Chapter 16 - 14. Two pairs of knee socks

Chapter 16: 14. Two pairs of knee socks"Hey, by the way," Ikeda Aoshu turned around, smiling mischievously, "I've got some good news to tell you." "What is it?" Fujiwara Reya looked at his hair, feeling like it had a greenish tint. "Last night, the old monk at my house said he's planning to go to Akasaka Shrine to see if he can make something happen between me and Koike Asami." "...Uh, congratulations." Good grief. Koike Asami likes athletic guys, not monks! Fujiwara Reya pondered for a few seconds and asked him, "What does Koike Asami think about it?" "Even though I haven't discussed that topic with her yet," Ikeda Aoshu picked up his eraser from the desk and tossed it in his palm playfully, "we've been together since we were kids, she's definitely into me." Fujiwara Reya really wanted to ask the monk. Where do you get your confidence? The eraser flew up and landed steadily in his palm, Ikeda Aoshu looked at him curiously, "Why do you look constipated? Did something happen?" Might as well tell him... Fujiwara Reya sighed slightly, looked him in the eye, "I have this friend, um... can you help me analyze the situation? The girl he likes recently accepted a love letter from another guy. She said she would agree if the letter was well-written, and the guy happened to be her type. What does that mean?" "Why be so indirect," Ikeda Aoshu grinned and comforted, "it's just the two of us here, just say it directly. Is that friend you?" "No, definitely not me!" "Don't be stubborn, what other friends do you have besides me?" "Yeah, I only have one friend," Fujiwara Reya sat up straight with a very serious expression. "Haha, Fujiwara, stop avoiding reality. Did the girl you like accept someone else's confession? Don't worry, I won't laugh at you, it's just being NTRed, right? What's the big deal? As your only friend..." As he spoke. Ikeda Aoshu suddenly paused. Then, his previously cheerful smile started to fade... "The friend you mentioned couldn't be..." "It's you." Fujiwara Reya nodded directly, cutting off Ikeda Aoshu's last hope. Then he truthfully described the scene he saw that morning without exaggerating. "Mr. Fujiwara..." The smile froze on his face, and the little monk looked at the little priest sadly, "Seventeen years, we've played together since we were kids, without Koike, how can I live..." "It's not necessarily over," Fujiwara Reya reached out and patted his shoulder, comforting, "Relax, childhood friends usually have a happy ending, don't lose hope." "But what if it doesn't?" Tears welled up in Ikeda Aoshu's eyes. Fujiwara Reya's expression turned serious, "Then pretend I didn't say anything." "...Do you think this is funny?" Ikeda Aoshu's eyes were watery, looking utterly wronged. "Uh, how about," Fujiwara Reya thought it would be better to be cautious, so he suggested, "you go to Class 1-B for a year, see if you can..." "Yeah," Ikeda Aoshu enthusiastically slapped the desk, "if I go to Class 1-B, I can just steal the love letter, right?" "...?" Fujiwara Reya was dumbfounded. What kind of thought process does this guy have? He meant to go to Class 1-B and talk to them directly! Ikeda Aoshu rushed out of the classroom, then peeked half his body back in, "Hey, thanks! Lunch is on me!" A few seconds later, he sheepishly returned to the classroom, followed by the math teacher for the first class. Finally enduring the first class, the little monk dashed out of the classroom, heading towards the first-year teaching building. Fujiwara Reya went to the locker room alone to change into his sports clothes for PE class. The follow-up of the matter soon unfolded. Ikeda Aoshu got caught by Koike Asami while trying to steal the love letter and was chased around the playground for three full laps. After taking a beating, the two of them barely managed to clear up the misunderstanding. Poor Senior Yamamoto got his heart broken... During the second PE class, the little monk with a bruised face didn't attend. Instead, he hid alone in the school infirmary using Buddhist Law to heal. During the break, the campus was noisy, with people occasionally chasing each other down the corridors, and some chatting in the hallways. Fujiwara Reya changed out of his sports clothes in the locker room and changed into his Western-style uniform, heading back to the second-year Class F classroom. "Hey, Fujiwara," Ikeda Aoshu eagerly beckoned to him, smiling mischievously, "come over here, I have something interesting to tell you." "What is it?" "When I went to Class 1-B just now, I heard that Asuka's junior's two pairs of knee-high socks disappeared." "Knee-high socks?" "Yeah, one pair black and one pair white!" Fujiwara Reya sat back in his seat, amused, and asked, "How did they disappear?" "She put them in the shoe locker after school last night and found them gone this morning." "Were they stolen?" "They must have been stolen for some perverse reason!" Ikeda Aoshu tapped his head, saying regretfully, "That's Asuka's junior, such a pity. How come I didn't know there were socks in her shoe locker?" "...You're acting strange!" Fujiwara Reya leaned back, looking at this dubious pervert with disgust. "Why are you looking at me like a pervert?" Ikeda Aoshu paused, sounding aggrieved, "You don't think I'm the kind of person who would steal a girl's knee-high socks, do you?" Fujiwara Reya didn't answer immediately whether he thought he was a pervert. However, a group of girls at the seat next door, snacking together, looked over and said in unison, "You are!" "You all..." Ikeda Aoshu widened his eyes in rebuttal, "How can you accuse me of something without evidence..." "What innocence do you have left? After the first class, someone saw you go to Class 1-B to steal a girl's love letter, only to be chased around the playground for three laps and then beaten!" Hearing this, Ikeda Aoshu grew anxious, his face flushed, and veins stood out on his forehead as he loudly argued, "Stealing a love letter doesn't count as stealing...besides, it was a rival's love letter! Defending love, is that considered stealing?" Seeing everyone still looking skeptical, he loudly made further excuses about "she's my childhood friend" and "I just wanted to see if I'd been NTRed," making everyone burst into laughter, filling the classroom with joy. Fujiwara Reya supported his head with an elbow on the desk, unable to suppress a yawn. No wonder this rosily-colored high school life is the way it is; at this age, both boys and girls love to joke about matters of the opposite sex. In a lively and cheerful atmosphere, the class bell rang, and the homeroom teacher, also the classical literature teacher, Wakina Haruka, appeared at the door, carrying the lesson plan onto the podium. "Okay, it's class time, everyone go back to your seats." Fujiwara Reya reached into his desk drawer, planning to take out his classical literature textbook. It seemed like he touched something soft. What is this? He bent down to take a look, and to his surprise, found two pairs of knee-high socks, one black and one white, lying in the dim, narrow drawer. The white pair wasn't his. Neither was the black pair.