GIFTED ACADEMY: THE PERFECT STUDENT

I talked with Harumi.

"I tried my best to get to know Kamimura, but I can't really get that close with her group. In terms of upperclassmen she might be acquainted with, I saw her talking with Murakami from 2-D, but aside from that, I don't have anything."

"That's fine. I'm going to be going on a date with her tomorrow, so keep a lookout around my surroundings. Tell me if you notice anyone else watching."

"W-what... um, alright, I'll do that."

"Good. You can leave now."

• ───────────────── •

Sitting down at a bench by the courtyard was a young girl. She was wearing a light blue checkered skirt with a white shirt tucked in. She had the same hair clip as she had the day she asked me out, but noticeably, it seemed that her hairstyle was different. With the warm breeze beside her, she looked off into the distance.

"How are ya goin', Mizuhara?"

"I'm well."

"Ah, ya can say a bit more than that. I woke up really early this mornin' preparing for this~"

"Well, I appreciate it."

"Ehe, ya not the talkin' type. That's fine. I've got some activities planned for us."

Getting up off the bench, she suddenly manoeuvred herself beside me, touching her shoulder against mine. Flipping her hair, she released particles of her shampoo into the air, conjuring a calming atmosphere.

Well, at least that's how I'd describe it.

"So, what does Mizuhara like to eat?"

"I don't mind. Anything's fine."

"Alright. Well, I was thinking of taking ya to the new restaurant. You happy with that?"

"Yeah."

"Perfect!"

Wrapping her arms around mine, she hugged her body awkwardly close. I decided to just go along with it since it looked like it was going to take quite a bit to send her the message. Lightly tugging me in the direction that she was walking, we made our way to the new restaurant that had recently finished construction.

As we got to the entrance, it seemed that she had already made a booking. The waiter led us to our seat and the two of us sat opposite each other.

"Feel free to order whatever. It's on me~"

"You sure?"

"Of course! I'm in class A, after all."

I just chose my meal randomly. I wasn't really against eating anything in particular since I was trained to be able to eat everything. I just needed to make sure that I didn't look like I was purposely being difficult.

"So, Mizuhara, what type of girls do ya like?"

She was pretty frank.

"Serious, hardworking ones."

That wasn't exactly true, but I doubted that she'd take 'I have no particular preference' as a valid response. If she acted more reserved, it'd make the rest of the date a bit easier anyways.

As we got into our meal, she looked up at me every few seconds, smiling at me.ραпdα `nᴏνɐ| сom

"I heard ya won some chess tournament special exam. Ya must be pretty smart, then?"

"It was a bit of luck. My final opponent resigned before the game started."

"Ah, but ya still had enough merit to get that far."

"I guess so. I played quite a bit of chess when I was younger."

As we neared the end of the meal, I noticed that she was staring at me for quite a while. It was pretty hard to ignore so I just spoke up.

"Is something wrong?" I asked.

"Nothing~ I just thought that'd ya were pretty cute. All the girls would be fallin' over ya if ya talked a bit more."

"I've never been too popular with girls."

"Aw, that sounds like a lie. Ya got the looks, that's for sure, and ya smart as well."

"My personality isn't great."

"Ya can work on that ya know~ anyways, I don't mind it too much. I don't like arrogant boys who talk constantly."

With that, she finished the rest of the spagetti that she ordered. The cost of the meals in this restaurnat were indeed premium. They were prices that even made the cafe look cheap in comparison. I guess the school was catering to the wealthier students.

After the two of us finished our meals, she hugged my arm once again and pulled me toward one of the retail stores in the commercial area.

"I've been lookin' for some more accessories. Ya'll help me look for one, won't you?"

"Sure, I don't mind."

"Yay~ thanks, Mizuhara."

We walked over to the girls' accessories section, and Kamimura began excitedly looking through them. After a little while, she picked up a small necklace and hung it around her neck, showing it off to me.

"What do ya think, Mizuhara~?"

"It's nice."

"Only nice? I guess I'll have to try a bit harder to get a better reaction from ya!"

She began searching through them once again. Well, it wasn't like my reaction was because of the necklace itself. It was more from my lack of knowledge on this subject. I guess I'd give her a better reaction next to time to satisfy her.

She picked a slightly bigger, ruby-coloured neckplace and turned to me.

"What about this one; ya think it looks good on me~?"

"Yeah, it's really cute."

"Ooh~ ya think so? I'll get it then!"

She put the necklace back into its box and held it in her hand. With that, the two of us made our way to the counter as she purchased her new accessory. As soon as the transaction was over, she took it out of its box and hung it around her neck.

ƥαṇdαηθνε| "Hehe, this was the necklace that Mizuhara liked~"

After getting that, she started pulling me toward the open garden near the middle of the school. It was a little awkward getting glares from other people as the two of us made our way over. Eventually, she sat down at the bench and gestured for me to sit down beside her.

"Ya know, Mizuhara. Ya might think that this is just some setup, but this is my first ever date as well... don't just play with my feelings, okay~?"