(4/5)
Sitting in the back row of the , Ren paused slightly as he watched the two traudents introduce themselves to the css.
"Shinomiya Kaguya… Hayasaka Ai…"
"I didn't expect them to show up so soon."
He had expected one of the diary holders to eventually make an appearance.
But to directly transfer into his school?
This was too btant.
Ren had thought the diary holders would approach him cautiously, testing the waters before revealing anything.
But this? This wasn't subtle, it was a head-on frontation.
He couldn't figure out what kind of strategy this was.
After all, no one else would be as foolish as he had beeing the diary's rules by exposing their identity ht.
"So, are the rules for diary holders different from mine?"
That seemed like the most pusible expnation.
But even if their rules were different, why was Shinomiya Kaguya one of the holders?
He remembered Kaguya as someone fined within the golden cage of the Shinomiya family, a sheltered girl with little freedom.
If she had merely e to observe the school on a whim, he could have uood.
But openly transferring like this? Would the Shinomiya family even allow it?
Although his memory of the Shinomiya family dynamics was from sixteen years ago, he distinctly remembered that Kaguya Shinomiya didn't have this much freedom.
"So, what's the situation now?"
He couldn't uand it, but it didn't stop him from .
The raudents were undeniably eye-catg.
As soon as css ended, Kaguya and Hayasaka were surrounded by a group of curious girls.
Kaguya, with her aloof demeanor, maintaihe elegant posure of a noble dy, speaking politely but always keeping others at arm's length.
Her mannerisms weren't rude, but the invisible barrier she erected around herself made her feel unapproachable.
Hayasaka, oher hand, was much livelier and quickly warmed up to the girls in the css.
"Hayasaka, do you know Shinomiya?" someoually asked.
Hayasaka smiled and answered without hesitation, "I'm actually Miss Kaguya's maid."
"Maid?!"
The word stunned everyone around her, boys and girls alike.
The students all turo look at Kaguya, who was sitting by the window. While they had only beeing about her earlier, Hayasaka's statement firmed their guesses.
"She really does seem like a noble dy, her cold temperament, the distance she keeps from others…"
"Miss Kaguya doesn't mean to seem distant," Hayasaka crified with a calm smile. "It's just that her upbringing has always been strict. It's a habit of self-prote, not a ck of kindness."
"So that's it…"
Hayasaka's expnation made seo everyone.
Kaguya came across as a noblewoman who had grown up in a world of caution aiquette. It wasn't that she deliberately kept people at a dista was simply the result of her upbringing.
"It's like she was raised as a 'ary in a cage,' always traio be cautious of others," Hayasaka tinued, her voice calm and measured. "Because of her family's expectations, Miss Kaguya sometimes struggles to uand others' emotions, which lead to misuandings."
Hearing this, the surrounding students nodded in uanding.
They couldn't fault her for her upbringing, she was, after all, the daughter of a powerful family.
Her refined manners and distant aura fit perfectly with their idea of a true young dy, someone akin to a delicate flower blooming high on a mountaintop.
"It's nance," Hayasaka cluded. "It's just the way she's always been taught to behave."
While some people might bel such behavior as "young dy syndrome" when dispyed by ordinary girls, in Kaguya's case, it wasn't an act. It was a direct result of her family's "crisis education."
Ren, sitting quietly at the back of the , noted Hayasaka's expnation with i.
"She's not hiding her role as a maid but openly admitting it?"
"This maid is… intriguing."
Hayasaka's direess had revealed a lot about their situation, and Ren silently took it all in.
"But judging by this, it doesn't seem like they're pnning to approach me anytime soon."
He decided not to dwell on it and instead packed up his things. Quietly, he left the without drawing any attention.
For now, his priority was firming the whereabouts of Ran and Sonoko.
---
"Bang!"
Just as Ren turned a er, a sudden collision made him stagger backward.
He looked down to find a girl sitting on the ground, rubbing her sore backside.
"Suzuki Sonoko?"
Ren reized her instantly.
"Was she running because of Kaguya?"
Before he could say anything, Sonoko stretched out her hand toward him.
"Hey, help me up! My butt hurts too much—I 't stand up."
Without a word, Ren reached out and helped her to her feet.
"Hiss!"
Sonoko winced as she pressed her hand against her lower back.
"I really o stop running so fast…" she muttered, half pining, half ughing at herself.
"Sorry about that. I wasn't watg where I was going," she added, bowing slightly.
"…It's fine," Ren replied, shaking his head.
He had expected her to pin, but she apologized instead.
Ren stepped aside, intending to tinue on his way.
But just as he took a step, Sonoko moved in front of him again.
"Hey… cssmate, we get to know each other?"
"???"
The suddeio Ren momentarily stunned.
Was she… hitting on him?
"Suzuki-san…"
"Oh, so you know me? That's great!" Sonoko interrupted with a bright smile. "Let's exge tafo! You know, so we get to know each other better."
Her enthusiasm was so ued that Ren found himself plying before he even realized it.
"Amamiya Ren," he said, watg as she saved his name in her phone.
"Got it! Let's stay in touch, Amamiya Ren," Sonoko said cheerfully. "I'll see you ter, I have to go find that 'ice queen' Shinomiya now!"
And with that, she rushed bato the .
Ren stood there for a moment, staring at the taformation newly saved in his phone.
"Suzuki Sonoko is… a fiery one," he murmured to himself.
Then he gnced back at the , where Sonoko was already chatting animatedly with Shinomiya Kaguya.
"Still, a girl like her is kind of… charming," Ren thought, a small smile pying at the er of his lips.
Her straightforwardness and boldness were refreshing, and he couldn't help but think she was surprisingly cute in her own way.
