Su Yan wasn't particularly interested in the so-called anime heroine, Miyamoto Rei.
However, he was quite curious about why she was hiding alone on the school rooftop, crying.
He was bored anyway, so he figured he'd treat it as a bit of entertainment.
Besides, the extra bento had originally been prepared for Marikawa Shizuka. Since she had taken the day off, he couldn't finish it all by himself anyway.
This bento wasn't enough for two meals either. Even if he took it back to eat for dinner, wouldn't he still have to cook something?
"You!"
Hearing Su Yan's words, Miyamoto Rei's face turned red with anger.
This wasn't an invitation to lunch; he was clearly rubbing salt in her wounds!
Miyamoto Rei truly wished she had a spear in her hand right now so she could skewer the bastard in front of her.
Seeing Miyamoto Rei starting to boil over, Su Yan immediately interrupted her before she could snap. "Not interested? Then forget it. Consider it unsaid."
Hearing this made Miyamoto Rei even angrier, but she couldn't easily blow up at him. She shot Su Yan a fierce glare, huffed, and turned to leave.
Su Yan didn't care. Once she left, he sat back down and continued devouring his meal.
After leaving the rooftop, Miyamoto Rei hurried toward the school cafeteria without stopping.
Whether it was out of hunger or rage, her pace was significantly faster than usual.
She soon arrived at Fujimi Academy's cafeteria.
However, the lunch counters were all uniformly displaying signs that read 'Sold Out'.
Seeing that lunch was a lost cause, Miyamoto Rei was about to leave.
Then she spotted her childhood friend, Komuro Takashi, sitting in a corner of the cafeteria with his buddies, eating and even laughing.
First, she was provoked by Su Yan, then frustrated by the sold-out lunch, and now even her childhood friend was acting as if nothing had happened.
Miyamoto Rei couldn't help but feel a surge of grievance.
She felt as though the entire world had abandoned her.
She wanted someone to talk to, but realized she had no one to turn to.
Before the end of the last school year, she'd had friends.
But with the start of the new school year, her former classmates had become her seniors and formed their own new social circles. It felt inappropriate to approach them now.
Furthermore, because she had been held back a year, she hadn't managed to integrate into her new class's social groups.
Consequently, she couldn't find a single person to confide in.
For some reason, the bastard Su Yan's words on the rooftop flickered through her mind.
Perhaps she was just lightheaded from hunger, but she actually thought Su Yan might be a decent person to talk to.
She glanced at the carefree, laughing Komuro Takashi again.
She felt more and more that if she didn't find someone to vent her inner frustrations to, she was going to explode.
And so, Miyamoto Rei retraced her steps and returned to the school rooftop.
By now, Su Yan was full. He had his hands behind his head, eyes closed, lying on the ground to rest.
The moment she saw Su Yan, she felt a wave of relief.
If she had returned only to find he was gone, after everything else that had gone wrong, she really would have broken down.
Thank God, Su Yan was still here.
"Hey!"
Miyamoto Rei walked up to Su Yan.
Su Yan opened his eyes and subconsciously muttered, "White."
"What?"
Miyamoto Rei froze for a second, then immediately realized what he meant. She clamped her hands down on her skirt, her face flushing crimson. "Pervert!"
"What are you calling me for?" Su Yan showed no sign of embarrassment, asking as if nothing had happened.
The girl's fists clenched tightly, veins bulging on her forehead.
The bastard in front of her could always provoke her with such ease.
Miyamoto Rei couldn't help but wonder if the heavens had sent this guy specifically to deal with her.
'Endure! Endure!'
She took a long, deep breath to steady herself before asking, "Is what you said earlier still on the table?"
"What?"
This time, it was Su Yan's turn to be stunned.
'Earlier?'
'Did I say something earlier?'
'White?'
"Trading my secret for a bento," Miyamoto Rei said, forcing a faint smile.
"Oh, you mean that. I thought... uh, never mind. It's still valid, it's valid."
Su Yan shrugged. Listening to gossip? Sure, why not? After all, who doesn't love a bit of gossip?
He just hadn't expected the flaxen-haired girl to actually agree.
"It seems you're truly starved."
Su Yan sat cross-legged and pushed the bento toward her, saying, "The floor is yours."
Miyamoto Rei's eyebrow twitched. Seeing Su Yan act like he was watching a show made her feel like her blood pressure was about to skyrocket.
Following that, she explained her secret to Su Yan in detail.
Her father was a captain at the Tokonosu City Police Station. Over the past year, he had been secretly investigating a certain city councilor and had been found out.
That councilor happened to have an illegitimate son who worked as a teacher at Fujimi Academy.
Her grades were among the best in her year, but because of that man's targeted retaliation, she had been held back.
However, that wasn't the real reason she was so upset.
The primary cause of her distress was her childhood friend, Komuro Takashi.
Not long ago, Takashi had approached her to ask why she had been held back.
She had wanted to seek comfort from him, explaining that she was being targeted by Shido-sensei.
In response, he kept insisting that Shido-sensei wasn't that kind of person and urged her to be more open-minded.
Her childhood friend, someone she had grown up with, would rather believe a complete stranger than her.
This had completely snapped the last string of the girl's patience.
That was why she had run off to cry in a secluded place.
After finishing, Miyamoto Rei looked at Su Yan with red, pitiful eyes, seemingly hoping for some consolation.
Su Yan stroked his chin.
Assuming Miyamoto Rei wasn't exaggerating, it explained why she would suddenly find a new boyfriend in the anime despite her childhood promise to marry the protagonist.
After all, even the most basic person knows that when a friend is sad, you provide emotional support by trashing the jerk with them.
The protagonist's behavior was simply idiotic.
Choosing to believe an outsider over a childhood friend he grew up with.
If Su Yan had a friend like that, he would be the first to distance himself.
'You stay neutral when I'm being wronged?'
There was a saying online.
When Gian is beating up Nobita, you have four choices.
Help Gian; 2. Help Nobita; 3. Help neither and pretend not to see; 4. Say both sides are at fault.
Since Nobita is no match for Gian, every option except helping Nobita is essentially aiding the oppressor.
He could understand her now, but at most, it only improved his impression of Miyamoto Rei by a tiny margin.
"Backstabbed by a teacher, betrayed by a childhood friend, and abandoned by classmates... that's quite tragic," Su Yan said with interest. "Miyamoto-san, have you considered adapting your life story into a light novel?"
Miyamoto Rei: "???"
"Seriously, what on earth are you talking about?"
[Reviews - Power St0nes - Comments are highly appreciated to keep me going.....(+50 chapters) patre0n.c0m/talecrafter]