New Novel
Chapter 26: Steam Girl

Chapter 26: Chapter 26: Steam Girl

The hallways were packed because classes had just let out for lunch.

Every student wore the same uniform. The boys wore Western-style school uniforms with ties, while the girls wore sailor uniforms, pleated skirts that fell close to their knees, and long socks that were usually either white or black.

Kotone Asaba and Kobeni Higashiyama were no exception, one in the boys’ uniform and the other in the girls’ uniform.

At the moment, Kobeni was walking ahead of Kotone and showing him the way, but her head stayed lowered the entire time. Her face was bright red, and her heart was beating a little faster than usual.

A moment ago, she had only worked up the courage to invite Asaba on impulse. Although someone had almost stolen the chance from her, it had all ended without incident.

But now a new problem had appeared. She was so embarrassed that she could not even show Asaba around the school properly.

No, no!

This would not do!

Kobeni patted her own cheeks.

She had finally gotten such a rare chance. If she ended up making Asaba unhappy instead, she would hate herself forever.

Seeing Kobeni’s strange behavior, Kotone Asaba immediately understood that she was getting too nervous again.

He did not say anything. He let Kobeni calm herself down first. If he spoke up now, it might have the opposite effect and make her even more nervous.

As they walked through the hallway, students from the other classes also noticed Kotone Asaba.

"Hey, look! That boy, doesn’t he look a lot like that Kotone Asaba guy from TV?"

"It’s probably just someone who looks like him, right? There’s no way a Devil Hunter that strong could be a student at our school, is there? And in the same grade as us, too. If it really were him, everyone would have heard about it by now."

"I’m not sure, but I heard Class 1 got a transfer student today. Maybe he’s that transfer student. Could he really be that Devil Hunter named Kotone Asaba?"

"..."

Because the media had hyped Kotone Asaba up so much, quite a few students had seen stories about him on television, in newspapers, and through other media.

Kotone Asaba heard the students talking about him, but he did not like drawing too much attention, so he said nothing.

After a while, Kobeni gradually calmed down a little. She kept encouraging herself inwardly.

"Asaba..."

Kobeni almost called him by his first name again and hurriedly corrected herself. "Asaba, did you bring lunch?"

"I didn’t."

Kotone Asaba shook his head slightly.

"Then I’ll take you to the ca, cafeteria first. We can, we can eat lunch first, then take our time looking around the rest of the school!"

Kobeni deliberately spoke faster so Asaba would not think she was too slow, but she still stuttered a little.

Then she apologized in a voice that sounded close to tears. "I’m sorry... I’m really bad at expressing myself..."

After all, she had wanted to make herself seem a little more confident, only to end up making a mess of it.

"No, no, it’s fine. I think you’re good just the way you are, Kobeni. You’re pretty cute. You don’t need to force yourself to change."

Kotone Asaba said it with a smile.

Honestly, he really did not dislike Kobeni Higashiyama’s personality. If anything, he found it pretty cute. She gave him the impression of someone pitiful and vulnerable, the kind of person who made people want to protect her.

[Kobeni Higashiyama Affinity +5%]

[Kobeni Higashiyama’s Affinity progress has reached 30%. Achievement reward obtained: Constitution +1]

"...Huh?!"

Kobeni’s mind instantly went blank.

He had called her by her first name?

And he had called her cute?!

[Kobeni Higashiyama Affinity +5%]

This time, Kobeni’s Affinity did not rise all at once, but in separate jumps. It was because the instant she heard Kotone Asaba call her "Kobeni," her mind overloaded. Only afterward did she realize he had also called her cute.

After her mind finished going blank, Kobeni’s face instantly turned crimson. Her expression also became somewhat uncontrollable, as if she had turned into a little steam engine.

Even Kotone Asaba was surprised by how intense Kobeni’s reaction was.

He had not expected that one sentence to affect Kobeni so much. It seemed he had still underestimated just how shy Kobeni Higashiyama was.

Thinking about it, that made sense. After all, Kobeni Higashiyama in the original story was already twenty years old and had even spent half a year working as a Public Safety Devil Hunter. Compared to her high school days, she had definitely grown to some extent.

For now, Kotone Asaba did not dare say anything casually. Although her Affinity was rising quickly, he was afraid Kobeni might overreact and cause something bad to happen.

Kobeni had finally managed to calm herself down earlier, but now she had completely lost her composure again.

...

By the time they reached the cafeteria, Kobeni still had not recovered.

Kotone Asaba looked at the cafeteria before him, so crowded it was almost impossible to move through, and realized they seemed to have arrived a little late.

Maybe because this was a public high school, the cafeteria was not very large, while the number of students was not exactly small compared to other schools.

"I’m sorry, I’m sorry! I’m really sorry! This is all because I was too slow..."

Kobeni naturally noticed the state of the cafeteria as well. Realizing it was her fault, because she had been lost in certain thoughts earlier and walked too slowly, she repeatedly apologized to Kotone Asaba.

The crowded cafeteria was only one problem. They also did not have much time left. Lunch break was only fifty minutes, and in practice, it was less than fifty, since they obviously had to get back to the classroom before the next class started.

If they lined up now, there was a good chance they would not have enough time to finish lunch before class.

"It’s okay. I can just buy some bread and eat that."

Kotone Asaba had no intention of blaming Kobeni at all.

"How could that be okay? It’s all my fault... Why don’t you eat my lunch instead, Asaba? I’ll just eat bread..."

Kobeni had brought a packed lunch with her. Her parents would not give her money to buy food herself, so every day she brought a simple lunch her parents had made at home.

She immediately handed her lunch to Kotone Asaba.

"Then how about we eat together? I’ll go buy some bread first, and then the two of us can split both. How does that sound?"

Kotone Asaba suggested.

"Huh...? Okay..."

At first, Kobeni did not realize just how "terrible" an action that was.