Inside the Art Club, the eyes of over a dozen girls were all focused on Hayama Kazuto.
Hayama Kazuto recognised that expression; it was the same look hungry wolves had when they spotted prey in the documentary "Return to the Wild".
Hayama Kazuto looked at their seemingly man-eating gazes and nodded sheepishly at them, "Sorry to bother you."
"Is this student here to join the club? "
"Join the Art Club now and get ten senior girls as a bonus! "
"Your physique is so good, student; ten times a night shouldn't be a problem, right? "
"As long as you join us, you'll have a huge harem! "
"Their demands are too exaggerated. Little junior, as long as you agree to be my model, you can do anything you want tonight! "
…
The Art Club and the Football Club formed a stark contrast; the Football Club was like a monastery, while the Art Club was a nunnery.
It would be great if the two clubs could complement each other, but it's unlikely the girls in the Art Club would be interested in the members of the Football Club who lack character designs.
"Hayama-kun, don't be afraid; they just talk big. At most, they'll collect your underwear; they won't do anything perverted to you," Morioka Yoko said with a smile.
"Collecting underwear isn't perverted? "Hayama Kazuto!" roared in his heart.
"But why did Hayama-kun come to the Art Club? Is it because those smelly men in the Football Club don't even have character designs, so Hayama-kun, the only one with a character design, was ostracised? "Morioka Yoko leaned very close; Hayama Kazuto could even smell the faint scent of pear blossoms on her.
"You're too close! And how do you know the others in the Football Club don't have character designs? "
"Sorry, Morioka, I came here to find this student."
Hayama Kazuto stood behind Eriri Spencer Sawamura; it seemed only Eriri was somewhat normal in the entire Art Club.
"Eh, is Hayama-kun interested in Eriri? It's a bit hard to choose between Hayama-kun and a good friend."
"Eriri Spencer Sawamura? "Hayama Kazuto felt like he had heard that name somewhere before.
"Eh, eh, what? What do you mean by 'interested in me'! S-s-stop it! "
Seeing Eriri Spencer Sawamura's flustered reaction, Hayama Kazuto's thoughts were further confirmed: "Eriri Spencer Sawamura, can you open your mouth and let me see your fangs? "
Chapter 18: An Unexpected Reunion
Toyonosaki, campus bench.
Hayama Kazuto and Eriri Spencer Sawamura sat at opposite ends of the bench, one on the left and one on the right.
"Eriri Spencer Sawamura, you haven't changed at all after all these years."
Hayama Kazuto looked at the floating clouds in the sky and said with a hint of nostalgia.
"You, you too…"
"Still as spoilt and wilful as ever."
Eriri Spencer Sawamura, who was initially shy, instantly bristled upon hearing the latter half of Hayama Kazuto's sentence: "Damn you, Hayama Kazuto, tell me, how am I spoilt? How am I wilful?!" "
"You…"
"I'm not listening, I'm not listening! "
Her two twintails swung around as Eriri Spencer Sawamura unleashed her ultimate move—Twin-Tail Whirlwind Slash.
However, Hayama Kazuto simply reached out and grabbed both ponytails: "Hmm, your ultimate move hasn't improved either."
"Damn it, damn it, damn it, Hayama Kazuto, you're still as annoying as ever! "
Eriri Spencer Sawamura pouted, tidied her hair, crossed her arms over her chest, and sat down on the bench with her head down, looking sulky.
"Even the way you throw a tantrum hasn't changed! " Hayama Kazuto laughed.
"I have changed…" Eriri Spencer Sawamura whispered.
"Yes, we've both changed." Hayama Kazuto leaned back against the chair, unbuttoning the cuff of his left sleeve to reveal his forearm.
In the centre of his forearm were two small, round red scars. "Even these two small scars you left on my hand back then have grown quite a bit."
Eriri Spencer Sawamura secretly glanced at Hayama Kazuto's arm, then immediately turned away when she saw his eyes: "Stop nagging; you brought that on yourself! "
"I taught you English diligently for three months, and you still bit me. How did that become my fault? "
"Who told you to say such harsh things back then! Damn you, Hayama Kazuto! "
…
Hayama Kazuto and Eriri Spencer Sawamura knew each other from a very young age, often meeting at parties when they were two or three, but they truly became close when they were in third grade.
In third grade, Hayama Kazuto's father was running for a seat in the Diet, and his biggest opponent was Shuichi Watanabe from Kobe.
Kobe was Yamaguchi-gumi territory, and Shuichi Watanabe was even the nephew of Yoshinori Watanabe, the fifth leader of the Yamaguchi-gumi.
Although Hayama Kazuto's father held a significant advantage, he was still worried that Shuichi Watanabe might resort to desperate measures and threaten him using Hayama Kazuto.
Spencer saw the predicament of Hayama Kazuto's father and, under the guise of English lessons, proactively invited Hayama Kazuto to his home.
It was then that Hayama Kazuto and Eriri Spencer Sawamura became close.
Although Eriri Spencer Sawamura was of British-Japanese descent, she knew no English, while Hayama Kazuto was a renowned child prodigy.
Spencer was a distinguished figure, and no matter how powerful Shuichi Watanabe was in Japan, he could do nothing against a British diplomat stationed in Japan.
With no further worries, Hayama Kazuto's father advanced rapidly, sweeping through the election to win a landslide victory, becoming a Diet member and entering the cabinet at the age of thirty-one.
After Shuichi Watanabe lost the election, internal power struggles erupted within the Yamaguchi-gumi, leading to the breakaway of the Yamaken-gumi, directly affiliated with the Yamaguchi-gumi headquarters, to form the new Kobe Yamaguchi-gumi.
Shuichi Watanabe was too busy trying to protect himself and naturally no longer had the ability to cause trouble.
After staying at Spencer's house for over three months, the overall situation stabilised, and only then did Hayama Kazuto leave Spencer's home.
…
"Hey, you stinky Kazuto, when, when will you come see me again? "
"You should be going to England, right? We probably won't see each other again."
Hayama Kazuto still remembered that day when the girl, with tears in her eyes, grabbed his arm and bit him: "I hate you, Hayama Kazuto! I want you to remember: I'll hate you my whole life! "
…
"By the way, Eriri Spencer Sawamura, why didn't you go to England? "
"I didn't want to go to that Eton College in England! " Eriri Spencer Sawamura said huffily.
"Hmm? Eton College is an all-boys school. Are you sure Uncle Spencer wanted you to study at Eton College? "
Eton College is a typical all-boys school, renowned worldwide for its gentlemanly culture.
It has never admitted female students in its nearly six hundred years of history; the only female alumna, Queen Elizabeth, is merely an honorary alumna.
"S-s-stop nagging; don't show off that useless knowledge to me. I hate you! "
Hayama Kazuto sat quietly; he had long been familiar with Eriri Spencer Sawamura's temper.
Sure enough, before long, Eriri Spencer Sawamura couldn't hold back: "Hey, Hayama Kazuto, didn't you have something to tell me? Why aren't you saying it? "
"Waiting for you to ask; otherwise, I'll have to witness your old ultimate move again."
"Die, die! "
Hayama Kazuto's plan didn't work out; Eriri Spencer Sawamura still used her Twin-Tail Whirlwind Slash.
After subduing Eriri Spencer Sawamura again, Hayama Kazuto finally told her, "Our football club needs a hand-drawn poster.
The club members heard there's a beautiful and kind blonde artist at school, so they sent me to invite that beautiful girl to help."
Upon hearing this, Eriri Spencer Sawamura's face flushed slightly, and she said somewhat shyly, "Why should I help you? "
"Our club budget is quite generous; you can name a high price."
"Tch, I don't want your money! The football club is all men, so the club fees must stink! "
"Then thank you for your generosity, Lady Eriri Spencer Sawamura."
The title "Lady Eriri Spencer Sawamura" seemed to make Eriri Spencer Sawamura blush slightly, and she rubbed her legs together nervously.
"You knew I was studying here, but you only came to find me when you needed something. Am I your tool? "
"I didn't know you were studying at Toyonosaki! I always thought you went to England! "
"You, you, you, you, you… at least, at least I was chosen as the 'Cutest Freshman', right? You, you don't know? Don't misunderstand, I'm not interested in that title; it was chosen by those boring people."
In the freshman evaluation, Eriri Spencer Sawamura was crowned "Cutest Freshman", and Hayama Kazuto, who was equally ranked, was the "Most Handsome Freshman".
"Damn you, Hayama Kazuto, always showing off! You made me think it was someone else with the same name! "
"Uh… sorry, I never paid attention to those boring evaluations."
Hayama Kazuto scratched his head; he really hadn't noticed that.
"No, no attention then! Hmph! "
"Damn it, damn it! Hayama Kazuto is indeed the most annoying person in the world… Go die! "
"By the way, when do you roughly need that poster? " After internally cursing Hayama Kazuto for a full five minutes, Eriri Spencer Sawamura finally came back to her senses!
"The match is on May 1st, so it's best if the poster is finished before the match day."
Eriri Spencer Sawamura looked at Hayama Kazuto, her expression instantly turning to stone: "Today is April 27th; how many days are left until May 1st? "
"Three days."
"I can't draw it; please find someone else! "
Three days? Are you kidding? As a master of procrastination, asking Eriri Spencer Sawamura to draw a poster in three days would be asking for her life!
Hayama Kazuto looked at Eriri Spencer Sawamura's expression and suddenly remembered Eriri Spencer Sawamura's incurable procrastination when he was tutoring her English.
"This is troublesome."
"I said I can't draw it, and you keep telling me to draw it. Go ask those artists on Nico! It's impossible to finish a poster in three days! "
"Please, Eriri Spencer Sawamura, only you – no, it must be completed by you! "
"Saying, saying something so exaggerated… When, when did you become so glib? " Eriri Spencer Sawamura's face flushed at Hayama Kazuto's words, and she nervously fiddled with the ends of her twin tails, hands clasped behind her back.
"Because this is the lifelong request of all the Football Club members! "Hayama Kazuto said, every word strong and clear.
"Bastard, give me back my move! "
…
At the train station, Hayama Kazuto and Eriri Spencer Sawamura stood side by side.
"By the way, Eriri Spencer Sawamura, do you have Sanae's contact information? " Looking at the passing traffic, Hayama Kazuto suddenly asked.
"Sanae? "Eriri Spencer Sawamura's expression suddenly changed, becoming somewhat gloomy: "Calling her so intimately."
"Didn't I always call her that? " Hayama Kazuto didn't know what he had done to displease this young lady, so he could only prevaricate.
"Hmph, of course I have her contact information! But why are you looking for her? Don't tell me, you're a lolicon? " Eriri Spencer Sawamura took a step back, looking at Hayama Kazuto as if he were a human garbage heap, every movement filled with disgust.
"A lolicon? " Hayama Kazuto glanced at Eriri Spencer Sawamura's chest, "Then being interested in you isn't bad either."
"Pervert!"
Eriri Spencer Sawamura's shriek attracted a lot of onlookers, so Hayama Kazuto quickly gave her a look, then pulled her close to his side with his right hand: "Don't shout; I don't want to be secretly photographed by those guys from the News Club."
"Damn, damn it, let go of me."
Although Eriri Spencer Sawamura said this, her body gave up struggling. Her small body emitted a terrifying amount of heat, making it uncomfortably hot on such an early summer evening.
Seeing the crowd's gazes disperse, Hayama Kazuto quickly let go of Eriri Spencer Sawamura: "You're so hot, like you have a fever."
"None of your business? " Eriri Spencer Sawamura glared at Hayama Kazuto, then lowered her head to straighten her collar, preventing Hayama Kazuto from noticing her flushed neck.
"Since he doesn't have Sanae's contact information, then he probably hasn't contacted Sanae since then."
"I do have Sanae's contact information, but that girl has been getting stranger and stranger lately.
She used to fantasise about being a magical girl, a Death Singer or something, but now she's even creating original characters.
Every time I call her, she tells me all sorts of chaotic things. If you're hoping for her help with anything, you probably can't count on it."
Eriri Spencer Sawamura added Hayama Kazuto as a LINE friend and sent him Totsuka Sanae's LINE and phone numbers.
"It's fine; I'm very good with chuunibyou," Hayama Kazuto said with a smile as he boarded the train.
In the distance, a pair of eyes stared intently at Hayama Kazuto and Eriri Spencer Sawamura.
"Is Hayama-kun interested in Eriri Spencer Sawamura? "
Aki Tomoya wiped his glasses, double-checked several times, and confirmed that it was indeed Hayama Kazuto and Eriri Spencer Sawamura standing in front of the train station.
"Hayama-kun, you actually betrayed the 2D world! You're an otaku, yet you've become interested in a beautiful 3D girl. This is a defilement of the pure and beautiful 2D world! "
"However, this also seems to be a good thing. Hayama-kun, prepare to be conquered by me! "
…
Eriri Spencer Sawamura's procrastination was severe, very severe; it wouldn't be an exaggeration to call her a late-stage procrastination cancer patient.
Hayama Kazuto had witnessed this when he tutored Eriri Spencer Sawamura in English.
However, every dog has its day. While Hayama Kazuto couldn't cure Eriri Spencer Sawamura's procrastination, he knew someone who could cure Eriri Spencer Sawamura—Totsuka Sanae.