To be honest, tailing someone is a real pain.
Hikaru Naruse’s shadowing skills weren’t exactly polished, but he genuinely cared about the fact that Asuka Shiraishi was tailing Kiyotaka Ayanokōji.
Because of the [White Room].
In the original story, ever since Kiyotaka Ayanokōji enrolled, the [White Room] had dispatched a great many students to this school — some of whom had even entered at the same time as Ayanokōji.
They came into the Tokyo Metropolitan Advanced Nurturing High School each carrying their own missions and objectives, and the mere existence of these people was a whole pile of trouble.
In the original story, the target of the [White Room] students was basically always Kiyotaka Ayanokōji.
Some were there to monitor him, some to test him, and some to drag him back to the White Room.
If Hikaru Naruse wanted to spend these three years at the school in peace and quiet, and graduate smoothly as a member of Class A, then there was no way he could turn a blind eye to the existence of the [White Room].
If Ayanokōji really got serious later on, the situation could get very troublesome, so Naruse had to plan out this side of things in advance.
And Asuka Shiraishi was the key person connecting Naruse to the [White Room].
After following for a while, Naruse got the feeling that he’d probably been spotted.
Because the blonde girl up ahead seemed to have stopped walking, and Kiyotaka Ayanokōji, farthest in front, had rounded a corner — his figure vanishing completely into the dusk.
“…Well, I’m screwed.”
Asuka Shiraishi turned around, a soft smile on her face.
“Naruse-kun, what are you doing?”
The question was asked casually, but Hikaru Naruse’s Emotion Perception told him that Asuka Shiraishi’s state right now was far from as relaxed as she appeared on the surface.
Wariness.
She was on guard against him.
“I’m just taking a little stroll down the road, that’s all.”
Hikaru Naruse quickly adjusted his strategy in his mind, then walked toward Asuka Shiraishi with a smile, shrinking the distance between them to less than a meter.
Asuka Shiraishi was about a head shorter than him, her height reaching just to his shoulder.
From this distance, the girl’s long golden hair looked like molten gold under the glow of the setting sun, and those bright violet eyes were remarkably clear.
She tilted her head, staring straight at Naruse’s face.
“Naruse-kun…
are you really just taking a stroll?”
“That’s right.”
Asuka Shiraishi blinked those big, pale-purple eyes and cocked her head, wearing an innocent, guileless expression.
“Could it be…
that Naruse-kun is tailing me?”
Faced with the girl’s gaze, Hikaru Naruse simply gave a little teddy-bear shrug, then hit her with a deadly triple-question combo.
“Tailing you?
Why?
Am I not allowed to walk down this road?”
Asuka Shiraishi’s smile stayed fixed on her face, but a glint of amusement crept into those pale-purple eyes.
“Fine, then.
Seems Naruse-kun has quite a thick skin.”
“Haha, is that so?”
Naruse gave two dry laughs and just kept standing there, shoulder to shoulder with Asuka Shiraishi.
After a moment, he suddenly spoke.
“Shiraishi-san, you don’t need to be so wary of me.
I won’t get in the way of what you’re doing.”
“Mm-hmm?”
Asuka Shiraishi tilted her head, her tone still gentle.
Hikaru Naruse paused slightly, then said in a direct tone.
“You were just tailing Kiyotaka Ayanokōji, weren’t you?
Did he not notice you?”
The moment those words were out, the atmosphere in the air changed dramatically in an instant.
Asuka Shiraishi’s expression shifted slightly, the gentle smile on her pretty face freezing a little, though it still held.
The next second, the girl’s tone turned into an interrogation.
“Naruse-kun, don’t tell me you’ve also accepted a mission from that place?”
That place?
Hikaru Naruse understood her meaning at once.
Asuka Shiraishi was referring to the [White Room].
This girl — she doesn’t actually think I came here having accepted a mission just like her, does she?
Naruse thought it over, then said helplessly.
“Of course not.
My situation is a bit different from yours.
No one gave me any mission — I’m just acting freely, that’s all.”
Glancing at the girl’s expression, Naruse continued.
“But you can think of me as your ally, Shiraishi-san.”
Asuka Shiraishi was silent for a while, her gaze sweeping back and forth across Naruse’s face, as if trying to read more information from his expression and his eyes.
Then, the blonde girl suddenly broke into a laugh.
This kind of laugh wasn’t the sort of put-on smile that belonged to a schoolgirl, but rather a knowing one.
“Naruse-kun really is a mischievous one.
So everything you just said was only to test me?”
“It wasn’t a test.”
Hikaru Naruse shook his head.
“I’m just curious about one thing — if Ayanokōji really did sense you, and then took measures to forbid you from getting near him ever again, what would you do?”
Asuka Shiraishi’s smile drew in a little, then she tilted her head and laughed once more.
“Naruse-kun, I’m not some frail little girl, you know.”
She paused, seeming quite confident in her own actions.
“And besides…
he didn’t notice me at all just now.”
“Impressive.”
Naruse smiled and cupped his hands toward the girl in a little bow.
“Looks like I threw off your plan today.”
There was a trace of genuine apology in his tone, but it quickly shifted into a serious proposal.
“Still, since I’ve already disturbed you, let me offer a suggestion while I’m at it.”
“What suggestion?”
“If you don’t mind, I’d like you to share your intel on Ayanokōji-kun with me.”
Asuka Shiraishi was slightly taken aback, a flicker of surprise crossing her eyes, along with a hint of contemplation.
“Why?”
Hikaru Naruse shrugged, his tone forthright.
“I already answered that just now.
My situation is a bit different from yours, Shiraishi-san — I’m only acting for my class and for myself.”
“If you’re willing to share your intel, I’ll give you something in return.”
Hearing this, Asuka Shiraishi seemed to grow interested and asked directly.
“What sort of return can Naruse-kun offer?”
“That’s for you to decide.
As long as it’s something I can do, then there’s no problem.”
“Eh…”
Asuka Shiraishi seemed genuinely interested in this “return,” her little face taking on a conflicted look.
It was a good while before she slowly spoke.
“Then let me think it over first.
Once I’ve decided, I’ll tell Naruse-kun.”
“That works.
Let’s exchange contact info first.”
“Mm-hmm.”
By the time they’d exchanged numbers, dusk had fully descended.
The streetlamps around the campus lit up with a soft, warm-yellow glow, drawing the two of them into two long shadows stretching across the ground.
“Well then, bye-bye for now, Naruse-kun.”
Asuka Shiraishi’s tone had reverted to that brisk, natural cadence, as if that earlier “probing skirmish” of a conversation had never happened.
“Take care on your way back to the dorm.”
“You too, Shiraishi-san.”
Watching the girl’s retreating figure, Naruse glanced at his phone.
Hmm…
Ai Morishita, Honami Ichinose, Asuka Shiraishi.
On the very first day of school, he’d gotten the contact numbers of three girls.
Not bad at all, he thought.
____
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