bun. Her head was lowered, and her whole posture conveyed someone at a complete loss for what to do.
No matter how one looked at her, the air this Morofuji Rika gave off was rather gentle and meek — even, one could say, the very picture of someone easy to push around.
If it had been the previous Karuizawa Kei, faced with a girl who looked this easy to push around, she would surely, without hesitation, have just walked away outright — even if she herself had been the one at fault.
Because what Karuizawa Kei needed to maintain was the persona of a gyaru no one wanted to mess with. Bowing her head to apologize was obviously not something she would do, and might in fact... push the blame onto the other party.
If Karuizawa Kei really had done that, it would in all likelihood have brought down some entirely unnecessary trouble on her own head. Though Shikime Natsu wasn't in Class C, he did know a bit about some of the interpersonal relationships there.
Morofuji Rika was on fairly close terms with the few Class C gyaru girls including Manabe Shiho. And those three girls — at least from what Shikime Natsu understood — were if anything more like proper gyaru than Class D's own three-girl gyaru clique, and considerably more aggressive on top of that.
If Karuizawa Kei had today, here, picked on Morofuji Rika without any reason at all, she would have, without question, kicked over a hornet's nest.
In short, the trouble Karuizawa Kei would have faced by then would have been far from small — it might even have triggered a repeat of her most-dreaded bullying nightmare.
Out in the corridor, after that brief pause, Karuizawa Kei quickly took action.
She did not, as she would have before, put on her overbearing, intimidating posture. Instead, surprisingly, she simply crouched down on the spot.
She stretched out a hand and, of her own initiative, pulled Morofuji Rika — still sitting in the middle of the floor — back to her feet.
Then, Karuizawa Kei not only helped her gather up the things she had dropped, but lowered her head and personally voiced an apology to Morofuji Rika.
Faced with Karuizawa Kei's voluntary apology, the gentle-natured Morofuji Rika naturally didn't make any fuss about it. The two of them exchanged a few simple words and then parted ways.
The whole exchange unfolded with remarkable harmony.
Shikime Natsu, leaning against the wall, watched the entire scene play out, taking it all in.
He took a sip of the iced drink in his cup, the corners of his lips curving into a faint smile.
As far as Karuizawa Kei's performance just now was concerned, Shikime Natsu's overall impression was fairly satisfied.
At the very least, it proved that Karuizawa Kei really had taken the words he'd once said to her clearly to heart.
Back during that PE class, Shikime Natsu and Karuizawa Kei had been locked together inside the equipment storage room. It was while they were trapped there that Shikime Natsu had come to learn of Karuizawa Kei's past — and had then offered her some advice. And at the time Karuizawa Kei had agreed to follow it.
So now, this could be taken as proof that Shikime Natsu hadn't been wasting his breath after all.
Once Morofuji Rika's figure had disappeared from sight, Shikime Natsu finally made his unhurried way over in Karuizawa Kei's direction.
"Kei."
When he was still a few steps away from her, Shikime Natsu called out Karuizawa Kei's name.
Karuizawa Kei, who had just been about to turn and continue on with her aimless browsing, suddenly heard that familiar voice from behind her.
Her body gave a small twitch, and then, with something like delight in her face, she turned around.
When she saw that young man dressed in casual clothes, drink in hand, looking at her with a soft, warm smile — that little face of Karuizawa Kei's, which only moments ago had carried a hint of preoccupation, instantly blossomed into a remarkably bright smile.
"Natsu!"
She called out to Shikime Natsu in a brisk, lilting voice, and then greeted him with perfect, natural ease.
The light shining in those eyes of hers formed a sharp contrast to her usual attitude in class toward the other boys — that aloof, can't-be-bothered manner of hers.
Shikime Natsu walked right up in front of her, his gaze sweeping around the area surrounding her, and then in a casual tone, he asked.
"How is it that today you're all on your own?"
He looked at Karuizawa Kei, voicing his slight puzzlement.
"How come I don't see Maya or Chiaki here with you?"
In the ordinary course of things, Karuizawa Kei — as one of the core members of the Class D girls' little clique — always had Satou Maya and Matsushita Chiaki trailing along inseparably at her side.
For her to be all on her own like this today was, in fact, a rather rare occurrence.
Upon hearing this string of questions from Shikime Natsu.
Karuizawa Kei didn't think too much of it; she went ahead and explained to Shikime Natsu directly.
"The two of them both have their own stuff to deal with today."
"Maya said she wanted to go to the beauty salon on the cruise ship to get a treatment done, and Chiaki had other plans of her own — so, that's why I ended up just wandering around the shops here by myself."
After listening to her, Shikime Natsu gave a slight nod, thought for a moment, and said:
"Ah, so that's how it is."
He paused for a beat, looking into Karuizawa Kei's clear blue eyes, and then suddenly the topic took a sharp turn.
"Speaking of which..."
"Just now — Kei, you were the one who accidentally bumped into that Morofuji-san from Class C, weren't you?"
Hearing this completely out-of-the-blue remark from Shikime Natsu, Karuizawa Kei couldn't help but feel her heart skip a startled beat.
Her pretty eyes went slightly wider; she had never imagined that Shikime Natsu had actually witnessed what had just happened.
But right after that, a sense of relief welled up inside Karuizawa Kei's heart.
Thank goodness — when she'd been faced with Morofuji Rika just now, she had made the right call. If... if she'd taken one look at Morofuji Rika and, seeing how easy a target she looked, had simply walked off without saying a word.
If that really had been the case, then with Shikime Natsu having witnessed the scene, he would surely have been pretty disappointed in her — and then probably ended up disliking her, wouldn't he?
Being disliked by Shikime Natsu — that was something Karuizawa Kei did not want, not even a little.
Especially since Shikime Natsu also knew her past. If she had done the exact same kind of thing to someone else that that group of people had once done to her in the past, then she herself would surely have been disappointed in herself too, right?
At that thought, Karuizawa Kei let out a small breath of relief.
She lifted her head, looked at Shikime Natsu, with a clearly visible, unconcealed openness in her eyes, and spoke up to him.
"That's right."
"But I made sure to apologize properly to Morofuji-san just now, you know. After all, I wasn't watching where I was going, and I knocked someone else over — apologizing is only the right thing to do, isn't it?"
Looking at Karuizawa Kei wearing this expression that suggested she was just a little bit hoping to be praised.
Shikime Natsu couldn't help but laugh a little.
"Mm, I saw."
"Looks like you really did take the things I said to you in the equipment room to heart, Kei. Well done."
Hearing this straightforward bit of praise from Shikime Natsu.
Karuizawa Kei's cheeks took on a faint blush.
She smiled and said.
"But of course."
"Anything you've said to me, Natsu — how could I possibly forget it?"
After saying that.
Karuizawa Kei suddenly seemed to realize something.
Her gaze began to wander surreptitiously to either side of Shikime Natsu, as well as behind him; those eyes of hers rolled around as if searching for somebody.
Seeing this looking-this-way-and-that posture of hers.
Shikime Natsu raised an eyebrow, and with a hint of amusement, asked:
"What's the matter? What are you looking for, Kei?"
Karuizawa Kei pulled her gaze back, then lifted her head to look at Shikime Natsu and asked.
"That... Natsu."
"Are you, today, also by yourself?"
Shikime Natsu looked at her and answered without hesitation.
"Yeah, I'm on my own."
Hearing this crisp answer from Shikime Natsu.
Deep inside her heart, Karuizawa Kei felt it leap with a thump — and a flash of barely-concealed delight lit up in those pretty eyes of hers.
This was perfect!
The Shikime Natsu of right now wasn't with any of those several officially-acknowledged girlfriends of his!
Whether it was Kamuro Masumi, or Shiina Hiyori, or Sakura Airi and that newly-added Morishita Ai — none of them were by his side!
And on top of that, neither Satou Maya nor Matsushita Chiaki was around today either.
For Karuizawa Kei, this honestly felt as good as hitting the jackpot.
But that light at the bottom of Karuizawa Kei's eyes had only flashed briefly there before vanishing.
Even if Shikime Natsu wasn't, for the moment, with any of his girlfriends, maybe next second he was going to turn around and go look for someone else.
And besides, looking at his leisurely getup and the drink in his hand — when he had come across her here a moment ago, it had to have been just a chance meeting while he was strolling around with nothing in particular to do.
He hadn't come looking specifically for her.
At that thought, a tiny ripple of disappointment rose up in Karuizawa Kei's heart.
She looked at Shikime Natsu and, doing her best to keep her tone as natural as that of an ordinary friend, asked.
"So... where are you planning to head next, Natsu?"
Shikime Natsu took a sip of his iced drink, his expression relaxed as he answered.
"I don't really have any particular destination in mind either — I'm just wandering around the cruise ship to kill some time, that's all."
Once he'd finished, Shikime Natsu's gaze settled on Karuizawa Kei's face.
He looked at this girl who, at the moment, looked just a little lonely, and naturally the suggestion came out:
"Since you're on your own at the moment too, Kei."
"How about... we go look around together?"
Hearing this invitation that Shikime Natsu had extended of his own accord.
Once again, an unrestrainable flash of delight passed through Karuizawa Kei's eyes.
Being able to be alone with Shikime Natsu, being able to walk around the shops together with him — that was a very, very good thing.
Only — Karuizawa Kei now suddenly had a new worry. After all, Shikime Natsu was already a man with four formal, official girlfriends.
If, while she was strolling around the cruise with him, they happened to run into any of those girlfriends of his, what was she supposed to do then?
Just imagining a carnage-room scene of that kind was enough to make a person feel suffocated.
And besides, surely Shikime Natsu would put the feelings of his girlfriends first, wouldn't he?
When that happened, would she just be left standing there all by herself?
If something like that really did occur, Karuizawa Kei's pride simply could not bear that kind of scene.
Catching the way Karuizawa Kei's expression kept shifting, Shikime Natsu gave a small laugh — of course he understood perfectly well what was weighing on Karuizawa Kei's mind at that moment.
Naturally, Shikime Natsu didn't put any of it into words. He just let the corner of his mouth lift into a gentle smile and continued to speak to Karuizawa Kei.
"Kei, do you know of anywhere on this cruise ship that's a good spot to sit down and have a chat?"
Although Shikime Natsu basically knew what facilities were on the ship and which spots were the better ones, even so, Shikime Natsu chose to hand the initiative over to Karuizawa Kei.
"It's my treat today."
After hearing these words from Shikime Natsu, a glimmer of joy flashed through Karuizawa Kei's eyes. "Sit down and have a chat" — that meant...
"Mm!"
Karuizawa Kei nodded vigorously, and said to Shikime Natsu.
"There is! I know that at the far end of this deck of the cruise ship, there's a dessert café with a really nice atmosphere — and the view from inside is really lovely too."
"Then let's head there."
Shikime Natsu gave a nod.
After that, with Karuizawa Kei leading the way at a slightly bouncy pace, the two of them walked side by side toward the end of the corridor.
Before long, Karuizawa Kei had brought Shikime Natsu into that elegantly decorated dessert café full of retro charm.
Because it was still morning break time, most of the students were out on the deck or in the entertainment area enjoying themselves — so there weren't many guests in the shop, and it was actually very quiet.
The two of them sat down opposite each other in a two-person booth by the window.
Karuizawa Kei expertly called over a server and placed their order.
Once she'd finished ordering, Karuizawa Kei passed the menu over to Shikime Natsu sitting opposite her.
Shikime Natsu casually ordered a black coffee, and then sent the server on her way.
In the time while they were waiting for the desserts and coffee to be brought to the table.
The two of them sat on the comfortable sofa and, with the soothing light music being played in the shop as backdrop, began chatting in a relaxed, on-and-off manner.
Most of the time it was Karuizawa Kei who did the talking, sharing some of the gripes and amusing moments she'd had over the past few days on the deserted island, while Shikime Natsu listened quietly, only occasionally chiming in with a word or two.
The atmosphere came across as relaxed and natural.
It wasn't until the server had brought their coffee and desserts to the table, and once again departed, that —
Shikime Natsu picked up the black coffee in front of him and took a light sip.
Then, he set the coffee cup down. Those pale-gold eyes of his looked straight at Karuizawa Kei, who was just about to dig into her strawberry mille-feuille.
"Speaking of which, Kei."
"Do you remember, back when we were in the equipment storage room — the thing I once told you about?"
"It was right at the end, when you and Maya and the others were getting ready to leave."
Hearing Shikime Natsu say this, Karuizawa Kei's hand — holding the little fork — paused in mid-air without her even realizing it.
The scene from that time quickly came rushing back into Karuizawa Kei's mind: she had confided to Shikime Natsu about her past experiences, and then... her emotions had gotten a bit out of control. Of course, none of that was the important part — the important part was the last sentence Shikime Natsu had said to her.
"Of course I remember."
Karuizawa Kei said in a low voice.
"What Natsu said back then was... that you had a way to treat the scar on my body."
The moment her own scar came back to mind, Karuizawa Kei's face couldn't help but show a few traces of bitterness. After all, Karuizawa Kei knew better than anybody how difficult something like that was to get rid of — most likely, it would only be by spending enormous amounts of money that it could even be lightened.
At the very least, it wasn't going to be the kind of thing that could be solved as easily as Shikime Natsu had said.
So in Karuizawa Kei's own thinking, the words Shikime Natsu had said to her that day had probably been spoken simply to soothe her emotions — she didn't actually believe Shikime Natsu could do anything of that sort.
Which was why, in the time after that day, Karuizawa Kei hadn't brought the matter up to Shikime Natsu of her own initiative — she didn't want to put Shikime Natsu in an awkward spot.
But now... now that Shikime Natsu had brought it up again, that had instead left Karuizawa Kei a little flustered, not quite sure how she should respond.
"Mm, fair enough."
Shikime Natsu gave a nod. He of course understood what sort of misgivings Karuizawa Kei was having. After all, to hear from the mouth of an ordinary high schooler that he could treat someone's scar — no matter how you sliced it, the whole thing sounded utterly fantastical, and getting anyone to believe it was very nearly impossible.
After all, this wasn't exactly some script where high schoolers go off and save the world.
Karuizawa Kei looked at Shikime Natsu, the corners of her mouth pulling into a somewhat forced smile, and then began to explain to Shikime Natsu.
"That, um..."
"Actually, I... I'm the one who just forgot about it."
Karuizawa Kei looked away — not daring to meet Shikime Natsu's gaze — and went on, stammering a little as she fabricated her excuse.
"Besides... besides, when I see you around school, Natsu, you're always going out and having fun with those girlfriends of yours — you always look so busy."
"So..."
"I just thought I wouldn't go and bother you about it, Natsu."
After saying all that.
Karuizawa Kei quietly let out a sigh of relief inside.
She thought to herself — the excuse she'd come up with should sound passable enough, right? Pretty much a reasonable, plausible explanation.
After all, in the school as it was now.
For most of those girls who quietly nursed a crush on Shikime Natsu but, because he already had so many girlfriends, had chosen to back off and not actively approach him — the true thoughts in their hearts probably looked pretty much the same as this.
After all, with so many adorable girls already around Shikime Natsu, and Shikime Natsu being only one person who had to face several adorable girls at the same time, he was bound to have to set aside time for each of them. The last time when she and Satou Maya and the others had been chatting with Shikime Natsu, he had clearly only had one girlfriend — and now somehow there were four already...
Which meant his time would only be even more scarce.
Just thinking about it left Karuizawa Kei's mood pretty complicated. If she'd known earlier, she should have teamed up with Satou Maya and the rest of them and made her move sooner.
____
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