COTE: Horikita Is My Childhood Sweetheart

Chapter 154: Be sure to come in the afternoon!

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No matter how much Karuizawa tried to approach Rin, he still didn't accept her advances.

The worst part was… Karuizawa's own chest wasn't as large as Kushida's.

Defeated by her own insecurities, Karuizawa slumped over her desk, whimpering like a golden-haired loser.

Meanwhile, Kushida dialed Ike's number right in front of Rin.

The call lasted more than thirty seconds, but Ike didn't answer.

At that moment, Ike was lying on his bed, snoring loudly, while Yamauchi snored just as loudly on the other side of the room.

The floor was littered with game consoles, controllers, empty snack bags, and beverage bottles, turning the room into a chaotic garbage dump.

The two had indeed stayed up all night playing games, only falling asleep around 5:30 a.m. when exhaustion finally overtook them.

The ringing phone didn't wake Yamauchi, but it did stir Ike from his sleep. After barely four hours of rest, he groggily picked up the phone, irritated at first.

"Which bastard—oh, it's Kikyo-chan!"

When he realized it was Kushida calling, his anger vanished instantly, and he quickly answered.

"Kikyo-chan~"

Ike's tone and overly familiar way of addressing her made Kushida cringe with discomfort.

Her entire body felt like it was covered in goosebumps, and she fought the urge to hang up. At that moment, she wanted to punch Ike for using such a disgusting nickname!

Suppressing her revulsion, Kushida forced a sweet smile and asked, "Ike-san, class has already started, and the first period is over. Why haven't you and Yamauchi-san come to class?"

"Ahahaha, Yamauchi and I played games all weekend. We stayed up until about five this morning, so we were both so sleepy we decided not to go to class."

Ike's casual tone and lack of remorse made Kushida secretly clench her fists. How dare he sound so matter-of-fact?

As if to make things worse, Ike offered an explanation for their behavior.

"Before, Rin didn't go to class, and the teachers didn't seem to care. So, we figured it was fine to skip class too."

Kushida glanced at Rin. She realized that Ike and Yamauchi had assumed the teachers wouldn't care if they skipped classes, simply because they'd seen Rin do so.

"Don't worry, Kikyo-chan. We'll definitely come to class during lunch break," Ike promised.

"Alright."

"Kikyo-chan, I—"

Before Ike could finish his sentence, Kushida, thoroughly disgusted, hung up on him without hesitation. Turning to Rin, she flashed him a sweet smile.

"Rin-san, Ike-san said that he and Yamauchi-san stayed up playing games until about five this morning, and they were too sleepy to come to class."

"Tsk, I figured as much," Rin muttered, clicking his tongue.

"Oh, and Ike-san mentioned that he thought the teachers didn't care when you skipped class, Rin-san, so he thought it was okay to skip too," Kushida added.

"Hah," Rin snorted. "I'm not like them. I asked Chabashira-sensei for leave and got approval. That doesn't count as skipping."

He continued, "They didn't ask Chabashira-sensei for leave, so their absence is considered skipping class."

In truth, Rin had requested leave to gain permission to contact the outside world.

In contrast, Ike and Yamauchi had stayed up all night playing games!

There was a world of difference between the two situations.

Horikita looked at Kushida and asked coldly, "Did they say they would come to class right away?"

"Well, not right away. They said they would come during lunch break," Kushida replied with a forced smile.

"Why lunch break?" Horikita frowned.

If Ike and Haruki came during lunch break, they would end up missing four classes.

"I guess they didn't get enough sleep," Rin said casually.

As for why Ike and Yamauchi planned to come during lunch break instead of sleeping the entire day, Rin suspected it was related to the first class that afternoon.

The first class after lunch was swimming—a class that most boys wouldn't want to, and wouldn't, miss.

Sleepiness aside, Rin felt that even if Ike Kanji and Yamauchi Haruki had broken legs, they would still crawl their way to swimming class!

Before long, lunchtime arrived. As usual, Rin accepted Karuizawa's invitation to join her and her small group of girls for lunch in the student cafeteria.

However, Kushida didn't extend an invitation to Rin, a fact that made Karuizawa very happy.

There were two reasons why Kushida chose not to invite Rin to lunch.

First, Kushida noticed that Karuizawa and Rin had grown unusually close, which had begun to displease the girls in her circle. Kushida still vividly remembered what had happened in junior high when a girl started dating a boy; it led to her being ostracized by her peers. To avoid a similar backlash, Kushida decided to keep her distance from Rin in public.

Second, Rin's attitude was part of the equation. While Kushida had been particularly enthusiastic about getting close to Rin, she was also aware of his distant and indifferent attitude toward her.

Still, she hadn't given up. Instead, she planned to build a relationship with Rin by chatting with him more on Line. This way, her interactions with Rin would remain private, and the other girls wouldn't resist her like they had resisted Karuizawa.

At lunch, Rin, Karuizawa, Mori, Matsushita, and Shinohara sat together in the cafeteria.

"I'm full. You guys take your time eating," Rin said, standing up with his empty tray.

Seeing this, Karuizawa hurriedly took two large bites, puffing her cheeks like a hamster, and stood up with her own tray.

"I'm full too," she declared.

Matsushita and the others glanced at Karuizawa's tray, which still held a significant portion of untouched food.

"She's full already?"

Of course, they all knew the truth. Karuizawa wasn't actually full; she just wanted an excuse to leave the cafeteria with Rin.

As Karuizawa walked toward the front desk to return her tray alongside Rin, Shinohara smacked her lips. "Kei is really putting in the effort. She even skipped lunch just to stick with Rin."

Matsushita, who was eating gracefully, smiled lightly. "It's not that Kei didn't eat. She ate about half of her lunch."

"Her tray may look half-empty," Mori chimed in excitedly, "but did you notice how much food she picked up for Matsuoka-san?"

"Yeah, I saw that too!" Shinohara added. "Matsuoka-san didn't refuse any of Kei's offerings. Their relationship must be really close."

Matsushita paused slightly, her expression unreadable. While picking up food for someone was indeed an intimate gesture, she couldn't help but feel it didn't suit Rin at all.