COTE: Horikita Is My Childhood Sweetheart

Chapter 135: She is definitely not a superficial girl!

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Rin's words were laced with ambiguity, causing Ichinose's cheeks to flush slightly. Fortunately, the strong sunlight masked the redness on her face.

"Matsuoka-san… do you mean that I should treat you to a meal next time?"

"Yeah, is there any other meaning?" Rin replied teasingly with a playful smile.

Realizing he was teasing her, Ichinose Honami gave him a coquettish glare. Her heartbeat quickened as she stretched out her sleek legs wrapped in black stockings.

"Let's head to the shopping mall and enjoy the air conditioning."

"Mm."

Rin followed her, holding the parasol to ensure she stayed within its shade.

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It took them about twenty minutes to reach the Keyaki Shopping Center. By then, it was nearly noon, and the mall was bustling with activity, even more so than on a typical Saturday.

"Matsuoka-san, Area A on the first floor is the decor section. I bought my parasol there. Let's go take a look," Ichinose suggested.

"No rush. Let's have lunch first. If we wait too long, it'll be hard to find an available restaurant," Rin, drawing from his past experience, advised.

"Having lunch first sounds good." Ichinose lightly touched her flat stomach.

She was, in fact, hungry. In her effort to maintain her figure, she had only eaten half a meal earlier that morning.

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The two of them entered a restaurant with a pleasant ambiance. Not far away, two boys noticed them.

Shibata So stared at Ichinose in astonishment, his tone incredulous. "Kanzaki! Am I seeing things? Isn't that girl in the blue shirt Ichinose from our class?"

Kanzaki Ryuji, much calmer, replied, "You're not seeing things. That's definitely Ichinose."

"But why is Ichinose talking and laughing with a boy…? Wait, I remember that boy came to Class B before. What's his name again?" Shibata muttered, trying to recall.

"Rin Matsuoka," Kanzaki answered matter-of-factly.

"Yes, yes! Why is Ichinose going into a restaurant, smiling and chatting with him? Could they be on a date?" Shibata's voice carried a distinct note of jealousy.

He was envious.

In just three days, Ichinose's bright and cheerful demeanor, combined with her nearly perfect figure, had captivated almost two-thirds of the boys in Class B.

Shibata was one of those boys.

Kanzaki, however, was not. While he admired Ichinose's cheerful personality, he harbored no romantic feelings for her.

With a calm tone, Kanzaki remarked, "Isn't it normal for Ichinose to have lunch with matsuoka? He is, after all, very handsome."

"That's not it! Ichinose isn't a superficial girl. She wouldn't go to lunch with matsuoka just because he's handsome," Shibata argued, defending his goddess fervently.

Kanzaki's response was sharp. "Shibata, if Ichinose didn't go to lunch with Matsuoka because he's handsome, then the only other explanation is that she likes him."

His words hit Shibata like a dagger to the heart.

"Agh! Kanzaki, don't say that! Now I feel like Ichinose must be a superficial girl! There's no way she's in love with that Matsuoka!"

Kanzaki was speechless. Shibata truly was a fickle guy.

Meanwhile, Matsuoka and Ichinose, who had already entered the restaurant, sat across from each other, oblivious to the commotion outside. They were flipping through the menu, engrossed in their choices.

After finishing their meal, they stepped out of the restaurant with satisfied expressions, clearly pleased with the food.

Rin glanced at the clock in the shopping mall. It was almost noon, leaving only an hour until his meeting with Karuizawa.

Fortunately, the meeting spot with Karuizawa happened to be the Keyaki Shopping Center, the very place where Rin was now.

"Come on, Matsuoka-san, let's go pick out a parasol," Ichinose said cheerfully.

"Okay," Rin nodded. Following her lead, they headed to the jewelry section on the first floor of the mall.

As Rin browsed parasols, Ichinose's attention shifted to the decorative items hanging on the pegboard nearby. She was intrigued and thought of picking up a few accessories for herself.

"It's perfect timing since Matsuoka-san is here. After trying them on, I can ask him if they look good," she thought with a smile.

However, her thoughts froze the moment her eyes landed on a hairpin.

A very familiar hairpin.

Ichinose's expression changed instantly. She could never forget this hairpin—because it was the reason she had committed theft in the past.

"Didn't the store say this hairpin would no longer be sold after a while? Why is it here?" she muttered, her voice barely audible.

After a moment of realization, she murmured, "No, the store near my home stopped selling it, but that doesn't mean it wouldn't appear here."

"The school must have purchased a batch of these hairpins and sent them here for sale," she concluded.

With trembling hands, Ichinose reached for the hairpin. Her fingertips barely brushed against it before she reflexively pulled back as if she had touched a live wire.

Her expression grew complicated as she rubbed her fingertips, now coated with a thin layer of dust. The dust indicated the hairpin had been sitting on the pegboard for a long time, untouched and unnoticed.

Rin, who had finished selecting a parasol, turned to look at Ichinose. He saw her staring at the hairpin in a daze and walked over to her.

"Ichinose, you've been looking at this hairpin for a while. Do you like it? How about I buy it for you?" Rin asked with a warm smile. "Consider it a thank-you for accompanying me to buy a parasol."

"Ah? No! I don't like it, and I don't want it at all!" Ichinose's voice was filled with resistance as she quickly took two steps back.

Rin was taken aback by her reaction.

The pink-haired girl, usually so bright and cheerful, had never shown such resistance before—much less fear.

Fear.

It seemed as though she was afraid of the hairpin.

Rin couldn't help but wonder. Normally, people wouldn't be afraid of inanimate objects like hairpins unless something deeply unsettling had happened involving it.

Otherwise, there was no reason for Ichinose to react this way to a simple hairpin.

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